Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei’s fleet joined the Federation’s hunt for star beasts near a nebula, where the military warned of an Other Space passage and organized a cautious search. After several encounters with exotic beasts, the Second Team redirected toward a reported nest, while Xiao Moshan and Hill grew closer despite Hill’s prisoner status.

• Xiao Moshan refused Hill’s offer to join the fight, then showed him a synthesized video that convincingly impersonated him.
• Qu Jianlei refused to let the military board the civilian ships, and the fleet jumped to a nebula where star beasts were believed to be hiding.
• The military explained the danger of an Other Space passage and divided the fleet into three teams to search around the nebula.
• Qu Jianlei refused to send the two Armed Merchant Ships on inspection duty, keeping his three ships in a support position.
• The Second Team defeated two powerful jellyfish-like beasts and encountered a large group of Space Bats.
• On the eleventh day, the Second Team received orders to rendezvous after Nest Star Beasts were detected, while Xiao Moshan and Hill’s mutual respect deepened.

Qu Jianlei’s fleet joined a campaign against the Nest Star Beasts, whose brutal resistance and reinforcements turned the hunt into a prolonged war. After seeing the Star Beasts up close, Qu Jianlei recognized them as Asura, and Sunset Glow explained that they were voracious eaters who might avoid invading because the local spiritual energy was too sparse.

• Xiao Moshan and Hill discussed the danger posed by the Nest Star Beasts as the Second Fleet rendezvoused with the main force and entered the Nebula.
• After two days without major incidents, the fleet made contact with a Star Beast squad, and the Third Team pursued it toward the nests while Qu Jianlei’s team remained on watch.
• Qu Jianlei complained to the lead starship about the lack of information, but the military defended its secrecy as the Third Team’s battle grew increasingly costly.
• Over the next several days, the Star Beasts reinforced their forces, the Mother Nest appeared, and Qu Jianlei’s team advanced as the First and Second Teams prepared to join the fighting.
• Qu Jianlei saw images of the humanoid Star Beasts and recognized them as Asura; Sunset Glow said they were voracious eaters, roughly even with Cultivators in combat, and especially fearless of death.

Qu Jianlei's fleet remained on the sidelines as the main battle against the Star Beasts dragged on, until a new wave of nests attacked their flank. Fourth Boss took command of the fleet's response, while Hill and the other A-ranks were allowed to watch the battle from the captain's lounge.

• The Star Beasts' Above Supremes and swarming forces drove the fleet into a seven-day battle, but the Second Team's assignment stayed unchanged and most of its main force remained intact.
• Nutrient Solution suggested leaving the blockade, but Qu Jianlei chose to wait for Sunset Glow and for a possible unexpected development.
• A warship detected incoming alien beast nests, and the team leader warned the fleet that a Mother Nest, five subsidiary nests, and Small Nests were approaching from the left flank.
• Qu Jianlei gave Fourth Boss authority to command the battle and ordered the team to spread out among the three warships.
• Hill asked to join the fight as an operator or gunner, but Xiao Moshan told him that he and the other A-ranks could only watch from the captain's lounge.

Hill explained that the Chasing Wind Special Task Force had requisitioned their starship and was fighting star beasts, while Qu Jianlei’s team disobeyed an order to hold the line and engaged the enemy on its own terms. The team destroyed a Small Nest and exposed a powerful Asura, leaving the team leader demanding that they attack it.

• Hill told the seven soldiers that their starship had been requisitioned for the star beast battle, and they watched the fighting from his lounge.
• As star beasts attacked the fleet, Qu Jianlei’s team leader ordered the three starships to hold them off, but Fourth Boss ordered them to evade and support allied forces instead.
• Qu Jianlei’s team focused its fire on a Small Nest, and the Battalion-Class Ship’s guns broke through its defenses and destroyed it.
• A Six-Armed Asura emerged from the destroyed nest and launched a tracking spell at Xiao Hu’s Armed Merchant Ship, but the three starships escaped its pursuit.
• The team leader demanded that Qu Jianlei’s group attack the exposed Asura while it was separated from its nest.

