Recaps

Xi Xiu defeated Arivik in a spar and confirmed that he and the West District’s elite were the hidden Dark Department connected to Nine Stars. She left her identity undisclosed for now, agreed to coordinate their teams after meeting General Basia, and prepared to pursue the Huovian investigation mission.

• Xi Xiu defeated Arivik after a fifteen-minute fight, and he accepted the loss and introduced his nine trusted West District subordinates.
• Xi Xiu recognized that the nine warriors used Li Zhengfeng’s distinctive Mental Power cultivation method, confirming her suspicion that they belonged to the Dark Department.
• Arivik offered to cooperate on reorganizing the teams, but Xi Xiu deferred changes until after meeting General Basia and said she would avoid major adjustments.
• Xi Xiu assured Arivik that the West District would take the Huovian investigation mission, even if Basia resisted approving it.
• After Su Jinbao and A Ye sent updates, Xi Xiu arranged accommodations for the warriors and went to her suite with A Xian.

Xi Xiu learned that Arivik and the West District warriors belonged to the Nine Stars’ Dark Department and planned to reveal her connection to them after completing the Huovian mission. The next morning, she headed to a meeting with General Basia while A Xian prepared to take on several challenges.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian ate a generous welcome dinner and discussed the West District’s strength and self-sufficiency.
• Xi Xiu told A Xian that Arivik and his people were the Nine Stars’ Dark Department and explained that she would wait until the Huovian mission was complete before revealing her ties to them.
• A Xian shared information about Jing Xi’s poisoning, and she and Xi Xiu analyzed the evidence about The Untrustworthy before going to sleep.
• Xi Xiu received a schedule that included a meeting with General Basia, a tour, and a video conference, but the conference agenda was blank.
• Xi Xiu sent her arrangements to Wang Zichun, Fan Zhengan, and the others, then left for the meeting while A Xian prepared to fight challengers.

Xi Xiu and Arivik discussed staffing and preparations for a mission to locate Huovian infiltrators, then exchanged intelligence about the growing threat facing Jingsu. The chapter left Arivik wondering where Xi Xiu’s extensive intelligence came from as they prepared for the operation.

• Arivik asked Xi Xiu about her Mental Power after sensing it exceeded her recorded peak of 3S, and she admitted nothing beyond a brief acknowledgment.
• Xi Xiu planned to send fifty West District soldiers to each of ten suspected locations and told Arivik they had two days to study infiltration techniques.
• Arivik explained that Huovian people were infiltrating the Alliance to steal information, with Ningkui Star believed to hold the largest number of them.
• Xi Xiu shared information about unknown creatures and said more powerful ones would appear, explaining that she had inferred the danger from the Moda Star Lord’s words.
• Arivik suspected Xi Xiu had a powerful intelligence network and wondered who had leaked information about the West District.

Xi Xiu, Arivik, and Qing Zhixun arrived at Basia’s office for the mission briefing, while Basia monitored their journey and Xi Xiu noticed signs of his control and corruption. Arivik confronted Basia at his desk, and Basia turned his attention to Qing Zhixun.

• Xi Xiu and Arivik traveled with Qing Zhixun to Basia’s office, where Qing Zhixun inferred that Xi Xiu had subdued Arivik.
• The group noticed Basia watching them through the Teleportation Device’s live surveillance feed.
• Runell escorted the group through Basia’s office, and Xi Xiu and Arivik noticed the large number of soldiers stationed there and suspected Basia was diverting funds to pay them.
• Qing Zhixun recalled evidence that Basia’s soldiers received unexplained money and planned to expose his financial wrongdoing.
• Arivik slammed his hands on Basia’s desk and claimed he was testing the general’s courage, prompting Basia to dismiss Runell and look toward Qing Zhixun.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun met Basia, who ignored Xi Xiu’s mission and discussed Liuning’s weapons allocation with Qing Zhixun. After a welcome ceremony, Xi Xiu returned to the West District to prepare for her mission, while Qing Zhixun stayed behind to handle matters at the fortress.

