Chapter Summaries

Kafka inferred that Ye Yan was the Aeon of [Eternity] and sent him two billion Credits as child support for Stelle. Ye Yan planned to give Stelle the money and discussed the Astral Express’s upcoming visit to the Hot Spring Planet, leaving Herta curious about a girl from his church.

• Kafka connected the script’s garbled text and Ye Yan’s remarks to the Aeon of [Eternity], then considered whether to pay Ye Yan child support for Stelle.
• At Ye Yan’s office, Herta said Screwllum would visit the space station and discussed research on the gilded trash can.
• Kafka sent Ye Yan a friend request and transferred him two billion Credits, asking him to keep an eye on Stelle and calling him her Aeon friend.
• Ye Yan decided to pass Kafka’s Credits to Stelle and considered telling Kafka about Stelle’s antics.
• Herta suggested Ye Yan take Stelle to the church, and Ye Yan teased her for knowing little about it after she asked about an elven girl mentioned in the news.

Screwllum visited Ye Yan at Herta Space Station, where the two caught up and discussed their work on the Simulated Universe. Herta and Screwllum then argued over his decision to end their academic collaboration, leaving Stelle and Leonard to arrive as the dispute ended.

• Screwllum arrived early at Herta Space Station and exchanged formal greetings with Ye Yan, who offered him specially formulated motor oil.
• Screwllum thanked Ye Yan for his contributions to the Simulated Universe and warned that news about the Aeon of Destruction blood sample might cause him trouble.
• Stelle and Leonard arrived while Herta and Screwllum were arguing, and Stelle recorded the scene as Ye Yan read Silver Wolf's messages.
• Leonard blamed himself for the Simulated Universe's troubles, but Stelle reassured him and told him to focus on what was ahead.
• Herta ended the argument by calling Screwllum a cold piece of iron, and Screwllum explained to Stelle that he had chosen to terminate their academic collaboration.
• Screwllum clarified that Ye Yan's presence did not affect the dispute, prompting Stelle to joke that Ye Yan did not matter.

Stelle learned that Silver Wolf had been testing her in the Simulated Universe, where Ye Yan’s baseball bat helped her win. Outside, Ye Yan comforted Silver Wolf after her game accounts were banned and invited her to relive their old gaming adventures.

• Screwllum explained that he and Herta had used Silver Wolf’s plan to draw her into a challenge, while Stelle’s Eternity bat had disrupted her preparations.
• Stelle learned Ye Yan had given her the bat and swung it at Silver Wolf, discovering that it could hurt her even inside the Simulated Universe.
• Silver Wolf said she had joined the challenge out of excitement, not desperation, while Ye Yan and Kafka discussed the Stellaron Hunters’ coming script.
• Silver Wolf stormed out after Herta located and banned all seventy-six of her accounts, and Kafka left Ye Yan to cheer her up.
• Ye Yan gave Silver Wolf milk tea and invited her to join him for a Great Pier Point Adventure, recalling how they used to play games together.

Ye Yan visited Kafka and Silver Wolf after Silver Wolf recovered her accounts, offered help for Firefly’s Entropy Loss Syndrome, and planned for the Xianzhou Luofu. Back on the Astral Express, he joked with Aha and asked Nous about the relationship between Qlipoth and Yaoshi.

• Silver Wolf celebrated recovering her game accounts while Kafka discussed the upcoming Xianzhou operation with Ye Yan.
• Ye Yan gave Kafka a bottle of milk tea for the space knight and planned to confront Phantylia on the Xianzhou Luofu.
• Silver Wolf realized Ye Yan’s power of [Eternity] could counter Firefly’s Entropy Loss Syndrome.
• Stelle and March 7th listened to news of Silver Wolf’s attack on the Corporation, and Pom-Pom sent March to fetch Ye Yan before the Express jumped.
• Ye Yan returned to the Express, bantered with Aha, and asked Nous about [Preservation] and [Abundance].
• Nous said Qlipoth and Yaoshi had nothing to do with each other, then imagined them building walls together with Lan; Ye Yan wondered if Aha had hijacked Nous’s account.

Ye Yan, March 7th, and Stelle discussed researcher Rocky Martinez’s confession to Lesley as the Astral Express prepared to leave the space station. Rocky and Lesley reunited through his message, and he set off to find her, leaving Stelle with a bridesmaid invitation.

• March 7th and Stelle woke Ye Yan and reminded him that the Astral Express was about to warp away from the space station.
• Stelle told Ye Yan and March 7th about Rocky Martinez asking for help confessing his feelings to Lesley.
• Stelle played recordings in which Lesley described surviving a starquake and meeting an Intellitron who gave her soap.
• Stelle explained that Rocky combined the love poems in the blue plan with the direct confession in the red plan, and Lesley accepted him after two system hours.
• Rocky packed his bags to find Lesley and invited Stelle to be their bridesmaid, while March 7th asked if she could be one too.

