The story continues where This Earth of Mankind leaves off, shortly after Annelies has departed by ship to the Netherlands with Panji Darman secretly in tow.
From this point, Minke attempts to continue on with his life by writing for Maarten Nijman and the Soerabaiaasch Nieuws, however he is challenged by his good friend Jean Marais, as well as Kommer later on, to write in Javanese or Malay.