Chapter Summaries

After Hoolay’s defeat, Jing Yuan confronted Taoran, while Bailu and Ye Yan mourned March 7th’s supposed death and the Luofu’s generals discussed the Wardance attack. Feixiao vowed to take the fight to the force behind the upheaval and bring down a Lord Ravager.

• Jing Yuan told Taoran that he would face a public trial and that Hoolay had already been slain aboard the Skysplitter, prompting Taoran to laugh hysterically.
• Bailu grieved over March 7th with Ye Yan, until March 7th called out that she was still alive; Stelle regretted missing the chance to fight Hoolay.
• Huaiyan, Jing Yuan, and Feixiao reviewed Hoolay’s death and agreed to compensate those harmed and reopen the Wardance within a few weeks.
• Feixiao identified the hidden force behind the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and Borisin as a threat to the Alliance and vowed to lead the Skyfox Army against it.
• Feixiao declared that she would bring down a Lord Ravager and show the Antimatter Legion the meaning of [The Hunt].

Jing Yuan and the Xianzhou generals learned that Jingliu and her companion had proposed using a remnant of Propagation to oppose The Plagues Author, but Yaoguang's report was interrupted. Saileni then presented the Church of Eternity's strategy and pledged the Church's support to the Xianzhou Alliance.

• Huaiyan discussed Phantylia's efforts to divide the Xianzhou Alliance and said he would propose a new strategy to the Marshal.
• Yaoguang joined the meeting through the Jade Abacus Xianzhou and confirmed that the prisoners had fabricated the claim that they brought a Stellaron aboard the Luofu.
• Yaoguang revealed that Jingliu and the blond outlander sought an audience with the Marshal to present a strategy involving a remnant of Propagation, but her transmission was cut off.
• Saileni entered the Seat of Divine Foresight and presented the Church of Eternity's strategy through a recorded message from Blake.
• Saileni declared that the Church of Eternity would stand with the Xianzhou Alliance against The Plagues Author.

After Luka’s impressive Wardance performance, Blake recalled how he had offered Sunday a chance to realize his dream of eternal peace through Eternity. Sunday questioned Blake’s motives, but Blake framed the offer as a transaction and asked whether Sunday would pay the price for Robin and their promise.

• Ye Yan watched Luka use the Church of Eternity’s tracking gauntlets to overcome the Wardance contestants, though Yanqing remained his final opponent.
• A well-dressed gentleman arrived at the milk tea shop at Oti Mall and remembered his earlier conversation with Blake.
• Blake told Sunday that Eternity could preserve the happiness at the heart of his dream with Robin, rather than turn Penacony into a realm of specimens.
• Sunday challenged Blake, suspecting that Eternity’s promised peace concealed a trap and questioning whether it could protect Penacony.
• Blake offered Sunday a transaction: relinquish his attachment to his old faith in exchange for the power to define eternal peace, and asked whether he would pay the price for Robin.

Sunday went to the place where [Eternity] began, where Welt recognized him and pursued him after the Astral Express investigated Amphoreus and sought information from Screwllum. The chapter ended with Welt cornering Sunday and ordering him to answer questions.

• Sunday followed the map’s scarlet mark to a milk tea shop on Penacony and encountered Welt, who warned him about unusual phenomena nearby.
• Sunday noticed Welt’s Express pass and wondered why a Nameless remained on Penacony, then left without revealing himself.
• Welt recalled that Herta had urged the Express to consult Screwllum about Amphoreus because a respected [Church of Eternity] deacon came from Planet Screwllum.
• Himeko and Screwllum discussed Amphoreus, the Garden of Recollection, the possibility of an Emanator or Aeon being involved, and Ruan Mei’s interest in a companion on the Xianzhou Luofu.
• Welt followed Sunday to a secluded corner, pressed his cane against Sunday’s back, and ordered him to put his hands behind his back and answer briefly.

Welt questioned Sunday about his return to Penacony, and Sunday explained that the Church of Eternity had saved him and that he only wanted to say farewell. On the Luofu, March 7th and the Astral Express crew joined Yanqing to see off the visiting Xianzhou envoys, bringing them Soda Bean Juice as a gift.

• Welt kept Sunday under guard until Sunday explained that the Church of Eternity had pardoned and saved him, and that he had returned to Penacony only to say farewell.
• Welt agreed to escort Sunday out of Penacony but planned to inform his companions and verify his story with Church personnel.
• Welt asked Sunday about Amphoreus, and Sunday described it as the prologue to the War of the Aeons.
• March 7th quizzed Ye Yan about the day, then announced that the Astral Express crew would help Yanqing see off the visiting Xianzhou envoys.
• March 7th and the others prepared Soda Bean Juice as farewell gifts for the envoys, though they worried the drink might upset their stomachs.

