Chapter Summaries

Insects attacked the open venue, killing citizens as Aifolan urged her fans to fight instead of flee. The carnage awakened Qiao Arthur from Aifolan’s influence, and he charged into battle while Mel sought Aifolan.

• The Insects rapidly hatched, split and regenerated as they slaughtered people at the venue, while Aifolan encouraged her fans to fight.
• The Mingyun Garrison warriors deployed their mechs and fought the Insects despite their shock at the carnage.
• The sight of the dead and the bloodshed awakened Qiao Arthur, who realized the purple influence over his consciousness had vanished.
• Qiao Arthur apologized to Mel, then rushed into battle to save a fan and attack the Insects without regard for his own safety.
• Mel stayed behind to seek Aifolan, while Qiao Arthur fought on and the garrison warriors wondered what had awakened him.
• The chapter revealed that many casualties came from Aifolan’s super fans, who arrived without Protective Suits after the Insects appeared.

Xi Xiu and the Mingyun forces fought purple Insects at Aifolan’s live event as the creatures evolved and overwhelmed the venue. When flying King Insects approached, Xi Xiu ordered everyone into fully charged heavy mecha and prepared to fight alongside Jiu Dan.

• Fans who refused to wear Protective Suits were attacked and killed by the Insects as they arrived at Aifolan’s live event.
• Xi Xiu led her troops to the southwest corner, where evolved Insects’ saliva dissolved Protective Suits and survivors were evacuated.
• Xi Xiu and Aona lured Insects away from the seating and fought them while Ebony, Wu Yuan, and Qi Mang battled other attackers.
• Xi Xiu summoned disposal robots to remove a severely injured Insect after she and Aona fought it for thirty minutes.
• Xi Xiu saw purple-winged King Insects take flight and ordered the troops to board fully charged heavy mecha for the next battle.

Xi Xiu and the warriors fought the Insects on Mingyun Star until Aifolan’s song made many soldiers abandon their weapons. Xi Xiu left the battle to find Aifolan and discovered an area in midair that blocked her Mental Power.

• Xi Xiu ordered exhausted teams to rotate and rest as the number of King Insects increased.
• Mel failed to find Aifolan, reunited with Qiao Arthur, and joined the fight against the Insects.
• Aifolan’s singing reached the battlefield and compelled warriors to drop their weapons and leave their mecha.
• Xi Xiu ordered 909 personnel to turn off their headsets and had robots move affected warriors to safety.
• Xi Xiu left with Ebony to track Aifolan, then detected a suspicious area in midair that her Mental Power could not penetrate.

Xi Xiu found Aifolan concealed in the sky and interrupted her mind-affecting song, then fought her with Ebony. Aifolan revealed her strength and knowledge of Xi Xiu’s identity, leaving Xi Xiu wary as the confrontation continued.

• Xi Xiu located Aifolan beneath an invisible covering and used Ebony to tear it open.
• Aifolan’s song disrupted the warriors below, but Xi Xiu remained unaffected and ordered Ebony to attack.
• Ebony interrupted Aifolan’s singing and bound her, allowing the warriors to regain their clarity and resume fighting.
• Aifolan snapped Ebony’s vines with metal finger guards, recognized Xi Xiu, and warned her that Exotic Plants could be defeated.
• Xi Xiu recalled the injured Ebony and regarded Aifolan cautiously as Aifolan studied her.

Xi Xiu fought Aifolan, identifying the consciousness in Aifolan’s body as Chen Yuzong’s biological mother and deciding to capture her alive. She gained the upper hand in their aerial battle, but Aifolan remained protected by her mech shell.

