Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei released copied footage of the Anti-Smuggling Squad searching his starship, shifting public opinion in his favor and easing pressure on Cheng Qingshan. As questions about the footage’s source spread, Xiao Hu warned that several people in Briz’s team were taking an interest.

• Qu Jianlei told Cheng Qingshan he had not found the mastermind, then showed him the footage of the Anti-Smuggling Squad searching his starship.
• Cheng Qingshan recognized the footage’s limited evidentiary value, but agreed that releasing it could reverse public opinion after Qu Jianlei’s reputation had been attacked.
• The academy released the footage, prompting people to criticize the Anti-Smuggling Squad and share accounts of its past conduct, which reduced pressure on Cheng Qingshan.
• Qu Jianlei told Xiao Hu to stop posting from anonymous accounts and focus on watching Briz, while warning it to stay alert to the Anti-Smuggling Department’s artificial intelligence.
• Online commenters began questioning how Qu Jianlei had obtained the footage and speculating that he had a powerful artificial intelligence.
• Xiao Hu alerted Qu Jianlei that several people in Briz’s team were very interested in the video.

Xiao Hu’s Logic Bomb destroyed the academy’s Data Center and exposed the Anti-Smuggling Department’s attack, forcing a Supreme to make the department restrict its AI. As Xiao Hu resumed operating and public opinion rallied behind Panda, Qu Jianlei traced Briz’s contacts to three suspicious forces and prepared to leave the academy when someone arrived.

• Xiao Hu’s Logic Bomb caused the academy’s Data Center to explode, and the academy traced the attack to the Anti-Smuggling Department.
• The overseeing Supreme confronted the Anti-Smuggling Department and forced it to promise not to touch the Data Center again, temporarily securing Xiao Hu’s safety.
• Xiao Hu used the partly restored Data Center to resume its activity, while teachers and students blamed the Anti-Smuggling Department and rallied behind Panda.
• Xiao Hu found that Briz had recently contacted a mining conglomerate, the Hadmun Consortium, and a major freight company, and Qu Jianlei suspected capital might be behind the plot.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to leave the academy rather than wait for trouble to find him, then noticed someone had arrived.

Qu Jianlei learned that Bida Freight Company had spread rumors about Panda possessing a super AI and that a Cleaner might attack him that night. He waited at Adventurer's Home, where he recognized Cleaner Camille and warned her that he had poisoned her drink, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• A Fire Attribute A-rank from the Archaeology Enthusiasts and Aunt Liu told Qu Jianlei that someone was spreading rumors about Panda possessing a super AI, and he paid them to find the source.
• The Archaeology Enthusiasts identified Bida Freight Company as the source, while the Grave Robber warned that another Cleaner might attack that night.
• Qu Jianlei went alone to Adventurer's Home so the expected confrontation would not take place at the academy.
• Camille approached Qu Jianlei at the bar, and he recognized her as a Cleaner and warned her not to drink the poisoned glass.
• Camille questioned Qu Jianlei's concern for self-defense as he said the Cleaners could be killed while carrying out a commission.

Qu Jianlei confronted Cleaner Camille at Adventurer's Home, struck her twice, and pressed her for information about the commissions against him. Camille revealed the same party had ordered both the family massacre and the current job, while Qu Jianlei questioned why Briz would provoke him if it suspected he had a super artificial intelligence.

• Qu Jianlei slapped Camille twice when she challenged him and demanded that she explain why she had come.
• Camille asked how Qu Jianlei had obtained the video, while he criticized the Cleaners for their arrogance and pressed her about their client.
• Camille admitted that the party behind the family massacre had also sent the Cleaners this time, and Qu Jianlei identified the client as Bida Freight.
• Camille said Bida Freight suspected Qu Jianlei possessed a super artificial intelligence because Daisyth had searched for one and the Anti-Smuggling Department's AI had attacked the Engineering Academy Data Center.
• Qu Jianlei wondered why Briz had accepted the commission if it believed he had a super artificial intelligence, leaving Camille stunned by the contradiction.

Qu Jianlei confronted Camille about Briz’s commission to seize his artificial intelligence and warned her that the Cleaners’ alliance with Bida could make them a target. Camille realized that Panda could help Heltman destroy Briz, so she agreed to abandon the commission, but Qu Jianlei challenged her to do more than simply walk away.