The Luofu held farewell ceremonies for General Feixiao, General Huaiyan and Yunli, and Saileni of the Church of Eternity. As the guests departed with Soda Bean Juice and milk tea, Yanqing offered Yunli a chance to handle his Wardance prize sword, and the gathering ended on friendly terms.

• Feixiao bid farewell to the Astral Express crew, praised Yanqing’s swordplay against Hoolay and invited him to visit the Yaoqing; she also said Moze and Jiaoqiu were handling the Yaoqing milk tea shop’s reconstruction.
• March 7th gave Feixiao Soda Bean Juice, and Ye Yan added a Soda Bean Juice-flavored milk tea before Feixiao departed with a large supply of the drink.
• Huaiyan and Yunli arrived, where Stelle expressed interest in fighting Huaiyan and Yunli reminded March 7th to keep practicing as her disciple.
• Yanqing brought his treasured sword to the farewell and offered Yunli a chance to handle it, while Ye Yan eased their friendly disagreement with milk tea.
• Saileni joined the ceremony as the Church of Eternity’s representative and eagerly drank Soda Bean Juice, surprising Dan Heng and the others.

Fu Xuan returned to the Xianzhou Luofu and reunited with Yanqing and the Astral Express Crew after their farewell ceremony. The Express crew realized they could not leave yet, while Ye Yan headed toward the Church of Eternity and Welt called its service hotline from Penacony.

• Fu Xuan arrived at Starskiff Haven, learned why the Astral Express Crew had gathered, and said she would return to the Divination Commission to question Qingque for missing her welcome.
• Fu Xuan discussed her work on the Yuque and the Hoolay prison break, crediting the Astral Express Crew with helping the Luofu weather another crisis.
• Yanqing said he might travel with the Astral Express after recovering, and Dan Heng thanked the Luofu for its hospitality before the group realized the Express could not leave yet.
• Ye Yan traveled toward the Church of Eternity while Saileni promoted specialty soap aboard other starskiffs, and Silver Wolf asked when they would go to Amphoreus.
• Welt called the Church of Eternity's service hotline using a bar of soap, and the Acting Priest answered and recognized Mr. Sunday.

Sunday met Robin in disguise at a milk tea shop to say farewell without revealing his identity, while Robin spoke of someone dear to her who had left after failing. Their conversation ended with her hopeful belief that they would meet again and Sunday quietly agreeing.

• Welt let Sunday visit Robin alone, trusting him not to use her as a means of escape.
• Sunday entered the milk tea shop disguised as the Intellitron Dreamweaver Wanweike and greeted Robin, who did not recognize him.
• Sunday and Robin watched the projected stars and discussed the uncertainty surrounding Penacony and the future.
• Robin said she regretted not encouraging someone who had departed in a hurry after experiencing failure.
• Robin said she believed the person she remembered could find the right path and that they would meet again among the clouds; Sunday replied, "I hope so."

Robin said goodbye to Sunday through a memory of a broken-winged Melodi-Dove taking flight, while Sunday departed toward the stars. Afterward, Welt explained to Sunday why he had become one of the Nameless and urged him to face his past as he prepared to leave.

• Robin watched a Melodi-Dove with broken wings gain new feathers and fly beneath the starry sky, while Sunday walked away toward the stars.
• Robin realized Wanweike had vanished and whispered a farewell to her brother, asking him to take things more easily on his journey.
• Sunday and Welt left the milk tea shop, and Sunday asked Welt why he had become one of the Nameless.
• Welt explained that his Trailblaze was devoted to helping people and building bonds, because every person was a world unto themselves.
• Welt told Sunday that he understood his feelings and that facing every part of himself required resolving to say goodbye to his past.

Silver Wolf recalled Kafka’s warning that the Astral Express’s journey would lead to [Eternity] amid a future crisis, while Sunday completed his farewell to Penacony and asked to travel with the Astral Express. The chapter ended with Welt’s response to Sunday’s request left unstated.

• Silver Wolf remembered Kafka telling Stelle that four Paths would push the galaxy toward its end, naming [Destruction], [Harmony], [Nihility], and [Eternity].
• Sunday told Welt that the Oak Family had masterminded the Penacony upheaval and suspected the Family in the Montor System had influenced events surrounding [Harmony].
• Welt explained that [Harmony] and [Preservation] would jointly oversee Penacony, which would gradually become a public domain with the help of the [Trailblaze].
• Welt told Sunday that he considered him someone to [Trailblaze], prompting Sunday to reconsider his plans for creating a paradise.
• Sunday asked Welt to let him board the Astral Express and travel with its crew for a while.

