Recaps

After the battle on Moda, Xi Xiu checked on the sleeping and wounded soldiers while the Moda researchers explained that the Tentacled Creatures had been engineered from countless old and newly discovered genes. Xi Xiu and her companions arranged the aftermath and rested, leaving the soldiers to recover and the creatures' origins under investigation.

• Xi Xiu visited the sleeping soldiers and learned that the Tentacled Creatures' invading Mental Power would be difficult to remove, while the Doctor assured her the soldiers would recover safely.
• Sida explained that the Tentacled Creatures had more than a thousand kinds of genes, added over two hundred years of laboratory experiments, and no Anvile genes.
• A Xian sent the genetic data to Wu Jingyang, who confirmed the creatures included previously undiscovered Star Beasts from beyond the Star Domain Gate.
• Xi Xiu and Li Yuanting reviewed casualties, arranged for the fallen soldiers' bodies to be returned to base, and decided to remain near Moda for five stellar days.
• Xi Xiu, A Xian, and Xie Qingzhu treated one another's wounds and finally lay down to rest.

Xi Xiu learned that the Tentacled Creatures’ consciousnesses were linked to those that had vanished in Anvile and reviewed reports on Huovian’s plans to seize Ningkui Star. As the Alliance strengthened its defenses and Enweit held Aura’s border against the Hanhai People, Musar grew frustrated by their failed attacks.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian concluded that the Tentacled Creatures’ consciousnesses were connected to the missing consciousnesses in Anvile, and A Xian said she had informed Wu Jingyang.
• Xi Xiu reviewed Ming Weiman’s findings that Huovian had traced missing planetary mass to energy mining and planned to capture Ningkui Star after the Alliance was drawn into war elsewhere.
• The Alliance began reinforcing Ningkui Star’s defenses while Ming Weiman sent investigators to monitor Huovian’s border and situation.
• Enweit and his people repelled two Hanhai attacks on Aura’s sealed borders, while Musar objected because the failed assaults had prevented its planned advance toward Aura Star.

The Musar People changed their plans after seeing Aura's improved battle tactics and decided to approach Aura through Tianwei without informing Hanhai. Meanwhile, Xi Xiu and her companions reviewed the Alliance-wide crisis caused by star-pirate raids and unidentified lifeforms, ending with the revelation that pirates had abducted talented children from attacked planets.

• The Musar People judged Aura's new fighting methods dangerous and secretly planned to bypass Hanhai's defenses through Tianwei.
• Xi Xiu warned Enweit to watch Aura's surroundings, and Enweit sent warriors to patrol every direction, including areas beyond Star Net coverage.
• Xi Xiu reviewed reports of star-pirate attacks and unidentified lifeforms while Nine Stars personnel joined Alliance garrisons to help intercept the pirates.
• Xie Qingzhu reported that the Moda battlefield had been cleared and that the star-pirate raids were spreading across barren planets.
• Xi Xiu explained that former pirate lieutenants had formed new crews that cooperated to scatter patrol forces, retreating after attacks and abducting children.
• Xie Qingzhu told A Xian that some abducted children had been rescued, but the pirates had taken others who were especially talented.

Long Xingxue redirected her team to help the Alliance search for the star pirates and abducted children, while Xi Xiu and the others remained on Moda. After researchers removed the enemy Mental Power from the controlled warriors, many woke in distress over their actions and faced the choice of memory erasure or another way to cope.

• Xi Xiu asked Long Xingxue to help pursue the star pirates, and Long Xingxue turned her team around after deciding not to enter the Snowy Region.
• Xu Jiusong sent Long Xingxue information about the pirates and abducted children, and she set off to search for them.
• Xie Qingzhu noticed Xi Xiu had issued an order using the Nine Stars insignia, but Xi Xiu did not explain it.
• After the researchers found a way to extract the enemy Mental Power, Sida arranged surgeries that took four days to complete.
• The freed warriors awoke traumatized, and Moda's psychology Doctor found that many might need memory-erasure surgery.
• Sida told Xi Xiu that the warriors' memories could instead be blocked and documented in their terminals so they could choose to revisit them later.

Xi Xiu and the base arranged psychological care for the controlled soldiers, then prepared to leave Moda after the border stayed calm. The base left an elite unit behind and established temporary rescue teams as Asik worried about the uncertain future of the starfield.

