Chapter Summaries

Nuocijie, Dafulin, and their companions arrived at Northern Ice Island, where Lanmo and Yuya showed them how Charybdis was being cared for and how the Feather Race and Naga worked together. They then set out to find the Ice Descendant Tribe’s hidden base, using snow crane flies to track its spies.

• Lanmo carried the group to Charybdis, where he explained that workers fed and insulated the enormous creature and that Zhimeng had established communication with him.
• Yuya described how Naga workers helped care for Charybdis under strict contracts as part of the reconciliation between the Naga Clan and the Bone King’s side.
• Nuocijie found a grain of Eversong Rice on Charybdis and learned that it had likely fallen accidentally during supply transport.
• Lanmo and Yuya led the group to a snowy area where they had been unable to locate the Ice Descendant Tribe’s hideout.
• Nuocijie and Dafulin offered the three human trafficker prisoners their freedom if they found ten spies, threatening punishment for each one they missed.
• The prisoners enchanted and marked snow crane flies, which the imperial guards released to track the Ice Descendant Tribe by following the insects’ attraction to its ice crystals.

Su Ming managed Draw Sword’s vehicle repair division on the South American front, met the Tayan psionic observer Lilishan, and helped recover and dismantle the damaged Chilong No. 002. After learning that Nitelai’s attack had devastated the frontline repair station, Su Ming was appointed head of Special Repair Two and arranged for He Ran to transfer there as well.

• Zhimeng placed Su Ming at the Draw Sword base in Ecuador, where Minister Chen ordered his vehicle repair division to expand as the South American forces advanced toward the Amazon Jungle.
• Su Ming met Lilishan, a Tayan psionic observer who used a mirror cube to record and transmit the changing crystal arrays of the Clock Hand powerhouse Nitelai.
• Miao Xin brought He Ran to the base after He Ran bypassed efforts to keep her in the rear and secured a transfer to the front; Su Ming agreed to watch over her.
• During an intense battle, Su Ming led a team into the jungle, dismantled the damaged Chilong No. 002, and destroyed the crane’s external equipment to retreat before nightfall.
• Minister Chen told Su Ming that Nitelai’s attack had bombed the frontline repair station and appointed him head of Special Repair Two; Su Ming asked to transfer He Ran there too.

Su Ming managed the repair of Chilong 002 while helping Lilishan train and overseeing the work of his newly transferred team. After He Ran was burned sealing a leaking chemical tank, he sent her back for treatment, then offered to repair Miao Xin’s damaged mechanical hand.

• Su Ming took charge of Special Repair Two, helped Lilishan improve her Rubik’s Cube skills, and spoke with Miao Xin about keeping He Ran nearby.
• Su Ming’s team patched and cleaned Chilong 002, and he insisted the aging mech would return to battle despite its weakened structure.
• During the flushing operation, Hornless Dragon 025 pierced a tank of cleaning fluid, and He Ran sealed its leaks before Yugan pulled her out of the flames.
• Su Ming arranged for He Ran to receive treatment in the rear, and Miao Xin tearfully said goodbye to her sister at the airport.
• Su Ming noticed damage to Miao Xin’s mechanical hand and took her back to his room to repair it.

Su Ming repaired Miao Xin’s mechanical hand, and the two became a couple after sharing a kiss. While exploring the Emerald Dream’s possible connection to reality, Su Ming later devised a tactic using Miao Xin and the aging Chilong 002 to lure Nitelai into targeting it.

• Su Ming repaired Miao Xin’s mechanical hand, and after she confessed her feelings, they kissed and began a relationship.
• Su Ming noticed that a memory from reality overlapped with the Emerald Dream and planned to verify dream information against real military records.
• Su Ming watched the Chilong 002’s test and saw that its outdated systems put heavy demands on its inexperienced pilot.
• At Lilishan’s birthday meal, she and Yugan shared stories of their pasts and the losses they had suffered in the war.
• Su Ming and Miao Xin discussed their feelings and agreed to pursue marriage after the war, while He Ran angrily confronted them over her repatriation.
• Su Ming proposed that Miao Xin pilot the Chilong 002 as bait for Nitelai, and Chihuo approved the tactic.

Su Ming and the repair crews sent Chilong 002 back into battle with Yugan welding its damaged engine mount in flight, where Miao Xin and Lilishan nearly defeated Nitelai before Chihuo ordered Miao Xin to let him escape. Chihuo revealed that he was using Nitelai’s losses to weaken Barcelos’s defenses for a planned assault, while Su Ming confronted him over the two allied soldiers killed to preserve the deception.

