Chapter Summaries

Stelle and Ye Yan met the Release Gang, whose members argued over the animals and substances they had released into Scalegorge Waterscape. Ye Yan refused to join, but the group voted to let Stelle join and began discussing her initiation trial.

• Zhongshan introduced Stelle and Ye Yan to the Release Gang and claimed Stelle wanted to join, while Beina learned that Stelle had killed the wolves responsible for the missing Faunus Red-Fleeced Sheep.
• Donia confronted Zhongshan over the wolves, and the members argued about the sheep, wolves, alfalfa, and mineral water they had released.
• Ye Yan explained the high-calorie Scalegorge Ice Spring and promoted his milk tea before Zhongshan and Stelle interrupted Screwllum's attempt to discuss the Church of Eternity.
• Zhongshan urged Ye Yan to join alongside Stelle, but Ye Yan refused, while Stelle pretended to lament being left to bear everything alone.
• Donia, Beina, and Hisman voted to allow Stelle to join, while Donia and Nannan objected, and the group began planning Stelle's initiation trial.

Stelle joined the Release Gang’s initiation trial, which required her to solve the food-chain conflict among its Three Great Philanthropists. As Stelle and Zhongshan searched for a solution, Screwllum planned to make the philanthropists experience being released themselves.

• Ye Yan explained that the Release Gang’s released creatures had formed a food chain, and Stelle agreed to join the group and help resolve the problem.
• Zhongshan assigned Stelle and herself a trial: find a solution that satisfied Beina, Donia, and Hisman, whose creatures were eating one another.
• Screwllum told Ye Yan that he had been rejected by the Release Gang while trying to spread the Church of Eternity, and decided to turn the group’s release practice against its members.
• Stelle proposed releasing the Three Great Philanthropists to solve the food-chain problem, but Zhongshan suggested instead finding a kind of life that met all three members’ needs.

Stelle investigated the Release Gang’s requirements and grew suspicious that Zhongshan knew something about inorganic life. In Aurum Alley, Scott challenged the Merchant Guild over unpaid dock rent, but a Church of Eternity notice appeared promising to fund the alley’s revitalization.

• Stelle asked Donia, Beina, and Hisman what kinds of life their factions wanted to release, then concluded they needed an endangered, ferocious plant.
• Stelle suggested reviving the Ambrosial Arbor, but Zhongshan rejected the idea and discussed other possibilities, including mechanical creatures.
• When Zhongshan mentioned an Intellitron nearby, Stelle drew her bat and demanded that she explain herself.
• Fulisina and March 7th went to the docks, where Scott berated the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild over its unpaid rent and Sushang defended the guild.
• Scott proposed a bet that would make the loser apologize publicly and bark like a dog, and Fulisina accepted on the guild’s behalf.
• A parchment appeared announcing that the Church of Eternity would fund Aurum Alley’s reconstruction and revitalization.

Fulisina used an illusion to expose Scott’s supposed subsidy notice as real, while Stelle lost Zhongshan as her mentor and Screwllum took over her questions. At Scalegorge Waterscape, Stelle, Screwllum, and Ye Yan persuaded the Release Gang to release repaired Automaton Soldiers as endangered life.

• Fulisina used her [Eternity] illusion and an [Aether Cartridge] to make Scott believe the subsidy notice was genuine, and Sushang recognized Fulisina in the crowd.
• After Stelle exposed Zhongshan as a thrill-seeker from the [Tavern], Screwllum replaced her as Stelle’s mentor and agreed that mechanical life could count as plants for the release plan.
• Screwllum questioned Stelle about her interest in Jarilo-VI’s outdated machines, then collected and repaired discarded Automaton Soldiers.
• Stelle covered a machine with dirt and a seedling to demonstrate its plant-like qualities, leaving Screwllum speechless.
• At Scalegorge Waterscape, Stelle and Ye Yan helped Screwllum persuade Donia and the other Release Gang members that the Automaton Soldiers were endangered life from a declining civilization.
• The six watched the Automaton Soldiers leave, completing the Release Gang’s initiation trial.

Screwllum left Stelle a milk tea cushion containing a recording that explained the Release Gang’s fate and thanked her for helping. At the Tavern, Zhongshan received a compensation gift from the Church, which Giovanni opened to reveal a bar of soap.

• Aboard the Astral Express, Ye Yan told the crew about the Release Gang, and March 7th recounted how she and Fulisina had resolved Aurum Alley’s commercial crisis.
• Stelle activated the milk tea cushion and heard Screwllum explain that it was a gift and that he was drifting through space while waiting for the Church to rescue him.
• Screwllum said the Release Gang’s three masters of merit had released one another and received new homes, while Nannan had been reprimanded and Zhongshan had received an apology gift.
• At the Tavern, Zhongshan told a masked, white-haired man that she had been beaten by the Astral Express crew and discussed the Express’s adventures on Jarilo-VI.
• Zhongshan asked Giovanni di Giorgio da Epsilon to open her compensation gift, and he found a bar of soap inside.