• Xu Hesong ordered the base to respect the soldiers’ choices about memory erasure and monitor those who refused it.
• Xi Xiu arranged psychological assessments and ongoing care for the soldiers who chose to keep their memories, while they struggled with guilt over their actions.
• After five days on the planet, Xi Xiu reported that the Moda border remained calm, and the base ordered most soldiers to return while an elite unit stayed behind.
• Asik and the Moda People gave the Yuanri base weapons and equipment and solemnly saluted the departing soldiers.
• Xu Hesong established temporary rescue teams to monitor regions around the planets and respond quickly to emerging crises.
• Asik concealed his fear about the starfield’s future and bade Xi Xiu farewell as she boarded the Starship.

After the Starship left, Asik ordered the Moda People to strengthen security and investigate missing clansmen who might have been used in the experiments behind the Alliance’s strange creatures. He prepared a mission to the Snowy Region and set the Moda People to support the Alliance and improve their own strength as the wider crisis approached.

• Asik ordered the Moda People to withdraw, accelerate experiments and weapons research, and monitor space within ten light-years of Moda Star.
• Asik told Sida and the others that some Moda People had vanished after serving in the Alliance, and suspected they were connected to the experiments Gaia had uncovered.
• Asik assigned a team to work with the Elder Council and investigate the missing clansmen, including a planned search in the Snowy Region.
• Asik ordered Sida to ensure the base’s warriors received supplies and weapons and to prevent Moda People from clashing with them.
• Asik directed Moda People across the Alliance to assist with weapons and biomedical research and proposed dedicated training for the youngest warriors.

On the journey back to Yuanri, Xi Xiu learned that the Star Domain Gate had strayed from its usual trajectory, potentially allowing powerful Star Beasts to reach the Alliance while the conflict with Qin Hongjun continued. After returning to base, she reunited with Nan Hejia, Xia Wentao, Yi Mingda, and the others, and awaited the new personnel arrangements for her team.

• Xi Xiu learned from A Xian that the Star Domain Gate had repeatedly failed to appear along its established trajectory and might let Star Beasts reach Jingsu directly.
• Xi Xiu returned to base, submitted her report, and ran into Nan Hejia and the others, who had been transferred from Tianwei.
• Xi Xiu welcomed Nan Hejia and Xia Wentao with hugs, then brought the group to the meeting room by the dormitory building.
• Su Jinbao and Liang Jingxian shared stories of their experiences on Yuanri while the group waited for Xi Xiu.
• Xi Xiu received new personnel arrangements after Qing Zhixun approved her application to assign Yi Mingda and the others to her team.

Xi Xiu welcomed Yi Mingda and the other transferred soldiers into her unit at Yuanri and learned why personnel had moved between bases. A Xian suspected Kuang Biru’s Mental Power had been restored through Anvile methods, so she and Xi Xiu arranged to investigate Kuang Biru and her mother, Guo Songlian, in secret.

• After Zhang Xiaoxiang and other soldiers transferred away from Yuanri, Xi Xiu accepted Yi Mingda and the others into her unit and told them to do their jobs and strengthen themselves.
• Yi Mingda and the others agreed to work hard at Yuanri, while Xi Xiu learned that Qing Zhixun had secured Tianwei personnel to fill the base’s vacancies.
• Yi Mingda and Liang Jingxian told Xi Xiu about Tian'ao Fortress and Kuang Biru’s rise in power, including the Kuang Family’s interest in controlling the fortress.
• A Xian suspected Kuang Biru’s Mental Power had been restored using Anvile methods that Qin Hongjun extracted from imprisoned Anvile People.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian decided to have Kuang Biru and her mother, Guo Songlian, investigated in secret.

After the battle, Nan Hejia, Flora, and their companions mourned their fallen comrades and resolved to train harder. Xi Xiu welcomed Yi Mingda’s five-person group to Yuari Garrison and promised to help them focus on training.

• Flora recalled how a teammate’s ambush nearly killed her and explained that many soldiers had been injured because they trusted their comrades.
• Nan Hejia and Flora comforted each other and vowed to avenge the fallen soldiers by fighting the Tentacled Creatures.
• He Yinlei admired Nan Hejia’s resilience as the girls discussed their plans and agreed to resume their training schedule.
• Yi Mingda explained that his group’s training had stagnated because Ye Zhenwei had kept them busy with trivial work at Tianwei Garrison.
• Xi Xiu told Yi Mingda’s group to focus on training and welcomed all five of them to Yuari Garrison.

Xi Xiu welcomed Yi Mingda and his companions into her team and arranged their training at Yuanri. Su Jinbao and Flora explained the threat posed by Qin Jian and Qin Hongjun, while the Central Brain secretly monitored Qin Jian on Gaia.