Qu Jianlei’s team advanced toward the besieged Second Team as allied forces struggled against star beasts, newly received intelligence revealed their weaknesses, and command ordered the Second Team to hold back reinforcements for at least two days. The chapter ended with Qu Jianlei’s team preparing to attack a Small Nest while avoiding a nearly disabled allied ship caught in a star beast’s projection.

• The Second Team leader received delayed intelligence about star beast weaknesses and an order to hold the new Mother Nest’s forces back, even if the team was wiped out.
• Fourth Boss cursed the late intelligence while Qu Jianlei urged him to focus on the battle.
• Allied starships tried to help by attacking the isolated Supreme Asura, while Claire complained that they were stealing the team’s kill and Tian Yin said the spoils would not go to them.
• Hill and the other A-ranks discussed the battle, and Hill concluded that the star beasts’ intelligence had been underestimated.
• Qu Jianlei’s three starships reached the besieged fleet, where a Small Nest projected an attack onto a nearly disabled Company-level Warship.
• Fourth Boss ordered his ships to target the Small Nest while avoiding fire that could hit the allied vessel, and Qu Jianlei praised Big Head Butterfly for understanding the plan.

Xiao Hu’s fleet attacked the Star Beasts’ nests while Qu Jianlei’s team fought to rescue a damaged warship and defend its own ships. When the Sub-Nest projected six Asuras onto Teres’s Armed Merchant Ship, Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution killed them with startling speed, leaving the team leader stunned.

• Xiao Hu used coordinated cannon fire and Small Ships to destroy two Small Nests, while Qu Jianlei sent squads to aid the crew of a company-level warship under attack.
• The Sub-Nest and remaining Small Nests concentrated fire on Qu Jianlei’s fleet, damaging Teres’s Armed Merchant Ship and projecting six Asuras onto its hull.
• Qu Jianlei attacked the Six-Armed Asura with a Thunder Dragon, while Nutrient Solution bound a Four-Armed Asura with Extreme Flame.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution killed the Asuras in seconds, astonishing the prisoners watching from the battalion-class ship and the team leader.

Qu Jianlei’s team and the rescued Self-Defense Force fought together, destroying Star Beast nests and drawing the Mother Nest’s attention. The Mother Nest sent five Sub-Nests toward the Division Level Ship, intensifying the main battlefield.

• The team leader reported that Qu Jianlei’s team had killed Supreme Star Beasts, damaged a Sub-Nest, and rescued allied forces, so command accepted that Second Team could not spare them.
• The Mother Nest ignored the local fighting until Qu Jianlei’s team crippled a Sub-Nest, then sent three Sub-Nests and nine Small Nests to attack them.
• Qu Jianlei’s team and the Self-Defense Force coordinated their attacks, ambushing Asuras and destroying two Sub-Nests and five Small Nests.
• The Mother Nest responded by ejecting five Sub-Nests toward the Division Level Ship, adding fresh forces to the main battlefield.

The Mother Nest sent four Asura projections to attack Qu Jianlei’s team aboard the Jin Yang Merchant Ship, and the humans fought back while concealing their magic artifacts and ability to move between ships. They killed two Asura Golden Core cultivators, but the remaining one demonstrated formidable power by shattering Qinghu’s stone shield.

• The Mother Nest projected four Asura onto the Jin Yang Merchant Ship, prompting Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, and Jia Shuiqing to join the defenders.
• Old Lady Jia struck the Eight-Armed Asura with a magic artifact and sent it flying, while Bentley attacked another Asura and Qu Jianlei and Qinghu followed up.
• Qinghu bound an Asura with the Dragon Binding Rope, and Nutrient Solution killed it with a palm strike that set it ablaze.
• The remaining Asura attacked Duo Gan with a beam of white light, but Qinghu’s stone shield intercepted the blast before it shattered.
• The humans recognized that the Asura’s combat power was greater than expected as the surviving enemy continued to threaten them.

