Recaps

Xi Xiu and Asik prepared an investigation into the unknown creatures, whose Mental Power could control other beings. The chapter ended with the Moda unable to identify controlled warriors or explain how the creatures’ power worked.

• Xi Xiu agreed to form an investigation team, and Asik arranged Moda assistance and observation-point access.
• Xi Xiu and Xie Qingzhu planned to inspect the observation point, gather firsthand data, and have Moda make disguise devices for entering the creatures’ Starship.
• Asik warned that warriors below 2S Mental Power must stay away from the creatures because they could be seduced or controlled.
• Asik showed footage of a creature erasing its opponent’s Mental Power and making it obey commands, then said they needed to capture one alive to learn more.
• Xi Xiu asked whether controlled warriors could be identified, and Sida said they looked no different from others while the Moda still had no explanation or solution.

Xi Xiu and A Xian went to Moda’s observation station to investigate creatures searching for a rumored object that supposedly gave the Moda People foresight. As the creatures remained trapped in a simulated Moda Star, Sida explained the history behind the rumor and the mistrust it had caused.

• Xi Xiu decided to take A Xian and the others to the observation station while Xie Qingzhu stayed aboard the Starship to command the operation.
• A Xian warned Wu Jingyang and Anvile about the creatures’ ability to control people below 2S.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian’s group reached the observation platform and helped set up an invisible net that prevented the creatures from escaping or sending information out.
• The Moda People simulated Moda Star’s central region, and surveillance showed that the creatures were searching for something.
• Sida told Xi Xiu and A Xian that the rumor of an object granting the Moda People foresight was false and explained their unusual brains and the history of conflict over the rumor.
• A Xian and Sida discussed how outsiders persisted in believing what they wanted, while Sida recalled the Alliance’s restrictions against wars between species.

Xi Xiu and A Xian infiltrated the creatures' ranks to capture specimens and gather intelligence. After disguising themselves as two sedated creatures and taking their communication terminals, they cracked the passwords and successfully passed as their targets.

• Xi Xiu reviewed the observation data, learned the creatures had been ordered to attack Moda, and decided to capture one for study.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian used a Stealth Fighter to enter the simulated area, set teleportation coordinates, and sent a robot to listen in on the creatures.
• The creatures' leader ordered an attack on Moda's shielding devices after the group suspected the landing area was deceptive.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian sedated two creatures, disguised themselves as them, and placed teleportation devices on the unconscious pair.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian took the creatures' communication terminals, cracked their passwords, and used the creatures' genetic information to make the terminals accept them.

Xi Xiu and A Xian disguised themselves as the tentacled creatures and infiltrated their Starship to gather intelligence. They discovered the creatures ate intelligent beings’ brains, used Star Beast genes to grow extra limbs, and were preparing to fire a barrier-breaking weapon.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian used the Moda People’s disguise device to blend into the creatures’ gathering and followed them aboard their Starship.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian recorded the Starship’s interior and transmitted their observations to the Alliance observation station.
• The creatures attached themselves to the walls and drank a transparent nutrient containing what appeared to be brain tissue.
• Xi Xiu investigated the creatures’ weapons and memorized the parameters of a device resembling the Jingsu Alliance’s barrier-breaking weapon.
• A Xian discovered that the creatures’ leader ate the brains of its own kind, while Xi Xiu found that Star Beast genes had given the creatures extra tentacles and that juveniles were raised to become soldiers.

Xi Xiu and A Xian returned from infiltrating the creatures’ Starship with specimens and intelligence, prompting the Moda People to prepare for war. As the creatures breached the barrier, Xi Xiu and Xie Qingzhu led forces to surround them and draw them away from Moda Star.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian escaped as the creatures’ leader fired the Starship’s weapons, then returned safely with specimens for the Moda People to study.
• Xi Xiu warned Sida about the creatures’ corrosive mucus, and she and A Xian described their unusual feeding, strength, and leadership challenges.
• After learning the creatures had broken through the barrier, Xi Xiu led the remaining people back to the Starship while the Moda warriors prepared to fight.
• Asik raised Moda Star’s protective barrier, equipped the population with weapons and escape tools, and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
• Xi Xiu divided the warriors into teams and joined Xie Qingzhu in leading an encirclement, planning to lure the creatures away from Moda Star.

