Recaps

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun defeated M9’s fleet and captured its remaining consciousness for study, but it revealed no location for Qin Hongjun’s base. After Liuning Fortress celebrated victory, Li Zhengfeng and Wan Youlin left to support other star systems while Xi Xiu prepared her team for more fighting.

• M9’s fleet was surrounded, and Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun destroyed its ships while launching a capture device to preserve M9’s consciousness.
• Xi Xiu sent Ebony to retrieve the device, and the laboratory extracted M9’s consciousness but found no information locating Qin Hongjun’s base.
• Li Zhengfeng learned that M9’s memories had been erased, leaving it as an empty shell that possessed his skills.
• After nearly two days, the battle at Liuning ended in victory, and Li Zhengfeng and Wan Youlin left to support other star systems.
• Xi Xiu ordered her team into closed-door training, while Arivik gave the Western District soldiers only six hours of rest each day.

Xi Xiu and A Xian considered how Qin Hongjun might be creating powerful human soldiers, while the Alliance prepared for new attacks. Xi Xiu found a moment of peace in the Virtual Network, and Qing Zhixun joined her as they discussed the latest news from Nine Stars.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian speculated that Qin Hongjun had found a way to control the virus, possibly through Ye Zhenwei, and might be creating human soldiers.
• Xi Xiu sat beneath a virtual starry sky, and the Central Brain promised to give her a gift after the war.
• Qing Zhixun quietly kept his distance while Xi Xiu rested, having spent months uncovering Parasites hidden among Liuning's soldiers.
• Qing Zhixun apologized for being too busy to meet Xi Xiu, but she redirected their conversation to military matters.
• Xi Xiu told Qing Zhixun that Aura had held for now, the Hanhai People were preparing another attack, and the Alliance could detect the enemy's rapid Teleportation Channel.

Ten years into the war, the Jingsu Alliance struggled to defend its star systems against Qin Hongjun’s forces, biological swarms, and dwindling manpower. At Mingning Fortress, General Xi Xiu prepared for a major battle, expecting Qin Hongjun’s hidden combat machines to appear.

• The enemy attacked nineteen Alliance star systems, and the Alliance deployed disposable combat robots, trained new military academy students, and recruited civilians to meet its manpower shortage.
• In the fifth year of the war, Xi Xiu became a General and took command of Mingning Fortress, while A Xian became a Major General and stayed at her side.
• Xi Xiu and her companions fought at Mingning for five years, while Qin Hongjun’s forces continued to appear and the Alliance failed to locate his bases.
• Xi Xiu prepared her soldiers to fight in groups because she feared Qin Hongjun’s hidden combat machines would join the coming battle.
• A Xian shared her fear that capturing Qin Hongjun would come at a terrible cost, while Su Jinbao vowed to make him repay the harm he had caused.

Xi Xiu reflected on the approaching final battle and the threats Qin Hongjun had left in Jingsu as she led Mingning Fortress’s forces toward the Third Defense Line. There, she welcomed Wei Honglian, formerly W06, as a new recruit who would train under her.

• Xi Xiu recalled how the Central Brain had neutralized Huovian and how Qin Hongjun had destroyed the Homeworlds of Hanhai, Musar, Inkuila, and Samuel.
• Arivik’s Dark Department learned that soldiers from the four star systems were joining forces to find Qin Hongjun’s lair and tracked down his location.
• Xi Xiu led Mingning Fortress’s forces to halt outside the Third Defense Line as Qin Hongjun’s vanguard approached within three light-years.
• Xi Xiu discovered that Wei Honglian, formerly W06, was among the new recruits assigned to Mingning Fortress.
• Xi Xiu welcomed Wei Honglian, introduced her to the others, and kept her at her side to teach her personally.

Xi Xiu learned from Wei Lanshan that Qin Hongjun had created new Talent Warriors using Ye Zhenwei’s genetic information and prepared for the coming battle at Mingning Fortress. As enemy forces reached the First Defense Line, their leader, 59, found the small number of visible Starships puzzling.

