Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei and the others returned to Pan Rock Star to collect the rest of their payment, only to learn that the Battalion-Class Ship was unavailable after Young Master's friend was questioned by the authorities. They discovered the friend had deceived Young Master and went to confront him, where the chapter ended with his bodyguard knocked down and the group demanding to know where their starship was.

• Duo Gan secretly searched the empty villa on Celestial Hook Star with help from a mysterious voice and confirmed that Qu Jianlei's group had been there.
• Qu Jianlei's group returned to Pan Rock Star and met Young Master, who explained that his friend's new Battalion-Class Ship had drawn official scrutiny and could not be delivered.
• Mu Guang and Xiang Xue realized that Young Master's friend had likely used the authorities' investigation as an excuse to avoid paying the debt, and Young Master agreed to pay one billion for help confronting him.
• The group traveled to Liege's villa and found evidence on his private terminal that confirmed he had deceived Young Master.
• Liege returned home and tried to deny wrongdoing, but his A-rank bodyguard was knocked unconscious as the group demanded to know where their starship was.

Qu Jianlei’s group forced Liege to surrender the Battalion-Class Ship and pay compensation after discovering he had deceived them. The next evening, the Young Master returned with one billion in cash he had extracted from Liege, while Qu Jianlei’s group prepared to complete the ship deal in two days.

• A refined man shot Liege repeatedly while the Young Master and Uncle Chen demanded the Battalion-Class Ship, and Liege admitted it had been impounded by the authorities.
• Uncle Chen warned Liege that Digital Phantom had found evidence of his frozen transactions, so Liege agreed to secure the ship within three days.
• Mu Guang demanded ten billion in compensation, and Liege accepted the deadline as Qu Jianlei’s group vanished and the Young Master left.
• Liege treated his wounds, learned that Uncle Feng and the others had been knocked unconscious, and refused his bodyguard’s suggestion to call the city guards.
• The Young Master told Qu Jianlei’s group that Liege had arranged payment and delivery for the day after tomorrow, then handed over one billion in cash he had gained by demanding eleven billion from Liege.
• The Young Master suggested extorting an artifact, but Qu Jianlei said artifacts were scarce and asked whether he still needed similar information.

Qu Jianlei's team learned that the government was forcing Sail Consortium shareholders to fund increased military spending, leaving Sural under pressure to sell assets. Yuanyuan returned from approaching Sural with no agreement, and Mu Guang asked what had worried him.

• Young Master explained that the government was pressuring Dyson and Sail Consortiums, with Sail making its shareholders contribute according to their stakes.
• Qinghu connected Sural's plans to sell assets with Sail's financial troubles, and Nutrient Solution revealed that Sural possessed a magical artifact.
• Qu Jianlei sent Yuanyuan to contact Sural, with Shui Xisheng coordinating the effort, after Jia Shuiqing advised helping him as an individual rather than trying to save Sail.
• Yuanyuan returned the next day and said Sural had refused help, insisting he would stand with Sail's shareholders through thick and thin.
• Yuanyuan urged Qu Jianlei not to keep being polite to Sural, and Mu Guang asked what Sural was worried about.

Qu Jianlei’s group took possession of a Battalion-Class Ship and hid it in the Blade Star Region while deciding to keep watching the pressure on Saier. Yuanyuan suggested marking the ship with Digital Phantom’s insignia, and Qu Jianlei established the group’s emblem before installing a Smuggling Interdiction Terminal.

• Mu Guang and Young Master discussed Sural’s refusal to cooperate with Yuanyuan, while Qu Jianlei rejected covert schemes against Saier and chose to wait and see.
• Liege paid ten billion and delivered the Battalion-Class Ship, which Xiang Xue’s group inspected and officially took possession of.
• Qu Jianlei’s group moved the ship to a remote, uninhabited celestial body in the Blade Star Region, where he tested Supreme-grade Fireball Art talismans and gave one to Mu Guang.
• Yuanyuan suggested putting Digital Phantom’s logo on the ship, and Qu Jianlei engraved the words and an abstract 0, 1, and -1 emblem onto its hull.
• Qu Jianlei installed a Smuggling Interdiction Terminal inside the Battalion-Class Ship and had Xiao Hu leave behind a subprogram.