Ye Yan explained that Stelle’s baseball bat was a shapeshifting weapon gifted by the Aeon of [Eternity], and Stelle accidentally transformed it into a trash can lid. As the Express prepared to warp to Jarilo-VI, Ye Yan and Himeko discussed the planet’s past and the effects of its Stellaron.

• March 7th learned that Ye Yan had found Stelle while searching for the missing Arlan and left her the baseball bat to defend herself.
• Ye Yan explained that the bat came from the Aeon of [Eternity], had been made from a modified [Elation] mask, and could change form.
• Ye Yan turned the bat into a longsword, then Stelle tried to do the same and transformed it into a trash can lid.
• March 7th said she would ask the Aeon of [Eternity] to spend time chatting with her and take a picture together.
• Ye Yan joined Himeko in discussing Jarilo-VI, its past as a tourist destination, and how the Stellaron and Fragmentum had changed it.

Sampo learned that Ye Yan, the Aeon of [Eternity], was traveling with the Astral Express and arranged an identity for him in Belobog. The Express reached Jarilo-VI, where a Stellaron anomaly forced an indefinite stop, and the crew prepared to investigate the frozen planet.

• Silver Wolf asked Sampo to arrange an identity for Ye Yan, and Sampo realized the Aeon of [Eternity] was with the Astral Express.
• Pom-Pom gave Ye Yan a cup of juice as March 7th and Stelle returned to the parlor car.
• The Astral Express arrived at Jarilo-VI, but Pom-Pom announced that abnormal spatial readings had made the star rail unstable and extended their stop indefinitely.
• Himeko and Ye Yan explained that a Stellaron was disrupting the route and that its influence had helped turn Jarilo-VI into a frozen world.
• March 7th recalled Ye Yan suppressing the Stellaron inside Stelle, and Stelle joked that the crew were cosmic heroes.

Himeko sent Stelle, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Ye Yan to Jarilo-VI to find its Stellaron, while Cocolia continued hearing the Stellaron’s demands to build a new world. The team landed in Belobog’s snowy wilderness and had yet to decide which way to go.

• Himeko assigned Stelle, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Ye Yan to retrieve Jarilo-VI’s Stellaron while she and Welt stayed aboard the Express.
• Bronya checked on Cocolia, who asked what she knew about elves and recalled seeing a silver-haired elven girl holding the Stellaron in a vision.
• The Stellaron urged Cocolia to honor their agreement and build a new world, warning that the world would face destruction and invoking Eternity.
• Ye Yan and the Trailblaze team landed in a snowy wilderness, where Stelle turned her bat into a shovel and Dan Heng asked Ye Yan to upgrade Cloud-Piercer.
• March 7th got Ye Yan to promise to upgrade her weapon after the expedition, then asked which direction the team should take.

Ye Yan led Stelle, Dan Heng, and March 7th across the snowfield, where they encountered Sampo and learned about Belobog, humanity’s last refuge from the Eternal Freeze. Sampo agreed to guide them into the city, and the group followed him while staying out of sight of the Silvermane Guards.

• Ye Yan told Stelle about a past snowmobile crash that had left him and his companions doing months of unpaid labor, and Dan Heng and March 7th recalled their own stadium mishap.
• The four crossed the snowfield and fought Fragmentum creatures, while Stelle used a trash can lid as a weapon.
• Stelle threw the lid at a moving snowdrift and hit Sampo, who jumped out and introduced himself.
• Ye Yan explained that Sampo had once taken a commission to find relics of the Aeon of [Eternity], and Sampo said he was searching for ancient relics of [Preservation].
• Sampo explained that Belobog was humanity’s sole surviving city and described the Silvermane Guards as its army and law enforcement.
• Ye Yan asked Sampo to lead them into Belobog, and Sampo guided the group onward while telling them to avoid the guards.

Ye Yan pursued Sampo into Rivet Town and captured him after learning more about Belobog’s troubles and the Astral Express crew. Meanwhile, Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng met Gepard and proved they were not Sampo’s accomplices before Ye Yan returned with the bound fugitive.

• Sampo fled from the Silvermane Guards, and Ye Yan left the others to pursue him while Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng fought the soldiers.
• Gepard Landau, captain of the Silvermane Guards, arrived and ordered the fighting to stop.
• In Rivet Town, Ye Yan questioned Sampo about Belobog, the Astral Express, and the lingering power of Destruction mixed with Preservation.
• Ye Yan stuffed Sampo into a sack and tied it shut, promising to help him get his mask back if he came along.
• Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng showed Gepard March 7th’s photographs to prove their identities and agreed to follow him toward Belobog.
• Ye Yan reappeared carrying Sampo in the sack, and Gepard thanked him for capturing the fugitive.