• Qu Jianlei argued that Camille could not plausibly obtain his artificial intelligence by chance and questioned whether the Cleaners would hand it over to Bida.
• Camille said the Cleaners would complete the commission but might not be responsible for whether Bida could keep the AI afterward.
• Qu Jianlei learned that Bida had bribed Daisyth to make trouble for him and warned Camille about cooperating with them.
• Camille explained that Briz had acted as a shield for Bida and claimed the Cleaners could withstand the risks of the commission.
• Qu Jianlei warned Camille that mistreating Heltman could provoke a conflict, and Camille realized Panda could help the authorities eliminate Briz.
• Camille agreed to abandon the commission, but Qu Jianlei asked whether he was supposed to thank her for it.

After abandoning the commission against Qu Jianlei, Camille negotiated compensation in money, intelligence, and a future Cleaner operation. The next day, Krieg delivered the banknotes and information on Bida Freight, leaving Qu Jianlei's retaliation plans unresolved.

• Camille offered apologies and compensation after withdrawing the Cleaners from their commission against Qu Jianlei.
• Qu Jianlei demanded tenfold financial compensation for his Vortex, and Camille said she would apply to her superiors because the Cleaners had no money available.
• Camille agreed to provide information on Bida Freight, three free intelligence requests, and one operation against a target no stronger than A-rank.
• Qu Jianlei refused to reveal whether he had artificial intelligence and warned Camille that he would kill her if the compensation did not arrive.
• Qu Jianlei returned to the academy, and Krieg arrived the next day with the banknotes and materials, apologizing for what had happened.

Qu Jianlei reviewed intelligence linking Bida Freight to Daisyth’s family’s destruction and asked Heltman to pressure the company. Hoyer cautiously authorized limited regulatory trouble, and Bida realized the Hoyer Residence was behind it.

• Qu Jianlei read the Briz team’s report and learned that McGillern had authorized Aaron to handle the bribe to Daisyth.
• Qu Jianlei contacted Heltman and warned that Bida Freight’s actions could threaten Hoyer as well as him.
• Hoyer initially resisted acting against Bida because of its importance to Fourth Star’s economy, then agreed to cause it trouble without hitting too hard.
• The authorities delayed Bida’s approvals and cited paperwork and regulatory violations, reducing its freight volume by a little over ten percent.
• Bida investigated the pressure and concluded that someone from the Hoyer Residence had acted on Panda’s behalf.

Qu Jianlei investigated Aaron’s disappearance and confronted Delta, Aaron’s former friend, about the deaths of Daisyth’s family. He threatened that Delta’s family could suffer the same fate unless Delta helped him, leaving Delta under pressure to decide how to respond.

• Heltman told Qu Jianlei that McGillern and Aaron had disappeared, and his investigation found that McGillern had returned to Hope Star while Aaron’s whereabouts remained unknown.
• Qu Jianlei used Xiao Hu’s search to identify Delta, Aaron’s former friend, and went to question him at his mall security job.
• Delta said he had no information about Aaron, so Qu Jianlei shot the room’s surveillance camera and told him Aaron had ordered Daisyth’s family killed to frame him.
• Qu Jianlei warned Delta that he could wipe out a family too and implied that Delta’s family could be targeted if Delta did not help him.

Qu Jianlei investigated Aaron and McGillern after learning they had fled, but the Cleaners refused to target their families because it crossed a bottom line. He arranged for the Archaeology Enthusiasts to capture both families and was left to decide whether to take custody of them.

• Delta revealed Aaron's family address in Fengrao City after Qu Jianlei threatened him, then chose not to warn Aaron's family.
• Qu Jianlei waited to make sure Delta did not contact anyone, then asked Camille to have the Cleaners target Aaron's and McGillern's families; Camille refused, and Qu Jianlei warned her not to let Krieg approach him again.
• At the academy, Aunt Liu offered to help with the families, and Qu Jianlei asked the Archaeology Enthusiasts to capture both families without using his name.
• The Archaeology Enthusiasts captured Aaron's family and McGillern's family in simultaneous operations, though McGillern himself was absent and several fighters were injured or killed.
• Aunt Liu charged Qu Jianlei 150,000 Silver Coins and asked whether he wanted to take custody of the captured families.

After Qu Jianlei set a three-day deadline for the people behind his family’s capture, Aaron and McGillern tried to pressure their associates into protecting their families. The chapter ended when Bella Ni told Qu Jianlei that Xiang Xue had been captured.

• Qu Jianlei told Aunt Liu to watch the detained people and had Camille spread his three-day deadline for anyone seeking to negotiate.
• Aaron hid under an old-man identity, learned his family had been captured, and demanded that his associates ensure their safety.
• Aaron warned McGillern that he had arranged insurance, prompting McGillern to seek the same protection for his family.
• Qu Jianlei studied military formation books until Bella Ni arrived and announced that Xiang Xue had been captured.

