Chapters 38-51Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing, graphic violence, sexual content, substance use, pregnancy termination, death by suicide, and death.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Not the Real Thing”
Weeks after killing Bero, Mudt feels some remorse for murdering Bero but justifies it as necessary for becoming a true Green Bone. He now wears all of Bero’s jade and has increased his shine dosage to tolerate it.
A group of college-aged women notices him at a pub. One flirts, but her skeptical friend dismisses his jade as fake due to his youth. Their condescension makes Mudt realize that, despite possessing jade, he lacks the bearing of a genuine Green Bone. Stung and emboldened by alcohol, Mudt impulsively boasts that he won his jade by taking it from Kaul Lan’s body. The women are horrified and quickly distance themselves. Mudt tries to laugh it off and leaves.
The bartender, who overheard the claim, retreats to the back room and makes a phone call.
Chapter 39 Summary: “A Meeting of Pillars”
Anden and Rohn Toro meet Hilo and Maik Tar at Port Massy International Airport during Harvest’Eves. When Hilo arrives, he greets Anden with a warm embrace.
Rohn drives them to the Dauk home. During dinner, Hilo puts his hosts at ease with compliments and jokes. For formal discussion, Tar deliberately moves Anden’s chair to the Kaul side, behind Hilo. A three-hour strategy session ensues about the challenges facing Port Massy’s Green Bones. Cory grows restless and leaves, disappointing his father and annoying Anden.
Hilo declares he wants a meeting with all the Crew Bosses. Dauk expresses concern about danger, but Hilo reassures him that he doesn’t intend violence. He explains that offering access to the jade trade will bring Boss Kromner to the table.
Later, at the hotel bar, Hilo shows Anden photos of his sons, Niko and Ru—Anden’s nephews. He asks about Anden’s life over the past two years.
Chapter 40 Summary: “The Bosses”
Dauk sends Rohn as an emissary to arrange a meeting with the three most powerful Port Massy Crew Bosses: Kromner, Gasson, and Slatter. Hilo instructs Tar to hide his jade and let Dauk lead. With Dauk translating, Hilo offers the Crews access to jade in exchange for leaving Southtrap alone. After negotiations, the Crews agree on a deal for 800 million thalirs for 100 kilograms of raw jade.
After the meeting, Hilo walks with Dauk through Southtrap. Dauk questions the strategy, worried that greedy Kromner will only become more dangerous. Hilo reveals his true plan: he’s selling them low-quality jade scrap confiscated from smugglers, not premium stone. This will buy Dauk time while focusing Crew attention elsewhere.
Hilo then proposes a formal alliance: No Peak will supply high-quality cut jade and trainers to strengthen Dauk’s position as a foreign tributary. Dauk is intrigued. Hilo promises that in five years, the Kekonese will have more power in Espenia than any Crew.
Chapter 41 Summary: “Green as Fuck”
On his final day in Port Massy, Hilo visits the Hians with generous gifts. He takes Anden to breakfast and tells him he must now act as No Peak’s eyes and ears in the city, reporting on the Crews.
Anden asks about his future after graduation, expecting to return home to Janloon. Hilo informs him that Shae is establishing a Weather Man’s office in Port Massy, led by Hami Tumashon, and that Anden will work there. Anden erupts in anger, accusing Hilo of keeping him in perpetual exile.
After a tense standoff, Hilo explains it’s not punishment but a genuine opportunity. In Janloon, Anden will only be pitied as the one ruined by jade, but in Espenia, he can build his own identity free from judgment. Hilo challenges him: agree to wear jade, and he can return home tomorrow. Anden remains silent.
Hilo acknowledges Anden’s relationship with Cory but notes that Cory, though he wears jade, isn’t truly Kekonese in the way Anden is—he could never survive as a Green Bone in Janloon. Hilo departs, telling Anden to take care of himself. Left alone and conflicted, Anden goes to a pay phone and calls Cory, bluntly expressing his desire to have sex.
Chapter 42 Summary: “A Difficult Position”
Shae is disturbed by Hilo’s overseas dealings: selling raw jade to Espenian crime boss Kromner and promising tributary status to the Crews. Hilo defends the arrangement, arguing that he gained allies in Port Massy without relying on corrupt politicians, and the jade comes from confiscated smuggling operations, bypassing official KJA records.
Though troubled, Shae recognizes Hilo’s strategy: use the Crews’ money to strengthen No Peak, knowing the Crews will collapse without true clan loyalty. Hilo insists they must go where their enemies are, and then further.
Shae meets with Chancellor Son and persuades him to remain on the Royal Council another year, offering the clan’s gratitude to counter Mountain influence. Son warns that pitting No Peak’s interests against the country’s will is dangerous.
