Chapter Summaries

After the returning soldiers came back to Yuanyue Base, the district commanders arranged a farewell ceremony for the fallen. Lin Zaiqin and Marcel reviewed Xisai Si’s battle footage and concluded that the Insects showed intelligence, leaving Lin to warn Qing Zhixun that they had underestimated the enemy.

• The four Starships returned to base, and Qing Zhixun ordered the exhausted soldiers to rest before a general meeting the next morning.
• Qing Zhixun and the other district heads planned a farewell ceremony for the soldiers killed on the mission.
• Lin Zaiqin and Philit reviewed Xisai Si’s battle footage, and Lin suspected that the Insects could think strategically.
• Marcel analyzed the footage and agreed that the Insects coordinated their attacks with precise group tactics, which had left Xisai Si no chance to escape.
• Lin Zaiqin visited Qing Zhixun to discuss holding a joint farewell ceremony at Mount Fan Er Square in the West District.
• Lin Zaiqin told Qing Zhixun that the Insects possessed intelligence, and Qing Zhixun acknowledged the unpredictable costs of battle.

Xi Xiu and Xie Qingzhu met to discuss aerial training and arranged for their teams to use the ranking system. They agreed to stand firm against aristocratic families trying to interfere with their teams.

• After sleeping for twelve hours, Xi Xiu arranged a meeting with Xie Qingzhu and invited Qiu Shaorong and the others.
• Xi Xiu and Xie Qingzhu introduced their teammates, then entered both teams into the ranking system to determine training arrangements.
• The teams discussed their suspicions that the Insects had developed intelligence and remembered the soldiers who would be honored at the farewell ceremony.
• Xi Xiu and Xie Qingzhu agreed that aristocratic family members who refused to train could train among themselves.
• Xie Qingzhu warned Xi Xiu that the aristocratic families might target her too, and Xi Xiu and her teammates agreed to confront anyone who challenged her authority.

Xie Qingzhu and Xi Xiu finalized the joint training schedule and discussed what they had learned from the mission’s losses. The teams parted on friendly terms and prepared to attend the fallen soldiers’ farewell ceremony the next morning.

• Xie Qingzhu and Xi Xiu agreed to have the reluctant soldiers train separately, then finalized the joint training schedule for when the aerial grounds were ready in three days.
• Xi Xiu explained that rigorous training helped prevent teammates from dying on missions, prompting Xie Qingzhu to reflect on her own losses and ask Xi Xiu not to hold back during the exchange.
• The teams shared snacks and got along well, while Flora, He Yinlei, Su Jinbao, and Tarasha imagined Xi Xiu opening a successful snack business.
• Yi An told Xie Qingzhu that Hong Xixiu seemed genuine and thoughtful, and Xie Qingzhu acknowledged that her team’s loyalty impressed her.
• The group returned to their dormitory and prepared for the farewell ceremony, where captains would wear the base-issued black suits bearing their identities.

Xi Xiu and A Xian prepared to attend a farewell ceremony for fallen soldiers while reviewing Kuang Biru’s impressive mission footage. The next morning, Xi Xiu and the other young soldiers arrived at Mount Fan’er and took their places in the solemn venue.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian reviewed the ceremony precautions and discussed the possibility of trouble from aristocratic families over Xi Xiu’s team.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian watched the mission reports and noted that Kuang Biru’s agile fighting style differed from the Kuang Family’s traditional martial skills.
• Xi Xiu reminded Qiu Shaorong to keep the 909 members disciplined during the ceremony, then boarded a hovercraft with Xie Qingzhu and the others.
• The hovercraft arrived at Mount Fan’er, where Xi Xiu followed Xie Qingzhu to the eastern district and received a golden Xinghai Flower.

Xi Xiu and the Yuandi warriors held a solemn farewell ceremony for comrades killed in battle, then returned to begin another round of training. Afterward, Xi Xiu reunited with A Xian, and they headed to inspect the newly completed aerial training ground.

• Xu Hesong recounted the fallen warriors' lives, and the warriors observed silence before placing Xinghai Flowers on their coffins.
• The warriors watched as their fallen comrades' coffins were carried aboard Starships and flown away.
• Xie Qingzhu told Xi Xiu she hoped to receive an honored funeral if she died in battle, and the two agreed that Xi Xiu would be her little sister at Yuandi.
• A Xian waited for Xi Xiu and invited her to try the completed eastern aerial training ground.
• Xi Xiu met A Xian at the dormitory building, and they set a Hovercar to autopilot and headed into the sky.

