Chapter Summaries

Bai Heng visited a camp near Rivet Town to learn about the Fragmentum and heard Old Blue describe the hardships of life in the Underworld. As they shared red sausage wheat porridge, a barefoot silver-haired girl approached under a mechanical unit’s protection.

• Bai Heng reached the restricted area near Rivet Town and was warned by an automated unit not to enter.
• Old Blue stopped Bai Heng, introduced himself, and invited him to rest at his camp.
• Bai Heng helped Old Blue gather water and firewood and prepare red sausage wheat porridge.
• Old Blue told Bai Heng about losing his family to Fragmentum corrosion and spending his life fighting its monsters.
• Old Blue said supplies remained scarce in the Underworld even after the blockade was lifted, as Bai Heng considered the continuing divide between its people and the Overworld.
• A barefoot silver-haired girl in a red hooded coat approached the camp beneath the protection of a mechanical unit.

Bai Heng visited the prospector settlement to learn about Jarilo-VI, using the Origin Chip to access Svarog’s recorded information. Afterward, he asked Svarog to let him stay the night.

• Clara delivered a lighting device and sun cakes to Old Blue, then agreed to take Bai Heng to meet Svarog.
• Old Blue found a heavy bag of Winter City Shields beneath the bowl Bai Heng had left behind.
• Svarog met Bai Heng at the residence and told Clara to wait inside.
• Bai Heng activated the Origin Chip and spent three minutes collecting Svarog’s information about Jarilo-VI.
• Bai Heng asked Svarog if he could stay for one night.

Bai Heng discussed Belobog’s future and Topaz’s company contract with Clara, explaining that the company might offer a less restrictive path. Clara said she could accept the company’s help if it secured better lives and greater freedom for future generations, while Bai Heng hoped his meeting with the Great Guardian would go well.

• Bai Heng learned that Clara had built a mechanical lamp and repaired damaged automatons herself.
• Bai Heng asked Clara what she thought about handing Belobog’s future over to the company, and she said people should choose their own paths if they could.
• Bai Heng explained that adults often gave up freedom to survive but offered to seek adjustments to Topaz’s harsh contract.
• Clara said she hoped the company would help Belobog if her generation’s freedom could secure better lives and freedom for future children.
• Svarog told Clara it was time to rest, and Bai Heng wished her good night while hoping his talk with the Great Guardian would go smoothly.

Bai Heng weighed Belobog’s divided views on the IPC’s offer and confronted Bronya with the low odds of saving the planet without outside help. He then began transforming the entire city into visible data, leaving the purpose and outcome of his gift unclear.

• Bai Heng reviewed the tied voting results, which showed supporters citing survival and opponents fearing coercion, lost freedom, or abandoned dreams.
• Himeko told Bronya that 63% of planets supported by the company had recovered, while Topaz’s projects had succeeded more than 80% of the time.
• Bai Heng arrived with a bio-mech resembling a Molten Knight and said Belobog had less than a ten percent chance of restoring its ecosystem without assistance.
• Bai Heng introduced himself as an envoy of the company but said he had come first to give Belobog a gift.
• Bai Heng snapped his fingers, and streams of blue data spread across Belobog until the city and everything in it became visible data.

Bai Heng showed Belobog’s leaders the vast scale of Fragmentum creatures and warned that the city could not survive future disasters without stronger support. He used the Dark Domain to gather the creatures in one place and sent Destiny, the Molten Knight, to confront them.

• Bai Heng revealed a three-dimensional map marking Belobog’s Rift exits and the immense number of Fragmentum creatures across the city.
• Bronya admitted that her generation could not eradicate the Fragmentum creatures, and Bai Heng questioned whether Belobog could withstand future disasters or avoid weak leadership.
• A Silvermane Guards representative challenged the company’s trustworthiness because it had abandoned Belobog seven hundred years earlier, and Bai Heng acknowledged the company’s poor reputation.
• Bai Heng explained that the company was not Belobog’s only option, then used the Dark Domain to draw the Fragmentum creatures toward one location.
• Bai Heng summoned Destiny, the Molten Knight, which appeared above the gathered Fragmentum creatures and ignited with crimson flames and golden light.

After Bai Heng destroyed the Fragmentum creatures, Bronya asked why he had helped Belobog and learned about his personal and professional reasons. He explained an alternative to joining the Company: appointing him as Jarilo-VI’s agent, and Bronya asked whether the Astral Express crew could witness the new contract.