Xi Xiu, Sida, and the Moda People lured the unknown creatures to a barren planet disguised as Moda Star and prepared to trap them there. As the creatures began landing, Xi Xiu led the charge while the Moda forces took their positions for battle.

• Sida and the Moda People altered a barren planet and its Star Chart to make it look like Moda Star, while Xi Xiu changed the creatures’ Star Chart to direct them there.
• The creatures discovered the first deception but, after seeing the simulated starport and Moda ships unloading cargo, believed they had found the real planet.
• Xie Qingzhu and the Moda warriors sealed the starfield after the creatures entered the barren planet’s capture range, while Xi Xiu hid among the unloading crews and went to the surface.
• The creature leader divided its forces into numbered territories and sent warriors down first to test the Moda People and hunt for food.
• The Moda People evacuated most of the planet’s inhabitants and positioned their fighters around the surface and in space as Xi Xiu ordered them to prepare for battle.
• Xi Xiu rushed to meet the first creature approaching the ground, and Sida was stunned when he could not keep up with her.

Xi Xiu and the warriors used the Moda People’s agent to defeat several creatures, but the creatures adapted by hiding the openings in their suckers and forced the team to retreat. The Moda People’s research revealed an unknown gene in the creatures, suggesting they came from beyond the Jingsu Alliance or the other side of the Star Domain Gate.

• Xi Xiu used her auxiliary weapon and the Moda People’s agent to immobilize and kill the first creature, then quickly defeated two more.
• The warriors learned to combine the agent with their mechs’ precision-targeting system, raising their hit rate and accelerating their attacks.
• The creatures twisted their tentacles together to hide the suckers’ openings, ending the warriors’ advantage, so Xi Xiu ordered a retreat behind the safety barriers.
• Xi Xiu had the warriors tow away the creatures’ Starship, trapping both sides on the desolate planet.
• A Xian and the Moda People examined a creature’s remains and found an unknown gene alongside Hanhai, Inquira, and Huovian genes.
• Sida recalled that unknown genes could indicate creatures from beyond the Jingsu Alliance or the other side of the Star Domain Gate.

A Xian and Sida discussed the Anvile predecessors who had entered the Star Domain Gate and the threat of the unknown organisms they brought back. As the warriors struggled to find a way to defeat the creatures, Xi Xiu learned they needed to hold out for five hours until Moda could develop a weapon, with reinforcements still three hours away.

• A Xian told Sida that the Anvile predecessors who had not returned from the Star Domain Gate had been loaded into robotic bodies and brought unknown things back, but she could no longer recognize them and would have to fight them.
• Xi Xiu and the others considered combat plans, while their analysis showed the creatures were fast, powerful, and difficult to lure or restrain.
• Xi Xiu sent battle data and observations to the team and the Yuari base, prompting Qing Zhixun to dispatch six teams expected to arrive in three hours.
• Sida estimated that Moda needed at least three hours to develop a weapon and that the warriors had to hold the planet for five hours without letting the creatures reach the Starship.
• Xi Xiu judged that the current forces could hold out for three hours using robot warriors and mechs until reinforcements arrived.

Xi Xiu planned to exploit the creatures’ need to eat by testing them with Moda robots while the soldiers awaited reinforcements. Meanwhile, Ye Zhenwei awakened on Gaia, recovered, and asked to leave, leaving Fu Xuan uncertain about her changed behavior.