Xi Xiu and A Xian inspected the nearly completed airborne training ground and discussed preparing soldiers for aerial combat. Their tour was interrupted by Wang Guanyu and other prominent-family scions, and a confrontation began when Wang Guanyu challenged Xi Xiu.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian visited the airborne training ground and agreed that soldiers needed suspended aerial combat practice.
• Xi Xiu considered Yuanyi's potential role in a wider conflict and noted that the base's training ground would be ready in two days.
• Wang Guanyu and other scions confronted Xi Xiu and A Xian, and Wang demanded a sparring match.
• Xi Xiu told Wang to follow base procedures and then offered to fight only after he defeated Wu Yuan.
• Wang attacked, Wu Yuan blocked him, and the others crowded around and separated A Xian from Xi Xiu.

A Xian joined Xi Xiu’s fight against Wang Guanyu and his subordinates, while Xi Xiu defeated Wang Guanyu in fifty moves. The two women left the astonished crowd behind as Wang Guanyu questioned the source of Xi Xiu’s extraordinary strength.

• A Xian attacked Wang Guanyu’s subordinates and stopped them from surrounding Xi Xiu.
• Zhang Xiaoxiang watched Xi Xiu fight, considered her unusual Martial Skills, and wondered whether a hidden force supported her.
• Xi Xiu defeated Wang Guanyu in fifty moves, leaving him sprawled on the ground in disbelief.
• A Xian and Xi Xiu left while Wang Guanyu’s subordinates helped him up.
• Wang Guanyu reflected on Xi Xiu’s speed, power, and Mental Power, but refused to accept that she had held back.

Xi Xiu and A Xian discussed why the great families saw Xi Xiu as a threat, while Wang Guanyu tried to learn about her from Zhang Xiaoxiang. Qing Zhixun learned of Wang Guanyu's probing and assigned him a demanding mission, leaving Wang to realize too late that Xi Xiu was Qing's partner.

• Wang Guanyu questioned Zhang Xiaoxiang about Hong Xixiu and Kuang Biru, but Zhang refused to share information and walked away.
• Xi Xiu looked into the Wang Family's influence and explained to A Xian that rival families feared her rapid rise and wanted to block her path to leadership.
• A Xian agreed that Xi Xiu was a threat to the families, and Xi Xiu warned that she would stop showing them courtesy if they kept provoking her.
• Qing Zhixun learned that Wang Guanyu had confronted Xi Xiu and assigned him a mission on an Administrative Star near Yuanri's main planet.
• Wang Guanyu received the assignment and realized that Hong Xixiu's partner was Qing Zhixun; he blamed his subordinates for not reminding him.

Wang Guanyu learned from the Wang Family head that antagonizing Hong Xixiu was a serious mistake, especially given her ties to the Qing Family and possible hidden talent. The Wang Family head began investigating her origins and ordered a descendant to contact Ye Yunhan on Tianning Star.

• Wang Guanyu reported the situation on Yuari and proposed transferring Hong Xixiu, but the Wang Family head told him the Elder Council would not allow it.
• The Wang Family head warned Wang Guanyu to investigate Hong Xixiu’s background and consider the influence of her partner, Qing Zhixun.
• Wang Guanyu suggested Hong Xixiu’s talent was far greater than her registered level, and the Wang Family head said antagonizing her had been a terrible move.
• Wang Guanyu promised to apologize to Hong Xixiu in front of Qing Zhixun after returning from his mission.
• The Wang Family head exchanged information with the Zhang Family head, then instructed another Wang Family descendant to visit Ye Yunhan on Tianning Star and ask about her daughter.

Xi Xiu met Qing Zhixun for a meal, where they discussed evidence pointing to Qin Hongjun’s likely main base. They left with a new lead: Qin Jian may have begun arranging the plan a thousand years earlier, when the Alliance lost nearly a hundred energy transport Starships.

• Qing Zhixun told Xi Xiu that the Wang Family had moved, and she acknowledged the message.
• Xi Xiu accepted Qing Zhixun’s invitation to eat after A Xian encouraged her to spend time with him.
• Xi Xiu arrived with Sixi at the riverside meeting, where the Central Brain appeared in a woman’s form and Sixi interacted with it.
• Qing Zhixun showed Xi Xiu images from Aifolan’s consciousness that suggested the location of Qin Hongjun’s main base.
• Xi Xiu questioned how anyone could survive at the base’s extremely cold location, and Qing Zhixun revealed that the Alliance had lost nearly a hundred energy transport Starships a thousand years earlier.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun concluded that Qin Jian may have begun planning the operation then, while the Central Brain rejoined Sixi and greeted Xi Xiu.

The Central Brain concluded that Qin Hongjun was carrying out Qin Jian’s plans, while Qin Jian remained under restricted supervision on Gaia’s Administrative Star. Qing Zhixun and Xi Xiu examined old films and imaginings that might have inspired Qin Jian’s creations, as the search for his hidden system began.