• Su Ming directed repairs on Chilong 018 and 002 as the mechs returned from the offensive, and Miao Xin knocked down 018’s pilot after he mocked her.
• When an allied unit came under threat, Su Ming ordered Yugan to weld Chilong 002’s fractured engine mount during takeoff, and Miao Xin piloted the mech back into battle.
• Miao Xin and Lilishan coordinated against Nitelai, who escaped after Chihuo secretly ordered Miao Xin to miss her shots and destroy an empty allied vehicle.
• Su Ming confronted Chihuo, who explained that Nitelai’s losses would draw more Magic Power crystals away from Barcelos and help prepare a surprise attack on Eden’s main base.
• Su Ming learned that Chihuo had deliberately sacrificed two allied soldiers to make the deception convincing, then left after angrily confronting him; Chihuo found the real cigarettes Su Ming had left behind.

Su Ming used the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet’s new ability to teleport an entire Ausmelt smelting line to Ruby Base, then discovered the bracelet could form a mysterious girl who identified herself as Dawn and Dusk. He remained exhausted and puzzled by his dream as the Pansy returned to port for modifications.

• Su Ming woke after a day unconscious and learned that he had summoned a six-by-six titanium cube with Summoning of All Things, draining Thousand Illusions Lake and exhausting himself.
• Su Ming activated the seventh segment of the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet and used Crystal Cascade Magic Cube to teleport an entire Ausmelt furnace production line from Earth to Ruby Base.
• Zijin stopped Beianqi from assigning Su Ming more work and warned him against overtaxing himself again.
• Su Ming used the cube and bracelet to form a silver-haired girl who called herself Dawn and Dusk, but she soon reverted to the cube and fell silent.
• Su Ming and Zijin realized that neither remembered the dream clearly, and Zhimeng denied ever visiting it or speaking with Su Ming there.
• Magelaili reported that the Cloud Fang resupply mission was complete, and the Pansy began returning to port for modifications.

Lang Yefu mobilized the half-orc logistics force while Katharine and the allied forces launched attacks on three rebel strongholds. Their assault shattered the defenders’ lines, and the captured city erupted in celebration as its people rejected the Plundering Clock.

• Lang Yefu rallied more than ten thousand half-orcs to transport supplies and fight rebel forces, then had dozens of spies executed.
• Katharine chose Lava Fortress, Blackscale City, and Thunderhoof Valley as targets and ordered the underground front to support the attacks and prepare to take over the cities.
• The allied forces advanced on the strongholds while Fang of the Wild informants sabotaged supplies and weakened the defenders.
• Bowers’s small force attacked a major half-orc city after fires broke out inside it, and the bombardment exposed the defenders’ stolen lightning-protection components.
• The allied assault broke through the city’s defenses, nobles fleeing were stopped by the people, and residents tore off Plundering Clock insignia and celebrated.

Katharine used a covertly tracked hypersonic missile strike to destroy a gathering of rebel legion officers forming the Cloud Fang Restoration Alliance, then ordered an immediate night attack. At Ruby Production Base, Beianqi told Su Ming that expansion had reached its limit but handed him more work upgrading and repairing production lines.

• The Iron Jaw commander accepted the Lionheart Key from the Dark Howl commander and agreed to lead the Cloud Fang Restoration Alliance, with Dark Howl as his deputy.
• More than twenty legions sent senior officers to the alliance meeting, while the Lionheart Key secretly transmitted its location to Cloud Fang headquarters.
• Katharine ordered a Y-20 to launch twelve hypersonic missiles at the meeting site, killing or gravely injuring most of the gathered officers.
• After assessing the strike, Katharine ordered the frontline troops to launch a night attack, and Dodder said inside operatives would report casualties and eliminate surviving key targets.
• At Ruby Production Base, Beianqi told Su Ming that expansion could not keep pace and that materials had to be saved for the Pansy.
• Beianqi handed Su Ming lists for upgrading old production lines, transferring advanced weapon components, and completing repairs.

After the allied forces secured part of Water Chestnut Island, Su Ming arranged condolences and compensation for the dead while ordering an investigation into Leoni’s unexplained death. The chapter ended with Zijin visiting Atiya’s grave and hinting that she might not remain among the living much longer.

• Katharine ordered the Cloud Fang frontline troops to rest while replacements prepared to take over, and Ainuobia reported about two thousand allied deaths.
• Su Ming asked Dafulin about Leoni and learned his body had been buried in the Northern Lands; he ordered Rupert to investigate Leoni’s unexplained death and compensation sent to his family.
• Su Ming arranged the return of fallen soldiers and asked officers to establish rules for death benefits after Younier noted that the Final Bone Mad Machines had no bodies to transport.
• Zijin visited Atiya’s grave with Zisu, while Yise chose not to contact Ruixiuli and instead messaged Jielusi’s inactive account.
• Gaerda honored Gejifu’s squad, and Ghostly Flower and Qiluomilan mourned the dead; Qiluomilan said Leoni’s smiling death was suspicious and warned that Su Ming might suspect Ghostly Flower.
• Zijin asked Weiaoyasi to attend Lu Lailuo’s funeral and care for her grandchildren, then told Atiya, “Good night,” after saying the dead might not be far away and the living might not stay long.