At Woon’s wedding reception that evening, Shae invites Maro to her residence. When he asks if there’s any chance for reconciliation, she confesses she had an abortion before her duel with Ayt Mada. Maro leaves, shocked and hurt.
Chapter 43 Summary: “Family Jade”
Three weeks before New Year’s, Hilo drives to an abandoned farmhouse where Tar has imprisoned Mudt, the young man who stole Lan’s jade. Seeing Lan’s unaltered jade on this thief fills Hilo with cold rage.
After removing the jade pieces, Hilo listens to the thief accuse Tar of murdering his father, Mudt Jindonon. Tar recalls Mudt Jindonon as a Mountain spy who helped plan Lan’s assassination. Hilo forces three of his own jade studs into the thief’s mouth, knowing that the jade will cause a long and painful death. They seal him inside a steel toolbox with a breathing tube and bury it.
In the early morning, Hilo returns home and sits alone with Lan’s recovered jade. When Niko comes downstairs, Hilo shows him the cuffs and necklace, explaining they belonged to his father and will one day belong to him.
Chapter 44 Summary: “The Man in the Middle”
On a spring night in Port Massy, Espenian foreman Willum Reams waits for the final jade shipment from Kekon. Reams has been secretly skimming the five extra kilos, provided by No Peak for his job as a middleman, from each delivery.
After the money exchange, two cars arrive with eight armed men led by another Kromner foreman, Moth Duke. Duke’s men open fire, killing two of Reams’s men. The motorboat flees. Reams plunges into the Camres River and escapes, certain that Boss Kromner ordered his execution.
Chapter 45 Summary: “A Promise in the Park”
On a summer day, after Hilo says he can’t attend a family outing due to clan business, Wen takes her children to the park. At the park, Wen reflects on returning to work for Shae once her mother helps with childcare.
Seeing Hilo’s car arrive, Wen realizes that her brother Kehn is driving. As he exits the vehicle, it explodes. Instinctively shielding her children, Wen leads them to a nearby shop and contacts Hilo through the Weather Man’s office.
When Hilo arrives, Wen breaks down, knowing that if she and the children had been closer to the car, they all would’ve been killed. Before leaving under escort, she makes Hilo swear to find and kill those responsible.
Chapter 46 Summary: “Unforgivable”
Shae finds the estate on lockdown after the bombing, and they discover that the bomb was planted while the car was in the garage. Juen informs her that Maro has turned himself in. She goes to where they are holding him, and he confesses that he was blackmailed into helping two fake interns infiltrate the estate during a humanitarian meeting that Shae had scheduled for him with Hilo. He identifies the plan’s instigator as Soradiyo, working for Zapunyo.
Maro explains that Soradiyo blackmailed him with photos of his young nieces in Shotar, threatening harm to them if he refused. He chose his family’s safety over Shae’s. After he provides information, Lott reports that Hilo is arriving.
Realizing that Tar will torture Maro, Shae secures Juen’s agreement that Maro must die now. She kneels before Maro and channels her jade energy into his skull, killing him instantly. She catches his body, lowers it gently, and kisses his forehead.
Inside her house, Shae collapses in grief.
Chapter 47 Summary: “Back to Work”
For a week, Shae barely leaves her house. At Kehn’s funeral, she observes Tar’s vacant state and the bitterness he directs at her for giving Maro a painless death. Consumed by guilt, she reflects that she underestimated Zapunyo.
On the eighth or ninth day, Wen enters Shae’s house and announces that she wants to return to work, and Shae should, too. When Shae protests, Wen explains that Shae cannot hide because Kehn is gone, Tar is inconsolable, and the Pillar is alone. The clan’s enemies are no longer just Green Bones, and the Green Bone code of honor, aisho, won’t protect her children. She tells Shae her nephews asked if she’d be at dinner, and Wen promised them she would.
Chapter 48 Summary: “The Double Double”
Bero is released from the hospital after recovering from being poisoned by Mudt. Left with debt, no jade, and no shine, he stays in his apartment for months contemplating dying by suicide.
With his money nearly gone, Bero goes to the Double Double casino and bets everything to see if the gods want him alive. Drunk and losing, he tells the dealer he’ll jump off a bridge.
Eiten, a man with no arms, escorts Bero to his office. Eiten explains he once wanted to die after the Mountain’s Horn cut off his arms. When Bero confesses to working as a smuggler for Soradiyo and being betrayed by Mudt, Eiten calls Lott Jin, saying he has someone the Pillar might find interesting.