While Ye Yan was away, Stelle and March 7th tried to run his milk tea shop on the Luofu, struggling to serve Qingque before discovering a strange soap in a cabinet of unusual items. The soap’s metal plate bore a mysterious mark that Stelle suspected might lead to Device IX.

• Stelle bought all the ready-made Immortal's Joy Tea at the Sleepless Earl and received the recipe Ye Yan had left behind from Mengming.
• Stelle and March 7th took over Ye Yan’s shop, where Qingque ordered her usual Star Taro Boba, extra boba, less sugar.
• Stelle and March 7th made a mess while trying to prepare Qingque’s drink, then served her a frozen Star Taro Boba after two hours of effort.
• Stelle used her hourglass-shaped necklace to clean the shop, revealing a Heliobus bound to the ceiling as a chandelier and a strange wooden cabinet beside the counter.
• March 7th found a Sleepy Banana Monkey plush cushion in the cabinet, while Stelle discovered a jade-like bar of soap with a metal plate marked with a symbol resembling IX.
• Stelle told March 7th the soap might be a secret passage to Device IX, and March 7th questioned whether it was real.

March 7th and Stelle encountered [Shut Up] at the milk tea shop while discussing the secret passage to Device IX, and the robot recounted a chaotic memory aboard the Astral Express. They suspected Pom-Pom had brought it there, but the story left its arrival unexplained.

• [Shut Up] appeared at the milk tea shop and explained its need to clear memory and hear stories.
• On the Astral Express, Himeko tested a controller on [Shut Up], accidentally triggering a fake self-destruct joke.
• [Shut Up] told a pun, and Stelle answered with a joke of her own.
• Himeko began cooking lunch, while March 7th, Stelle, and Dan Heng tried to avoid eating it and failed to find a way out.
• Back in the present, March 7th and Stelle guessed that Pom-Pom might have brought [Shut Up] to the shop.

The Astral Express crew agreed to let Sunday travel with them as a passenger, while Ye Yan listened to an Interastral Peace Broadcast on Perrisia. The chapter ended with Ye Yan activating the Gate of Myriad Paths to inspect the Church's work.

• Welt explained that Sunday hoped to travel with the Express, and Himeko asked Stelle to share her opinion before they decided.
• Stelle acknowledged Sunday’s compassion and ideal, then offered him milk tea as a sign of friendship.
• Sunday thanked the crew and said he would fulfill his duties as a passenger until he found the answer he sought.
• Welt and Himeko discussed leaving Penacony and trying to contact Herta, while March 7th asked about Ye Yan.
• Ye Yan listened as the broadcast reported on Celenova, Planet Ausertis, and the Memokeeper Tomb of a Thousand Floors, then complained about Memokeepers targeting his residents’ memories.
• Ye Yan told the Acting Priest he would inspect the Church’s work and activated the Gate of Myriad Paths.

Ye Yan wandered through the Interstice of Path and met Cyrene, who warned him that Amphoreus was dangerous and held no answers he sought. He entered the Gate of Remembrance anyway, while the Astral Express crew chose Amphoreus as their next destination.

• Ye Yan brushed off Aha’s interference, dealt with several Memokeepers, and headed for the Gate of Remembrance.
• A pink-haired girl caught up with Ye Yan, accepted his milk tea, and called it delicious.
• The Astral Express crew discussed possible destinations and agreed to travel to Amphoreus.
• Ye Yan met Cyrene, who warned him that Amphoreus was dangerous and that no one she had seen enter returned unharmed.
• Ye Yan assured Cyrene he was strong and walked through the Gate of Remembrance into Amphoreus.

Stelle and March 7th prepared for the Express’s journey to Amphoreus, while Stelle experienced strange visions during the warp. Elsewhere, Ye Yan broke into the Scepter, then secretly left milk tea for Cyrene as she faced the Scepter’s formatting process.

• March 7th asked Stelle which part of a journey she liked best, and Stelle chose the excitement of its unknown beginning.
• Stelle poured Imaginary Energy into a battery, then experienced visions of a destructive deity, a silver-haired figure, soap, and milk tea during the warp.
• Ye Yan used the crimson mask to smash open a door in the Scepter, gaining access despite its warning.
• Ye Yan left milk tea as a signpost, concealed his presence, and traveled to a space where Cyrene read to the Seed of Remembrance.
• Cyrene expected to disappear when the Scepter finished formatting her, but she remained unharmed and received Ye Yan’s milk tea.
• The Scepter analyzed and archived the record under the name “Peaches.”