• Xi Xiu assigned Qiu Shaorong and Flora to lead Yi Mingda and the others through demanding training with the team.
• Su Jinbao briefed Yi Mingda's group on Yuanri's rules, the Belka People's plight, and the dangers they might encounter.
• Flora explained that Qin Hongjun had been separated from Qin Jian's consciousness, and Su Jinbao said Qin Hongjun's creature prototypes came from Qin Jian's system.
• The Alliance kept Qin Jian isolated on a Gaia Administrative Star, where the Central Brain monitored his attempts to probe the Star Net and removed hidden vulnerabilities.
• Yi Mingda and the others felt their skin crawl after learning that Qin Jian and Qin Hongjun were behind the threats facing them.

Liang Jingxian and the others learned more about the Alliance’s precarious situation, settled into intensive training at the Yuari Garrison, and prepared for the possibility of war. Meanwhile, Long Xingxue searched for abducted children and asked Wei Lanshan about the dangers beyond the Jingsu star regions, leaving her next steps uncertain.

• Su Jinbao explained overlooked details about the Alliance’s situation to Liang Jingxian, who resolved to train hard and catch up with the others.
• Nan Hejia described her difficult time in Tianwei and recommitted herself to becoming a warrior, while Flora comforted her.
• Xi Xiu began training soldiers against surprise attacks from Combat Robots, and Yi Mingda and the others devoted themselves to an accelerated training program.
• Enweit kept the Hanhai People out of Aura Star’s airspace, prompting their leader to revise the attack plan and blame the Musar People for obstructing it.
• Long Xingxue found most of the abducted children but lost their trail near a lawless region, so she contacted Wei Lanshan and asked about the dangers beyond Jingsu.

Long Xingxue tracked the space pirates who had taken children and set an ambush near the Vast Sea border. As Xi He approached with the children aboard, Long Xingxue waited for him to enter the firing range, determined to protect the surviving children.

• Wei Lanshan and Long Xingxue realized the space pirates might be using other starfields as a smokescreen, so Long Xingxue changed course and split the Snow Dragon Group between the Vast Sea and Inkuila routes.
• Long Xingxue informed Xi Xiu of her operation and waited near the Vast Sea border, where she spotted Xi He leading the pirates toward a Starship prepared to jump back to the Vast Sea.
• Long Xingxue told her deputy commander to keep hidden and prepared to trap Xi He's group once it entered their firing range.
• Long Xingxue assured her deputy captain that Xi He would not kill the children because he was collecting test subjects for his master.
• Long Xingxue recalled that some captured children had died from injected drugs or resistance, and that she had sent their bodies to the Alliance Guards for return to their families.

Long Xingxue prepared the Snow Dragon Group to eliminate Xi He and prevent the Eternal Robots from escaping. Xi He began building a new Transmission Channel on a barren planet, where Long Xingxue’s forces moved in to stop him.

• The deputy captain grieved over the children killed by Xi He's drugs, while Long Xingxue explained that Eternal Robots had lost their humanity and posed a threat to the Alliance.
• Long Xingxue ordered every soldier to carry at least thirty blocking devices and declared that they would ensure Xi He and his followers never returned.
• Xi He reached a barren planet in Jingsu territory and ordered his subordinates to build a large Transmission Channel so they could travel directly to Gaia.
• Xi He's mechanical-bodied subordinates rapidly assembled the channel's framework, while their buried consciousnesses stirred with faint memories of who they had been.
• Long Xingxue tracked Xi He's construction and led the Snow Dragon Group onto the planet, raising signal shielding and surrounding it with a barrier to prevent anyone from escaping.

Xi He’s signal systems were disrupted as Long Xingxue and the Snow Dragon Group attacked his forces. While Xi He prepared to defend the Teleportation Channel, 19 saw a chance to eventually escape and kill him.

• Xi He detected approaching fighter jets but found that jammers had disrupted his ability to communicate with his subordinates.
• 19 and 84 went to Xi He’s side, and 19 privately considered using the attack as an opportunity to kill Xi He and escape.
• Xi He identified Long Xingxue as the attacker and organized his robots to defend the Teleportation Channel and prepare for battle.
• Long Xingxue split the Snow Dragon Group, sending some fighters toward the channel and others toward Xi He.
• Long Xingxue approached cautiously, while Xi He’s mechanical eyes assessed the Snow Dragon Group’s combat skills.

Long Xingxue battled Xi He, using her whip and small weapons to slow and disrupt his mechanical body. She prepared an Alliance energy cannon designed to counter Eternal Robots, leaving Xi He targeted but the outcome unresolved.

