Chapter Summaries

Gustavo ambushed the sleeping Ironback Azure Bear in its cave, using his abilities and spider silk to overcome its formidable defenses. After killing the bear, he decided to devour it there, protected by its lingering might.

• Gustavo sneaked into the cave and chose the Ironback Azure Bear's kidneys as his target.
• Gustavo activated Muscle Berserk, Blood Qi Berserk, and Mental Resonance, then pierced and shredded the bear's internal organs.
• Gustavo trapped the wounded Ironback Azure Bear in a silver cage and used gravity to keep it from reaching the earth.
• The Ironback Azure Bear tried to flee, but Gustavo blocked the cave entrance and trapped it inside.
• After half an hour, the Ironback Azure Bear died, and Gustavo decided to devour it in the cave.

Gustavo devoured an Ironback Azure Bear and absorbed its genes and memories, then spent half a month recovering and integrating what he had learned. He emerged with greatly enhanced armor and gravity control, leaving him stronger but wary of using Soul Devourer again too soon.

• Gustavo devoured the Ironback Azure Bear and absorbed its gene fragments and memories, but the experience nearly overwhelmed his sense of self.
• Gustavo decided to avoid using Soul Devourer again until he had fully digested the bear’s soul, then slept cocooned in spider silk to recover and integrate its knowledge.
• After half a month, Gustavo emerged larger and covered in a thick, spiked silver exoskeleton.
• Gustavo checked his information panel and discovered the Thorn Iron Armor talent, improved physical stats, and Gravity Control Lv12, which let him exert up to 107 times Planet Pandora’s standard gravity.

After his strength increased, Gustavo built an Intermediate Gene Repository inside his body and reviewed how the seven talent tiers applied to his abilities. He left the Ironback Azure Bear's cave to hunt again, tested his improved flight, and found traces of prey.

• Gustavo's combat power rose to 645 Dale, and his [Exoskeleton Enhancement] evolved into [Thorn Iron Armor].
• Gustavo spent three days weaving a Gene Warehouse from spider silk, gravity, and energy, creating an Intermediate Gene Repository with a capacity of 100 units.
• Gustavo classified his talents according to the seven bloodline tiers and noted that [Predator] remained low-tier because he had not found a creature with a devouring-type bloodline talent.
• Gustavo left the Ironback Azure Bear's cave to search for the three seventh-tier magical beasts and tested his flight, reaching a maximum speed above sound and a sustainable speed of Mach 0.7.
• Gustavo landed after finding traces of his prey.

Gustavo ambushed the Nightblade Leopard at Hidden Star Lake and used his web, Air-Stasis Corridor, and gravity control to overwhelm it. After the leopard’s attack rebounded off his Thorn Iron Armor, Gustavo killed it and ate its heart.

• The Nightblade Leopard hunted and ate a Savage-Horned Rhinoceros beside Hidden Star Lake, unaware Gustavo was watching.
• Gustavo silently trapped the leopard in a web cage, then used Air-Stasis Corridor to force it out of Shadow Flash.
• Gustavo pounced on the leopard and combined 107-times gravity with Air-Stasis Corridor to cripple its movements.
• The Nightblade Leopard fired dark-element rays, but Gustavo’s Thorn Iron Armor deflected part of the attack into its eye.
• Gustavo wounded the leopard with his blade legs, killed it, and ate its heart.

Gustavo hunted two more seventh-tier magical beasts and filled his Gene Warehouse with gene fragments, then considered how to manage his gene chain’s limited capacity. He chose four talents to prioritize and began considering the Puppet Master’s method of using surplus fragments to cultivate puppets.

• Gustavo stored the Nightblade Leopard’s gene fragments and learned that his Predator talent had plundered six units, including no high-level fragments.
• Gustavo killed and devoured the Giant Terror Crocodile and Golden-Scaled Eagle, becoming the last High-Rank Transcendent Lifeform in the Hidden Star Lake region.
• Gustavo sorted his gene fragments, absorbed the useful ones, and decided that talent quality mattered more than acquiring many low-level talents.
• Gustavo chose to focus on improving [Predator], [Energy Optimization], [Spider-Sense], and [Thorn Iron Armor].
• Gustavo recalled that a predecessor nicknamed the Puppet Master had used surplus gene fragments to cultivate a powerful puppet legion.