• Wei Honglian trained with Xi Xiu while Wei Lanshan and Xu Jiusong remained on the battlefield among the stars.
• Wei Lanshan warned Xi Xiu that Qin Hongjun had captured Ye Zhenwei and used her genetic information to create accelerated-growth Talent Warriors.
• Wei Lanshan sent Xi Xiu data on the new Talent Warriors and urged her to be careful.
• Xi Xiu uploaded the enemy data for others to consult and told Arivik and the others to observe before acting.
• Qin Hongjun’s forces advanced to the First Defense Line, where 59 was puzzled by Mingning Fortress’s sparse visible Starships.

Qin Hongjun’s forces attacked Mingning with Ultimate Soldiers, while Wang Zichun’s stealth fleet and Xi Xiu helped Arivik defend the First Defense Line. The enemy’s merged Mental Power nearly destroyed Arivik’s Starships, leaving him shaken as the attack continued.

• 59 ordered Qin Hongjun’s fighters to attack Mingning after the fortress’s Starships remained motionless.
• Wang Zichun used Xue Fanhui’s latest coating technology to keep his fleet hidden from 59’s scans.
• Arivik collected data on the Ultimate Soldiers as they rammed his Starships, revealing their resemblance to Ye Zhenwei and their unusual combat abilities.
• Wang Zichun warned Arivik that the Ultimate Soldiers were gathering their Mental Power, and Xi Xiu told Arivik to reinforce his Starships with layered shields.
• The soldiers struck Arivik’s shields with immense force, and Arivik broke out in a cold sweat.

Xi Xiu assessed the experimental subjects’ attack and prepared Mingning Fortress’s defenses while Qin Hongjun watched the assault and reflected on his plans for Jingsu. At the first line of defense, Wang Zichun and Arivik drew 59’s forces into separate battles to give a hidden rescue team room to act.

• Xi Xiu ordered A Xian to watch the second line of defense and had Su Jinbao, Liang Jingxian, and Han Fenglin model the attack, which showed that a mothership could withstand only five strikes with its defenses fully deployed.
• Qin Hongjun watched Mingning Fortress and resolved to eliminate Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, the Anvile People, and Aura's Star Lord, while Qin Jian quietly considered his own plans.
• Wang Zichun revealed himself at the first line of defense to rescue Arivik, and 59 sent replicas equipped with long-arm rotary cutters to attack them.
• 59 split her forces to separate Wang Zichun from Arivik, but Wang Zichun used new launching equipment to send rescue soldiers to Arivik.
• Wang Zichun and Arivik let 59 divide them into two battlefields and used themselves as bait, giving the concealed rescue team an opportunity to act.

59 used her clones’ Mental Power to launch a devastating assault on Mingning Fortress’s First Defense Line, forcing Arivik and Wang Zichun to abandon their Starships. Xi Xiu ordered them to evade the attack while the commanders recognized the irreversible cost Qin Hongjun’s soldiers were paying.

• 59 struggled to take the First Defense Line as Xi Xiu’s preparations and Nine Stars’ technical support countered her attacks.
• 59 recalled her clones to the Starship, where metal tentacles extracted their Mental Power and fed it into storage units.
• 59 drove her Starships at Arivik and Wang Zichun with the clones’ Mental Power, smashing through their Protective Shields and damaging their hulls.
• Arivik and Wang Zichun abandoned their damaged Starships and switched to fighters, but Xi Xiu told them to maneuver behind the enemy and avoid attacking head-on.
• Xi Xiu shared the clones’ Mental Power readings, and Arivik and Wang Zichun lamented that the soldiers’ strength came at the cost of their lives.

Xi Xiu’s forces used an Energy Absorption Shield to halt 59’s advance at the second defensive line, turning the enemy fleet’s attacks against it. Trapped under fire from both sides, 59 ordered new clones to be produced as a source of Mental Power.

