Recaps

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.

Qu Jianlei and Camille exchanged information about the Qingfeng Merchant Guild and the Cleaners before a bar confrontation turned deadly. They escaped to Adventurer's Home's parking lot, where Camille questioned how Qu Jianlei had sensed their third attacker.

• Camille told Qu Jianlei that the Qingfeng Merchant Guild came from the Blade Star Region and that the Cleaners still sought information about former members.
• After Camille gave Qu Jianlei a tiny button containing information, a drunk and his companions provoked them at the bar.
• Qu Jianlei and Camille killed three men during the fight, spared a woman Qu Jianlei knocked aside, and escaped through an emergency passage.
• In the parking lot, Camille borrowed Qu Jianlei's Laser Pistol and told a Cleaner informant to handle the city guards' investigation.
• Camille asked Qu Jianlei how he had sensed the third attacker.

Qu Jianlei and Camille investigated the three men killed while monitoring the Cleaners and discovered their links to the Qingfeng Merchant Guild. Qu Jianlei left Camille to seek more intelligence, taking Storm to an empty construction site to ask Xiao Hu for help analyzing it.

• Camille and Qu Jianlei discussed how they had killed three concealed attackers, then learned from the deputy supervisor that the men had arrived with Ke Zhenshan’s son and had no identification.
• Camille’s investigators found that the dead men included a Space Pirate, a lone mercenary, and a person with no records, leading her to conclude they belonged to the Qingfeng Merchant Guild.
• Qu Jianlei questioned whether the men were really pioneer team members and learned that Qingfeng’s Fourth Star operation had two known Rank A leaders, Foodie and Knife Sheath, plus three mobile Rank A subordinates.
• Camille began checking the location of Comet, a Fire Attribute Rank A linked to Aaron, while Qu Jianlei and Camille agreed on a transceiver channel and random code.
• Qu Jianlei left Camille and went to an empty building at a construction site, where he took out Storm and asked Xiao Hu to analyze the information.

Qu Jianlei tracked Comet to a Qingfeng Merchant Guild Repair Shop and used Xiao Hu to find a way inside, but the apparent surveillance gap was a trap. After surviving a lightning attack and assimilating a Wind Binding Art, Qu Jianlei killed the Rank A Wind Attribute fighter and struck at the Rank B Warrior who had attacked him.

• Xiao Hu traced Foodie and Knife Sheath’s calls to an off-planet contact and a number linked to a military Gas Station, while Camille told Qu Jianlei that Comet was at a Repair Shop.
• Qu Jianlei approached the Repair Shop, suspected it was a Qingfeng Merchant Guild Safe House, and sabotaged a transformer to probe the courtyard during the power disturbance.
• Qu Jianlei sensed three Rank A fighters inside, and Xiao Hu infiltrated the drone control terminal and the Repair Shop’s network, discovering nine people and a brief surveillance blind spot.
• Qu Jianlei used the gap to approach the wall, but a hidden Rank B Warrior struck him with Thunder Dragon and a Rank A Wind Attribute fighter bound him with Wind Binding Art.
• Qu Jianlei assimilated the Wind Binding Art, beheaded the Rank A fighter, then vaulted over the wall and attacked the Rank B Warrior.

Qu Jianlei ambushed the Qingfeng Merchant Guild’s action team, killing its strongest members and revealing his No Attribute abilities. After the City Guard surrounded the repair shop, he ordered them to leave.

• Qu Jianlei killed the Electromagnetic Attribute Rank B and used a Mental Attack to knock the Metal Attribute Rank A unconscious.
• Comet attacked Qu Jianlei with Chain Fireball, realized he was a No Attribute Rank A, and urged his companions to flee with the secret information.
• Qu Jianlei evaded the fireballs, had Xiao Hu paralyze the local network, and struck down Comet with Thunder Dragon.
• Qu Jianlei killed the remaining weaker fighters and the unconscious Metal Attribute Rank A, then stored Comet’s corpse and continued toward the Repair Shop.
• The City Guard arrived and surrounded the repair yard, but Qu Jianlei told them to get lost.

Qu Jianlei escaped after destroying a Qingfeng Merchant Guild support point and learned that a Supreme connected to the Electromagnetic Attribute Rank B he killed was coming for him. Back at his courtyard, he discussed the Guild’s influence and the Blade Star Region’s history with Xiang Xue, Aunt Liu, and Professor Zi.

• Qu Jianlei looted the Repair Shop, broke into its Secret Chamber, and escaped underground after its explosion and colorless flames drew the city guards.
• Camille told Qu Jianlei that a Supreme from Planet Three was coming to avenge the Electromagnetic Attribute Rank B, and warned that two closely connected Supremes might arrive.
• Qu Jianlei returned to his courtyard, where Xiang Xue, Aunt Liu, and Professor Zi were waiting, and confirmed that he had destroyed the Qingfeng Merchant Guild site and killed the Wind Attribute Rank A.
• Qu Jianlei returned Xiang Xue’s marked Item-Storing Talisman and asked Aunt Liu and Xiang Cao what they knew about the Qingfeng Merchant Guild.
• Xiang Cao explained that the Blade Star Region had once been a gathering place for Rebels before the Empire suppressed and appeased three rebellions.