Gustavo planned to create a Soul Library for storing soul memories and began brewing an incomplete version of the deadly poison Hades. In Night City, Diwoer divined his location for Brooks, who sent Elia and five others after him, while Index secretly intervened and decided to let Gustavo handle them himself.

• Gustavo realized his puppets needed stored soul information, named the planned organ the Soul Library, and set out his many research and training goals.
• Gustavo prepared materials and began concocting a severely incomplete version of the four-star poison Hades.
• Diwoer returned to Brooks Mercenary Corps headquarters, warned that war might come early to the Elven Plane, and divined Gustavo's location from his spider silk.
• Index sensed the divination, learned that Brooks was targeting Number Two, and left the Fallen Star Nest to investigate.
• Index appeared in the Dark Night Temple, reassured Archbishop Andre, then watched Brooks send Elia, Rig, and four others to attack Gustavo before deciding to leave them to him.

Gustavo struggled to refine Hades after its poisonous gas overwhelmed him, realizing he needed greater poison resistance before continuing his experiments. Meanwhile, Elia's mercenary squad traveled toward the Land of Falling Stars, driven by her desire to avenge her family and the tragic loss of Tula.

• Gustavo failed three times to incorporate the Legendary Dark Nightmare Beast's blood into Hades and decided to seek poison-resistance gene fragments.
• Gustavo waited for the poisonous gas to disperse, entered the cave, and began a fourth attempt.
• Elia argued with Lennar about taking a detour around the Land of Falling Stars' core region, then reluctantly accepted the explanation.
• Trisha learned from April that Elia and Tula had once been lovers, and that Elia's family had been slaughtered and Tula had died before they reunited.
• Elia remembered that she had survived through her family's healing talent and had chosen to have her bloodline modified, then ordered the mercenary squad to continue toward revenge.

Gustavo concocted incomplete Hades Poison and gained the Poison Calamity Body talent while hunting near Hidden Star Lake. When he returned to his cave, Lennar's mercenaries ambushed him and trapped the area in a spatial prison.

• Gustavo completed an incomplete batch of Hades Poison, raised his poison-making skill to level 23, and planned to hunt and begin making puppets.
• Gustavo killed and ate a Thousand-Footed Black-Spotted Centipede, forming the Poison Calamity Body talent and increasing his combat power.
• Gustavo collected the centipede's remains as puppet-making materials and returned toward his cave.
• Spider-Sense warned Gustavo of an ambush, so he pulled up as Lennar ordered the mercenaries to attack.
• Elia flew after Gustavo while Lennar opened a Legendary scroll and enclosed the surrounding area in the Alternate Space Prison.
• Gustavo recognized the spatial spell and reacted with alarm.

Brooks’s mercenaries trapped Gustavo in an Alternate Space Prison and launched a coordinated assault, but Gustavo unleashed his full power and released Hades. The mercenaries and Elia were pinned down as Gustavo formed a second cage inside the prison, leaving Hades’s release as the battle’s turning point.

• Brooks sent Lennar, Rig, Elia, and the mercenaries to kill Gustavo, giving Lennar a Legendary scroll to trap him in an Alternate Space Prison.
• Lennar used Mind Contract and Mind Lightning Chain while directing the mercenaries’ attacks, but Gustavo’s Primordial Qi Tyrant Body resisted the control effect.
• Elia kept Gustavo occupied as the mercenaries’ crossbow bolts damaged his silver protective film, forcing him to fight back before they overwhelmed him.
• Gustavo unleashed a surge of silver energy that knocked the mercenaries and Elia to the ground, then used Air-Stasis Corridor to form a web cage within the prison.
• Gustavo detonated the cloth bag and unleashed Hades.

Gustavo used Hades to poison the mercenaries trapped in Lennar’s Alternate Space Prison, though the poison also severely injured his soul. He killed the remaining survivors and learned from April about the Crimson Terror.