• Xi He left the protected circle and attacked Long Xingxue with rotating gears, while she met him with a newly made whip.
• Long Xingxue used tiny weapons to increase Xi He's weight and hinder his movements, then struck him with her whip.
• Xi He and Long Xingxue exchanged transforming weapons, but the disruptor interfered with Xi He's system and muddled its calculations.
• Xi He used thread-like weapons to entangle and damage Long Xingxue's whip, while boasting that he could make another body if this one was destroyed.
• Long Xingxue retrieved her whip, noticed bite-like marks on it, and brought out an Alliance energy cannon designed to counter Eternal Robots.
• Long Xingxue set the cannon's parameters and designated Xi He as its target.

Long Xingxue fought Xi He as the Snow Dragon Group seized control of its mechanical legion and fortifications. After losing both feet and having its vision disabled, Xi He found that it could not overcome Long Xingxue, who detached its arm.

• Xi He escaped Long Xingxue’s guided weapon by sacrificing both feet and letting it explode in a mound of earth.
• Xi He transformed its arms into iron chains and tried to trap Long Xingxue while waiting for the jammer to stop working.
• Long Xingxue jammed the chains with her separated whip sections and fired scattershots that disabled Xi He’s mechanical eyes.
• Xi He attacked repeatedly, but Long Xingxue countered its moves and proved stronger in both aerial combat and Martial Skills.
• Long Xingxue grabbed Xi He’s arm and effortlessly detached it.

Long Xingxue trapped Xi He aboard his stripped Starship while the Snow Dragon Group captured and contained his robot forces. She entered a radiation-filled section of the ship to pursue him, but found no sign of him.

• Xi He fled toward the Starship, but Long Xingxue had already stripped it of supplies and shut down its fighters.
• Xi He hid inside a concealed weapons barrel, and Long Xingxue scanned the Starship and located his shadow.
• Long Xingxue entered the Starship under a Protective Shield and called the deputy captain to reinforce her.
• The Snow Dragon Group captured the robots, whose blocking devices and magnetic field prevented them from moving or escaping.
• Long Xingxue followed the route toward Xi He, detected intense radiation beyond a transparent door, and entered after restarting her mecha's functions.
• Long Xingxue found no trace of Xi He in the radiation-filled area and wondered how he had gathered so much radiation so quickly.

Long Xingxue sent two Combat Robots to attack Xi He in a radiation-filled area, but Xi He hijacked one and disguised himself as it. The robots returned him to Long Xingxue, who shut off their energy, leaving Xi He looking for a way to escape.

• Long Xingxue avoided entering the radiation zone herself and sent two Combat Robots to surround Xi He.
• Xi He attacked the robots, but they split his body apart and severed his head.
• Xi He detached his system and used it to take control of one robot, then disguised himself as that robot and synchronized with its companion.
• The two robots carried Xi He's remains back to Long Xingxue, who retrieved their data and cut off their energy.
• Xi He cursed in his mind and wanted to restart his body and escape.

Long Xingxue captured Xi He's system areas and rescued the kidnapped children, but several children had suffered irreversible harm from unidentified drugs. She arranged for Gaia's medical specialists to meet the returning Starship while ordering her team to isolate the robots' consciousnesses.

• Long Xingxue removed Xi He's system loading area, sealed it in an Isolation Device, and stored the robots' bodies.
• Long Xingxue left the Starship after her deputy captain arranged radiation treatment, then discovered the rescued children had been drugged and some had irreversible injuries.
• Long Xingxue contacted Wei Lanshan, who sought help from Duan Shaoguang and Chu Zekuan; Gaia's medical specialists set out to rendezvous with the Snow Dragon Group.
• Long Xingxue sent the children back aboard the Starship and watched their weakening condition with helplessness.
• Long Xingxue ordered her crew to strip out the robots' consciousnesses, store them safely, and keep them away from electronic equipment.

After Long Xingxue’s team dealt with Xi He’s robots, the Alliance continued searching for abducted children as the Snow Dragon Group pursued space pirates. At Yuanshi Base, Xi Xiu led a mission to investigate burrowing creatures that had devastated a planet, where Xu Zhuming discovered genes resembling those of plants.

• Long Xingxue’s team melted down the robots, sent the planet’s coordinates and data to Xi Xiu, and returned to hunting space pirates.
• The Snow Dragon Group rescued some abducted children, while the Alliance entered their genetic information into the missing persons system to help find the rest.
• Xi Xiu organized a mission from Yuanshi Base after unknown burrowing creatures destroyed the vegetation and crops on a planet.
• Xi Xiu’s team met Alliance biologist Xu Zhuming on the planet, and he built a temporary laboratory in the wilderness to study the creatures.
• Xu Zhuming told Xi Xiu that several of the creatures’ genes resembled plant genes, though he could not determine what abilities they might have.