• Xi Xiu and Sida agreed to test whether the creatures became slower when they went without food, and Xi Xiu sent Qi Mang with Moda robots to gather data during a two-hour battle.
• Zhang Xiaoxiang left Yuanri Base, while Nan Hejia, Liang Jingxian, and others transferred there from Tianwei Base, hoping to reunite with Xi Xiu.
• Fu Xuan cleared the sedatives from Ye Zhenwei, who awakened on Gaia and remembered nearly dying after exhausting her Mental Power in Tianwei.
• Ye Zhenwei completed her rehabilitation, thanked Fu Xuan, and asked to leave, while Fu Xuan remained suspicious of her sudden change in manner.

Ye Zhenwei tried to understand why the Alliance’s attitude toward her had changed and decided that Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing had exposed her plan with Yuan Chuhong. While preparing to play innocent, she searched the Star Net and learned that the Anvile Bloodline belonged to someone else, deepening her anger toward the Qing Family.

• Fu Xuan told Ye Zhenwei that he had found a way to treat her after studying images from Aifolan’s consciousness, including scenes of experiments on the Moda People.
• Fu Xuan informed Ye Zhenwei that the Elder Council had arranged a residence for her in Central City and that she would receive a month’s supply of medication.
• After Fu Xuan left, Ye Zhenwei suspected that Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing had revealed her whereabouts to the Alliance Council.
• Ye Zhenwei recalled how Yuan Chuhong had persuaded her to join his plan by promising her power without the work and restrictions imposed by the Alliance.
• Ye Zhenwei searched Star Net for information about the Qing Family and learned that Jing Xi had revealed her partner and child, while the Anvile Bloodline belonged to someone else.
• Ye Zhenwei felt nauseated by Qing Zhixun and recalled how Qing Zhixun had repeatedly prevented her from meeting Qing Shihao.

Ye Zhenwei recovered in the medical pod and was transferred to the Tianning Star System garrison as a major general, while secretly planning revenge against the Qing Family. She rejected the posting and accused the Chu Family of making the decision, but Chu Zekuan told her she had no right to choose her assignment.

• Ye Zhenwei remembered her old resentment toward Qing Zhixun and vowed to destroy the family that had humiliated her.
• After two hours in the medical pod, Ye Zhenwei recovered her strength and Mental Power compatibility, though she noticed her Mental Power had stopped developing.
• Ye Zhenwei decided to contact Yuan Chuhong about dealing with Hong Xixiu, unaware that Yuan Chuhong had little authority in his faction.
• Qing Wenxu followed Qing Zhixun's suggestion and appointed Ye Zhenwei a major general in the Tianning Star System garrison.
• Ye Zhenwei learned of the posting from Chu Zekuan and angrily insisted that her merits entitled her to choose where she served.
• Chu Zekuan told Ye Zhenwei that her merits did not qualify her to choose her posting.

Chu Zekuan informed Ye Zhenwei that the Elder Council had transferred her to Tianning to manage the star system’s reconstruction, but she rejected the assignment and resented the Council’s treatment of her. She concluded that the Alliance had abandoned her first, leaving her poised to resist the transfer.

• Ye Zhenwei demanded to speak with Chen Huan, and Chu Zekuan told her Chen had retired and sent her transfer order to Tianning.
• Chu Zekuan explained that the Elder Council had assigned Ye Zhenwei to clean up Tianning because the Ye Family had caused its current chaos.
• Ye Zhenwei insisted that the Ye Family’s troubles had nothing to do with her and accused Chu Zekuan of dismissing her past achievements.
• Chu Zekuan described the Elder Council’s reasoning and urged Ye Zhenwei to consider Tianning’s importance to the Alliance.
• Ye Zhenwei judged the assignment a punishment that would harm her future and decided the Alliance had abandoned her first.

Ye Zhenwei reviewed the Alliance’s changes after waking and sought Chris’s help advancing Hong Xixiu’s career. When Chris accepted her call, she saw that he had moved on and was serving with his partner, Su Yina.