As the Astral Express headed for Penacony, March 7th accepted Bronya’s invitation to Belobog’s Paskonja Festival. On Jarilo-VI, Topaz learned that Oswaldo was recovering and that the IPC had identified the person who framed him: Ye Yan.

• Ye Yan, Welt, and the Astral Express crew listened to the Interastral Peace Broadcast, which reported that Herta had allied with the IPC and that the Masked Fools had requested an investigation into an attack on their Tavern.
• March 7th and Stelle received Bronya’s invitation and agreed that the Astral Express crew would attend Belobog’s Paskonja Festival.
• Topaz arrived on Jarilo-VI with Numby and received a call from Aventurine.
• Aventurine told Topaz that Oswaldo’s condition had improved and that Diamond had sent the identity of the person who framed him.
• A virtual screen displayed Ye Yan’s face and a high-definition video.

March 7th and Stelle invited the Astral Express crew to Belobog for the Paskonja Festival, but Dan Heng, Ye Yan, and Himeko each declined for their own reasons. March 7th and Stelle were left to make the trip together.

• March 7th asked Dan Heng why he had not replied to Bronya, and he said he needed time to recover after the Luofu while wishing the travelers well.
• Stelle invited Ye Yan to Belobog, but he refused after a divination favored staying put and his intuition warned him Aha might cause trouble.
• March 7th told Stelle that Dan Heng and Ye Yan would not go, and they decided to ask Himeko instead.
• Himeko declined because she had matters to attend to, but she encouraged March 7th and Stelle to enjoy Belobog's expression of gratitude.

March 7th and Stelle prepared to travel to Jarilo-VI for its celebration, and Blake abandoned his Church duties to take a vacation there as well. Blake arrived at the Everwinter workshop and unexpectedly came face-to-face with Fulisina and Serval.

• March 7th dressed up and packed for the Jarilo-VI celebration, while Stelle quickly gathered her belongings and persuaded Ye Yan to open a portal for them.
• Blake learned that the search for Screwllum had turned up only its phone, then decided to leave the Church’s responsibilities to the Acting Priest and go after the missing elf.
• Blake vanished from the Eternity Sanctuary and traveled toward Jarilo-VI, choosing the planet’s festival as his vacation destination.
• Blake arrived outside the Everwinter workshop and was surprised to encounter Fulisina, while Serval reacted with the greatest astonishment.

Stelle and March 7th arrived on Jarilo-VI for the festivities and encountered Topaz, who was there on Corporation business and grew wary when they mentioned the Church of Eternity. Back on the Party Car, Silver Wolf lamented her losing streak while Ye Yan offered her milk tea and asked why she had skipped the festival.

• Topaz surveyed Belobog from the Outlying Snow Plains and reflected that its debts still had to be repaid.
• Stelle and March 7th arrived on the Outlying Snow Plains and noticed a Corporation employee in unusual armor.
• The employee reported the pair and asked Topaz whether to silence them, prompting Topaz to hurry over and stop him.
• Topaz introduced herself as an Interastral Peace Corporation investment specialist and learned that Stelle and March 7th were Nameless who had helped Belobog.
• Topaz became wary when Stelle and March 7th credited the Church of Eternity with helping Belobog, recalling the Corporation's detection of Emanator-level energy from the Church.
• Silver Wolf complained to Ye Yan about losing her promotion match, and Ye Yan offered her secret-recipe milk tea before asking why she had not gone to Jarilo-VI's festival.

March 7th, Stelle, and Topaz parted ways after discussing the Corporation and Jarilo-VI’s festival, while Ye Yan and Silver Wolf arrived in Belobog and found the Administrative District transformed. They learned that the Church of Eternity’s knight commander had rebuilt the district and created its mysterious new statue.

• Topaz exchanged contact information with March 7th, then left with her Corporation colleagues while March 7th and Stelle continued toward the city.
• Silver Wolf and Ye Yan arrived in Belobog, where Silver Wolf recognized the Church of Eternity’s influence in the changed Administrative District.
• Gepard welcomed Ye Yan and Silver Wolf, warned them about festival pickpockets, and confirmed the Silvermane Guards were satisfied with Ye Yan’s modified weapons.
• Ye Yan asked Gepard about the statue called “Eternity,” and Gepard explained that a red-haired Church architect had arrived after the Astral Express Crew left to rebuild the district.
• Ye Yan revealed that the architect was the Church of Eternity’s knight commander, who had completed the impressive reconstruction within days.