• Xi Xiu challenged Aifolan and dodged her Crescent-shaped Boomerangs before catching them and stopping Aifolan from moving.
• Xi Xiu realized Aifolan’s consciousness sought vengeance for her son’s death and planned to take her alive for questioning.
• Xi Xiu sent Ebony to deal with Aifolan’s guards and destroy the devices, leaving the two fighters alone in the air.
• Aifolan attacked with an Atomic Sword, but Xi Xiu blocked it with her reinforced long blade and forced her back.
• Xi Xiu moved behind Aifolan and struck her across the back, with Aifolan’s mech shell preventing the blow from finishing her.

Xi Xiu defeated Aifolan in a prolonged battle and cornered her after Night Soul Grass cleared away the insect swarm Aifolan had used for cover. Aifolan could no longer move under Xi Xiu’s Mental Power, and Xi Xiu captured her alive.

• Aifolan intensified her attacks, but Xi Xiu dodged or blocked them and wounded her repeatedly during their fight.
• Aifolan switched to a ranged firearm, but Xi Xiu used nets to capture all twenty Atomic Light Bombs she fired.
• Aifolan fled into an insect swarm, hoping the insects would delay Xi Xiu long enough for her to escape.
• Xi Xiu signaled A Xian, who had Night Soul Grass move the insects aside and expose Aifolan.
• Xi Xiu approached Aifolan, whose body was immobilized by Xi Xiu’s Mental Power, and captured her alive.

Xi Xiu subdued Aifolan and rejected her attempt to recruit her, then arranged to transfer the captured Insect to Gaia. She waited with Aifolan under her personal guard while Qing Wenxu and the others hurried to her location.

• Xi Xiu reflected that Aifolan’s calm suggested she had a way to return to The Cradle, and Aifolan admitted that she had been unable to send battle data to her base.
• Aifolan asked Xi Xiu why she hid her strength, then tried to persuade her to join the Insects by promising her power and status.
• Xi Xiu sedated Aifolan and told her that the Alliance’s safety and the freedom to live beneath the stars made the world beautiful.
• Xi Xiu took Aifolan to the Mingyun garrison and contacted Qing Zhixun, who was with Qing Wenxu, Chu Xuliang, Lu Shouyi, and others.
• Qing Wenxu set off with Lu Shouyi and Fu Xuan to meet Xi Xiu, who decided to guard Aifolan herself.

Xi Xiu guarded the captured Aifolan while fighting Insects at the Mingyun base and coordinating with her team. The battle ended, and she waited for Qing Wenxu to arrive and take custody of Aifolan.

• Qing Wenxu gave Xi Xiu an Elder Council authorization code and ordered the Mingyun base to prevent anyone from taking Aifolan.
• Xi Xiu checked the battle situation, warned her team to stay alert, and fought Insects while Ebony restrained Aifolan and held back her obsessive fans.
• Xi Xiu called Qi Mang to join her, and Qi Mang arrived with A Xian to help defend Aifolan and fight the remaining Insects.
• Xi Xiu told A Xian that Aifolan was Chen Yuzong's biological mother and planned to hand her over personally to Qing Wenxu.
• The battle ended at night, and Xi Xiu stayed at the Mingyun base while Qiu Shaorong managed team 909 and she awaited Qing Wenxu.

Xi Xiu brought the captured Aifolan to the Mingyun base’s temporary site and prepared to guard her until the Elder Council arrived. Amor tried to take over custody, but Xi Xiu insisted that he guard Aifolan alongside her.

• Xi Xiu had Qi Mang treat the battlefield soil, then brought the sedated Aifolan to the temporary site with Ebony.
• Amor arrived and claimed that his rank and larger force made him better suited to guard Aifolan.
• Xi Xiu refused to surrender her prisoner, citing her responsibility and her direct superior, Qing Zhixun.
• A Xian challenged Amor’s attempt to pressure Xi Xiu, while Amor’s adjutant reminded him about the post-battle arrangements meeting.
• Xi Xiu agreed to let Amor guard Aifolan together with her, rather than hand the prisoner over.