Qu Jianlei returned to Pan Rock Star and arranged a meeting between Digital Phantom and Sural, who sought help against the pressure on the Sail Consortium. The negotiations ended with Yuanyuan demanding Sural’s artifact in exchange for assistance.

• Qu Jianlei brought his group back to Pan Rock Star, waited several days before replying to the Young Master, and agreed to meet Sural there.
• Sural traveled from Beam Star to Pan Rock Star and met Yuanyuan and Xiang Xue, recognizing Digital Phantom’s strength.
• Xiang Xue questioned why Sural had refused contact before and why he was seeking Digital Phantom’s help now.
• Sural explained that Dyson’s pressure was draining his personal wealth and that his family’s connections could offer him little help.
• Yuanyuan accused Sural of hesitating despite knowing Digital Phantom’s strength, then said they wanted his artifact as payment for helping him.

Sural weighed whether to give Digital Phantom his prized Divine Script Artifact in exchange for protection, while learning how Young Master’s failed robbery had become the turning point of his life. He asked for time to decide, and Xiang Xue agreed to wait only a few days.

• Yuanyuan told Sural that an artifact was the only bargaining chip that could persuade Digital Phantom to help him, and Xiang Xue said they would protect him without charging Silver Horn if anyone demanded money.
• Sural considered selling or giving away his complete Divine Script Artifact and asked how much influence Digital Phantom had within the government and how far they would protect him.
• Young Master told Sural that his failed attempt to rob Digital Phantom had led to his recruitment and changed his life, then advised him to cater to the organization’s interest in artifacts.
• Sural asked Xiang Xue for time to consider the request, and she agreed but warned that Digital Phantom would not wait long.

Sural accepted Xiang Xue’s offer to use Digital Phantom’s name against people demanding payments, then faced escalating pressure from the authorities without revealing his connection. The chapter ended with Sural challenging an A-rank official to release him from house arrest, insisting he would dare to leave.

• Sural agreed to bring his artifact to Digital Phantom and received permission to tell anyone demanding money that Digital Phantom had his back.
• After Sural refused another Sail Consortium payment and cited Digital Phantom, the finance director stopped pressing him but did not tell the authorities.
• A C-rank official and then a B-rank official confronted Sural over his refusal to pay, and authorities later placed him under house arrest.
• Sural endured his confinement without mentioning Digital Phantom, while officials accused his people of retaliating against the authorities.
• An A-rank official offered to release Sural while warning him of the danger, and Sural said he would leave if they dared let him go.

Sural’s captors learned that Digital Phantom was behind the deaths of officials involved in his case and released him rather than risk further retaliation. Back at the company, Sural spoke with his great-grandfather’s second brother-in-law, who was angry but understood that Sural had been forced to defend himself.

• After officials connected to Sural’s case were killed, an A-rank questioned him and demanded to know which side he had chosen.
• Sural warned the A-rank that he might not survive the night, prompting him to seek refuge in the Planet Governor’s residence.
• The government traced Sural’s connection to Digital Phantom through Shui Corporation and the Sail Consortium, then feared further consequences if they kept him detained.
• When the A-rank asked Sural to have Digital Phantom contact him, Sural refused, and the A-rank released him.
• After returning to the company, Sural received a call from his great-grandfather’s second brother-in-law, who criticized him before Sural explained that he had no choice.

After escaping his troubles through a transaction with Digital Phantom, Sural worried about the enemies he had made and his uncertain connection to his powerful backers. Before leaving for Pan Rock Star, he agreed to relay Supreme Galileo’s offer to trade an artifact for Digital Phantom’s help.