• Wang Zichun followed 59’s starship while Xi Xiu prepared the second defensive line to delay the enemy.
• A Xian’s weapons failed to damage 59’s starships, so Xi Xiu ordered her to activate the Energy Absorption Shield.
• 59’s fleet collided with the shield, which drained its Mental Power and redirected the ships’ attack energy back at them.
• Xi Xiu sent Arivik and Wang Zichun to attack 59’s fleet from behind, surrounding it at the barrier.
• 59 ordered the biologists aboard her starships to produce more clones to supply Mental Power.
• Arivik, Wang Zichun, and A Xian attacked as the clones’ defenses weakened, tearing gashes into several enemy starships.

As 59 launched another assault on the Second Defense Line, A Xian and Xi Xiu coordinated their defenses while new clones reinforced the enemy fleet. Xi Xiu moved to the Third Defense Line to help intercept 59, as the battle continued with the Alliance facing a formidable enemy.

• Xi Xiu approved A Xian’s plan to increase firepower and ordered Arivik to attack the enemy from the rear.
• After 59’s Starship was damaged, she went to its laboratory and oversaw the production of a new batch of clones.
• 59 shut down Gao Shenyi and the other clone-producing robots, while Gao Shenyi briefly recalled his past before his program stopped.
• 59 ordered the new clones into position and had malfunctioning older clones captured and destroyed.
• 59 sent hundreds of Starships through A Xian’s Mental Power extraction devices, and A Xian relied on thermal weapons rather than risk a direct collision.
• Xi Xiu arrived at the edge of the Third Defense Line to help A Xian intercept 59.

59 unleashed the power of over a hundred Starships, creating dangerous fluctuations in the star region as Xi Xiu ordered Mingning’s forces to retreat. Meanwhile, Jingsu’s forces attacked Qin Hongjun’s base, and he escaped into a laboratory, where he loaded his Consciousness Backup into a body made with Ye Zhenwei’s genes.

• 59 activated the Starships’ full power, draining the clones’ Mental Power and causing vortices to form and merge across the star region.
• Xi Xiu detected the anomalous fluctuations and ordered A Xian, Arivik, and the other Mingning Starships to withdraw.
• Qin Hongjun received the Starship system’s data, but Jingsu soldiers blocked his route while the Anvile consciousnesses he relied on were confined.
• Fang Jinyu led Jingsu’s forces against 60, while Wei Lanshan’s team searched Qin Hongjun’s base for his laboratory.
• Qin Hongjun entered the laboratory and, after a series of procedures, loaded his Consciousness Backup into the body he had made using Ye Zhenwei’s genes.

Qin Hongjun attempted to escape the Jingsu Alliance by assuming a new female identity, but Wei Lanshan and Li Shunhua intercepted his ship. The chapter left Wei suspecting that the seemingly ignorant Yuanlaian, Y9804, was concealing her true identity.

• Qin Hongjun changed into a carefully engineered female body and prepared to flee in a hidden starship.
• Fang Jinyu's surveillance team detected the hidden vessel, and Wei Lanshan ordered Li Shunhua to intercept everyone aboard.
• Qin Hongjun activated fabricated memories and let Li Shunhua's team board, posing as a helpless Yuanlaian named Y9804.
• Li Shunhua and Wei Lanshan examined Y9804's records and questioned her, but Wei remained suspicious of her appearance and timing.
• Wei Lanshan placed Y9804 under surveillance and noticed she readily chose a nutritional meal from Qin Hongjun's base, contradicting her claim that she had only eaten Nutrient Paste.

Wei Lanshan investigated Y9804 and concluded that her hidden identity was likely Qin Hongjun himself, while Fang Jinyu kept the captured Qin Hongjun under guard aboard his Starship. The chapter ended with Qin Hongjun wondering how much Gaia had changed and considering a personal visit.