• Xi Xiu guessed that Qin Hongjun was carrying out Qin Jian’s plan, a conclusion the Central Brain and Qing Zhixun had also reached.
• The Central Brain struggled with the prospect of opposing Qin Jian and asked what the others planned to do.
• Qing Zhixun explained that Qin Jian was confined to Gaia’s Administrative Star and had stopped discussing Qin Hongjun after his freedom was restricted.
• The Central Brain provided remote coordinates where Qin Jian had hidden supplies and backups of a secret system, and Qing Zhixun planned to have Alliance garrisons search them.
• The Central Brain gathered old films and imaginings for Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun to examine, and Xi Xiu recognized similarities to Qin Jian’s creations.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun worked with the Central Brain to investigate Qin Jian’s hidden backup systems while Xi Xiu privately suspected the two were concealing a deal. As they considered the Ye Family’s next moves, Xi Xiu learned more about her genetically related sisters and discovered Lin Zeyu had stayed beside Subject 95.

• Xi Xiu realized that the Bio-constructs resembled creatures from ancient films and suspected Qing Zhixun and the Central Brain had arranged their secret agreement and matching result.
• The Central Brain shared coordinates for Qin Jian’s backup systems, and Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun arranged for the Qing Family and Li Zhengfeng’s troops to retrieve the data.
• Xi Xiu reviewed information about the Wang and Ye Families, while Qing Zhixun offered to help her handle Ye Yunhan.
• Qing Zhixun explained that Boranlan had returned to the Ye Family and that her partner, Yu Wensheng, might be helping the Yu Family gain influence over it.
• Xi Xiu learned that researchers had saved the Ye Family’s experimental subjects and saw that Lin Zeyu had remained with Subject 95, whose health was failing.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun discussed people who might want to meet her, tensions among the Wang and Zhang Families, and making more seasonings. The Central Brain proposed that Q might be a composite consciousness created by Qin Hongjun, and offered to help Qing Zhixun enter the closed Virtual Network to investigate.

• Xi Xiu agreed to meet Boranlan and Lin Rumei, while Qing Zhixun told her there was still no clue about the other missing person's whereabouts.
• Qing Zhixun warned Xi Xiu to avoid the Wang and Zhang Families and told her Zhang Xiaoxiang might be transferred from Yuani to stay with Kuang Biru.
• Xi Xiu agreed to prepare more seasonings when Lanyu's farm harvested new plants, with Sixi and Qing Sansui helping.
• The Central Brain listed several possible identities for Q, including Ye Zhenwei, and Xi Xiu suggested Q could combine the personalities of several people.
• The Central Brain agreed that Qin Hongjun might be combining consciousnesses in Blank Bodies to create powerful warriors, and offered to help Qing Zhixun enter the Virtual Network to investigate.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun investigated evidence that Ye Zhenwei had secretly met Yuan Chuhong and may have collaborated with Qin Hongjun. They uncovered how Yuan Chuhong had intercepted Ye Zhenwei and interfered with the consciousnesses of Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing.

• Qing Zhixun proposed using realistic virtual avatars to lure targets and capture their consciousnesses, and the Central Brain agreed to create them from Alliance citizens' data.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun agreed that Ye Zhenwei's apparently self-sacrificing battle at Tianwei base was suspicious and may have been an act.
• Qing Zhixun explained that the Alliance traced a transmission route to Yuan Chuhong and identified him as the mechanical-shelled figure Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing had seen.
• The Elder Council discovered that Yuan Chuhong had worked only on the periphery of Qin Hongjun's operations and had revealed little useful information.
• Yuan Chuhong feigned a Starship malfunction along Ye Zhenwei's route, and Ye Zhenwei stopped to help him while Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing accompanied her aboard.
• Yuan Chuhong's subordinates knocked Yue Qila and Zhang Jixing unconscious and interfered with their consciousnesses, but the two later broke through the interference.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun uncovered more of Ye Zhenwei’s hidden plans and learned why Xu Jiusong and Wei Lanshan had never become partners. They decided to find a way to help the two reconnect, while Qing Zhixun nervously offered to seek advice.

• Yue Qila reported her altered memories, and specialists reconstructed Ye Zhenwei’s meeting with Yuan Chuhong, identifying him as the person in the metal shell.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun concluded that Ye Zhenwei had planned the meeting with Yuan Chuhong and had learned to conceal her intentions.
• The Central Brain told Xi Xiu that Xu Jiusong had long loved Wei Lanshan, who had delayed submitting her matching application while caring for Xi Xiu’s mother.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun agreed to find the right moment to help Xu Jiusong and Wei Lanshan address their feelings.
• Qing Zhixun admitted he did not know how to advise them and offered to ask someone else, while Xi Xiu found his nervousness endearing.