• Sural told Second Brother-in-law that he had contacted Digital Phantom through Shui Corporation and paid them with his only complete artifact, leaving Second Brother-in-law frustrated and unable to confront him.
• After three days without incident, Sural prepared to travel to Pan Rock Star, but his senior apprentice Carlson asked whether he could contact Digital Phantom for Supreme Galileo.
• Sural refused to pass along an incomplete request until Carlson provided Galileo’s name and the artifact’s details, then Galileo arrived with a holographic image of the complete artifact.
• Galileo said the artifact was not nearby and asked how soon Sural could contact Digital Phantom, promising to reward him for arranging the introduction.

Sural negotiated with Galileo over a request involving Digital Phantom, then arranged for the group to receive an artifact on Pan Rock Star. After Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution accepted the Wind and Thunder Mace, Sural asked to keep a way to contact them in case circumstances changed.

• Sural challenged Galileo for asking him to speak on Digital Phantom’s behalf without providing the artifact or clear terms, and warned him not to probe the group’s whereabouts.
• Galileo offered to help Sural’s family obtain a freight license on Beam Star, and Sural agreed to relay the request while keeping the terms for an in-person discussion.
• Sural contacted Shui Xisheng on Pan Rock Star, who said Digital Phantom had been active on Beam Star and later told Sural the group had appeared.
• Sural retrieved the Wind and Thunder Mace from a bank vault and brought it to Digital Phantom under Supreme protection.
• Qu Jianlei examined the Wind and Thunder Mace and passed it to Nutrient Solution, who judged the transaction successful.
• Sural asked Qu Jianlei to maintain a communication channel in case unforeseen changes arose.

Qu Jianlei’s group declined to meet Galileo without the magical artifact, then returned to the Hope Star Region to search for Bentley and the others. After avoiding military surveillance near Fourth Star and Garbage Star, they detected the Unlucky Starship near Zalifu Star and established contact.

• Qu Jianlei told Sural to require Galileo to bring the magical artifact, but Galileo hesitated and postponed the meeting for three months to half a year.
• Qu Jianlei’s group left and, while traveling toward Celestial Hook Star, learned that Bentley and the others had not returned, so they headed to the Hope Star Region.
• The 1314 Ship approached Fourth Star but fled after detecting military micro-probes, then escaped an Attack Ship that pursued it.
• The 1314 Ship detected surveillance near Garbage Star and fled again, then searched around Zalifu Star for the Unlucky Starship.
• On the third day of the search, Big Head Butterfly detected the Unlucky Starship’s probe, and Xiao Hu established contact with the ship hiding more than a hundred million kilometers away.

The 1314 Ship reunited with the battered Unlucky Starship, and Fourth Boss explained how it had been caught between Imperial and Resistance forces while searching for his friend. After learning about the crew’s time on Zalifu Star, Qu Jianlei led everyone there to explore, leaving them wandering among its Settlements.

• The 1314 Ship met up with the damaged Unlucky Starship, and Fourth Boss apologized for its condition.
• Fourth Boss recounted how the Unlucky Starship had been attacked by both the Imperial military and the Resistance near Fourth Star, before Xiao Hu fought its way free.
• Fourth Boss explained that the crew had hidden near Zalifu Star, where he and Bentley bought repair materials and placed an Array Plate before waiting for rescue.
• Fourth Boss told Qu Jianlei that Fang Cao had died while pioneering and that Spirit Fox remained on Zalifu Star after falling out with his family.
• Qu Jianlei decided to return to Zalifu Star with the group, and the 1314 Ship received permission to land.
• Xiang Xue and Xiao Moshan released their A-rank pressure to drive off people soliciting customers at the spaceport, and the group began exploring the Settlements.

Qu Jianlei's group used their boastful talk about Zalifu Star's mines to draw the attention of local forces and negotiate for a foothold. The chapter ended with Yuanyuan demanding dry shares from Mountain Sea Mining and calling for someone with authority to discuss the deal.