• Wei Lanshan ordered Li Shunhua to isolate Y9804 in a surveillance room, where Y9804 hid her plans to escape at a transfer planet.
• Wei Lanshan compared Y9804's genes with the database and found a link to Xi Xiu through Ye Zhenwei, leading her to suspect Y9804 was Qin Hongjun himself.
• Fang Jinyu confronted the captured Qin Hongjun aboard his Starship and said they would take him to Gaia for identification and memory extraction.
• Qin Hongjun threatened to destroy Gaia with help from his agents, but Fang Jinyu said the Alliance was prepared to expose and eliminate them.
• Qin Hongjun questioned whether Gaia had changed during his decade away and decided he might need to see it himself.

Xi Xiu and her forces retreated from Mingning Fortress as 59’s extraction of the clones’ Mental Power unleashed a massive spatial storm. Xi Xiu and A Xian confirmed that the storm carried the Mental Power of Hu Jing Beasts, putting the entire Jingsu Alliance at risk as they searched for a way to seal the rift.

• Fang Jinyu escorted Qin Hongjun to Gaia while Wei Lanshan and Li Shunhua took Y9804 and Qin Hongjun’s captured subordinates to a nearby satellite planet.
• Wei Lanshan found no trace of Ye Zhenwei but learned that Yuan Chuhong and other defectors had been captured and would face the Alliance’s judgment.
• Li Zhengfeng detected a dangerous spatial vortex forming at Mingning Fortress, so Xi Xiu ordered A Xian, Arivik, and the others to retreat.
• 59 ignored the Starship system’s warnings and increased the extraction of the clones’ Mental Power, causing vortices around her fleet to merge into a spreading storm.
• Xi Xiu’s scouts detected Hu Jing Beast Mental Power in the storm, and A Xian and the others confirmed that a spatial rift could let the beasts reach Mingning.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian concluded that they had to seal the passage before the Hu Jing Beasts arrived, since past encounters had devastated Jingsu.

The Alliance’s strongest forces gathered at Mingning Fortress after Qin Hongjun’s Mental Power triggered a growing starstorm and the threat of Hu Jing Beasts. As Wu Jingyang began testing weapons, A Xian warned that none would work, while he insisted there was still time to find another way.

• Xi Xiu and the Alliance’s leaders and veterans converged on Mingning Fortress as the starry sky’s data became abnormal.
• Hai Suomiao and Yan Lanxi brought Miurun’s elite forces to guard the route from Gaia, while the assembled forces took positions around Mingning.
• Xue Fanhui told Zhen that the crisis might leave even the Alliance’s elite unable to survive, and the Central Brain announced the Hu Jing Beast threat to the Alliance.
• Xi Xiu, Qing Wenxu, and Qing Zhixun studied the available data and materials while Wu Jingyang and the Moda People tested weapons.
• A Xian told Wu Jingyang that none of the weapons would work, but he insisted that they still had time to conduct more tests.

With more than ten thousand Hu Jing Beasts approaching Jingsu, Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun volunteered to enter the storm's center and destroy the rift. A Xian agreed to go with Xi Xiu, and the assembled soldiers began a virtual mission simulation as the Alliance prepared for battle.

• The Elder Council told the soldiers how grave the danger was, and more than a hundred thousand submitted requests to fight.
• Xi Xiu told the Central Brain she intended to accompany A Xian into the storm, and Qing Zhixun submitted his application to stay by her side.
• Xi Xiu prepared protective equipment and weapons made with Xue Fanhui's help, while Ebony gained the ability to shield her and her starship.
• A Xian urged Xi Xiu not to go, but Xi Xiu stood by her choice; A Xian insisted they stay together inside the storm.
• Qing Zhixun gave Xi Xiu a Space Locket of supplies and weapons, and Qing Wenxu accepted the young people's decision.
• Soldiers from the gathered star systems entered the Virtual Network aboard simulated starships to begin their mission test.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun prepared to lead volunteer soldiers into the eye of the storm, where simulations showed the rift could be destroyed but survival was unlikely. As the Hu Jing Beasts neared the rift, the forces boarded their Starships and set out with instructions to escape if they could.