Duo Gan and the others battered an Eight-Armed Asura with a modified Three Powers Array while reinforcements arrived from the Mother Nest. Nutrient Solution revealed the Soul Suppressing Bell as four more Asuras appeared, leaving the battle poised for a new clash.

• Duo Gan seized the injured Eight-Armed Asura with a giant spiritual hand while Bentley, Nutrient Solution, Qu Jianlei, Qinghu, and Old Lady Jia prepared their attacks.
• Qu Jianlei, Qinghu, and Old Lady Jia used their modified Three Powers Array to interrupt the Asura’s escape and strike it three times, but it survived.
• Nutrient Solution warned the team that reinforcements were coming, and Qu Jianlei and Paranoid discussed avoiding exposure of their trump cards.
• Four Asuras emerged from the Mother Nest’s white light, including three towering eight-armed Nascent Souls.
• Nutrient Solution summoned the Soul Suppressing Bell and rang it as the four Asuras prepared to attack.

Qu Jianlei’s team used the Soul Suppressing Bell, the Three Powers Array, and coordinated attacks to fight four projected Asuras while the Federation fleet watched. Duo Gan and Old Lady Jia isolated and battered a Nascent Soul Realm Asura, but its toughness meant the fight was still ongoing.

• Nutrient Solution rang the Soul Suppressing Bell twice, disrupting the Asuras, while First One secretly killed the wounded Asura with a hidden white light.
• The Three Powers Array blasted a Nascent Soul Realm Asura, but a Six-Armed Asura recovered after its Lightning Protection Gear helped it withstand Bentley’s Thunder Dragon.
• Duo Gan sent two wounded Asuras flying and told the starships to attack them, and Qu Jianlei ordered Xiao Hu to redirect the ships’ weapons toward the pair.
• Qu Jianlei replaced Jia Shuiqing in the Three Powers Array, allowing Duo Gan to hurl an Eight-Armed Star Beast away and then pull it back toward Jia Shuiqing’s Great Seal.
• Jia Shuiqing attacked the returning Nascent Soul Realm Asura with her divine sense and Great Seal, knocking it back, then asked Duo Gan to strike it again.

Duo Gan, the Three Powers Array, Paranoid, and the others overwhelmed the Asuras with coordinated attacks, while Qu Jianlei directed the fight. After the team killed one Nascent Soul Realm Asura, Qu Jianlei ordered them to finish off the remaining Golden Core Realm Asura and leave.

• Duo Gan repeatedly batted an Eight-Armed Star Beast back and forth with her Giant Hand while the Three Powers Array injured the remaining Nascent Soul Realm Asura.
• Paranoid struck the Asura with Mental Strength, and Mu Guang left the starship to support the team.
• Evening Glow incapacitated the Asura, and Bentley killed it by driving the Wind and Thunder Mace through its mouth and head.
• Qu Jianlei ordered the starship to concentrate its cannons on another Nascent Soul Realm Asura, which he finished with a Sword Pill.
• Qu Jianlei told the team to kill the Golden Core Realm Asura and prepare to leave.

Qu Jianlei’s group collected Asura corpses after defeating most of the Star Beasts, while Qu Jianlei negotiated with the Federation team leader over their spoils and secret identity. Before leaving, they agreed to help destroy the Mother Nest in exchange for keeping information about them confidential.

• Xiao Hu urged Duo Gan and Jia Shuiqing to finish the struggling Nascent Soul Realm Asura, and Evening Glow Senior dealt with it.
• Qu Jianlei’s fleet collected Star Beast corpses, and Qu Jianlei insisted that the remains were needed for research after the team leader challenged him over the spoils.
• Qu Jianlei argued that his group deserved two Above Supreme and four Supreme corpses because they had faced four Above Supreme creatures and suffered losses.
• Qu Jianlei said his group would leave soon, but the team leader asked them to help destroy the Mother Nest and keep their mission confidential.
• Qu Jianlei asked Old Lady Jia if she could fight again, then offered to help destroy the Mother Nest while the team leader sought approval from his superiors.