• Ye Zhenwei recalled agreeing to spy for Yuan Chuhong and realized the Alliance had purged its internal personnel while she slept.
• Ye Zhenwei learned that Xilo had taken a partner, the Tang Family had disappeared, and Hong Xixiu had risen to major while remaining on missions.
• Ye Zhenwei considered asking Chris and the Boyuan Family for help with Hong Xixiu’s career, then called Chris.
• Chris accepted the call but treated Ye Zhenwei like a stranger, and she saw his partner, Su Yina, beside him aboard a patrol ship.
• Su Yina recognized Ye Zhenwei and recalled how Chris had once devoted himself to her before their engagement ended.

Ye Zhenwei tried to get Chris’s help after the Elder Council demoted her, but he rejected her and stood by Su Yina. As Ye Zhenwei’s Mental Power began to regress, she sought help from her former teacher Xue Zixian, who gave her the contacts of her other teachers while doubting they would get involved.

• Ye Zhenwei congratulated Chris on his partnership and asked him to help her avoid returning to Tianning Star for garrison duty.
• Chris refused Ye Zhenwei’s request, reminded her that her coquettish expression was only appropriate for her partner, and reassured Su Yina.
• Ye Zhenwei ended the call in anger, then noticed that her Mental Power was regressing.
• Ye Zhenwei carefully contacted her former teacher Xue Zixian and eventually asked him for the contact information of her other teachers.
• Xue Zixian gave Ye Zhenwei the three teachers’ numbers and messaged them about her situation, expecting them to stay out of it.

Ye Zhenwei was abandoned by the people she had once relied on and waited in isolation for Yuan Chuhong to contact her. Near Moda Star, Xi Xiu and Li Yuanting prepared the reinforcements to attack the creatures, whose leader ordered a desperate breakout.

• Ye Zhenwei received no replies to her friend requests and realized she had no one on Gaia to turn to while she waited for Yuan Chuhong.
• Li Yuanting arrived near Moda Star with reinforcements, and Xi Xiu explained the battle plan she had developed with Asik and Moda's Star Lord.
• Li Yuanting divided his soldiers into teams of four, combining heavy and agile fighters to herd the creatures together and exhaust them.
• Qi Mang and Wu Yuan distributed Moda's weapons and demonstrated their use before the soldiers advanced into the desert.
• The Moda People exploited the desert heat, which slowed the creatures and drained their stamina as their protective mucus evaporated.
• The creatures' leader ordered a breakout, accepting casualties in the hope that some King-class leaders would emerge.

The Tentacled Creatures fused in groups of four, becoming enormous Behemoths with a mysterious third eye. Xi Xiu and A Xian approached the desert to scout while Jiu Dan and Sida gathered data on the transformed enemies.

• The Tentacled Creatures' leader secretly communicated a plan to its clan through tentacle gestures and resolved to force the Moda People into a direct fight.
• Xi Xiu and the others arrived and watched the Tentacled Creatures link tentacles and merge into larger Behemoths, while their comrades shielded the transformations from attack.
• Xi Xiu warned the warriors to avoid the Behemoths' extra eyes and halted the advance while she, A Xian, and Qi Mang went ahead to scout.
• Xi Xiu instructed Jiu Dan to observe and record the Behemoths, while Sida's team scanned them and compared their Genetic Information with earlier samples.
• Jiu Dan sent modified Micro-robots toward the Behemoths, and they attached themselves to the creatures unnoticed.

The Moda People confronted the enlarged creatures as Xi Xiu, A Xian, Jiu Dan, Shi Ding, and Sida fought them near the desert. Sida discovered that the creatures’ merged consciousnesses made them slow and indecisive, and he waited for his opponent to tire before striking.

• The creatures’ leader ordered an attack, while Xi Xiu and Sida arranged aerial defenses, traps, and support positions to prevent the creatures from escaping through Transmission Channels.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian met the creatures near the desert, and Jiu Dan, Shi Ding, and Sida joined the battle.
• Sida stabbed a detector into a creature, gathered data on its body and genes, and sent the findings to the garrison warriors and Moda researchers.
• Sida found that the creature’s four consciousnesses argued over how to move and attack, making its movements slow and inconsistent.
• Sida kept evading the creature’s tentacles and waited for it to become exhausted before attempting a fatal blow.