Gepard escorted Ye Yan, March 7th, Stelle, and Dan Heng to Kliperburg, where he explained Belobog’s history and learned Ye Yan could modify weapons. As they arrived at the Supreme Guardian’s residence, Gepard prepared to introduce the group to Cocolia Rand.

• Gepard led the group into the Administrative District while carrying the bound Sampo, and he recounted Belobog’s history as Dan Heng asked about the Fragmentum.
• Stelle showed Gepard that her trash-can lid could transform into a baseball bat, and March claimed it had been bestowed by the Aeon of [Eternity].
• Ye Yan offered to modify the Silvermane Guards’ weapons, and Gepard said he would seek his sister Serval Landau’s help if the opportunity arose.
• March asked the group to put Sampo down, but Gepard ignored him and led everyone to Kliperburg, the Architects’ headquarters and the Supreme Guardian’s residence.
• Gepard told the group that Cocolia Rand was Belobog’s leader and escorted them to meet her, prompting March to worry about her appearance.

Ye Yan stayed behind while Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng went with Gepard to meet Supreme Guardian Cocolia, and he encountered Pela giving children a tour of the Everwinter Monument. Cocolia heard the Astral Express crew’s explanation of their arrival, and Stelle opened their audience with an unexpected question about the Aeon of Eternity.

• Ye Yan refused to accompany the others to see Cocolia, citing a foreboding sense that the Stellaron had changed since his arrival.
• Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng left with Gepard, while Ye Yan stayed behind and joined Pela’s tour of the Everwinter Monument.
• A phantom mask appeared in the sky, leading Ye Yan to realize Aha had followed him again.
• Pela explained the monument’s history and symbols, and Ye Yan discussed Qlipoth’s followers and his church before Pela connected the church to Sampo.
• Cocolia struggled with the Stellaron’s voices until Gepard brought the Astral Express crew to her; she dismissed him and asked the visitors why they had come.
• Stelle greeted Cocolia and asked whether she would acknowledge the peerless beauty of the Aeon of Eternity.

After the Supreme Guardian released the Trailblazers from their movement restrictions, March 7th and Stelle found Ye Yan sharing stories about the universe with Pela near the Everwinter Monument. Ye Yan explained his contradictory praise and criticism of the Aeon of [Eternity], then left the other virtues a mystery.

• Gepard told Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng that the Supreme Guardian had lifted their movement restrictions and recommended Belobog sights before leaving for his duties.
• March 7th and Stelle headed to the Everwinter Monument, where Stelle found Ye Yan telling Pela and a group of children about Aeons and the wider universe.
• Ye Yan told Pela that the Antimatter Legion was responsible for Belobog's decline, and Pela reflected on the scale of the universe and the power of Pathstriders.
• Ye Yan returned to the group and explained that followers of the Aeon of [Eternity] would always be forgiven, even when they badmouthed their own Aeon.
• Stelle asked about the Aeon of [Eternity]'s other virtues, but Ye Yan refused to explain them until a future visit to Car Wash Planet, prompting March 7th to call him a Riddler.

Ye Yan and March 7th visited Serval's workshop and learned about her family and rock band. At the Goethe Hotel, Stelle and Dan Heng discussed earning Shields, the Supreme Guardian's reaction, and the false story about the Aeon of [Eternity]'s ascension.

• March 7th and Ye Yan entered Serval's workshop after she invited them inside.
• Ye Yan praised the [Perpetual Motion] workshop, and Serval introduced herself as Gepard's sister and explained that rock music was her main occupation.
• March 7th expressed interest in Serval's band, [Mechanical Fever], and declared that they should stay in a band for life.
• Stelle considered searching trash cans for Shields, but Dan Heng suggested exchanging Credits instead.
• Stelle and Dan Heng discussed the Supreme Guardian's reaction and concluded that the story about the Aeon of [Eternity]'s ascension had been fabricated by the History Fictionologists.

Ye Yan protected the Trailblazers with his power of [Eternity] after Dan Heng warned that the Supreme Guardian might be hiding something. The group abandoned plans to sneak away overnight, but Stelle suggested investigating Kliperburg after dark.

• March 7th and Ye Yan returned from shopping, and Ye Yan explained that he had bought local specialties for a teahouse owner.
• Dan Heng shared his suspicions about the Supreme Guardian and proposed that the group withdraw and wait for morning to reveal the truth.
• Ye Yan used [Eternity] to grant Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle protection and concealment, sparing them from keeping watch or leaving the hotel.
• Dan Heng recognized Ye Yan's power as similar to what he had sensed when Presiding Seat Blake appeared.
• Stelle wondered whether the concealment meant nobody could see them and suggested sneaking into Kliperburg at night to investigate the Supreme Guardian.