Xi Xiu gave Xu Zhuming a piece of Ebony’s vine to study after he estimated that the invading plant-creatures carried Exotic Plant genes. She then set out with A Xian, Ebony, and Night Soul Grass to inspect the wilderness and find a way to counter the creatures.

• Xu Zhuming estimated that the invading creatures had an over eighty percent chance of carrying Exotic Plant genes, though their abilities remained unknown.
• Xi Xiu woke Ebony, cut off a vine, and gave it to Xu Zhuming to research, protecting it with her Mental Power.
• Xu Zhuming returned to the laboratory with the vine, grateful for Xi Xiu’s trust and aware of its importance to the mission.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian took Ebony and Night Soul Grass out to inspect the wilderness, while Nan Hejia and the others observed Ebony’s unchanged size and newly black body.

Xi Xiu and A Xian discovered that the half-plant, half-animal creatures were dormant underground and would awaken in about three hours, prompting Xi Xiu to prepare a mission to eliminate them. The chapter ended with the teams armed and assigned to six locations where the creatures were concentrated.

• A Xian explained that the creatures had devoured the forest to claim territory and gather energy for evolution, and warned they might eventually hunt animals.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian found that the creatures were asleep underground and learned from Qi Mang's calculations that they would awaken in about three hours.
• Xi Xiu led everyone back to camp and considered the dangers of leaving the creatures' deep roots intact.
• A Xian said Ebony and Night Soul Grass could confront most of the creatures, while the warriors handled the rest, though the mission would be difficult.
• Xi Xiu divided the operation among six teams, assigned them areas with the highest creature concentrations, and ordered Combat Robots to rescue anyone in danger.

Xi Xiu prepared her fighters to confront the underground Exotic Plants and observed them emerging beneath Ebony. Jiu Dan’s weapons failed to hit them at first, but her revised attack brought them down with an unexpected cold strike.

• Xi Xiu equipped her team with inhibitors, weapons, and layered Protective Suits, then led them to their assigned positions in the forest.
• Ebony spread its vines over the central area, drawing the creatures out of the soil as Xi Xiu and Jiu Dan observed them.
• Jiu Dan found that the creatures appeared identical and tried shooting the leaves on their heads, which quickly regrew.
• The creatures dodged Jiu Dan’s shots and mocked her, so Xi Xiu warned her not to be provoked.
• Jiu Dan changed her weapon caliber and fired a barrage, and the creatures fell after sensing something cold enter their bodies.

Jiu Dan and Ebony attacked the regenerating creatures, revealing that Ebony’s thorns could poison them, while Xi Xiu tested their transformations and combat behavior on the ground. The creatures evolved after eating severed pieces of one another and began retreating as Xi Xiu switched to a nerve-paralyzing drug.

• Jiu Dan fired another barrage at the creatures, and Ebony’s black thorns pierced them with a substance that harmed plant genes.
• The creatures tried to climb onto Ebony, but Ebony knocked them down; they then turned white and covered themselves in a strange fluid.
• Xi Xiu sent footage to Xu Zhuming, used Jiu Dan’s analysis to warn the soldiers about the fluid, and entered combat protected by Ebony’s vines.
• Xi Xiu cut off the creatures’ head leaves and later split their bodies, discovering that the halves fought until one swallowed the other and grew larger.
• The creatures avoided Xi Xiu’s plant mech and retreated while she sensed faint Mental Power fluctuations; she began firing a nerve-paralyzing drug at them.

Xi Xiu and her allies fought the imitating creatures while Xu Zhuming identified their ability to copy voices, movements, and possibly skills. As the battle continued, A Xian discovered the white liquid resembled a substance that could harm the Anvile People, and Anvile went on emergency alert.

• Xi Xiu used injections to slow the creatures’ growth after Xu Zhuming identified the neural center in their animal halves, while the creatures ate their own bodies.
• Xu Zhuming told Xi Xiu that the creatures could imitate voices and body language, and might be able to imitate skills.
• Xi Xiu warned A Xian and Ebony about the creatures’ imitation ability, and Ebony reassured her that they could not copy an Exotic Plant’s true essence.
• Ebony split into two plants, protecting Xi Xiu with plant mech armor while using its vines to restrain and destroy the creatures’ central nervous systems.
• A Xian and Shi Ding identified similarities between the creatures’ white liquid and a substance that could harm the Anvile People, so A Xian sent the data to Anvile and Wu Jingyang declared an emergency.
• Shi Ding stomped the creatures into the soil as A Xian covered the battlefield with her Mental Power and fired weapons at the attackers.