• At a restaurant, Qu Jianlei's group discussed Zalifu Star's businesses and the mines they might acquire, while Mu Yu lamented the fighting on Fourth Star.
• After Xiao Moshan rejected a stranger's offer of liquor and refused to discuss Fourth Star, the group continued talking about taking over mines.
• A man challenged Xiao Moshan's claim that they could rule Zalifu, but one of the group used a mental attack and the challengers quickly left.
• Lu Lin of Mountain Sea Mining approached the group to invite them to help develop Zalifu Star, and Xiao Moshan told Yuanyuan to answer him.
• Yuanyuan demanded dry shares or a buyout and told Lu Lin to bring someone from Cosmos Mining who could make decisions.

Qu Jianlei’s group drew attention while exploring mining investments on Zalifu Star, and Spirit Fox agreed to help them find sellers. The chapter ended with Mountain Sea Mining introducing its mines to the group, who said they would compare offers from other companies.

• Lu Lin explained that Cosmos Mining’s support for Mountain Sea Mining was limited, while Yuanyuan dismissed the company’s standing and Lu Lin left his contact information.
• Spirit Fox’s rowdy group clashed with Mu Guang’s table until Fourth Boss released his Supreme pressure, after which Spirit Fox apologized and recognized Fourth Boss.
• Spirit Fox visited Qu Jianlei’s base, learned Fourth Boss was seeking industrial assets for a friend, and agreed to find potential sellers in exchange for an advance payment.
• Lu Lin and Mountain Sea Mining’s technical representatives visited the base and pitched several mines at high asking prices.
• Xiang Xue said the group would contact other mining companies, while Lu Lin offered to register any purchased mines under Mountain Sea’s name.

Qu Jianlei's group left Zalifu Star and headed toward Fourth Star, where they forced their way past a military blockade while seeking information about the battle. The military identified Digital Phantom and revealed that Fourth Star remained fiercely contested, leaving the group to observe nearby.

• Spirit Fox told Xiang Xue that the deposit was ten million and said Mountain Sea Mining might sympathize with the Resistance, though it was more likely placing bets on both sides.
• Qu Jianlei's group left Zalifu Star, repaired the Unlucky Starship, and traveled toward Fourth Star; Qu Jianlei gave Bentley the Wind and Thunder Mace while telling Paranoid to wait for an artifact.
• Near Fourth Star, the group's starships ignored probes and refused a Company-level Warship's order to stop for inspection.
• The military recognized Digital Phantom after the Company-level Warship reported its power system disabled, then ordered the warship to apologize and let the group pass.
• Hua Xiezhi asked what had happened to Fourth Star, and the military said the fighting remained fierce, with multiple Supremes and heavy casualties among the ground forces.
• Hua Xiezhi said the group would observe nearby rather than leave, despite the military's objections.

Digital Phantom landed on Fourth Star after agreeing to capture two enemy Supremes, while Qu Jianlei’s group explored the devastated planet. They discovered a settlement where people were being butchered and eaten, killed the perpetrators, and began investigating the hundreds of people hiding in a cave.

• The military agreed to let Digital Phantom land if they later captured two Supremes, and Hua Xiezhi accepted after securing the promise that the enemy had enough targets.
• The 1314 Ship stayed in orbit as Digital Phantom landed on Fourth Star and split into separate teams.
• Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, Qinghu, and Yuanyuan explored the ruined planet and found settlements controlled by military forces, the Resistance, and civilian groups.
• Qu Jianlei sensed people eating human flesh, and his group used Instant Flashes to reach a valley where armed people were roasting human meat.
• Qu Jianlei ordered the group killed the cannibals, and Qinghu shot two guards fleeing into a cave.
• Qu Jianlei’s group found hundreds of people and more than twenty guards inside the cave, and Qu Jianlei spared a few guards temporarily to question them.