Xi Xiu resisted Amor’s attempt to use his rank to take Aifolan, then recorded her suspicions that both Amor and Aifolan might be copies connected to the Virtual Network. The chapter left Mingyun base struggling to contain citizens and warriors captivated by Aifolan’s projected image.

• Amor ordered his adjutant to detain Xi Xiu, but Ebony threatened the group, and Xi Xiu used the Elder Council’s announcement and a protective barrier to keep him away.
• Amor’s adjutant and the others sedated him and dragged him away when he tried to break Xi Xiu’s barrier.
• Xi Xiu checked Amor’s flawless base records, discussed the possibility that he and Aifolan were copies with A Xian, and sent her suspicions to Qing Zhixun.
• Citizens who believed Aifolan had been captured surrounded the Mingyun base, and Amor woke from the sedative still angry.
• Amor’s adjutant calmed him and the crowd by playing Aifolan’s videos and projecting her Virtual Character, but the display also began captivating Mingyun’s warriors.

Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang arrived on Mingyun Star, where Fu Xuan extracted and analyzed Aifolan’s consciousness while the Alliance freed her affected fans from her influence. Aifolan’s memories offered no clear lead to Qin Hongjun’s whereabouts, and Fu Xuan could not remove the restrictions obscuring them.

• Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang took control of Mingyun Star’s scene, sedated the enthralled soldiers, and reprimanded the family heads for failing to contain Aifolan’s influence.
• Xi Xiu suppressed Aifolan’s aggressive consciousness while Fu Xuan used Qin Hongjun’s device to separate it from her body.
• Fu Xuan’s team erased the affected citizens’ memories of Aifolan through the Virtual Network, freeing them from her influence.
• Fu Xuan analyzed Aifolan’s consciousness and found that most of its memories concerned her past, while several memories were blurred or restricted.
• Qing Wenxu asked whether the restrictions could be removed, but Fu Xuan said he had no solution and Aifolan could not provide accurate information about Qin Hongjun.

Qing Wenxu, Lu Shouyi, and the others investigated the false Aifolan and uncovered evidence about her origins. A reconstructed memory showed children being trained through real killings, leaving the Alliance elders with a clearer picture of Aifolan’s identity.

• Qing Wenxu and Lu Shouyi sealed information from Aifolan’s consciousness and sent it to the Alliance Guards, who dispatched Fang Jinyu to investigate the revealed locations.
• Xi Xiu told Lu Shouyi that Aifolan had accused her of killing her child, and explained that Chen Yuzong was Aifolan and Qin Hongjun’s child, with both Chen Yuzong and Aifolan possessing backup consciousnesses.
• Qing Wenxu and the others concluded that the real Aifolan likely knew about the false one, but the Alliance could not locate her after traces in the Virtual Network had been erased.
• On Chu Xuliang’s suggestion, Qing Wenxu reconstructed a segment of Aifolan’s consciousness into an image showing children of various races playing with weapons and killing one another.
• Lu Shouyi and Qing Wenxu recognized the scene as an extreme method of training warriors and said it could not produce many outstanding fighters.

Qing Wenxu, Chu Xuliang, and the others studied images from Aifolan's consciousness and suspected that Qin Hongjun was hiding in the Snowy Region. They planned an investigation while Xi Xiu privately considered the images' connection to her own memories.

• A Xian and Lu Shouyi noticed unfamiliar objects in Aifolan's images, and Fu Xuan suggested they were things Qin Hongjun had cared about.
• Chu Xuliang observed that the images showed artificial lighting and cultivated plants unlike Jingsu's environments, prompting Xi Xiu to ask if Qin Hongjun's hideout could be in the Snowy Region.
• Lu Shouyi described the Snowy Region's lethal cold, while Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang decided to investigate and prepare an experienced search team.
• Qing Wenxu and the others instructed Chu Zekuan to check records of Starships that had traveled to the Snowy Region and began screening possible search candidates.
• Xi Xiu privately connected some objects in the images to her memories, while A Xian concealed her expression from the others.

