H48 Ark of the Phoenix

**Ark of the Phoenix**, the 48th book in the The Golden Age of Adventures series was published in November 2023. It is the English language edition of the original Chinese comic, ***"凤凰方舟*"**, which was published in September 2023.

## Synopsis

BECOMING THE BEST! VOWING TO SAVE THE PLANET!

Faced with the disappearance of more people and places as well as the problem of not being able to strengthen themselves, Alex and co. have to resort to resourcefulness to defend the Earth against the Chaos Serpent and its chief agent. As our heroes fight a losing battle, a figure emerges to turn the tide! Is there hope after all?

## Cast

* Alex
* Lulu
* Jackal
* Crowbone
* Jones
* Robert (President of the old Adventure Union)
* Akhazane
* Nacho
* Apep
* Red Blade
* Mayla
* Ryuu Drakon
* Children of Gaia
* Valkyrie
	+ Caelus
	+ Mundus
	+ Nemus
	+ Luminus
	+ Pelagius
	+ Tempesta

## Plot

Spoiler Alert (But you knew that, didn't you?)

### Chapter 1: Inside the Belly

In New York, the Global Alliance is defending a city from Chaos Larvae and another skyscraper disappears into the subspace, which Apep devours. The red demons are watching from their "planet" from their adventure in H36. Crowbone finds an elder Crow. The crow went dormant when she got more power, but awoke when she was devoured by Nacho. The debris around Crowbone fly towards a light which the crow reveals to be Apep's belly. Crowbone is shocked and immediately starts flying the other way. The crow says how she has no chance, but Crowbone wants to try.

In a Shambhala Portal Room, Alex, Lulu, Jackal, Akhazane, Jones, and Robert. Their Plan is to distract Nacho while Akhazane disconnects the Earth's connection to the subspace. Jones believes that Robert only tagged along to fight Nacho but he denies it. They get ready to carry out their plan. Lulu’s tail slowly splits in half.

### Chapter 2 : Teleportation

Alex and co. solve a few puzzles to meet Nacho. They enter a platform with a portal in the middle. Nacho appears through the portal and teleports them to a desert, yelling “Let’s end this once and for all!” Nacho gets ready to fight but Lulu punches him, slowly entering her maximum form ( Level 4).

### Chapter 3: Fears

Crowbone notices items entering Nacho's stomach and tries breaking it open, Crowbone persists but the elder crow discourages her as there is no hope. The crow explains how they found a man named Noah. Noah learnt there was going to be a big storm, which is why he built a huge boat to house all the animals. The ark sailed through the storm and stopped sailing after a while. Noah asked the crow to search for land, but there was also a portal to the subspace. It knew that if it did not destroy the monsters, the monster would harm its friends. The crow managed to kill all the monsters but died in the process, However, no one ever thanked the crow for its sacrifice or acknowledged its disappearance. Though, Crowbone's goal is to protect her friends. The crow talks to ta blue flame next to it, which turns out to be the Valkyrie.

### Chapter 4: Escape

The crow suggests for the Valkyrie to give Crowbone ultimate power and she manages to convince the Valkyrie, even if it might kill her. The Valkyrie inserts some energy into her body and gives her power.

While fighting, Jones realises they are really far from the space fissure, so he tries to message the other adventurers to rush in. However, Nacho alters his body and eats the communication device. Alex and Akhazane try to move the platform to trap Nacho but don't do it in time. Nacho grabs hold of Alex and tries to eat him but Lulu (in her ultimate form) stops him and crafts a new blade.

### Chapter 5: Tagging In

With her new blade, Lulu cuts Nacho in half, but he doesn't fall apart yet. In a fiery egg, Crowbone watches the mess from his belly. Nacho, who is still intact somehow, tries to attack Lulu, who is tired and out of her ultimate form. When it looks like Nacho are about to devour Alex and Lulu, Nacho gets weak and vomits out a huge fiery phoenix, which turns out to be Crowbone in a pirate outfit. She talks to Alex and Lulu for a bit and calls out loudly.

### Chapter 6: Set Sail

From all around the world, birds on fire are flying towards Crowbone. She forms a new wheel, similar to her weapon in H39. Nacho tries to stop her but is stopped easily. She builds a huge ark, similar to Noah's, and dashes the ark towards Nacho. The sky forms a crack into the subspace where her ark charges towards Apep.

### Chapter 7: Breaking Through

Apep dissolves from the fire. It turns out to be a clone and the real Apep appears and traps the Ark in an egg. Alex and co. destroy the monsters around it. Alex notices the other red demons (Nemus, Pelagius, and Mundus) which form daggers on his rope (similar to the Garth bomb things) to free the ark from the egg.

### Chapter 8: Return

Apep tries to stop the Ark but it dashes into Apep and explodes inside him, which causes Apep to perish. After the Chaos, Crowbone wakes up in the subspace and the elder crow informs her that she has lost her power due to the burst of strength and the crow and Valkyrie leave on a new adventure. Alex and co. find her and rescue her.

Near the Shambhala site, Akhazane fixes the unstable space fissure. While Apep is dormant, there is a barrier which blocks out the subspace, which causes Shambhala's portal to not work. Alex and co. realise that Apep can eventually come back. Crowbone tries to apologise to Marie and finally realises why Alex and co. avoid her. She decides to help Jackal take care of the kids at the orphanage. Alex mocks Jackal as he is blushing while talking to Crowbone.

### Post-credit scene

In a forest in Norway, Red Blade is cooking while talking to his young companion, who's name is Ryuu Drakon, who just says "Phoenix" (I'm pretty sure the character is from another series but I don't read them.).

In a Lab in USA, some science lab is researching Adolf's body. They mention how his family was found and we see Adolf's eyes open slightly.

In Jones' island, Alex and co. are resting. The red demons are recuperating near Gaia's core. Somewhere else on the island, Pupa uploads data on the Cat and Crow warrior to an unknown database.