• Basia welcomed Qing Zhixun but treated Xi Xiu as a formality, and neither Xi Xiu nor Qing Zhixun told him that the Elder Council had ordered her to go on a mission in three days.
• Xi Xiu grew suspicious of Basia’s account of Leisiren’s failed mission because Leisiren had found no trace of the Huovian people despite Alliance reports confirming their presence on Ningkui Star.
• Qing Zhixun told Basia that Liuning’s weapons application should soon be approved, while Xi Xiu privately knew he had secured preferential weapons for whichever district she served.
• Basia arranged a tour and welcome ceremony, then advised Xi Xiu to be patient with the West District soldiers and introduced her to Arivik.
• Qing Zhixun told Xi Xiu to think carefully during her mission and said he would handle matters at the fortress before they returned to their respective districts.

Xi Xiu encountered resistance from Lieutenant General Leisiren while requisitioning equipment for her confidential mission, then compared his video call with older footage and discovered signs that something was wrong. She asked Qing Zhixun to investigate Leisiren and went to inspect the mission team, where she found Arivik checking the soldiers’ Space Lockets.

• Xi Xiu contacted the armory and learned that Liuning had not received her weapons request, so she challenged Leisiren for delaying the mission’s supplies.
• Leisiren demanded the mission roster and plan, but Xi Xiu insisted that Alliance rules required him to provide equipment according to her list and warned that he would be responsible if the mission was delayed.
• After consulting his adjutant, Leisiren gave Xi Xiu the authorization code, and she sent Fan Zhengan and Wang Zichun to collect and inspect the supplies.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian compared Leisiren’s video call with older footage and noticed that his behavior and his adjutant’s reaction suggested he was unfamiliar with Liuning’s rules.
• Xi Xiu sent her evidence and suspicions to Qing Zhixun, who asked Zong An to analyze it and investigate Leisiren’s movements.
• Xi Xiu reviewed Arivik’s mission roster and went to meet the soldiers, where she found Arivik checking their Space Lockets against her list.

Xi Xiu inspected the Western District soldiers and arranged virtual mission training before their deployment to Ningkui Star. She planned to investigate the suspicious food deliveries there and then move against the Huovian infiltration on Liuzhao Star, while anticipating changes in Liuning Fortress.

• Xi Xiu checked the soldiers’ mission equipment and supplies as Arivik prepared them for deployment.
• A Xian reported that the Western District soldiers were skilled but lacked mission experience, so Xi Xiu asked Liang Jingxian and the Central Brain to create a virtual training scenario.
• Xi Xiu told Arivik that Ningkui Star was the mission location on the surface and explained that Vivian had reported suspicious factory delays and changes to the orphanage’s food.
• Xi Xiu revealed that she intended to resolve the situation on Ningkui Star before diverting to Liuzhao Star, and Arivik warned that Basia might retaliate.
• Xi Xiu returned to the dormitory with A Xian and received Qing Zhixun’s information about Leisiren’s movements after his mission.

Xi Xiu led the Liuning mission force toward Ningkui Star after Qing Zhixun intercepted a message exposing Leisiren’s suspicious identity and warning her that their whereabouts had been discovered. As Xi Xiu prepared to investigate the Huovian people’s infiltration, Vivian anticipated their reunion without knowing Xi Xiu was coming.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian saw the western district’s warriors training after Buhete tested their strength, and they prepared to carry out their mission.
• Xi Xiu took eight thousand warriors and logistics personnel aboard a Starship, while Leisiren secretly sent information about the mission to the Huovian people.
• Qing Zhixun intercepted Leisiren’s message, and Lu Zong’an decoded it and uncovered earlier transmissions from the same channel.
• Qing Zhixun warned Xi Xiu that her whereabouts had been discovered, and she told Wang Zichun, Fan Zhengan, and Arivik as they considered how the Huovian people had replaced Leisiren.
• Xi Xiu planned to use the Central Brain’s identification program and investigate suspicious locations after entering Ningkui Star through a nearby Administrative Star.
• Vivian, who knew Xi Xiu’s true identity and the truth about Wei Lanshan’s past, mentally prepared to meet Xi Xiu.

Xi Xiu brought the teams to Ningkui Star under concealed identities and began setting up their covert mission near the food factory. After the group reached their separate locations, they examined the factory’s layout.