After the battle on Mingyun Star, Aifolan was transferred to a laboratory on an Administrative Star while Qing Wenxu gave Xi Xiu several Space Lockets. On the journey home, Xi Xiu and Li Zhengfeng discussed clues suggesting Qin Hongjun was hiding in the Snowy Region and that Aifolan was Chen Yuzong’s biological mother.

• Fu Xuan placed Aifolan in a medical pod, recorded her data with the Central Brain, and registered the personnel who had captured her.
• Qing Wenxu’s group handed Aifolan over to Fu Xuan and arranged to pick up Qin Jian without letting him see or approach her.
• Qing Wenxu gave Xi Xiu several Space Lockets, and Xi Xiu accepted them before giving him some of her own treasured items.
• Qing Wenxu’s group returned to the subsidiary planet to collect Qing Shichen, Li Jinglan, and the others, then headed for an Administrative Star near Gaia.
• Xi Xiu returned to the Mingyun garrison after General Amor apologized to her and A Xian for his earlier treatment of their warriors.
• Li Zhengfeng told Xi Xiu that he remembered sensing extreme cold while his consciousness was taken to an unfamiliar star region, and Xi Xiu linked that clue to the Snowy Region and identified Aifolan as Chen Yuzong’s biological mother.

Xi Xiu and the Nine Stars learned that Hanhai had assembled and that unrest was spreading across the Alliance, while space pirates returned to Shangyue Star. Li Zhengfeng also warned them that the Virtual Network had developed a major bug, leaving the group preparing for possible attacks from multiple star systems.

• Wei Lanshan reported that Hanhai had completed its assembly while the other four star systems had not yet moved, and Xu Fengxiang said Aura was strong enough to withstand an attack.
• Feng Yueci warned that space pirates had recently visited the area around Shangyue Star, and Xi Xiu and Wei Lanshan suspected they had learned about the Talent Warriors stationed there.
• Xi Xiu suggested sending Feng Yueci back to Shangyue Star, but Feng Yueci said Nine Stars and the Ancient Martial Arts families there could defend it without reinforcements.
• Wei Lanshan told Nine Stars that unrest, missing resources, weapon thefts, and Star Beast attacks were appearing across the Alliance, while Huovian prepared to cooperate with Hanhai and the other star systems stirred.
• Li Zhengfeng relayed the Central Brain's warning that a major bug had appeared in the Virtual Network, where Q and other letter-named people had begun appearing.

Wei Lanshan and the others discussed a dangerous attacker in the Virtual Network and asked Long Xingxue to send robots into the Snowy Region to gather footage. After the group call, Xi Xiu noticed signs of an old romance between Wei Lanshan and Xu Jiusong, and Wei Lanshan ended by asking whether Xi Xiu really needed an introduction to the Marshal.

• Li Zhengfeng shared the Central Brain's warning about a person who could damage citizens' Mental Power in the Virtual Network, and the group urged their soldiers to stay alert.
• After Long Xingxue said she was near the Snowy Region, Xi Xiu asked her to send robots in to transmit footage without retrieving them, and Long Xingxue agreed.
• The group exchanged information about the Alliance's situation, and Xu Fengxiang told everyone to watch the areas around their star systems and promptly share anything unusual.
• Wei Lanshan learned that Xi Xiu's match had been finalized and asked to attend the partnership ceremony; Xu Jiusong appeared and said the Central Brain had dealt with the Qing Family's fourth son.
• Xi Xiu noticed Xu Jiusong's affection for Wei Lanshan and privately wondered if they had an old romance, while Wei Lanshan reflected on her mother's final wish and asked whether Vivian knew.
• Xi Xiu asked Wei Lanshan to introduce Xu Jiusong, and Wei Lanshan replied that Xi Xiu had already seen him on the Star Net.