Ye Yan returned to his room to rest while Silver Wolf visited through a sensory hologram and teased him about the Astral Express’s next destination. As March 7th and Stelle returned from shopping, Stelle revealed that Ye Yan had transferred her eight hundred million Credits.

• Stelle dropped the idea of looking for the Stellaron, and Ye Yan went back to his room while March 7th persuaded Stelle to explore more with her.
• Dan Heng watched the two women leave and noticed they had forgotten the map in Stelle’s room.
• Silver Wolf appeared in Ye Yan’s room and admitted she had placed a nano imaging device on Stelle at Kafka’s request.
• Silver Wolf tried to spoil the Astral Express’s next destination, and Ye Yan guessed they would be returning to the Xianzhou.
• Ye Yan offered to take Silver Wolf to the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone after nightfall to experience Jarilo Warriors, warning her not to bring a planet-destroying bomb.
• March 7th questioned Stelle about her shopping money, and Stelle said Ye Yan had transferred her eight hundred million Credits as compensation.

Stelle defeated March 7th in a pillow fight while Ye Yan upgraded Dan Heng’s Cloud-Piercer with new firing and chain-linked modes. Ye Yan later walked out with Silver Wolf, who recounted how she and Sampo had ended up in Belobog’s dungeon.

• Stelle challenged March 7th to a pillow fight and soundly defeated her, while Silver Wolf secretly recorded them.
• Ye Yan finished modifying Cloud-Piercer, adding retractable spearhead, rapid-fire, and chain-linked spear-and-staff modes for Dan Heng.
• Ye Yan left his room after Silver Wolf joked that her real body was relaxing in an ice-water bath, and she followed him from the Goethe Hotel as a hologram.
• Ye Yan told Silver Wolf that Sampo might have escaped from prison or gone to the Underworld, and Silver Wolf laughed at his repeated arrests.
• Silver Wolf explained that Presiding Bishop Blake had caught her after she graffitied an Aeon [Eternity] statue, punished her with copying from the Book of Eternal Virtues, and put her in the dungeon, where she met Sampo.

Silver Wolf recalled how she and Sampo had both been arrested by the church of [Eternity] and considered teaming up to escape, before returning to the present as she followed Ye Yan. Ye Yan described his close ties to the church, and Silver Wolf hurriedly shook off the church's strange teachings.

• Silver Wolf asked Sampo why he had been imprisoned, and he explained that the church had charged him with mocking and offending the Aeon of [Eternity] while he secretly planned to bomb the Aeon's statue.
• Sampo warned Silver Wolf that the church attacked followers of [Destruction] and asked her to help with his jailbreak plan; Silver Wolf agreed to try working with him.
• Silver Wolf remembered that Sampo had been locked up for a month and that she had also been arrested after visiting the statue during her stay at the church.
• Silver Wolf asked Ye Yan about his relationship with the church, and he said they were family and that the church welcomed believers in [Eternity].
• Silver Wolf recalled the church's teachings about forgiving sins and confronting followers of [Destruction], then banished the thoughts before she felt assimilated.

Silver Wolf and Sampo escaped their cell in the Church of Eternity, where Silver Wolf learned more about the strange doctrine and Blake's role in the church. They opened the dungeon door and found a solemn church with no one in sight.

• Silver Wolf used virtual projections to help Sampo escape their restraints, and she covered the dungeon walls with graffiti.
• Silver Wolf and Sampo discussed Blake, the presiding bishop, and a legendary Punklorde hacker who had retired at the church.
• Sampo read the church's draft doctrine, which urged believers to blame Nanook and offered a baseball bat for joining.
• Silver Wolf resisted defacing the rest of the walls and recalled the Book of Eternal Virtues' call to forgive outsiders.
• Silver Wolf and Sampo pushed open the dungeon door and found a solemn church with no one outside.

Silver Wolf and Ye Yan watched the Silvermane Guards fight Fragmentum Monsters while discussing Ye Yan’s abilities and the rumored relationship between the Aeons of [Permanence] and [Preservation]. Ye Yan decided to help the Guards, and Silver Wolf asked to borrow his amber hammer as they prepared to join the fight.

• Silver Wolf analyzed the battle with a combat-power-detection monocle and asked Ye Yan how he had targeted enemies from a distance; Ye Yan credited a blessing from the Aeon of [Permanence].
• Silver Wolf speculated that the Aeons of [Permanence] and [Preservation] had a thing going on, while Ye Yan considered how they might reach the Underworld and decided to help Gepard and the Silvermane Guards first.
• Ye Yan pulled out an amber hammer and then a living salted fish, prompting Silver Wolf to marvel at how much his pocket could hold.
• Ye Yan and Silver Wolf turned their attention to the Silvermane Guards’ fight against low-grade avian Fragmentum creatures, and Silver Wolf asked to use Ye Yan’s hammer to play whack-a-mole.