• Xi Xiu finalized the plan, had the warriors adopt civilian identities, and split the ten teams between two commercial Starships to Ningkui Star.
• Xi Xiu gave A Xian the cover of a sheltered aristocratic young woman traveling with guards, while she posed as the Guard Team captain.
• A spaceport employee photographed Arivik and Kong Lingxue and sent their information onward, but Xi Xiu spotted the photographer and uploaded his image to the Central Brain for identification.
• Xi Xiu, A Xian, and their companions traveled to a hotel near the food factory while the other teams reached their assigned locations.
• Su Jinbao and Gu Peidong shielded the hotel surveillance equipment, and Aona and Jiang Li'an connected to the network so Liang Jingxian could access the factory’s layout.

Xi Xiu investigated four people connected to Leisiren’s disappearance and found suspicious patterns in their movements. When Liang Jingxian accessed surveillance footage, someone intercepted the approval signal, revealing that the team was being watched; he traced the interceptors to a likely decoy location.

• Xi Xiu traced possible Huovian ancestry through Aileen and Julie’s families, making the women and their retired-soldier partners suspects in Leisiren’s disappearance.
• Xi Xiu found that Degu and Teli followed the same route at different times, and sent their paths to Liang Jingxian to investigate.
• Liang Jingxian, Arivik, and Kong Lingxue accessed surveillance footage along the routes, and someone intercepted the approval signal.
• Arivik and Kong Lingxue concluded the team had been watched since arriving, while Qiu Shaorong suspected an expert had infiltrated the group.
• Liang Jingxian traced the interceptors to a location and warned Xi Xiu that it was probably bait.

Xi Xiu’s team investigated the Children’s Affairs Bureau and uncovered evidence that someone there had deleted the Orphanage’s report. While traveling to the forest, they noticed their Hovercar’s robot had been altered and seemed unable to scan them accurately.

• Arel restored shredded files from the Children’s Affairs Bureau website, confirming that the Orphanage’s inquiry had been deliberately removed, and Xi Xiu ordered the team to investigate every staff member, including Dora.
• The Central Brain’s behavioral analysis identified some Huovian infiltrators, but many had avoided the Virtual Network and remained difficult to find.
• Xi Xiu, A Xian, and their guards took a rented Hovercar toward the forest after Su Jinbao confirmed no one was tracking them.
• Su Jinbao questioned the driving robot and found that its knowledge of Ningkui Star was shallow, its answers were flawed, and it had likely been recently altered.
• When A Xian insisted on visiting the forest, the robot warned that it was dangerous, then failed to accurately scan Xi Xiu and the others.

Xi Xiu and her companions uncovered a surveillance plot involving a Ningkui Star travel robot, then discovered that evolved Parasites were buried beneath the forest soil. They withdrew from the danger and began investigating while waiting for more information.

• Liang Jingxian traced the robot's data transmission while Aona and Su Jinbao used a planted device to access its database, revealing that it had reported A Xian's identity to an unresponsive handler.
• Xi Xiu considered whether the Huovian people or Qin Hongjun were behind the robots, while the Alliance learned that Qin Jian had been secretly rescued and the transmission channel destroyed.
• After the robot planted code in a traveler's terminal and left, Xi Xiu sent Nide, Yang Jiuqing, and Hu Yingyi to follow it as she and the others entered the forest.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian recognized a familiar presence beneath the changed soil, and Xi Xiu ordered everyone to activate six layers of protection and their armored suits.
• Xi Xiu identified the buried creatures as an upgraded form of the Parasites and chose to retreat while sending robots deeper into the forest to gather information.
• A Xian sensed that the Parasites remained deep underground and had not awakened, while Xi Xiu, Su Jinbao, and Aona scanned the soil with instruments.

Xi Xiu discovered juvenile Parasites beneath Ningkui Star’s forest and warned the authorities that adults might already have infected residents. As the Elder Council ordered Leisiren confined, Basia resisted before reluctantly agreeing, while Xi Xiu’s team investigated vanished birds and tourists who might have encountered the Parasites.