Qu Jianlei and his ships joined the Federation’s desperate effort to keep the Mother Nest from escaping, while the Triangle Star Region’s Above Supremes waited for the right moment to act. Jia Shuiqing finally reached the Mother Nest and struck it with her Great Seal, leaving the fleet scrambling to avoid interfering with her attack.

• Qu Jianlei negotiated a fifteen-day confidentiality limit, then ordered the Teres Merchant Ship to clear the battlefield while the Battalion-Class Ship and Jin Yang Merchant Ship headed for the Mother Nest.
• The Federation ships intensified their attacks to keep the Mother Nest and Star Nests from regrouping, while Qu Jianlei’s ships stopped 600,000 kilometers away and began firing with limited effect.
• After the team leader urged Qu Jianlei to act as Federation casualties mounted, a Cyan Glow appeared on the Mother Nest, revealing Jia Shuiqing inside it.
• Jia Shuiqing summoned her Great Seal and struck the Mother Nest twice, shifting her second attack more than thirty kilometers from the first as nearby ships tried to cease fire.

Jia Shuiqing used Qu Jianlei’s attack plans to breach the Mother Nest, after which Qu Jianlei’s team refused to join an assault inside and left the battlefield. Later, Colonel Hill offered Xiao Moshan help securing autonomy for the group, having concluded they were not Separatists.

• Jia Shuiqing struck three planned points on the Mother Nest, causing a breach that Federation starships began bombarding.
• Jia Shuiqing flew back through space and boarded the Battalion-Class Ship while Qu Jianlei refused Team Leader’s request to enter the Mother Nest.
• Qu Jianlei’s group took six Asura corpses and weapons, then departed with Teres’s merchant ship as Team Leader told his superior that Above Supreme might have suffered backlash.
• After three days, Qu Jianlei’s group jumped to the starry sky where the breach was located, and Hill asked Xiao Moshan what they had come to the Frontline to do.
• Hill offered to help Xiao Moshan secure a high degree of autonomy, saying he had determined that the group were not Separatists.

Qu Jianlei’s group reached the military control zone and weighed how to breach the blockade while keeping their true intentions hidden. Hill’s old classmate Scott unexpectedly secured entry permits for the two Armed Merchant Ships, leaving Qu Jianlei free to continue planning.

• Hill urged Xiao Moshan to seek recognition for killing a star beast, but Xiao Moshan questioned why the Federation was still preparing to fight the Empire.
• A military patrol stopped Qu Jianlei’s convoy, inspected Asura’s corpse, and let the ships continue without further obstruction.
• Qu Jianlei brought the convoy to the edge of the Military Control Zone and used the space inn’s repair facilities while secretly planning a way through the blockade.
• Scott contacted Qu Jianlei, offered to arrange entry for the two Armed Merchant Ships, and postponed their alumni gathering.
• Scott sent entry permits through a subordinate, and Xiao Moshan received them.

Qu Jianlei guided the three starships into the Military Control Zone, completed the observation group's paperwork, and spent several days touring the Frontline while planning how to leave and return. A Special Operations Department notice about the Jin Yang Merchant Ship raised suspicions, prompting Frontline officers to question why the ships had not been inspected as the group hurried toward the Frontline.

• Qu Jianlei used the team's requisition and battle against star beasts to explain the delayed arrival at checkpoints, then completed the group's identification paperwork with a Major General.
• The Major General asked Qu Jianlei to visit his Lieutenant General superior, but Qu Jianlei chose to familiarize himself with the Frontline first and toured it with two assigned guides.
• Qu Jianlei declined to choose a unit for the observation group's second stage while considering how to cross the blockade and return to the Federation.
• Xiao Hu warned Qu Jianlei that the Special Operations Department had sent a non-top-secret notice describing the Jin Yang Merchant Ship as carrying a powerful team, so the three ships raced toward the Frontline.
• A military confidential officer noticed the ships had not undergone boarding inspections and contacted Scott, who was confused by both the omission and the vague notice from the Special Operations Department.