Stelle and March 7th explored Belobog before reuniting with Bronya, who was shaken by Topaz’s proposal concerning Jarilo-VI’s debt to the IPC. Bronya began explaining the planet’s buried history as she faced the decision.

• Ye Yan stayed at the Goethe Hotel and wondered where Stelle and the others were.
• Stelle and March 7th visited the [Eternity] sculpture, explored the Administrative District, and grew tired from sightseeing.
• Topaz told Bronya that Belobog’s debt could not be written off and urged her to consider the IPC’s plan for the planet.
• Stelle and March 7th arrived as Topaz finished her discussion with Bronya, and Topaz said IPC colleagues would begin necessary work in Belobog.
• Bronya admitted she had little energy left for the Paskonja Festival and began telling Stelle and March 7th that key events from Belobog’s history had been buried.

Bronya told March 7th and Stelle that the Interastral Peace Corporation had sent Topaz to collect Jarilo-VI’s century-old loan, which had grown into an astronomical debt. March 7th and Stelle agreed to seek Topaz’s understanding while Bronya considered how Belobog could respond.

• Bronya explained that the Architects borrowed money from the Corporation’s investors to defend Jarilo-VI, with repayment due after 280 years.
• Bronya said the Corporation had classified the loan as bad debt after losing contact with Jarilo-VI, but Topaz had arrived to collect the principal and interest and was authorized to use force if the debt remained overdue.
• Stelle and March 7th concluded that Belobog could not handle the Corporation alone, and Bronya asked them and the Astral Express for help.
• Bronya declined to involve the Church because she felt it had already done too much for Belobog, while Stelle considered force and then chose to try persuading Topaz.
• March 7th and Stelle set out to find Topaz as Bronya stayed behind to plan Belobog’s response.

March 7th and Stelle tried to persuade Topaz to reconsider the Corporation’s demands on Belobog, while Ye Yan watched Fulisina make an unexpected recruitment pitch to Numby. The chapter left Topaz’s response to the Nameless’ appeal unresolved and Fulisina attempting to recruit a Warp Trotter into the Church of Eternity.

• March 7th and Stelle found Topaz appraising paintings at the museum and brought up Belobog’s debt.
• Topaz explained that collecting debts was her job and hinted that she had proposed a solution to Bronya before catching herself nearly revealing a business secret.
• March 7th produced a box of soap, and Stelle invoked Eternity while tossing an ∞-shaped bar onto the floor.
• Ye Yan watched Numby drink milk tea while Fulisina theatrically drank coffee at the Goethe Hotel.
• Fulisina crouched in front of Numby and invited the Warp Trotter to join the Church of Eternity for free.

Blake supplied Svarog with strategic weapons while warning that organizations had noticed Jarilo-VI’s recovery. In Belobog, Stelle’s Church of Eternity claims and Topaz’s determination to complete the Corporation’s project left the Astral Express crew with no clear way to help Bronya, and March 7th wondered whether her lost memories had included going to school.

• Blake gave Svarog a bag of strategic weapons and told him that Jarilo-VI’s rebirth had attracted the attention of certain organizations.
• Topaz recognized the soap Stelle and March 7th carried and suspected that the Church of Eternity was involved in the attack on Director Schneider.
• Stelle identified herself as a dual Pathstrider of the Church and asked whether Topaz intended to contest the Church’s protection of Jarilo-VI.
• Topaz said the Corporation’s plan would consider Belobog’s welfare, but declared that she would complete the Jarilo-VI project regardless of the Church.
• After Topaz left, March 7th and Stelle agreed that opposing the Corporation could risk a war and worried about Bronya’s situation.
• March 7th questioned whether she had attended school before losing her memory, and Stelle related to her amnesia.

Seele told Stelle and March 7th that Corporation employees had seized the Great Mine, prompting the Astral Express crew to go help. Ye Yan joined them and left the Corporation envoy to the Church, while Topaz confronted Svarog at the Robot Settlement and claimed Jarilo-VI would become Corporation property before someone challenged her claim.

• Seele messaged Stelle that Corporation employees had taken over the Great Mine and were overpowering Wildfire and the Silvermane Guards.
• Stelle and March 7th agreed to help, and they encountered Ye Yan in Boulder Town, who told them to handle the mine while the Church dealt with the Corporation envoy.
• Stelle and March 7th met Seele at the mine entrance, where she reported that Corporation employees and combat robots controlled the mine and had injured several Wildfire members.
• Ye Yan offered the group a choice between confronting the guards and sneaking into the mine, and Seele marched up to challenge the two employees blocking the entrance.
• Topaz met Svarog and Clara at the Robot Settlement, sent Clara away, and declared that Jarilo-VI would soon become Corporation property.
• A voice behind Topaz said Jarilo-VI already belonged to the Church of Eternity.