• Bronya surveyed the devastation and asked Bai Heng why he was helping Belobog.
• Bai Heng cited the Company’s interest in Preservation, Topaz’s wish to save Belobog, and Bronya’s resemblance to his younger sister.
• Bai Heng returned everyone to Klippfort and offered Belobog the option of appointing a Company agent instead of joining the Company.
• Bai Heng said he was currently the only agent who could meet Belobog’s needs, and Himeko confirmed that he could obtain the authority.
• Bronya asked whether the Astral Express crew could jointly witness a new contract if she accepted his terms.

Bai Heng and Bronya Rand negotiated a cooperation that brought the Astral Express in as witnesses and Topaz in to secure favorable terms. The contract established the IPC on Jarilo-VI while preserving Belobog’s cultural independence, and Bai Heng became its Lifetime Honorary Great Guardian.

• Bronya agreed to begin negotiations immediately, and Himeko offered the Astral Express as witnesses to the contract.
• Bai Heng contacted Topaz and explained the plan; when he mentioned a new Stellaron Hunter among the three people whose feelings he needed to handle, Topaz reacted with surprise.
• Topaz stayed to help negotiate, and Bai Heng’s side secured favorable terms while promising not to interfere with Belobog’s culture.
• The contract set a five-Amber-Era term and made the IPC’s branch on Jarilo-VI a voluntary opportunity for locals.
• Bronya swore an oath in the name of Preservation, making Bai Heng Belobog’s first and only Lifetime Honorary Great Guardian.

Bai Heng met with Topaz in Belobog, where they discussed her upcoming assignment to Penacony and the anomaly that had cleared the Fragmentum creatures. Bai Heng admitted his connection to the reality-editing method and the Molten Knights, leaving one to protect Belobog while hinting that he might reveal more before long.

• Bai Heng kept his succession as Belobog's Lifetime Honorary Great Guardian simple and called Chairman Edmond after securing the planet's agency rights.
• Bai Heng met Topaz at an old tavern, and Topaz said she and Aventurine had been chosen to handle the Strategic Investment Department's Penacony case.
• Topaz asked whether Bai Heng had caused the morning's anomaly in Belobog, and he acknowledged that his method edited reality and related to the other-dimensional space from his Glamour Star report.
• Bai Heng told Topaz that only two Molten Knights would remain with him after he left Belobog, as he had promised to leave one behind to guard the planet.
• Bai Heng said he might reveal the matter of the Molten Knights soon or much later, while thinking about the trouble Shuhu caused him.

Bai Heng visited the Astral Express, asked Himeko to keep his possession of several Molten Knights secret, and endured her powerful coffee. The chapter ended with him recognizing Dan Heng as an old friend.

• Bai Heng boarded the Astral Express at Himeko's invitation and brought gifts for the crew.
• Pom-Pom welcomed Bai Heng and gave him the passenger guidelines while he explored the train.
• Bai Heng asked Himeko to keep his Molten Knights secret, and she agreed to trust him.
• Bai Heng tasted Himeko's coffee and politely praised it, prompting her to make him sample more of her brews.
• Dan Heng and Welt entered the car, and Bai Heng recognized Dan Heng as an old friend.

Bai Heng spoke with Dan Heng about their shared past and affirmed that, despite remembering his former life, he was still himself. The chapter ended with Bai Heng hoping to get to know Dan Heng anew.

• Bai Heng recalled how he and the Five Kasas of the Cloud had imagined reuniting before the Ancient Sea Scale Abyss, but noted that seven centuries had separated them.
• Bai Heng reflected on how Dan Feng, Yingxing, himself, Jingliu, and Jing Yuan had each been changed by the past.
• Bai Heng told Dan Heng that he respected his choice to leave Dan Feng behind, while choosing to remain Bai Heng.
• Dan Heng asked whether Bai Heng remembered his previous life, and Bai Heng confirmed that he did.
• Bai Heng said that all his past and present selves were him, and hoped to get to know Dan Heng again.

Bai Heng visited the Astral Express, spoke with Welt and Dan Heng, and hinted that Bai Heng might awaken and that he would return to the Luofu. The next morning in Klippfort, he read sensational Belobog headlines about its reconstruction, Bronya, and himself, and concluded that studying medicine could not save Belobog.