• Xi Xiu found bone-bearing juvenile Parasites throughout the forest soil, sent warnings and evidence to the authorities, and suspected adult Parasites had entered Ningkui Star residents.
• The Elder Council ordered Basia to keep Leisiren out of public and replace his guards, but Basia initially refused because he feared losing control of the Eastern District.
• After Runell warned that Leisiren could endanger Liuning Fortress if infected, Basia agreed to confine him and sent Carlton to take over his work.
• Qing Zhixun isolated Leisiren in his office and barred Carlton from seeing him, while Leisiren dismissed the confinement as ineffective.
• Wu Yuan and Qi Mang found bird bones stripped bare in a silent forest, and Su Jinbao found no related abnormalities in Ningkui Star’s recent online information.
• Xi Xiu ordered the team to locate recent tourists, observe them without approaching, and bring back sealed bird bones.

Xi Xiu and the Alliance discovered that Parasites could infiltrate living hosts without changing their Genetic Information, suggesting Leisiren and people across many star systems might already be compromised. As the Alliance prepared a wide investigation, Wu Yuan and Qi Mang began drilling underground to capture Parasites for study.

• Arivik and Liang Jingxian found that Degu and Teli's Mental Power matched the anomaly Xi Xiu had detected, even though their Genetic Information remained unchanged.
• Xi Xiu warned Qing Zhixun, Chu Xuliang, and Basia, while the Elder Council ordered Ningkui Star to list recent visitors and mobilized officials and warriors across the Alliance.
• Xi Xiu suspected Leisiren had been compromised on arrival, and Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang estimated that sixteen of the Alliance's twenty star systems might be affected.
• Wu Yuan and Qi Mang found human footprints and an oval machine impression in the forest, while surveillance gaps left Degu and Teli's movements unaccounted for.
• Wu Yuan and Qi Mang began drilling underground with sealed containers as Su Jinbao and Aona established a shielding zone for capturing Parasites.

Xi Xiu and Wu Yuan contained the dormant Parasites beneath the forest while Ningkui Star mobilized to prevent the infection from spreading. The forest and potentially exposed citizens were isolated as they awaited biomedical experts to assess the threat.

• Wu Yuan captured several juvenile Parasites in an oxygenated container while Qi Mang sealed the underground entrance and Xi Xiu and A Xian maintained the barrier.
• Soren arrived with the Ningkui Star support team, recognized Xi Xiu, and heard her explain the danger.
• Xi Xiu and Soren arranged to seal off the forest, track people who had visited it or contacted the Nutrient Paste factory managers, and bring in robots to build a wall.
• Song Jing'an ordered planetary departments to cooperate, warned citizens to avoid the forest and unknown food, and recalled the factory's Nutrient Paste while arranging temporary housing and medical screening for people who had consumed it.
• Xi Xiu explained how to identify parasitized citizens, and she and A Xian offered to screen those who had eaten the recalled food.
• Xi Xiu advised Soren to leave the Parasites beneath the forest for biologists to handle because they had been heavily dosed with inhibitor and would remain asleep for now.

Xi Xiu and the arriving biologists began studying the Parasites in a newly built laboratory on Ningkui Star. The creatures woke after brief sedation, revealed their deceptive behavior, and tried to escape, while Xi Xiu’s teams continued investigating their spread and the erased records.

• Xi Xiu and Soren’s teams built a laboratory on Ningkui Star, while Liang Jingxian began recovering deleted records about Leisiren and other investigators pursued leads.
• Eric and Marianne arrived from Gaia, and Xi Xiu showed them the sleeping Parasites and shared the existing research data.
• Xi Xiu entered the sealed laboratory with Marianne, while Arivik, A Xian, and Soren’s teams took on separate investigations and security duties.
• The Parasites woke when Wu Yuan and Marianne’s assistants released them from their container, briefly showing emerald eyes before acting harmless and cute.
• Marianne sedated the Parasites and collected cells, but they slept for only three minutes before waking and ramming the container.
• Wu Yuan reinforced the container as the Parasites tried to escape, and they switched from snarling at the robot to acting pitiful.

Arivik brought Degu and Teli to Xi Xiu’s laboratory to investigate whether they had been parasitized, while Aileen’s movements raised suspicions that she might be a Huovian agent. Under observation, Degu denied ever visiting the forest, despite the traces and records linking him to it.