• Simulations showed that destroying the rift had a one hundred percent success rate, but very few soldiers would likely return alive.
• Qing Zhixun sought powerful experimental weapons from Qing Wenxu, arguing they might help the Starship reach a calmer region of the storm and improve their chances of survival.
• Jing Xi accepted that Qing Zhixun would accompany Xi Xiu and sent weapons she had prepared for them.
• Qing Wenxu urged Qing Zhixun to be careful and said he would wait for him to bring Xi Xiu to meet the Qing Family.
• As the Hu Jing Beasts approached the rift, Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun led their soldiers aboard the mission Starships and told them to escape the storm zone if they had the chance.

Xi Xiu and the volunteer soldiers set out to enter the storm and stop the Hu Jing Beasts from reaching the rift. At the storm’s mouth, their heavily protected robots lost their signals, leaving the Starship crew to prepare for the dangerous entry themselves.

• Xi Xiu left Wei Lanshan a farewell message, while Wei Lanshan and the others wished her a safe return.
• Xi Xiu departed with Sixi, Su Jinbao, and Buhete, with Li Zhengfeng assigned to stay close to Su Jinbao and Buhete.
• The Elder Council ordered Mingning's Starships to guard key routes, and Gaia reported that Qin Hongjun and his consciousness duplicate had been escorted to the designated location.
• Xi Xiu commanded the Starship toward the storm’s center while Qing Zhixun collected data and coordinated with Anvile's team.
• Xi Xiu stopped the Starship at the storm’s mouth, but the protected robots lost their signals before traveling a third of the way inside.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun guided their Starship through the storm, dodging hazards and gathering data as they approached its center. After losing contact with the Alliance, they reached a flickering Black Zone and prepared to fire on the rift using coordinates averaged with Anvile's data.

• Xi Xiu followed Qing Zhixun's warning to turn the Starship and avoid an invisible energy shockwave.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun navigated through the storm's hazards while the Starship's defenses began to fail near the center.
• The Starships lost contact with the Alliance, leaving the soldiers to rely on themselves as Qing Zhixun, A Xian, and Qing Sansui organized the data.
• Xi Xiu's Starship reached a flickering Black Zone that resembled a giant eye, and Anvile's side supplied precise coordinates.
• Xi Xiu and Anvile's team agreed to fire their weapons using the averaged coordinates before the Hu Jing Beasts could counterattack.

Xi Xiu and the others detonated their weapons at the storm’s center, destroying it but failing to stop a Hu Jing Beast from escaping. As the survivors prepared to face the beast, they sensed that the surrounding star region had changed.

• Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and Li Zhengfeng proposed a coordinated maximum-firepower strike, and the Alliance and Anvile Starships fired their weapons into the storm’s center.
• The explosion cracked the Starships and killed many warriors, while some escaped in protective pods; the Hu Jing Beast still passed through a crack in the storm.
• A Xian ordered the Anvile warriors to prepare for battle, and Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, Li Zhengfeng, Su Jinbao, and Buhete reunited in a safe position.
• Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and A Xian sensed changes in the star region, and Xi Xiu told Li Zhengfeng to return Su Jinbao and Buhete to the Alliance if the fight went badly.
• A Xian and the Anvile warriors intercepted the Hu Jing Beast, while Xi Xiu prepared to support them with Ebony wrapped around her like a plant mech.

A Xian, Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and the Anvile warriors fought a powerful Hu Jing Beast while trying to prevent it from tearing open space. Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun struck its hidden weak points, and the group's repeated attacks finally began to disrupt its movements.

• A Xian and the Anvile warriors confronted the Hu Jing Beast while Qing Zhixun warned Xi Xiu to stay close and avoid being separated into another starfield.
• The Anvile warriors tested the beast with waves of weapons, while Qing Zhixun and Xi Xiu noticed pale hollowed spots at the bases of its wings.
• Qing Zhixun and Xi Xiu fired weapons into the four weak spots, provoking the Hu Jing Beast to target Xi Xiu.
• Xi Xiu dodged the beast's attacks until the Anvile warriors rescued her, and they continued taking turns assaulting it.
• The Hu Jing Beast's attacks grew disorderly after the repeated attacks began to affect it.