Xi Xiu and the arriving soldiers fought the adaptable Tentacled Creatures while the creatures struggled with hunger and competing consciousnesses. Xi Xiu managed to plant tiny weapons on her opponent, but the battle remained evenly matched.

• The Tentacled Creatures grew hungry and their leader planned to claim whichever fused body became strongest so it could attain King-class strength.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian warned Xie Qingzhu about the creatures’ confusion and told the teams to join the fight according to their assigned areas.
• Xi Xiu sent Su Jinbao instructions to repair and resupply damaged robots, then shared Jiu Dan’s data and warned the soldiers to watch the creatures’ closed eyes.
• Qiu Shaorong’s group reached the battlefield and joined Xi Xiu’s forces as the soldiers fought to kill the creatures before they could cooperate.
• The consciousnesses inside Xi Xiu’s opponent agreed to let the one with the highest Mental Power control its body, improving its accuracy and grazing her several times.
• Ebony bound a creature with its vines and struggled against its tentacles, while Xi Xiu planted tiny weapons on her opponent and kept fighting to wear it down.

Xi Xiu used the Alliance’s new anti-regeneration weapon and her wearable mech to wound a creature with a third eye. As the creature’s strongest consciousness took control, Xi Xiu accelerated to attack again from its right side.

• Xi Xiu used the specially made blade to cut the creature’s back, and its wounds failed to heal.
• Xi Xiu deepened the wound while dodging the creature’s tentacles, then recorded its opened third eye through her terminal instead of looking at it directly.
• Xi Xiu concealed her presence with Mental Power as the creature searched for her, then planned a speed contest against its all-seeing gaze.
• The creature’s strongest consciousness devoured the others, while Xi Xiu activated two acceleration boosters and vanished from its sight.
• Xi Xiu attacked from the creature’s right side with her blade and struck its existing wound with her other weapon, reopening it and making blood spurt out.

Xi Xiu fought a regenerating creature whose hidden Mental Power could infiltrate its enemies, then defeated it and sent its captured mental entity and battle data to Sida for the Moda researchers to study. After A Xian also preserved her opponent’s Mental Power, Xi Xiu noticed her unusual caution and began collecting the creatures’ mental entities for A Xian to examine.

• Xi Xiu used exploding weapons to damage the creature, which formed a smaller body from countless miniature Tentacled Creatures.
• Xi Xiu detected the creature’s invisible Mental Power, trapped part of it, and warned her teammates to watch for mental entities hidden in the air.
• Xi Xiu sent the captured mental entity to Sida for the Moda People's neurology experts and prevented the creature from feeding on nutritional meals.
• The creature released all its mental entities in a final attack, but Xi Xiu detected and defeated it; she sent the battle data to Sida for the Moda researchers to study its regeneration.
• A Xian preserved her opponent’s Mental Power, and Xi Xiu noticed her changed fighting style and began collecting her own opponents’ mental entities for A Xian.

Xi Xiu and the other soldiers contained a wave of troops controlled by the evolved Tentacled Creatures, using Ebony to disable mechs and sedatives to restrain the affected soldiers. As night approached, most forces withdrew to safety, but Xi Xiu and A Xian stayed behind to hunt the fused creatures and capture their mental bodies.

• Xi Xiu rushed to stop soldiers who had turned on their comrades, restrained them with Ebony, and ordered Wu Yuan to return and help.
• Xi Xiu joined Wang Zichun's battle zone, where Ebony disabled tens of thousands of mechs and the soldiers recorded the affected troops in the base system.
• Xi Xiu, Wang Zichun, and other teams captured controlled soldiers and had rescue robots sedate and move them into temporary tents while the fighting continued.
• Xi Xiu learned that some controlled Moda People alternated between their own consciousness and that of the Tentacled Creatures, while Sida's people struggled to contain them.
• With night approaching, Xi Xiu arranged for most forces to retreat, then stayed with A Xian and others to eliminate fused creatures and capture their mental bodies for return to Anvile.