• Bai Heng met Welt and Dan Heng aboard the Astral Express and learned about their pasts while discussing the crew's bitter coffee.
• As Dan Heng saw him off, Bai Heng said Bai Heng might awaken and that he would return to the Luofu; Dan Heng replied that it no longer had anything to do with him.
• Bai Heng returned to Belobog and stayed in Klippfort to begin reconstruction arrangements the next morning.
• While breakfasting with Bronya, Bai Heng read newspapers announcing their cooperation, his honorary Great Guardian title, the Fragmentum's disappearance, and sensational stories about Bronya and himself.
• Bronya asked what was wrong, and Bai Heng said he felt studying medicine could not save Belobog.

Bai Heng reviewed Belobog’s finances with Bronya and proposed ways to fund the Creation Engine’s repairs without selling the planet’s cultural heritage. He arranged for IPC support and prepared to leave Belobog to handle personal and family matters.

• Bai Heng and Bronya inspected Belobog’s financial report, and Bai Heng noted that the Silvermane Guards could be recalled from the Lower District now that he had cleared the Fragmentum creatures.
• Bronya took Bai Heng to the Pillar of Creation, where Belobog’s residents and workers were repairing the Creation Engine.
• Bai Heng proposed sorting museum artifacts into categories and selling only valuables, then holding Giovanni’s Interstellar Showdown Festival in Belobog to raise funds and develop the Lower District.
• Bai Heng told Bronya that IPC technical staff, branch employees, and his personal team would arrive within three days, and offered her the chance to appoint people to the branch.
• Bai Heng told Bronya he would soon leave Belobog to settle personal and family matters.

Bai Heng returned to the Luofu and visited Qingque before arriving at Jing Yuan’s residence, where the officials debated the dangers surrounding his revival and the Lord Ravager. He announced himself as the Cloud Knight Vanguard and answered Jing Yuan’s summons.

• Bai Heng bought a red umbrella in the rain and encountered Qingque playing mahjong in Chang Le Tian.
• Bai Heng revealed his identity to Qingque, said he had returned to handle personal matters, and gave her a bag of pastries.
• Qingzu and another strategist warned Jing Yuan about threats facing the Luofu and argued that Bai Heng’s revival alongside the Lord Ravager could not be allowed.
• Fu Xuan said the past turmoil should be judged by those who had experienced it, while Jing Yuan noted that the people involved were arriving.
• Bai Heng reached Jing Yuan’s residence with two wine jars and declared that he had come to the Luofu in response to the General’s Edict.

Bai Heng returned to the Luofu and met with Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan, bringing expensive sake to make amends for his rabbits destroying Fu Xuan’s garden. After drinking together, Bai Heng and Jing Yuan set out for the Ten-Lords Commission to share a cup with someone there.

• Bai Heng arrived at Jing Yuan’s residence, and Jing Yuan dismissed the others so they could speak privately.
• Fu Xuan confronted Bai Heng about his two rabbits ravaging the Divination Commission’s garden, and Bai Heng offered her two jugs of Black Dragon Sake as compensation.
• Jing Yuan opened one jug, and Fu Xuan joined him and Bai Heng for drinks as they discussed Bai Heng’s arrival and the Eyes of Providence.
• Fu Xuan became flushed and collapsed after drinking, while Bai Heng and Jing Yuan remained sober.
• Bai Heng picked up the sake and his red umbrella and told Jing Yuan they should take the brew to the Ten-Lords Commission.

Bai Heng visited the Ten-Lords Commission and frightened the timid apprentice judge Huohuo, who mistook her for a ghost. As Bai Heng entered the side hall, Huohuo’s Suiyang companion Tail sensed a strange aura around her and demanded to know why she carried it.

• Bai Heng arrived at the Prison of Confinement and found Huohuo trembling beneath the Ten-Lords Commission’s eaves.
• Huohuo mistook Bai Heng for a ghost until Tail pointed out that Bai Heng cast a shadow beneath the corridor lamps.
• Bai Heng reassured Huohuo, picked up her dropped buns, and gave her two Credits as compensation.
• Bai Heng entered the Commission’s side hall, but Tail appeared beside Huohuo and asked why Bai Heng carried its aura.

Bai Heng brought Di Kui face to face with Tail, and the two old Suiyang acquaintances recognized each other. At the Prison of Confinement, Bai Heng sensed a connection to the frozen Bai Heng and asked Jing Yuan whether he would risk using the Seed of Shuhuo to free her.