Chapter 49 Summary: “Cleaning out the Rat House”
At the Double Double, Eiten leads Hilo to Bero. Juen and Lott have compiled intelligence on Zapunyo’s operations from Bero’s information. Hilo recognizes Bero from years earlier when Lan let him go, laughing at the irony that Lan’s mercy now provides critical intelligence.
Ayt Mada has publicly denied involvement in the bombing. Hilo sends Juen to meet Nau Suen, who agrees to cooperate with No Peak’s campaign against Zapunyo on condition that the Mountain shares in actions within their territory.
The following evening, Hilo raids the Rat House with Tar. The Green Bones brutally incapacitate the occupants. Hilo gives them one minute to reveal Soradiyo’s location.
Two days later, Iyn Ro captures Soradiyo fleeing the country. After the interrogation yields extensive information, Hilo enters the warehouse and questions him. Soradiyo confirms Zapunyo ordered the bombing with Mountain encouragement. Hilo kills him by cutting his throat.
When Tar protests the quick death, Hilo declares they will destroy everything Zapunyo has built.
Chapter 50 Summary: “Patience”
In the weeks following the car bombing, No Peak launches a merciless citywide purge of illegal jade operations. The two bombers are captured and handed over to No Peak. Minor clans, police, and even the Mountain assist or stand aside. Public sentiment supports the crackdown, as Janlooners view the attack by foreign criminals as an egregious offense. Hilo reestablishes his violent reputation.
Hilo meets with Shae, Juen, and Tar to plan Zapunyo’s assassination. Juen presents intelligence on the smuggler’s heavily fortified compound. Tar proposes a military-style assault, but Juen warns that travel restrictions and detection by Zapunyo’s barukan guards make this nearly impossible, as their jade would be detected. Shae argues that a violent raid would damage No Peak’s relationship with Espenia and harm Green Bones’ international reputation. When Tar offers to go alone, Hilo refuses. Acknowledging Ayt is likely counting on them to overextend themselves, Hilo concludes they must be patient and find another way.
A few days later, Hilo ambushes Ven Sando on his boat. He reminds Ven of their agreement for Ven to overthrow Ayt and accuses him of losing his nerve. Hilo threatens to expose Ven’s treason to Ayt and issues an ultimatum: Ayt must be dead within a year, or Ven will answer to both him and Ayt.
Chapter 51 Summary: “The Unlucky Ones”
Wen arrives at Port Massy International Airport carrying a locked briefcase filled with polished green gemstones. Customs guards take her to secondary screening, where she opens the case to reveal what appears to be nephrite jewelry samples for her business, Divinity Gems. In reality, Wen is wearing real jade around her neck and wrists, treated with a coating to appear like nephrite. As a “stone-eye”—a rare individual immune to jade’s effects—she has no jade aura and passes through security undetected, smuggling 200 jade beads into the country.
At her hotel, Wen meets Anden and Rohn Toro. She makes Anden promise not to tell Hilo that she was the courier. Anden confides that he feels Hilo wants him to stay away from Janloon while jadeless. Wen reassures him he’s missed and his time in Espenia is valuable to the clan.
Rohn returns with four other Green Bone leaders from across Espenia. After removing the coating from her jewelry, Wen divides the jade beads into five lead-lined boxes, which the men take to arm their subordinates and strengthen No Peak’s position. She gives the case of actual nephrite to Rohn for sale through Kekon Imports.
Chapters 38-51 Analysis
Hilo’s journey to Espenia marks a critical evolution in his leadership, compelling him to move beyond reactive, street-level tactics and adopt the expansive perspective required of a Pillar. Although he initially displays contempt for international relations, this encounter proves formative, forcing him to recognize that the clan’s conflicts are no longer confined to Janloon streets; instead, they are fought through economic leverage and political alliances. His subsequent actions in Port Massy demonstrate this shift—rather than resorting to violence, he employs psychological and economic manipulation, exploiting the Crews’ ignorance of jade quality and internal rivalries. By selling them low-grade jade scrap, he simultaneously generates profit, placates a local threat, and creates long-term strategic dependency. This calculated scheme contrasts with the direct confrontations he favors in Kekon, demonstrating a new appreciation for Shae’s multi-layered strategies, essential for navigating a globalized world. His evolution develops the theme of Tradition, Modernity, and the Cost of Globalization, as the traditional warrior adapts to an era where power is projected through commerce and diplomacy as much as martial prowess.