Xi Xiu briefed her team on Hanhai’s advancing forces and warned them that Q and other dangerous intruders were killing people inside the Virtual Network. She ordered everyone to stay offline and alert their squads, while the identity of the attackers remained unknown.

• Wei Lanshan introduced Xu Jiusong to Xi Xiu as her close friend, and Xu Jiusong asked Xi Xiu to call him Uncle Xu.
• Xi Xiu and Qi Mang analyzed incoming data showing Hanhai’s forces moving toward Enweit, and Xi Xiu said she had already warned him.
• Xi Xiu revealed that Enweit had become Aura’s Star Lord, prompting Flora to celebrate his new position and her powerful connections.
• Xi Xiu showed her team evidence that Virtual Network users had suffered consciousness death and ordered them to avoid the network and warn their squads.
• Xi Xiu explained that Q and several other powerful intruders were attacking people in the Virtual Network, while the Alliance still lacked a definite identity for them.

Xi Xiu prepared her teams for the return to Yuan Day Base, where aerial training grounds had been built to compensate for the closure of underground facilities. She reviewed the war’s casualties and intelligence, then helped Xie Qingzhu and the others compile battle reports, leaving the teams to continue their journey home with losses weighing on them.

• Xi Xiu told the team that Qing Zhixun had arranged tiered aerial training grounds for soldiers to use after they returned to the base.
• A Xian reported that Yuan Day Base’s losses were limited but Mingyun Base had suffered serious casualties, and Xi Xiu said she had Wu Yuan monitor the soldiers still in critical condition.
• A Xian and Xi Xiu discussed evidence that Qin Hongjun’s headquarters might be in the Snowy Region, and Xi Xiu said they would respond to whatever move he made.
• A Xian told Xi Xiu that Wu Jingyang had trapped challengers in the Alliance’s Virtual Network and hoped to obtain clues when he encountered them again.
• Xie Qingzhu and Wang Zichun came to discuss joint and individual battle reports, and Xi Xiu added Team 909’s situation and lessons learned to the report data.

The captains discussed how rash, disobedient warriors had caused casualties during the Mingyun mission and planned stricter team arrangements and joint sparring after returning. Ulia then revealed that Xisai Si had died saving young warriors from a King Insect.

• Wang Zichun, Fan Zhengan, Xie Qingzhu, and Xi Xiu reviewed how warriors’ attempts to climb the rankings and disregard for orders had led to deaths.
• Xi Xiu said the matter had been reported to the base, while Fan Zhengan, Wang Zichun, and Xie Qingzhu agreed that unruly warriors should be placed in separate teams.
• Xie Qingzhu proposed that her team and Xi Xiu’s team take turns sparring, and Xi Xiu agreed to arrange a plan after they returned.
• Ulia told the captains that the western district had lost a lieutenant colonel, and Xi Xiu recognized that he meant Xisai Si.
• Ulia explained that Xisai Si had died while rescuing young warriors who had acted rashly, when a King Insect appeared in the area.

Xisai Si was killed after a King Insect captured him, and soldiers across the four sectors held a farewell ceremony for him and the other fallen. Xi Xiu later encouraged Qiu Shaorong to retreat rather than fight recklessly and checked on the wounded soldiers, who had stabilized.

• A King Insect broke through Xisai Si's mecha, beat him severely, and dragged him away before western-sector soldiers recovered his body and removed the Insect eggs.
• Ulia's account of Xisai Si's death left Xi Xiu, Qi Mang, and Ebony grieving in the office area.
• Fan Zhengan confirmed the deaths, and soldiers from all four sectors held a space farewell ceremony for Xisai Si and the other fallen soldiers.
• Xi Xiu and Qiu Shaorong went to the medical bay and discussed withdrawing when a battle could not be won, giving Qiu Shaorong a new way to think about survival.
• Xi Xiu and Qiu Shaorong checked on the wounded soldiers, whose conditions had stabilized, and Xi Xiu asked Wu Yuan to monitor them.