The Central Brain reflected on Qin Jian’s betrayal before returning to sleep, while Qing Zhixun arranged additional training for Xi Xiu’s team and shared valuable Qing Family war records with her. After he stroked her head, Xi Xiu remained cautiously receptive, and Qing Zhixun asked what she would do if he was transferred away after New Year’s Day.

• The Central Brain left Qing Zhixun and Xi Xiu alone and went back to sleep, unsettled by what Qin Jian’s actions had taught it about humanity.
• Qing Zhixun offered to coordinate Xi Xiu’s aerial training, then arranged for Ulia’s veteran team to join Xie Qingzhu’s team so Xi Xiu’s soldiers could face more opponents.
• Qing Zhixun told Xi Xiu that the garrison would enter war readiness and gave her a large archive of Qing Family battle records.
• Xi Xiu thanked Qing Zhixun and promised to share news from Nine Stars, and he stroked her head, making her blush.
• Qing Zhixun asked Xi Xiu about her plans in case he was transferred away after New Year’s Day.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun discussed how they might be transferred from Yuari and which border fortress might need her, as the Huovian people prepared to join Hanhai against the Jingsu Alliance. Xi Xiu suspected Huovian agents had discovered the energy on Ningkui Star’s satellite planets and asked Ming Weiman to investigate surveillance footage.

• Xi Xiu told Qing Zhixun she would follow the Alliance’s transfer arrangements but wanted to take her team with her, and he said she could bring her core members.
• Xi Xiu considered Liuning Fortress as a possible posting and asked whether the Huovian people had made recent moves; Qing Zhixun said they were gathering forces in response to Hanhai’s call.
• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun discussed Huovian’s depleted energy reserves and its intention to seize resources from the Jingsu Alliance.
• Xi Xiu wondered whether Huovian agents had discovered the energy on Ningkui Star’s satellite planets and considered that they might have been scouting nearby during Nine Stars’ extraction work.
• Xi Xiu contacted Ming Weiman and asked him to review surveillance footage from the satellite planets for suspicious individuals.

Xi Xiu learned how Qing Zhixun had dealt with the aristocratic families and decided to focus on training before responding to the Ye Family. She reviewed information about her missing siblings and sent updates to Wan Youlin while A Xian helped Flora and He Yinlei prepare for aerial training.

• Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun returned to base camp, where Zhang Xiaoxiang greeted them respectfully and they passed him without engaging.
• Qing Zhixun told Xi Xiu that he had restricted the resentful aristocratic family members and required them to accept responsibility agreements before going on missions.
• Xi Xiu told A Xian she would ignore Ye Yunhan's messages until training ended, respond to her other siblings only if they approached her respectfully, and leave the missing fourth subject's case alone for now.
• Xi Xiu began sorting through Qing Zhixun's information to send to Wan Youlin, while A Xian joined Flora and He Yinlei and taught them aerial combat techniques.

Xi Xiu and the others completed aerial combat training, and battle footage from the base inspired warriors across Yuari Base to train harder. After turning her terminal back on, Xi Xiu read messages from Boranlan and Lin Rumei about the Ye Family and dismissed their implied attempt to gauge her interest in taking it over.

• Xi Xiu told Flora and He Yinlei to train with different opponents, then shared a lavish hotpot dinner with A Xian and the others.
• The team mastered midair combat techniques, and Xi Xiu fought Xie Qingzhu and Ulia while A Xian recorded the battles.
• Qing Zhixun published blurred training footage on the base network, prompting warriors across Yuari Base to train intensely.
• After aerial training ended, Xi Xiu ignored Ye Yunhan's message and read sincere messages from Boranlan and Lin Rumei.
• Boranlan explained the Ye Family's turmoil and hinted that Xi Xiu might seek to take control of it, but Xi Xiu decided she had no interest in the family.

Xi Xiu rejected Ye Yunhan’s attempt to claim her as his daughter and insist that she join the Ye Family. The call ended with Ye Yunhan confronting her over a report that listed her strength as a suspected 3S talent.

• Xi Xiu arranged to meet Li Zhengfeng at the garrison starport so he could deliver data he had recovered from Qin Jian’s territory.
• Xi Xiu accepted Ye Yunhan’s video call and addressed him by his former rank, leaving him displeased with her lack of deference.
• Ye Yunhan told Xi Xiu that he was her father and demanded she call him Dad, but she said she was an orphan and had grown up without him.
• Ye Yunhan explained what had happened in the past, but Xi Xiu refused to claim membership in the Ye Family or inherit its assets.
• Ye Yunhan called Xi Xiu an orphan without connections and showed her a Wang Family report that listed her strength as suspected 3S.