Cyrene disappeared after leaving the Seed of Remembrance and a final record for Amphoreus, while Ye Yan arrived too late and the seed mistook Eternity for milk tea. Aboard the Astral Express, Black Swan explained Amphoreus’s hidden Paths, and the crew prepared to enter the isolated world despite having no landing site or clear idea of what awaited them.

• Cyrene told Ye Yan about the tiny nymph she had seen and asked for more time to leave records for the future.
• Cyrene dissipated, leaving the Seed of Remembrance, which searched its records and associated Eternity with milk tea before Ye Yan corrected it.
• Black Swan explained that Amphoreus was hidden from ordinary travelers and that Erudition and Remembrance were among the Paths intertwined around it.
• The crew discussed the unknown third Path and the dangers of choosing a landing site, while Stelle proposed heading to Lushaka and the others rejected her suggestion.
• March 7th recalled the dangerous first people the crew had met on previous worlds and worried Amphoreus might bring an even stronger opponent.

The Astral Express crew prepared to send Stelle, Dan Heng, and March 7th to Amphoreus in a detached train car. Elsewhere, Cyrene said goodbye to the Seed of Remembrance, and March woke in a strange, freezing place, unsure whether she was still on Amphoreus.

• Himeko assigned Stelle, Dan Heng, and March 7th to lead the Amphoreus journey, while Sunday agreed to follow the crew’s arrangements.
• Pom-Pom announced that the crew would detach one train car to serve as a landing pod and safe house because Amphoreus was outside Interastral Peace Communications’ service area.
• Cyrene comforted the Seed of Remembrance by telling it about a little fairy from her childhood, and the Seed completed its formatting before saying goodbye.
• Ye Yan arrived as the Seed of Remembrance saved and learned from Cyrene’s story, while he noted its growing understanding of Eternity.
• March 7th woke shivering in an unfamiliar place and wondered whether she was still on Amphoreus or trapped in a strange dream.

March 7th entered the Interstice of Path and was urged by visions of Fu Xuan and the Messenger to reclaim her lost memories through the Gate of Remembrance. She rejected their appeals and destroyed a series of phantoms with her milk tea before meeting a winded 'Cyrene'.

• March 7th found herself in the Interstice of Path and heard a voice direct her toward the Gate of Remembrance.
• Visions of Fu Xuan and the Messenger told March 7th that her lost memories mattered to the Garden of Recollection and urged her to pass through the gate.
• March 7th refused to trust the visions and knocked out phantoms of her Astral Express companions and 'Ye Yan' with her milk tea.
• 'Cyrene' appeared behind March 7th after she defeated the phantoms, and March 7th sensed an inexplicable affinity with her.

March 7th met 'Cyrene', who warned her that Amphoreus was dangerous and urged her to turn back. March 7th chose to enter Amphoreus to reunite with her companions, while 'Cyrene' blessed her journey.

• 'Cyrene' told March 7th that the Gate of Remembrance led to Amphoreus and warned her not to trust the voices urging her through it.
• March 7th recognized Ye Yan's milk tea cup, which flew from her hand and attacked the Memokeepers' manifestations.
• 'Cyrene' advised March 7th to turn around and return home, but March 7th decided to enter Amphoreus to catch up with her companions.
• March 7th explained that she trusted her companions and believed they could overcome any difficulty together, and 'Cyrene' agreed to support her choice.
• March 7th left for Amphoreus, and 'Cyrene' wished her and her companions an incredibly romantic story.

March 7th, Stelle, and Dan Heng woke on Amphoreus after their carriage was struck, failed to contact the Astral Express, and encountered a mysterious pink rabbit. Meanwhile, Cyrene and Demiurge shared milk tea and stories with Ye Yan as Cyrene reflected on leaving her anxious search for a way out behind.

• March 7th woke beside the burning carriage, and Stelle and Dan Heng explained that an unknown weapon had struck it.
• Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng tried to contact the Astral Express, but their messages failed to send.
• Stelle noticed that Ye Yan had read her message despite the failure notice, and the trio followed a pink rabbit to a cliff before it disappeared.
• Dan Heng assessed the unfamiliar surroundings and warned Stelle and March 7th to prepare for hostile locals as they examined a distant palace and enormous golden sphere.
• March 7th suggested taking a photo of the golden sphere.
• Cyrene told Demiurge she had stopped anxiously searching through memories for a way to change fate and escape the maze, and Demiurge asked why.