Qu Jianlei took three starships into the Frontline without authorization while Scott tried to warn him about an inspection order. When the Frontline demanded they stop, Qu Jianlei’s fleet fled, leaving the command center uncertain whether to fire because Hill and more than four hundred Federation soldiers were reportedly prisoners aboard.

• Scott contacted Qu Jianlei’s former superior, who told him to reach out to Hill and learn what was happening.
• Qu Jianlei persuaded the Frontline to let his three starships advance without an escort, then told Scott he was moving forward to observe.
• The Frontline received orders to inspect the starships, and two Battalion-Class Ships pursued them when they failed to respond.
• Qu Jianlei ordered the fleet to accelerate, with the Teres Merchant Ship trailing behind as a shield, and the Frontline command center suspected the observation group had defected.
• A caller demanded to know whether Hill understood what he was doing, and Qu Jianlei replied that Hill was alive but captured.
• Qu Jianlei claimed his fleet held more than four hundred Federation prisoners, leaving the command center unsure whether to open fire.

Qu Jianlei and his companions faced a Federation command center demanding proof that Hill was alive, while Hill’s private video call was exposed to thousands of watchers. The Lieutenant General questioned Hill about the group’s strength and the deaths among his colleagues, leaving their standoff unresolved.

• The Lieutenant General cut off outside signals and threatened artillery fire unless Qu Jianlei’s group named its demands and proved Hill was alive.
• Hill refused to appear on video until Xiao Moshan warned that the command center might attack his comrades, so Hill agreed to a call on a private channel.
• Big Head Butterfly revealed that the supposedly private call had more than two hundred viewers and over ten thousand recording devices.
• Uncle Qiuke’s Simulated Human Image confirmed Hill’s identity, and the Lieutenant General then questioned Hill about his colleagues and the group’s background.
• Hill said the group was very strong and had helped the Action Department before leaving, prompting the Lieutenant General to ask whether only four colleagues had died.

Qu Jianlei and his team revealed that they had captured hundreds of Triangle Military Region soldiers and disclosed their Imperial origins while trying to escape the Federation Frontline. After the Lieutenant General ordered extended firepower interception, the team faced a dangerous attempt to stop their advance.

• Hill and Xiao Hu showed the Lieutenant General footage of more than four hundred surviving Triangle Military Region soldiers aboard the group’s ships.
• Qu Jianlei explained that he had divided the prisoners among the starships, then declared that his group came from the Evil Empire.
• Hill asked why Imperial agents had fought so hard against the star beasts, and Xiao Moshan answered that wars among humans were internal conflicts while the fight against star beasts was a war of civilizations.
• The Lieutenant General accused the group of trying to make Federation forces kill their own soldiers, while Qu Jianlei condemned the Federation’s actions in the Hope Star Region and the Hope Fourth Star Massacre.
• Qu Jianlei threatened the Lieutenant General over his dismissal of Imperial deaths, and Qinghu said she had memorized his face.
• The Lieutenant General ordered extended firepower interception and said the captured Federation soldiers would be safe unless the group charged through.

Qu Jianlei’s group confronted a Federation artillery blockade while fleeing with their prisoners, and Xiao Hu weakened the defenses enough for their three starships to break through. Hill shared information about Federation battle arrays and magical artifacts, then watched the escape as the Lieutenant General wondered whether the Empire had tested the blockade for an approaching war.

• The Lieutenant General justified firing on the prisoners by citing the threat they posed and the danger of Federation technology leaking to the Empire.
• Qu Jianlei’s group encountered an artillery blockade, and Qu Jianlei sent Xiao Moshan to remove Hill while Xiao Hu prepared to break through.
• Hill offered Federation intelligence in exchange for answers, telling Qu Jianlei about the Federation’s battle arrays, their source, and the military’s limited stock of complete magical artifacts.
• Qu Jianlei questioned Hill about magical artifacts, and Hill proposed that the Empire and Federation could share research to resist star beasts.
• Xiao Hu destroyed nearly half the blockade’s firepower points, and the three starships forced their way through the remaining defenses.
• The Lieutenant General watched the ships escape and wondered whether they had come to test the blockade ahead of a larger war.