Fengshou showed Su Ming the agile, lightweight Type 59 Plane Export Model · Rat and proposed new weapons for the South Pole campaign, while a separate hunt ended with Dafulin's group capturing an Ice Descendant on Northern Ice Island.

• Fengshou demonstrated the Rat's speed, sharp turns, and ability to hit a drone target, then explained how new materials and superconductors reduced its weight and improved its performance.
• Quail and Fengshou outlined the Rat's production plan, estimating that large-scale deployment would take at least two months.
• Fengshou showed Su Ming tests demonstrating that colder ice resisted cannon fire, and proposed equipping a Rat variant with a laser weapon to counter thick ice armor.
• Su Ming rejected a laser Rat but approved replacing the Pansy's main weapon with a much larger laser, leaving the problem of fighting enemies inside the South Pole Continent unresolved.
• Dafulin's companions pursued an Ice Descendant across Northern Ice Island, and Lanmo, Nuocijie, and Yuya helped block and capture him.

Yuya and her allies raided an Ice Descendant base, where Lanmo uncovered a later Rift Tribe ruin and a second Rift Magic Array. Chloe discovered the array sent things outward, and Su Ming and Zijin set out to investigate its destination and solve a chess-related mural puzzle.

• Yuya and the soldiers captured an Ice Descendant, tortured him for the location of his people’s base, and flew to Bubing Island.
• Nuocijie’s domain suppressed the defenders as the group stormed the cave, defeated the Quarter Hand, and rescued Feather Race members from his death curse.
• Lanmo discovered ancient Rift Tribe murals in the cave and accidentally damaged some while fighting the Quarter Hand.
• Three days later, Lanmo showed Chloe a newly uncovered ritual hall containing a second Rift Magic Array, which Chloe identified as a later version with unfamiliar runes.
• Chloe concluded that the array sent things outward, and Su Ming agreed to travel with Zijin to investigate its residual spatial power.
• Chloe told Su Ming that a mural at the site contained a chess-related puzzle and asked him to bring someone who could play chess.

Su Ming and Zijin explored the Rift Tribe and Ancient Naga Clan’s hidden settlement, where murals and remains suggested the clans had evacuated deliberately at the height of their prosperity. In the inner chamber, they found a powerful planar array whose missing runes were linked to an ancient hunting game, but the team could not decipher the game’s rules.

• Su Ming and Zijin learned that the Rift Tribe and an Ancient Naga Clan branch had lived together by fishing, but both peoples disappeared without signs of famine, conflict, or invasion.
• Su Ming recognized familiar imagery in the murals, while Lanmo restored a damaged painting of a fish-offering ceremony after Su Ming promised to help recover his game save.
• Su Ming, Zijin, and Chloe concluded that the clans had planned their evacuation and deliberately collapsed the passage to the altar chamber.
• The team found a dense magic array capable in theory of creating a permanent passage between Taya and Earth, along with about thirty tons of unused rock core.
• Su Ming learned that the array’s missing runes were represented by pieces in a series of mural-recorded hunting-game positions, but Jisu’s team had failed to find rules that explained them.

Su Ming and the scholars discovered that the Rift Tribe’s mural games recorded hunting knowledge rather than competitive rules, allowing them to solve the puzzles and restore the formation. Su Ming then crossed a planar barrier to investigate a message left in space about twenty years earlier.

• Ximina brought Limao to examine the murals, and Su Ming learned that Qiluomilan had outplayed the undefeated Spirit Chess expert in their earlier match.
• Ximina used music to organize her thoughts, recognized the murals as narrative chess, and helped the scholars interpret the games as records of Rift Tribe hunting knowledge.
• The scholars and the large model decoded the mural games, fitted the final rune, and caused the formation’s residual energy to connect.
• Su Ming sensed a familiar power in patterns left on the other side of the planar barrier around twenty years earlier and used Mirror Flower · Reflection to pass through it.
• Su Ming let the preserved spatial ripples spread through his mind as he tried to understand the message.

Yong Shisi survived a crossing from Eden to Earth and struggled to understand the unfamiliar, magic-poor world while local police tried to identify her. After she learned enough language to cooperate somewhat, Zhao Weimin grew suspicious of her connection to the mysterious damage at the furniture factory and her unusual abilities.

• Yong Shisi landed on a boulder outside a rosewood furniture factory, broke it with the force of her arrival, and preserved a tiny cell before Jörmungandr's fissure closed.
• Yong Shisi stayed at the scene as police investigated, then followed Zhao Weimin and Xing Rui to the station after they mistook her for an unidentified child needing protection.
• Yong Shisi followed Xing Rui and Xiong Yupan to a hospital, used Comprehend Languages on seven corpses, and began understanding the local language.
• A doctor found no clear mental disorder, and the assistance station took Yong Shisi in while the police continued searching for her identity.
• Zhao Weimin brought Yong Shisi back for questioning and noticed her extraordinary eating habits and speed; when he asked to inspect her pendant, she jumped back into a defensive stance.