Qu Jianlei learned that Xiang Xue had been abducted from the academy, and he and Cheng Qingshan failed to catch the attackers. After Duoduo described the raid, Qu Jianlei recognized their practiced coordination and suspected a larger force was behind them.

• Bella Ni told Qu Jianlei that Xiang Xue had been taken from a training ground, and he rushed there.
• Qu Jianlei found Cheng Qingshan returning with the badly injured Aunt Liu and learned the abductors had escaped in a modified Hover Car.
• Bella Ni and Zi Jiuxian took Aunt Liu to the School Hospital while Qu Jianlei asked Duoduo to recount the attack.
• Duoduo explained that two A-rank attackers had restrained Xiang Xue and Aunt Liu with Wind and Water techniques before fleeing with Xiang Xue.
• Qu Jianlei concluded that the pair’s efficient coordination suggested a larger organization and asked Cheng Qingshan whether an Electromagnetic Attribute Awakened One had received them.

Qu Jianlei and Cheng Qingshan investigated the attack on Teacher Liu and learned that the attackers had taken a visiting academy teacher hostage, demanding that Panda release their people and hand over an unspecified item. Qu Jianlei told the recovering Aunt Liu about the demand and decided to release the captives to protect Xiang Xue.

• Cheng Qingshan recounted how he chased the attackers after they struck Teacher Liu, but a Rank B Thunder Attribute fighter and the Rank A Water Attribute fighter’s Water Mist helped them escape in a Hover Car.
• Qu Jianlei suspected the Anti-Smuggling Department and Bida Freight, and told Cheng Qingshan that Bida was behind the attack on the Daisyth family and that the Cleaners had withdrawn a commission against him.
• Cheng Qingshan arranged an investigation, while Qu Jianlei asked him to gather information and tried to avoid involving academy staff in the conflict.
• City guards found the attackers’ abandoned Hover Car and a hidden passage, then the kidnappers contacted the School Guard and demanded that Panda release their people and hand over an item in exchange for the visiting teacher.
• Qu Jianlei visited the injured Aunt Liu, explained the demand, and said he would release the captives because Xiang Xue mattered more than they did.

Qu Jianlei and the Grave Robbers planned retaliation after Bida Freight’s allies refused to release Xiang Xue unless Panda surrendered an unknown item. With help from Old Lady Jia and Zi Jiuxian, they prepared to target cargo starships across multiple planets, then began choosing suitable Bida vessels.

• Qu Jianlei refused to surrender anything and said he would avenge Xiang Xue if her captors did not release her; the Archaeology Enthusiasts crippled the cultivation of two McGillern family members before releasing them.
• Bida’s allies again refused to release Xiang Xue, so the Grave Robbers began arranging retaliation and asked Qu Jianlei to cooperate.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to target Bida’s cargo starships, and Zi Jiuxian suggested asking her great-grandmother, Old Lady Jia, for help.
• Old Lady Jia agreed to attack starships for three hundred thousand per ship, and Qu Jianlei coordinated joint operations with the Grave Robbers on Second Star and another planet.
• Qu Jianlei and the Grave Robbers coordinated their target lists, then began selecting which of Bida’s many cargo starships to attack.

Qu Jianlei impersonated Patrol Assistant Charles to gain access to Bida Company’s cargo operations, and a series of emergencies began striking Bida’s starships. The chapter ended as Cargo Sea 182 Fleet reported that it had encountered trouble.

• Qu Jianlei hypnotized Charles, took his uniform and work credentials, and impersonated him at Abundance Spaceport.
• Qu Jianlei controlled Charles into returning to the dormitory and drinking while he left undetected.
• Bida’s dispatch center received a report that Cargo Danger No. 79886 had suffered an explosion and was being abandoned.
• The dispatch center received a damaged distress call from Cargo Express No. 35466 and ordered a rescue response.
• The captain of Cargo Fresh No. 25683 reported that the ship had gone off course near a star and requested a risky forcible takeover of its damaged controls.
• Cargo Sea 182 Fleet began reporting another emergency as a new alarm sounded.

Bida’s dispatch commander dealt with a cascade of attacks on its cargo starships, while the company’s executives sought to identify the force behind them. Their suspicions turned toward Panda, but the Second Boss focused on the unusually bold Space Pirates who had intercepted a fleet departing Second Star.

• The dispatch commander learned that Cargo Fresh No. 25683 was plunging toward a star, then received word that Space Pirates had attacked the Cargo Sea 182 Fleet.
• The dispatch commander ordered all starships on transport missions to inspect themselves and alerted Bida’s boss to the growing crisis.
• Bida’s executives compared more than ten incidents and concluded that the attacks targeted starships departing from the Hope Star Region within the past three days.
• The executives discussed whether Panda and his artificial intelligence were behind the loss of control aboard the Cargo Fresh starship, but the Second Boss questioned that theory.
• The Second Boss noted that Space Pirates had intercepted the fleet from Second Star and asked which pirate group had been bold enough to attack.