• Marianne learned that two citizens on Ningkui Star had Mental Power wavelengths matching the Parasites, and Arivik decided to bring Degu and Teli in for examination.
• Aileen denied taking photographs of travelers and accused Arivik’s group of fabricating evidence, while Degu accepted being taken away and told her to stop talking.
• Arivik and Liang Jingxian took Degu and Teli through official procedures; Julie quietly packed Teli’s luggage and seemed relieved when he left.
• Arivik ordered Aileen and Julie watched after their reactions made him suspect they knew about their partners’ activities, and the Central Brain tracked Aileen to the starport transfer station.
• Xi Xiu questioned Degu and Teli in the laboratory, where Degu denied visiting the forest and claimed anyone could imitate the traces found there.

Xi Xiu and Marianne investigated how Parasites could coexist with their hosts’ consciousnesses and discovered a way to expose them through confinement. Their findings offered the Alliance a possible means to identify infected citizens, though the wider threat remained urgent.

• Xi Xiu brought Degu and Teli to Marianne and Eric, who confirmed that both men had no memories of visiting the forest and had unchanged Mental Power frequencies.
• Marianne’s experiments showed that Parasite and host Mental Power could fuse, making the two consciousnesses difficult to distinguish.
• As the Elder Council coordinated a crisis response, Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang ordered urgent research while the Council removed Basia from his post and restricted Leisiren to Liuning Fortress.
• After ten hours of testing, Marianne and Eric isolated a small segment of Parasite Mental Power frequency from Degu and Teli.
• Xi Xiu suggested confining Degu and Teli in sealed rooms, where the Parasites took control of their bodies and revealed detectable changes that Marianne’s team recorded.

Xi Xiu sent Marianne and Eric’s Parasite-identification method to the Alliance, which began screening citizens and isolating suspected hosts while soldiers cleared Parasites from Ningkui Star. Xi Xiu pursued clues about the Huovian people through Aileen, as Degu and Teli confronted the truth about Julie’s deception.

• Xi Xiu sent the identification method to the Alliance, and Qing Wenxu, Chu Xuliang, and Chu Zekuan distributed it across the star systems and set up public detection devices.
• Qing Zhixun returned from Basia with Leisiren, and the soldiers who had served with him were confined and monitored; Marianne concluded that Parasites needed a wounded host and a medium to enter.
• Xi Xiu and Soren organized soldiers to clear underground Parasites on Ningkui Star while Arivik and others monitored citizens who had entered the forest.
• Xi Xiu and Arivik went to Ningkui Star’s central district to search for the Huovian people, and Xi Xiu asked Liang Jingxian to obtain Aileen and Degu’s partnership contract.
• Degu and Teli chose to remain sealed away until their Parasite consciousnesses could be separated, and Teli told Degu that Julie had repeatedly delayed having children and was preparing to leave him.

After Teli lost hope and surrendered his body to the Parasites, Degu fought back and showed Marianne and Eric that a strong will could resist them. Meanwhile, Xi Xiu’s investigation on Ningkui Star narrowed Julie’s connections to two Children’s Affairs Bureau employees, Mel and Moffas.

• Teli and Degu failed to suppress the Parasites’ consciousness, and Teli fell asleep wishing not to wake again.
• Degu gradually regained control of his body after a fierce struggle, while Marianne and Eric recorded his changing expressions and Mental Power.
• Degu separated Teli from himself when he realized the Parasite still controlled Teli, and the researchers reported that Teli’s Mental Power had disappeared.
• Xi Xiu organized an investigation across Ningkui Star and sent the list of residents who had traveled to other star systems to the Elder Council for follow-up.
• Liang Jingxian linked Julie’s frequent visits to the Children’s Affairs Bureau to Mel and Moffas, whose records showed they had come from orphanages in other star systems.

Xi Xiu returned to the Orphanage on Ningkui Star to reunite with Vivian, Corinne, Shally, and Su Xiangyu, then asked them to help prepare disguises for approaching Mel. The disguise data was being recorded when Liang Jingxian struggled to keep up with the women’s lively movements and conversation.

• The Central Brain gave Xi Xiu the problematic data, including her birth records, then destroyed her file before returning to the network.
• Xi Xiu brought A Xian and Su Jinbao to the Orphanage and reunited with Vivian for the first time in twelve years.
• Xi Xiu explained her plan to use Orphanage staff identities to approach Mel, and Vivian agreed to help.
• Vivian called Corinne, Shally, and Su Xiangyu to discuss the children’s expedition and meet Xi Xiu.
• Xi Xiu explained that Alliance disguise equipment could reproduce the staff members’ speech and movements, then sent Liang Jingxian to record Corinne and Shally.
• Liang Jingxian recorded the women discussing Xi Xiu and her match, but their shifting expressions and movements overwhelmed him, so he asked Xi Xiu to send another person.