Qu Jianlei learned that the Qingfeng Merchant Guild and Bida were behind the attacks against him, and that Supremes were coming from Planet Three. He sought information and support while preparing to face the threat, leaving Heltman to investigate the Supremes and identify three attackers.

• Xiang Xue explained the Blade Star Region’s history of resistance and the Qingfeng Merchant Guild’s brutal past, while Qu Jianlei revealed that a Supreme was coming to Fourth Star.
• Qu Jianlei told Xiang Xue, Aunt Liu, and Zi Jiuxian that two Supremes were involved and asked Xiang Xue to investigate the Qingfeng Merchant Guild.
• Qu Jianlei and Xiao Hu examined the attackers’ belongings and found a damaged storage device hidden in one of Comet’s buttons.
• Qu Jianlei told Heltman that the Qingfeng Merchant Guild and Bida had targeted him over Kushnier, but Heltman declined to risk the Hoyer Residence’s safety.
• Heltman agreed to find the names and movements of the Supremes, and Qu Jianlei asked him to run genetic comparisons on three fingernails.

Qu Jianlei left the academy after learning that Qingfeng Merchant Guild Supremes were coming to Fourth Star and checked into a hotel near the Anti-Smuggling Department. He repeatedly drove past the department to provoke its members, leaving them wary and unsure what he was planning.

• Heltman warned Qu Jianlei about Qingfeng Merchant Guild and gave him an anonymous Wristwatch number, while Aunt Liu brought a list of guild personnel and Xiang Xue's father's refusal to send a Supreme.
• Qu Jianlei learned that Emestina and Fahim would arrive the next afternoon, reviewed information about the three dead men, and decided to leave the academy.
• Cheng Qingshan assured Qu Jianlei that the academy would resist pressure from the guild, and Qu Jianlei said goodbye before leaving after a farewell meal.
• Qu Jianlei checked into Tono Hotel near the Anti-Smuggling Department and drove past its entrance repeatedly the next morning.
• Anti-Smuggling Team Members stopped Qu Jianlei, recognized him as Panda, and let him go after he challenged their authority.
• The Anti-Smuggling Team Members learned Qu Jianlei was staying at Tono, but the hotel refused to let them search his room, so they left and discussed reporting his presence.

Qu Jianlei watched Fahim and Emestina investigate the massacre and waited for them to strike, then prepared for a covert attack on his rented courtyard. He spotted Fahim approaching under cover of Wood Attribute energy, but a muffled snort revealed that poison had disrupted the ambush.

• Qu Jianlei tracked Fahim and Emestina from the airport to their hotel and followed their investigation of the Repair Shop and Fengrao City institutions.
• Camille told Qu Jianlei that Fahim, not Emestina, was the Supreme connected to an Electromagnetic Attribute Awakened One.
• Qu Jianlei watched the Supremes for two days and suspected their visits were preparation for an attack.
• Before dawn, Qu Jianlei sensed danger, put on Ice Armor, and used a night-vision device to watch his courtyard without exposing himself.
• Qu Jianlei saw Fahim approach as pale mist that spread his body heat, then heard someone snort and accuse an unseen attacker of using poison.

Fahim infiltrated Tono Hotel to capture Panda, but Qu Jianlei’s layered poison and relentless attacks left him trapped and desperate. Emestina arrived after Qu Jianlei escaped into the river, while Fahim was still struggling to survive.

• Fahim entered the courtyard intending to capture Panda and question him about Kushnier’s Item-Storing Talisman.
• Qu Jianlei’s layered Paraquat poisoned Fahim, and Fahim fled the hotel to seek treatment.
• Qu Jianlei chased Fahim, struck him with Thunder Dragon, and followed with Mental Attacks, an Electromagnetic Shockwave Flare Grenade, and more poison.
• A Guardian Supreme recognized Qu Jianlei and intervened, so Qu Jianlei used Quicksand Art, threw more poison, and escaped into a river.
• Emestina arrived but cautiously went after Qu Jianlei instead of approaching Fahim, who feared he could not hold on much longer.

Emestina and Bushang oversaw the rescue of Fahim, who had been trapped by Qu Jianlei’s Quicksand Art and poisoned with a new toxin that devastated Wood Attribute users. The investigation connected the attack to Panda, while Fahim remained near death without a treatment plan.

• Emestina arrived at the riverbank searching for Qu Jianlei, but Bushang joined her as the emergency response began.
• Bushang reversed the Quicksand Art trapping Fahim, and the rescuers discovered that an unknown toxin was rapidly worsening his condition.
• The experts found that the toxin harmed Wood Attribute users and ordinary people, while Activation Agents could eventually detoxify ordinary victims.
• Emestina told Bushang that Fahim had been investigating Panda, and an Anti-Smuggling Team Member accused Panda of killing Daisyth and more than a hundred members of his family.
• Bushang rejected cryogenic life support because Fahim’s calcifying, water-filled body would likely be destroyed by freezing and thawing.
• Doctors had no treatment plan for Fahim, while reports confirmed that the toxin was also present at Panda’s courtyard and was especially destructive to plants.