Bida Freight suspended most of its operations after attacks and sabotage disrupted its fleet, then faced pressure from Hope Star's Top Leader to restore supplies. Xiang Xue was released and reunited with Qu Jianlei, Zi Jiuxian, and Aunt Liu, but she remained determined to take revenge and asked Qu Jianlei to take her to Aaron's family.

• Bida Freight halted most freight operations and began inspecting its starships after losing ships and discovering sabotage devices.
• Hope Star's Top Leader gave Bida three days to restore supplies or face new transportation competitors, prompting Bida to release Xiang Xue as part of a goodwill effort.
• Xiang Xue escaped her holding room and called for help, and Qu Jianlei, Zi Jiuxian, and Aunt Liu came to bring her back to the Engineering Academy.
• Xiang Xue and her companions found the kidnappers' hideout cleaned and its surveillance camera destroyed, then returned to the Academy after the City Garrison could not help.
• Xiang Xue told Qu Jianlei and Aunt Liu that she would seek revenge, and the next day she asked Qu Jianlei to take her to Aaron's family.

Charles faced repeated investigations over a starship inspection he could not remember, while Xiang Xue’s visit to Aaron’s family prompted Aaron to try to get them off the planet. Their departure was blocked, and Aaron confronted an official about what had happened to Xiang Xue, leaving the cause of her apparent change unresolved.

• Cantona blamed Charles for an inspection error after Charles had covered his shift, and Charles denied drinking on duty while keeping his memory gap secret.
• Bida investigators and others repeatedly questioned Charles, and the Anti-Smuggling Department arrived just after he finished work.
• Panda and Xiang Xue appeared outside Aaron’s home, frightening his family and prompting Aaron to arrange their flight to Planet Three.
• Delta secured evening flight seats for Aaron’s family, but a government order canceled their tickets and barred them from leaving the planet.
• Aaron contacted an official and accused them of doing something to Xiang Xue before her visit, but the official insisted she had only been questioned.

Aaron went to the Engineering Academy to ask Qu Jianlei to spare his family and handed over information before self-destructing. Qu Jianlei survived the blast and was left with the evidence and Aaron’s plea.

• Aaron contacted an unregistered person, spent the day drinking, and then took a taxi to the Engineering Academy.
• Xiao Hu tracked Aaron’s movements, and Qu Jianlei told Xiang Xue that Aaron had come to see him.
• Xiang Xue offered to help Qu Jianlei fight Aaron, but he refused and promised to share the spoils with her.
• Aaron met Qu Jianlei outside the academy, asked him to spare his family, and offered him a button containing recorded information.
• Aaron self-destructed, and Qu Jianlei escaped the blast by retreating behind a tree.

After Aaron self-destructed, Qu Jianlei recovered his storage device and learned it contained a warning that the people targeting Kushnier were searching for something there. He decided to pursue them that night, while Xiang Xue agreed to deal with McGillern's family.

• Qu Jianlei recovered Aaron's button, concealed its significance from the School Protection Team, and gave a statement about the self-destruction.
• The City Guard identified the deceased as Aaron and learned that he had called the authorities after Qu Jianlei and Xiang Xue visited his home.
• Xiang Xue used her Vortex Terminal to view Aaron's message, which apologized and warned that the enemy was looking for something on Kushnier.
• Qu Jianlei inferred that the target was likely Kushnier's Qi Gathering Array and agreed to spare Aaron's family unless Xiang Xue insisted otherwise.
• Qu Jianlei said he would pursue the enemy that night and told Xiang Xue not to come because she was too weak; she agreed to handle McGillern's family.

Qu Jianlei left the academy to track down the people connected to Aaron’s self-destruction and recruited Camille to investigate them. Camille learned that the force behind them had at least two Supremes, and a message arrived that made her eager to see Qu Jianlei’s strength.

• Cheng Qingshan offered to help Qu Jianlei, then agreed to guard the academy while Qu Jianlei kept the conflict outside.
• Qu Jianlei followed a location jammer into the downtown district and found Camille at Adventurer’s Home.
• Qu Jianlei hired Camille to identify the people Aaron had contacted, and she warned him that the force behind them had at least two Supremes.
• Camille used one of Qu Jianlei’s free intelligence requests to investigate after he gave her the caller’s Wristwatch number and other clues.
• Half an hour later, Camille received a message, her smile faded, and she told Qu Jianlei she wanted to see how strong he was.