Xi Xiu and the others fought the Hu Jing Beast as it overwhelmed Anvile's forces, while Li Zhengfeng sent Su Jinbao and Buhete away and joined the battle. The survivors realized the creature had a larger mission and allies waiting nearby, and began planning how to restrain it and exploit the base of its wings.

• Li Zhengfeng sent Su Jinbao and Buhete away in protective cabins, then flew to help Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun attacked the Hu Jing Beast's eyes while Li Zhengfeng, A Xian, and the Anvile soldiers targeted its tail and wings.
• The Hu Jing Beast's Mental Power struck Qing Zhixun hard, but Ebony pulled him back and he returned to the fight.
• Xi Xiu switched to Xue Fanhui's weapon and moved closer to the Hu Jing Beast, prompting it to knock the surrounding Anvile soldiers away and focus on her and Qing Zhixun.
• Xi Xiu warned A Xian that the Hu Jing Beast would not simply tire itself out, and A Xian detected traces of Mental Power from other Hu Jing Beasts nearby.
• Li Zhengfeng proposed combining their Mental Power to restrain the creature, while A Xian explained that the base of its wings was its only weak point.

Xi Xiu and the others discovered that the Hu Jing Beast was an unfamiliar kind of lifeform and that they had been displaced outside Alliance territory. They planned a coordinated attack to subdue it, while Liuga and Qing Wenxu hoped the missing group would return safely.

• The Hu Jing Beast launched metal feathers at Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, A Xian, and the other Anvile People, but left Li Zhengfeng unharmed.
• Wu Jingyang sent more people into the storm, while Liuga told Qing Wenxu that Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and A Xian might have been swept into another star region.
• Qing Zhixun used his terminal to confirm that the group was outside Alliance territory, and Xi Xiu and A Xian verified the result with their own terminals.
• Xi Xiu organized the Anvile People and their Exotic Plants into a plan to attack the Hu Jing Beast, assigning Li Zhengfeng to ambush it and plant weapons in any openings.
• The team attacked the Hu Jing Beast from several directions, and Xi Xiu realized that its metal feathers served as weapons when some flew back onto its wings.

Xi Xiu and the others discovered that the Hu Jing Beast was made entirely of metal, yet had organs and could reproduce. They attacked it from within and without, but after swallowing several Anvile warriors, it unleashed a trump card that changed the surrounding environment.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian immobilized the Hu Jing Beast with their Mental Power while Ebony's vines and the Night Soul Grass's seeds entered its body.
• A Xian and Qing Zhixun realized the beast's metal organs seemed biological, and Xi Xiu asked how they could break through its abdomen.
• Qing Zhixun gave Xi Xiu a drill-like weapon to test against the beast, which retaliated by firing weapons from holes in its wings.
• Li Zhengfeng shrank down and entered the beast through Ebony's opening, attacking its internal organs while Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and the Anvile warriors attacked from outside.
• The Hu Jing Beast swallowed several Anvile warriors, then focused on Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun and unleashed its trump card, causing Xi Xiu to sense that the surroundings had changed.

Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, Li Zhengfeng, and Ebony defeated the Hu Jing Beast after a six-hour battle, but the beast melted into a living lump of metal and sealed them inside distorted space. Unable to escape, they prepared for its final attack.

• Qing Zhixun rushed to Xi Xiu when he sensed danger, but the Hu Jing Beast pulled them, Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and Ebony into a distorted space.
• Li Zhengfeng dismantled most of the Hu Jing Beast's internal machinery from inside its body while Xi Xiu, Qing Zhixun, and Ebony attacked it.
• Li Zhengfeng emerged and lent his Mental Power to Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun, helping them hold the Hu Jing Beast down for six hours.
• The Hu Jing Beast melted into a fist-sized lump of metal, and Xi Xiu realized it was still alive and that they were trapped in sealed space.
• Qing Zhixun ordered everyone to layer their protective gear and mechs, while Ebony wrapped around them and Xi Xiu prepared for the metal creature's next attack.