Chapter Summaries

Arivik suspected Xi Xiu had ties to Nine Stars after seeing her communicate with Xu Fengxiang, and the Dark Department investigated her while preparing to establish a garrison on Ningkui Star. Xi Xiu noticed their inquiry, allowed their system access, and introduced the Dark Department to Nine Stars before assigning A Xian to help with a new problem.

• Xi Xiu arranged incoming personnel and supplies for a garrison on Ningkui Star, including the Alliance's newest weapons.
• Arivik told Jiang Li'an, Kong Lingxue, Olivia, and the others that he had seen Xu Fengxiang on Xi Xiu's video call, and they discussed whether she led Nine Stars.
• Arivik ordered Gu Peidong to connect the Dark Department's system to Nine Stars and investigate Xu Fengxiang's movements.
• Nine Stars detected the connection and informed Xi Xiu, who approved it and found the Dark Department investigating her records.
• Xi Xiu told Nine Stars about the Dark Department and assigned A Xian to help handle the latest data.

Xi Xiu organized preparations to defend Ningkui Star, assigning A Xian to process intelligence while her team calculated where the enemy might emerge and planned to manipulate the surrounding meteoroids. The calculations were ready, and the team waited for reinforcements and a mothership to arrive the next day.

• Xi Xiu gave A Xian nearly a hundred thousand intelligence entries to sort through, then left to prepare the space defense.
• Xi Xiu gathered Wang Zichun, Qiu Shaorong, Su Jinbao, Ulia, Arivik, and the others to study Ningkui Star’s surroundings and calculate where the enemy might appear.
• Xi Xiu directed Liang Jingxian and Gu Peidong to improve their calculations and proposed moving meteoroids to guide the enemy into an encirclement.
• Xi Xiu confirmed that a mothership and reinforcements would arrive the next day, while Liang Jingxian used her calculation system to map the surrounding obstacles.
• Xi Xiu’s team completed its preparations and waited for reinforcements as they considered the danger facing Ningkui Star and its affiliated planets.

Xi Xiu organized Ningkui Star's defenses and met with reinforcements led by Feng Qiqi and Bai Jungo as the Alliance prepared for a larger attack. Li Zhengfeng tested Arivik and judged him a capable warrior who could become a major asset to Xi Xiu.

• Jiang Li'an and Han Fenglin's group concluded that the approaching force would be Xi Xiu's reinforcements rather than a Liuning mothership, and discussed the Alliance's reliance on great families.
• Feng Qiqi and Bai Jungo traveled from Yuanri toward Ningkui Star, crushing pirate bands along the way, while Li Zhengfeng and Wan Youlin joined them as a potential rescue force.
• A Xian delivered her compiled information to Xi Xiu, who reviewed it and prepared the defense plan for Feng Qiqi and Bai Jungo.
• Feng Qiqi, Bai Jungo, and Li Zhengfeng met Xi Xiu aboard her starship, while Arivik's people recognized clues to Xi Xiu's identity.
• Li Zhengfeng tested Arivik and concluded that he was a capable, iron-blooded warrior who could strongly support Xi Xiu.

Li Zhengfeng discussed the Alliance and Nine-Star's future with Xi Xiu, who promised to lead the organization well, and agreed to look at Ningkui Star the next morning. Meanwhile, Arivik and the others investigated the mysterious Anvile robot, and Arivik realized it might contain Li Zhengfeng's consciousness.

• Arivik felt Li Zhengfeng's powerful Mental Power and wondered about his strength.
• Xi Xiu invited Li Zhengfeng to visit Ningkui Star, and they discussed the Nadak people joining the Nine-Star Dark Department.
• Xi Xiu promised Li Zhengfeng she would lead Nine-Star well and secure a place for its soldiers.
• Arivik and his companions found no Star Net record of the robot and suspected it was an Anvile product.
• Kong Lingxue suggested the robot might contain a Nine-Star senior's consciousness, and Arivik connected the idea to Li Zhengfeng and hurried toward the door before stopping himself.

Arivik brought the Dark Department to meet Li Zhengfeng and revealed that he had deduced Li was the Star Lord. After learning that Qin Hongjun’s underground facility in the Snowy Region had been emptied, the group began investigating the great families that had financed it.

• Arivik shaved, dressed formally, and led the Dark Department to Xi Xiu’s office.
• Arivik saluted Li Zhengfeng and identified him as the Star Lord, shocking the others.
• Arivik explained how the Dark Department had traced Qin Hongjun and linked the Eternal Robots’ skills to powerful Alliance warriors.
• Li Zhengfeng said his memories were incomplete and that Xi Xiu’s side had found the facility’s location in the Snowy Region.
• Xi Xiu showed that the Underground City had already been emptied, and Kong Lingxue arranged to investigate the great families’ financial transactions.

Li Zhengfeng investigated whether Wang Xiankun had survived and was behind the Wang Family’s recent actions, finding a suspicious obituary image and communication gaps. The chapter ended with a message from Wang Xiankun challenging him to meet on the next battlefield.

• Xi Xiu shared Nine Stars’ intelligence with Arivik, and they agreed to combine their information with the Dark Department’s.
• Li Zhengfeng asked the Central Brain to investigate Wang Xiankun and linked the Wang Family’s plans to his former rival.
• The Central Brain found that the Wang Family head periodically changed communication channels, leaving untraceable gaps.
• Li Zhengfeng examined Wang Xiankun’s obituary and recognized a mocking figure in its painted scene as likely connected to Qin Hongjun.
• Li Zhengfeng received a message in Wang Xiankun’s familiar tone, promising a surprise on the next battlefield.