Xi Xiu and Jiang Li'an disguised themselves as Orphanage staff to deliver children’s records to the Children’s Affairs Bureau and investigate the Huovian people. The Bureau’s robot secretly observed them and transmitted data, while Liang Jingxian tracked the signal and Xi Xiu planted a monitor on the robot.

• Xi Xiu prepared to impersonate Su Xiangyu, while Jiang Li'an would pose as Corinne, so they could enter the Children's Affairs Bureau without alerting the Huovian people.
• Xi Xiu and Jiang Li'an stayed at the Orphanage, then left with Shally early the next morning carrying sealed paper records for the Bureau.
• Shally helped calm Jiang Li'an during the trip, and Xi Xiu reassured her that they should follow their training and act naturally.
• At the Bureau, Xi Xiu copied Su Xiangyu's mannerisms and used her own water cup instead of drinking the beverage brought by a robot.
• The robot compared their behavior with past visits and sent its observations to a machine inside the Bureau, while Liang Jingxian tracked its transmission and Xi Xiu planted a monitor on it.

Xi Xiu and Jiang Li'an accompanied Shally to the office to arrange a trip for the Ningkui Star Orphanage children, while Xi Xiu discovered that Mel and Moffas were Huovian impostors. Shally noticed a flaw in Mel’s signature, but Mel concealed her unease as the procedures were completed.

• Dora arrived early, questioned the night-duty robot about Mel and Moffas, and began investigating their schedules and records.
• Xi Xiu, Jiang Li'an, and Shally met Mel and Moffas to arrange the children’s travel, while Moffas entered their information into his terminal.
• Xi Xiu and Jiang Li'an noticed that Moffas’s wrist mark was wrong and realized that he was a fake; Xi Xiu suspected Mel was one too.
• Xi Xiu found that the office surveillance had been tampered with and placed a tiny device on Mel’s work clothes.
• Mel signed Shally’s travel documents, and Shally noticed she had omitted the tiny dots in her usual flower signature.

Jiang Li'an, disguised as Corinne, planted a monitoring device in Mel's restroom, allowing Liang Jingxian and the others to trace Mel's terminal and learn that the Huovian people were forging identities for Orphanage children. Dora became suspicious of Mel and Moffas, and the chapter ended with her accessing surveillance footage of Moffas processing data.

• Jiang Li'an planted a monitoring device in Mel's restroom and used it to trace the network connection to Mel's terminal.
• Mel and Moffas discussed their plan to use Orphanage children's identities to bring Huovian children into Jing Su star systems, while Moffas altered the database and processed the files.
• Xi Xiu's surveillance device and Jiang Li'an's monitor sent information to Liang Jingxian, who learned more about the Huovian operation and Arivik's investigation into the Nine Stars.
• Dora visited Mel's office unexpectedly, noticed that the files were missing, and asked Mel to arrange a Starship.
• Dora returned to her office and accessed the surveillance feed in Moffas's office, where she saw him processing data.

Xi Xiu, Dora, and the government office prepared to use the Orphanage children’s scheduled trip to expose the Huovian people’s plan to steal a Starship. As Ningkui Star went on alert, Mel and Moffas doubted the plan but decided to proceed.

• Dora discovered that Moffas had copied the Orphanage children’s identity data and sent surveillance footage to the government office.
• Xi Xiu and Arivik concluded that the Huovian people planned to use children to seize the government office’s Starship and travel to another star system.
• Xi Xiu, Dora, the Orphanage, and government managers kept the trip on schedule and planned to switch the children at the starport while Xi Xiu’s teams waited for the Huovian Starship.
• Xi Xiu told Dora that Mel’s Genetic Information contained genes from another human, suggesting the Huovian people used a cruel method to disguise themselves as Alliance humans.
• Ningkui Star went on alert and barred departures without official certification, but Shally told Mel that the children’s trip would proceed, so Mel and Moffas chose to take the risk.