• Gustavo released Hades, killing or incapacitating all 106 mercenaries despite their antidotes.
• Lennar, Elia, and April survived, but they were too weak or unable to escape the Alternate Space Prison.
• Gustavo pushed the physical poison mist away and killed Elia with spider silk.
• Gustavo killed Lennar after refusing to reveal his race, then promised April freedom in exchange for information.
• April explained the parchment’s contents, and Gustavo killed him before turning his thoughts to the Crimson Terror.

Gustavo learned that the parchment was a key to the demiplane once occupied by the red dragon Gou Site Nicholas, the Crimson Terror. With the next spacetime-tide fluctuation about three years away, Gustavo planned to use the parchment to enter the demiplane.

• A terrified ratman told Gustavo about the parchment, the Brooks Mercenary Corps, and their operation.
• Gustavo learned that Gou Site Nicholas had used a demiplane to evade enemies and that a dragon-hunting team had secretly tracked its spacetime tides.
• The dragon-hunting team entered Gou Site's demiplane with Walpole's guidance, then disappeared after leaving behind parchment keys as a contingency.
• Gustavo learned that the next spacetime-tide fluctuation would occur in about three years and realized the parchment could guide him into the demiplane.

Gustavo escaped an Earth Flame Python’s attack after emerging from the alternate space, while Diwoer’s divination led her to flee Night City. Left alone, Brooks agreed to join the Ashes organization.

• Gustavo collected intact corpses and claimed the Legendary Stokes Cloak, renaming it the Shadow Cloak while he waited for the alternate space to open.
• An Earth Flame Python ambushed Gustavo as the alternate space collapsed, but he resisted its gravity and fire long enough to escape under cover of the Shadow Cloak.
• Diwoer divined Brooks’s fate, grew frightened by what she learned, and told Brooks she was leaving for Planet Guta.
• Brooks let Diwoer go, then called an old contact and agreed to join [Ashes].

Madam Poison signed the ceasefire agreement after Pudong explained that the Snake Gang had no choice, then considered splitting from him rather than giving up her leadership. At the victory banquet, Logo offered the gathered clans 1,500 Heavenly Eye Mechas, leaving them stunned.

• Pudong pressured Madam Poison to sign the agreement with the three great clans, and she eventually signed.
• Madam Poison apologized to Pudong, then objected when he teased her about her performance.
• Duke suggested that Madam Poison split from Pudong, and she agreed while naming the Three-Eyed People and Red Ghost as concerns.
• The three great clans celebrated their victory over the Snake Gang, while Logo drew attention as a renowned young warrior.
• Logo presented a Heavenly Eye Mecha he had developed and offered the gathered families 1,500 of them, astonishing the banquet guests.

Logo gave the gathered family heads 1,500 Heavenly Eye Mecha for free, using the gift to introduce his business strategy. He planned to keep the core technology under Campbell Family control while drawing the three major clans and outside powers into a network of shared interests, but he reminded himself to expand gradually.

• Logo assured the viscounts that the 1,500 Heavenly Eye Mecha were free and would be delivered to their castles within days.
• The family heads thanked Logo and praised his generosity, warming to him after accepting the gift.
• Logo planned to use the mecha's performance to persuade the families to buy more and join a wider network of business agreements and shared interests.
• He intended to expand production, develop new mecha and compatible products, and retain control of the core technology while involving other families in supporting industries.
• Logo planned to consolidate the three major clans before turning his attention to other clans and the Royal Court, then decided not to rush.

After the Snake Gang's defeat, Logo used the Royal Court's first 14.6-million-Ta-Pound patent royalty payment to launch the Campbell Family's development plan. Annabelle summoned him to the Thorn Clan over a bloodline-science problem involving Tiffany and her younger brother.

• The three great clans and seven great families divided the Snake Gang's spoils, bringing the Campbell Family territory, slaves, and about 600,000 Ta Pounds in annual income.
• Logo told Lunbate to manage partnerships with fifty-seven suppliers after transferring funds to the family account.
• Logo visited Crassus in the underground laboratory, where Crassus showed him a new sniper cannon called the Heaven-Shaking Cannon.
• Logo explained to Crassus that he had given the three great clans 1,500 Heavenly Eye Mechas and planned to do business with them to prevent jealousy over the Campbell Family's growth.
• Annabelle asked Logo about bloodline science and summoned him to the Thorn Clan because Tiffany and her younger brother had a problem.
• Logo called Melier to accompany him to the Thorn Clan.