Anden’s exile serves as a crucible, intensifying his struggle with The Conflict Between Family Duty and Personal Identity. In Espenia, stripped of jade and clan status, he confronts the foundations of his identity. His shame at needing protection from Cory stems from lifetime Green Bone conditioning, where value is measured by the ability to defend oneself. Hilo’s visit brings this internal conflict to a crisis point. The offer of a position in No Peak’s Espenian office isn’t the homecoming Anden craves, and Hilo’s ultimatum—“Tell me you’ll put on jade, and I’ll book an airplane ticket for you to fly home tomorrow” (409)—crystallizes Anden’s dilemma: his personal identity, forged in trauma, is fundamentally incompatible with his family’s traditional definition of belonging. Hilo reframes this alienation as opportunity, the chance to escape being “the one who was ruined by jade” and build life free from Janloon’s judgment (409). Anden’s subsequent desperate call to Cory is assertion of personal self defined by desire and connection rather than clan duty, demonstrating that exile, while punishment, has also granted him space to explore an identity his family cannot dictate.
Through Bero and Mudt’s arc, the narrative deconstructs jade’s symbolism, exposing it as an amplifier of the user’s core nature. After murdering Bero and stealing his jade, Mudt believes he’s successfully usurped Green Bone status. His attempt to flaunt this new identity in a pub ends in humiliation: He’s dismissed by women who perceive his lack of authentic bearing. Despite wearing physical markers of power, he lacks culturally ingrained confidence and honor legitimizing Green Bone status. This failure highlights that jade doesn’t create power; it merely magnifies what’s already present. For Mudt, it amplifies his insecurity and desperation, culminating in a disastrous boast that he took jade from Kaul Lan’s body. This confession, intended to project strength, instead reveals his misunderstanding of the Green Bone world, where legacy and earned respect are paramount.
The author employs structural parallelism to draw connections between seemingly disparate worlds of international diplomacy, clan politics, and organized crime, suggesting universal logic underpins all systems of power. The formal meeting between No Peak and the Espenian government mirrors Hilo’s negotiation with Port Massy Crew Bosses. In both encounters, Hilo navigates foreign power structures through careful observation and calculated deception, adapting his approach to suit cultural context while applying the same core principles. His schemes to destabilize the Mountain by leaking intelligence on the Iwe family’s shine addiction run parallel to his manipulation of the Crews. This juxtaposition suggests that the formal conduct of diplomats and the direct posturing of gangsters are different expressions of the same principles of power. The narrative structure blurs lines between legitimate and illegitimate authority, demonstrating that in a globalized world, a clan Pillar, government secretary, and crime boss all operate on similar principles of leverage, self-interest, and strategic coercion.
These chapters illustrate the theme of tradition, modernity, and the cost of globalization by depicting No Peak’s adaptation to a world where their traditional code of honor, aisho, has become obsolete. The conflict is no longer confined to rival Green Bones operating within a shared cultural framework; it’s become an international shadow war against foreign smugglers and criminals. Wen articulates this shift after Kehn’s assassination, telling Shae, “We’re not just fighting other Green Bones. We’re fighting the world, Shae-jen. Which means that aisho will not protect my children” (456). Her statement marks an ideological turning point, a recognition that survival depends on abandoning long-held principles. Hilo’s decision to sell jade on the black market to Espenian criminals and Shae’s reluctant political maneuvering both signify a pragmatic, if morally compromising, embrace of modern realpolitik.
Shae’s character arc resolves the tension of the conflict between family duty and personal identity, as she fully embodies the pragmatism her position demands. Her journey from a woman who fled the clan to one who must make its most difficult sacrifices is completed in her execution of Maro. This act is a calculated mercy killing, performed to spare the man she loves from torture. When Shae asks why he didn’t confide in her about the blackmail, he retorts, “Did you tell anyone when you felt threatened? When you realized you had no choice?” (447). This question connects his betrayal to Shae’s own history of making solitary, pragmatic decisions for survival—such as having an abortion without telling him—and collapses the moral distance she tried to maintain between personal life and clan duties. By killing Maro, Shae sacrifices her last connection to a life outside the clan, irrevocably binding her identity to her role as Weather Man.
Hilo’s leadership is defined by his struggle to impose traditional Green Bone order on a chaotic world, a burden central to the development of the theme of The Necessity of Ethical Compromise to Maintain Power. His methods become increasingly ritualistic, illustrated by Mudt’s execution, which is a grim ceremony designed to restore jade’s sanctity. This act attempts to violently reconsecrate what was profaned, punishing the thief for violating a sacred taboo. This ritualized violence contrasts with the impersonal nature of the car bomb that kills Kehn, an attack that horrifies Hilo because it lacks the honor of Green Bone conflict. His response is to cleanse the criminal element from the city, beginning with a raid on the Rat House. Hilo’s exercise of power is thus a constant effort to reinforce traditional moral order through spectacular violence in a modern world that no longer recognizes its legitimacy.
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