Qu Jianlei and his companions rescued several hundred people from a cave ruled by cannibals and prepared to escort them to another Settlement. They learned that two imprisoned hostages were Awakened Ones, and the short man asked them to help his young master escape Fourth Star in exchange for artifacts or an enormous sum of money.

• Qu Jianlei learned that an A-rank and his followers had coerced people in the cave into killing and eating humans, and Qinghu decided they could not ignore the situation.
• Yuanyuan asked the survivors whether they wanted to stay or move to another Settlement, and Qu Jianlei supplied them with food, clothing, and shelter before taking most of the cave's provisions for the journey.
• Nutrient Solution suggested contacting the military, and the tall and short hostages revealed that they were Awakened Ones who had concealed their auras.
• The short hostage asked Qu Jianlei's group to escort his young master off Fourth Star and identified his master as belonging to the Dyson Consortium.
• Yuanyuan said Fourth Star was under lockdown and demanded artifacts for their help, then told the short man that an artifact cost at least seventy or eighty billion.

Yuanyuan and Nutrient Solution negotiated with two men who wanted to leave the troubled settlement, but the men’s ties to Cosmos Group led Qu Jianlei’s team to suspect them of aiding the Resistance. The military agreed to arrive by noon the next day, while the team refused to help the men leave without answers.

• Yuanyuan told the two men that extracting them would cost an enormous sum, and Nutrient Solution refused to help after sensing their resentment.
• Yuanyuan reported that the military had delayed responding to reports of people eating people and would arrive by noon the next day.
• The tall man offered eight hundred billion for both of them to leave, but Yuanyuan demanded payment in Unregistered Silver Notes and asked who they served.
• The short man revealed that they were connected to Cosmos Group and admitted it handled mining, prompting Yuanyuan to demand a complete magical artifact and then refuse to take them.
• Qu Jianlei and Qinghu accused Cosmos Mining of having ties to the Resistance, and Qinghu warned that the team would not reason with the men as the military might.

Qu Jianlei’s group left the rescued civilians in the military’s care and refused to let two men claiming ties to the Dyson Consortium join them immediately. As the group continued investigating Fourth Star, they began testing settlements for foreign agents.

• Qu Jianlei challenged the short man’s claims about Cosmos’s fairness, and the two men asked the group not to reveal their identities to the military.
• The military arrived to collect the civilians, questioned Qu Jianlei’s group, demanded their supplies, and investigated the two men after discovering they were Awakened Ones connected to Dyson.
• The short man offered an artifact in exchange for traveling with Qu Jianlei’s group, but Qu Jianlei told the pair to go with the military until the group was ready to leave Fourth Star.
• After Qu Jianlei’s group departed, a Company-level Warship arrived to ask about their actions, and the military discovered the two men appeared to have other identities.
• Qu Jianlei’s group discussed the men’s possible ties to Cosmos, then investigated seven or eight settlements over three days and collected genetic samples using a pooled-testing device.

Qu Jianlei and his companions hunted Federation spies and uncovered a trap involving hidden Supremes, while learning that star beasts might have invaded Fourth Star. After capturing two Supremes, they began questioning them about the threat, and Qinghu tortured the Federation prisoner for answers.

• Qu Jianlei’s group exposed and punished Federation spies, then found Settlements growing increasingly alert as the enemy withdrew.
• The team ambushed a military-controlled Settlement and fought three hidden Supremes; one used a Golden Dragon Binding talisman against Qu Jianlei before self-destructing.
• Genetic tests revealed that the captured group included Resistance members and original Settlement residents, prompting Qinghu to spare the Resistance members from her usual execution ritual.
• Nutrient Solution reported that the self-destructing Supreme had claimed star beasts had invaded, and Qu Jianlei questioned the captured Federation and Resistance Supremes about them.
• The Resistance Supreme admitted he had heard something about the star beasts, while Qinghu cut off the Federation Supreme’s finger to force him to answer.