Logo agreed to treat Tiffany and Sherlock’s bloodline curse and prepared a mysterious dark ritual after Annabelle promised him two items from her private collection. He began the ritual with the siblings at its center, leaving their fate unresolved.

• Annabelle summoned spellcasters and alchemists to seek a cure for Tiffany and Sherlock, whose injuries had triggered their bloodline curse.
• The gathered experts admitted they could not help, but Logo said he had some confidence and accepted Annabelle’s offer of two items from her private collection.
• Logo examined the siblings and noticed that both shared the talents Goddess of Luck’s Embrace and Fate Entanglement, making them suitable heirs to a profession he had in mind.
• Annabelle brought Logo the requested dark materials and three soul crystals, then used her power to clear everyone from the room at his request.
• Logo ground the materials into powder, drew a dark design on the floor, placed Tiffany and Sherlock at its center, crushed one soul crystal, and invoked the Dark Twins.

Logo used a profession initiation ritual to suppress the bloodline curse afflicting Tiffany and her brother, awakening their Dark Twin Stars profession. Annabelle rewarded him by letting him choose a treasure from her collection, and Logo chose the riskier option, confident in his Eye of Insight.

• Logo performed the Dark Twin Stars initiation ritual, and the siblings' souls entered the paired stars before returning to their bodies as their curse receded.
• Logo told the gathered spellcasters that the twins' special constitutions had let him activate their resistance to the curse, while Annabelle confirmed they had inherited a powerful profession.
• Annabelle thanked Logo, gave him Amethyst Hornet honey, and took him to her mage tower to fulfill her promise of a reward.
• Annabelle offered Logo either a free choice from her collection or two items of at least three-star fine quality that she would choose for him.
• Logo selected the free-choice option, and Annabelle warned him that his choice could not be exchanged.

Logo chose a Starry Sky Crystal Stone and a Gru Heavy Shield from Annabelle’s collection, despite her frantic attempts to reclaim them. He gave the shield to Melier and kept the crystal for his planned spatial alchemy tower, while considering his next projects.

• Logo used his Eye of Insight to inspect Annabelle’s collectibles and selected a Legend-quality Starry Sky Crystal Stone and a Gru Heavy Shield.
• Annabelle regretted letting Logo choose freely and pleaded with him to return one of the treasures, but he left with both.
• Tiffany and Sherlock learned that Logo had taken valuable pieces from Annabelle’s collection, and Annabelle took out her frustration by beating them at the training ground.
• Annabelle told Tiffany and Sherlock to spend more time with Logo and learn from him about their new classes.
• Logo gave the Gru Heavy Shield to Melier and stored the Starry Sky Crystal Stone for his future alchemy tower.

Lancelot reunited with his friends in Leite City before returning to Bolake City, where he received and tested the weapon he had designed. He named the versatile, 502-piece weapon the Steel Feather Cloak.

• Lancelot shared drinks and reminisced with Burke, Rui, and Cole in Leite City before they parted ways.
• Lancelot left Leite City aboard a shuttle and returned to his estate in Bolake City.
• Lancelot opened the package containing his reward for winning the second trial, a weapon forged by the Kahn Province Equipment Department.
• Lancelot activated the metal feathers and watched them transform into armor, weapons, and other forms.
• Lancelot named the weapon the Steel Feather Cloak and considered its uses for both defense and combat.

Lancelot spent two months training and using potions to greatly increase his attributes and combat power before traveling to Holy Sword Academy to enroll. He arrived at the academy’s main gate, ready to begin his studies.

• Lancelot reviewed his improved attributes, abilities, and skills, which had raised his maximum combat power to 356, in the upper-middle range of Tier Five.
• He credited his rapid growth to his experience, abundant resources, and the Star Swallowing Technique, which helped him absorb potions.
• After a brief rest, Lancelot packed his luggage and flew south to Holy Sword Academy.
• A drone challenged Lancelot in the academy’s military no-fly zone, then granted him access after he presented his special invitation.
• Lancelot flew to the main gate, looked up at the academy, and declared that he had arrived.