Topaz confronted Blake, who demanded Diamond meet him as an equal and hinted that another powerful figure was present on Jarilo-VI. Meanwhile, Seele, Stelle, and March 7th challenged the Corporation’s occupation of the Great Mine, and the standoff turned toward a fight.

• Blake appeared behind Topaz, identified himself as Chair of the Church of Eternity, and asked her to stop communicating with the Corporation’s leadership.
• Blake told Topaz that Diamond would need to appear if the Corporation wanted to speak to him as an equal, then suggested that Jarilo-VI did not warrant three Emanators.
• Stelle, March 7th, and Seele entered the Great Mine through Ye Yan’s Gate of Myriad Paths to confront the Corporation employees.
• Seele challenged a Corporation team leader piloting a Grizzly and demanded that the Corporation leave the mine.
• The team leader defended the asset seizure as Corporation policy, and Seele rejected further discussion and prepared to fight.

At the Mechanical Settlement, Blake agreed to help Topaz protect Jarilo-VI from acquisition by the Interastral Peace Corporation, and Fulisina proposed pledging the Church’s reputation as a guarantee. After Topaz reported back, the company’s executives abandoned the acquisition when they learned the Church might secure them an item belonging to Qlipoth.

• Topaz asked Blake and Svarog for the Church’s help, offering Belobog’s automaton systems and a hidden Underworld arsenal as leverage.
• Blake agreed to cooperate only with the Strategic Investment Department and warned Topaz to tell her superiors that opposing the Church could lead to war.
• Blake changed the subject when Topaz raised Jarilo-VI’s debt, and Fulisina appeared and proposed pledging the reputations of the Church and Eternity to protect the planet.
• Topaz accepted the proposal and sent her report to the IPC’s senior executives.
• The executives weighed the risks of confronting the Church and its Emanators, then changed their minds after Topaz reported that Blake had secured Yite’s agreement to provide an item belonging to Qlipoth as compensation.

The company executives watched Duke Inferno Afrit declare that his children would attack Penacony and seize the authority of [Eternity], then learned that Ye Yan was accused of attacking the company’s director. At the Mechanical Settlement on Jarilo-VI, Topaz turned to Fulisina and Blake as their expressions darkened.

• Afrit assigned Akash, Dubra, Katrina, and Constance roles in an assault on Penacony and declared their goal was to take [Eternity]’s authority from Yite.
• The company executives debated whether to respond to the Annihilation Gang, while some argued the Church should handle the threat.
• Afrit revealed that an emissary of [Elation] had told him the company’s director had been attacked and blamed Ye Yan, calling him [Eternity]’s loyal hound.
• The company executives were stunned by the revelation and chose to focus on the Cremators instead.
• On Jarilo-VI, Topaz watched the video and turned to Fulisina and Blake, whose expressions had darkened.

After a fabricated video accused Ye Yan of assassinating company executive Oswaldo Schneider, Blake and Fulisina set out to confront the Annihilation Gang and the Tavern. Topaz learned of the Church of Eternity’s Jarilo-VI contract and was recruited by Aventurine for a Penacony deal, while Silver Wolf mistakenly blamed Ye Yan for the attack.

• Blake and Fulisina dismissed Topaz’s attempt to calm them and left to confront the Annihilation Gang and deliver local specialties to the Tavern.
• Aventurine told Topaz that the Church of Eternity had signed a contract for Jarilo-VI and that Diamond had won Taravan’s vote for their department.
• Aventurine asked Topaz to join a major Penacony deal as project manager, and she was surprised that Diamond had chosen him for it.
• Silver Wolf showed Ye Yan the footage accusing him of attacking Oswaldo Schneider and assumed he was responsible because he was an Emanator of Eternity.

After Topaz resolved the debt dispute with Bronya, Stelle and March 7th stayed on Jarilo-VI to enjoy the Paskonja Festival. Ye Yan caught the Masked Fool behind the rumors and sent it into his [Eternity] space, while Stelle and March 7th became interested in Aetherium Wars and Silver Wolf challenged Ye Yan to play.

• Topaz explained that the Corporation had halted its debt collection on Jarilo-VI after learning the planet was under the jurisdiction of the [Church of Eternity], and Bronya thanked the visitors for their help.
• Topaz returned to the Corporation's headquarters, leaving Stelle and March 7th time to enjoy the Paskonja Festival on Jarilo-VI.
• Ye Yan bound Aha's Fool's Mask and accused it of inciting Afrit, impersonating him to commit a crime, and fabricating the crime scene before tossing it into a black hole.
• At the Everwinter Monument, March 7th read about Aetherium Wars and persuaded Stelle to check out the game and its tournament.
• Silver Wolf challenged Ye Yan to Aetherium Wars, but Ye Yan showed little interest, and March 7th said the game did not feel as good as [Eternity].