The Alliance forces continued fighting the Tentacled Creatures while the Moda People introduced helmets that could intercept their psychic entities. Xi Xiu and A Xian reached the enemy leader, whose unusual connection to Anvile became apparent when it confronted A Xian.

• Xi Xiu ordered Jiu Dan to capture suspicious psychic entities and store them for A Xian, while Jiu Dan and Shi Ding discovered something was wrong with the creatures’ psychic entities.
• The Moda People sent soldiers back to battle wearing emergency helmets that intercepted and devoured biological psychic entities, while controlled soldiers remained sedated and isolated.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian collected suspicious psychic entities, then joined Xie Qingzhu and the others in charging toward the creatures’ central area.
• The creatures’ leader questioned why A Xian, an Anvile person, had joined the Alliance, and A Xian asked what that had to do with it.
• The leader’s psychic entity attacked A Xian as a bolt of lightning, but she caught it and recognized that its method resembled Anvile’s Mental Power.

A Xian fought the creature leader, wearing it down while it fed on its fallen kin and unleashed thousands of hidden tentacles. After sensing a strange connection in its sorrowful expression, she changed weapons and plunged in to cut through its outer skin.

• A Xian battled the creature leader with her halberd, blocking its tentacle attacks and steadily wearing it down.
• The creature leader used tiny tentacles to consume the brains of its fallen kin, and A Xian fired at them to destroy the brains before it could feed.
• After eating, the creature leader attacked with a vast number of underground tentacles, but A Xian sensed them and rose into the air to escape.
• A Xian sensed sorrow in the creature leader and searched it for a familiar aura, but found nothing and decided to strip away its consciousness for answers.
• A Xian switched to an Alliance blade that could dissolve the creature’s outer skin, then descended and cut it open while her other weapons struck its body.

A Xian defeated the creature leader by stripping away its consciousness, and its final expression left her with a lingering sense of loss. At dawn, the battle ended, the surviving creatures no longer posed a threat, and the exhausted warriors gathered at the base while the Moda People began cleanup.

• A Xian fought the creature leader as it used increasingly structured Martial Skills and attacked with a weapon and its hands.
• A Xian wounded the leader repeatedly, attached the consciousness-stripping device, and activated it; the leader smiled in relief, appeared to say “Thank you,” and melted into gleaming water.
• A Xian collected the leader's consciousness to send back to Wu Jingyang and left the battlefield as the other warriors finished their fights.
• The half-day-and-night battle ended at dawn, with ninety-seven percent of the creatures dead and the rest severely wounded and no longer dangerous.
• The exhausted warriors returned to the rest area for energy restoration while the Moda People began battlefield cleanup.
• Li Yuanting joined Xi Xiu and the others in a hastily erected tent, and Asik arrived with Moda's top researchers to assist Sida and the others.

After the battle, Asik and the surviving warriors mourned Unit 909's dead while the Moda People promised compensation for their families. A Xian explained how Anvile had survived its crisis, and Asik shared Moda's predictions about the star region before leaving to check on the research.

• Asik thanked Xi Xiu, A Xian, and the other warriors, then recognized that they needed rest and still had problems to resolve.
• Li Yuanting tended to the casualties as Su Jinbao, Qiu Shaorong, and others grieved for Unit 909's fallen warriors; Asik promised support for their families, and Xi Xiu offered compensation from her own account.
• Asik asked A Xian how Anvile had overcome its crisis, and she said she had nearly exhausted her Mental Power while serving as a source of replenishment for her people.
• A Xian withheld Xi Xiu's involvement and told Asik that Anvile's ancestors had taught them to calm the Star Domain Gate in a crisis.
• Asik told A Xian that Moda's calculations saw hope for the star region if Anvile survived, and A Xian thanked him for his guidance.
• Asik left to check the research progress, troubled that Moda's request for reinforcements had led to deaths even though it had saved the Moda People.