• Bai Heng revealed Di Kui to Tail, who recognized the Suiyang fragment and warned Huohuo to hide behind him.
• Di Kui recognized Tail as a fragment of Liaoyuan and considered devouring him, but became meek when Bai Heng addressed it.
• Jing Yuan arrived and led Bai Heng, Di Kui, Tail, and Huohuo to the Prison of Confinement.
• Bai Heng found that the Six-Phased Ice holding Bai Heng had begun to melt and sensed a connection between her and himself.
• Bai Heng showed Jing Yuan the Seed of Shuhuo and asked whether he would gamble that Bai Heng would emerge from the ice rather than become Shuhuo's vessel.

Bai Heng and Jing Yuan planned to lure the Luofu’s hidden enemies into the open by making it appear that Calamity-Bringer Shuhu had returned. At an abandoned battlefield, Bai Heng recreated Shuhu’s projection and ordered Di Kui to devour it.

• Bai Heng and Jing Yuan agreed to use Di Kui as bait to draw out the Luofu’s enemies before dealing with Bai Heng’s unsealing.
• Di Kui agreed to imitate its former self and create the illusion that Shuhu had returned, while Jing Yuan warned that the Luofu could face invasions and attacks.
• Jing Yuan convened the Six Lords to prepare for a confrontation three days later, while Bai Heng stayed at the Ten-Lords Commission and avoided telling Jingliu he had returned.
• Three days later, Bai Heng and Jing Yuan met at an abandoned battlefield near the Luofu, where Bai Heng released Di Kui from the Flower of White Abyss’s suppression.
• Bai Heng used the Key of Replication to recreate the Seed of Shuhuo, summoning a projection of Calamity-Bringer Shuhu.
• Bai Heng clenched his hand and ordered Di Kui to devour Shuhu.

As the Xianzhou Luofu faced an invasion by the People of Abundance and the Antimatter Legion, Fu Xuan directed the defense while Bai Heng prepared to confront Iron Tomb’s attack. Bai Heng logged into the interstellar network as the long-dormant hacker White Fox, drawing the attention of hackers across the universe.

• Buli, Wingweaver, Huiyin, and Shi Rou forces advanced on the Xianzhou Luofu as the Cloud Knights mobilized under the Hunt.
• Fu Xuan used the Great Calculation Array and Bai Heng’s information network to monitor the battlefield and arrange the Luofu’s defenses.
• Bai Heng identified Starhowl’s legion and Iron Tomb among the attackers, then assigned Fu Xuan to intercept Starhowl’s forces.
• Fu Xuan warned that Iron Tomb’s probe had disrupted the Luofu’s systems, and Bai Heng took responsibility for countering the hacker.
• Bai Heng activated the Origin Chip and logged in as White Fox, prompting hackers across the universe, including Silver Wolf, to investigate.

White Fox fought Iron Tomb’s Silence in the Dark Domain while Silver Wolf uncovered her lost memories and tracked Bai Heng to Belobog. As Iron Tomb’s data tide threatened to extinguish White Fox’s final flame, Silver Wolf hacked into the domain and offered to join the fight.

• White Fox used the Origin Chip to push his abilities to their limits and clashed with Iron Tomb, waiting for an opening despite Iron Tomb’s advantage.
• Silver Wolf blocked Kafka’s message and focused on White Fox after recovering memories connected to him and Bai Heng.
• Silver Wolf traced Bai Heng to Belobog and gained confirmation from the Supreme Guardian that she had found the right person.
• Iron Tomb’s black tide pressed toward White Fox’s last flame after three system hours of resistance.
• Silver Wolf projected herself into the Dark Domain and offered to help White Fox as a fellow genius hacker from Punklorde.

Bai Heng reunited with Silver Wolf during his battle against the Iron Tomb, and the two hackers turned the tide by attacking from separate directions. After the data clash destroyed the simulated space, Bai Heng returned to reality in the Great Calculation Array, where Jingliu confronted him about who he had been saying goodbye to.

• Bai Heng prepared to paralyze the network with the Dark Domain, but Silver Wolf appeared before he could use his final option.
• Silver Wolf and Bai Heng reunited, and she joined him in facing the Iron Tomb's data assault.
• Silver Wolf infiltrated the Iron Tomb's network while Bai Heng reignited his attack, combining their efforts to overwhelm the Iron Tomb's defenses.
• Black flames fused with the Iron Tomb's data tide, causing the simulated space and the Dark Domain's virtual screens to crack apart.
• Bai Heng returned to the Great Calculation Array and murmured that he had not gotten to say goodbye properly, prompting Jingliu to ask who he was saying goodbye to.