Li Zhengfeng confirmed that Qin Hongjun was gathering a vast force of Eternal Robots, and the Dark Department and Xi Xiu prepared for the widening war. As Xi Xiu returned to Ningkui Star to strengthen its defenses, reports revealed attacks across the Alliance and Ye Zhenwei’s covert consolidation of power in Tianning.

• Li Zhengfeng ordered the Alliance to fight after seeing Wang Xiankun’s challenge, while Xi Xiu shared Nine Stars’ findings that Qin Hongjun had taken tens of thousands of warriors, many turned into Eternal Robots.
• Xi Xiu arranged for a Martial Skill recognition system to be created, and Arivik ordered the Dark Department to devote itself to the Alliance crisis while keeping its information channels in place.
• Li Zhengfeng warned Xi Xiu that the war could last ten years or longer and urged her to prepare Ningkui Star as hostile forces approached.
• Xi Xiu returned toward Ningkui Star with Li Zhengfeng and reviewed reports showing heavy attacks on Blue Rain, a siege of Tianwei, and growing conflict in Tianning.
• Ye Zhenwei reclaimed the Ye Family’s influence in Tianning, secretly used replicas to take over rival families, and left Ye Yunhan trapped by hostile forces while she fought a robot legion.
• An unnamed ally promised to solve Hong Xixiu’s problem for Ye Zhenwei, allowing her to avoid acting directly.

The Elder Council debated whether Ye Zhenwei could be trusted as her battlefield record won support among the Alliance’s powerful families, while Qing Zhixun investigated the Huovian plot and its links to Qin Hongjun and the Wang Family. Ye Zhenwei secretly coordinated with someone and prepared to return to Tianning Star as Ye Yunhan was ambushed and Qing Wenxu’s investigators intercepted his attackers.

• The Elder Council reviewed the robots’ suspicious retreat from Ye Zhenwei and worried that the great families would push to give her command of half the Alliance forces.
• Qing Zhixun learned that the Huovian people had brought Parasites into the Ningkui Star System with help from the Wang Family, and Xi Xiu told him that Li Zhengfeng had accepted the Wang Family’s challenge.
• Qing Zhixun warned Qing Wenxu that Tianning Star’s calm seemed suspicious, so Qing Wenxu sent Qing and Chu family descendants to investigate the area.
• Boranlan chose to lie low after Ye Yunhan distanced himself from her, while Yu Wensheng remained unaware that his parents had been replaced.
• Ye Zhenwei secretly spoke with an unseen partner, reacted angrily to the possibility of their breaking an agreement, and studied images of Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun before deciding to return to Tianning Star.
• Ye Yunhan escaped an attack in space at great cost, and Qing Wenxu’s investigators intercepted the people who had attacked him.

Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang investigated reports that the Tianning Star System’s families had been killed and replaced by clones, while weighing whether Ye Zhenwei could return to the Tianwei base. Their agents infiltrated the Yu Family and discovered its members behaved strangely, then planted surveillance devices as the fake Yu Family members began plotting against the Liu Family.

• Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang authenticated the survivors from Tianning Star and suspected that the people who had returned to their families were clones, possibly connected to Qin Hongjun.
• Qing Wenxu and Chu Xuliang arranged an investigation on Tianning Star and agreed that Ye Zhenwei could return to the Tianwei base if the inquiry uncovered no problems.
• Qing Family and Chu Family agents posed as Liu Jingbo and met with Yu Shida, whose family unexpectedly claimed to be allied with the Ye Family.
• The agents planted miniature surveillance devices in the Yu Family and returned the real Liu Jingbo to his family, while Alliance Guards began investigating Tianning Star’s nine laboratories.
• The fake Yu Family members worried that the Liu Family might expose them and began discussing ways to kill its members.

The Yu Family and allied families received a mission to steal Tianning Star citizens’ Genetic Information, while the Alliance investigated the replicas and prepared for war. Ye Zhenwei was transferred to Tianwei as its highest-ranking commander, and Xi Xiu remained under threat from the Huovian people as new clues emerged about the force behind the clones.

• The Yu Family head agreed that the family had to attempt its mission, and five of ten contacted families joined them in targeting medical facilities.
• The Qing Family and Chu Family found replicas and evidence of widespread replacements on Tianning Star, but Ye Zhenwei concealed any connection to them and Ye Yunhan distanced the Ye Family from the matter.
• War broke out across the Tianning Star System, and Ye Zhenwei fought alongside the Alliance Guards before the Elder Council approved her transfer to Tianwei as its highest-ranking commander.
• The Alliance recruited First Military Academy soldiers, while Bian Linchun extracted a Parasite’s consciousness and restored Degu, and the Alliance placed other infected people into temporary hibernation.
• Qing Zhixun uncovered the Huovian people’s plans to target Xi Xiu and warned her to stay alert; Xi Xiu kept her escape Space Locket close.
• Nine Star reported that clones had appeared among families that had once opposed the Ye Family, leading Xi Xiu and others to suspect someone beyond Ye Yunhan or Ye Zhenwei was directing them.

The Alliance investigated the Tianning Star System cloning scandal while Ye Zhenwei remained under suspicion, and Xi Xiu’s forces repelled the first robot attack on Ningkui Star. Qin Hongjun sent Q and Wang Xiankun toward Jingsu, where the Central Brain began tracking their disguised military Starship.

• The Alliance traced online posts accusing it of mishandling the cloning case to a virtual store connected to Yuan Chuhong, while Ye Yunhan remained detained and Ye Zhenwei waited for the investigation to fail.
• Xi Xiu and the garrisons destroyed the first wave of robot Starships and stopped the robots at Ningkui Star’s Protective Shield.
• Qin Hongjun assigned Q and Wang Xiankun to a mission against Xi Xiu, and Q agreed to go despite dismissing his connection to her.
• The Central Brain detected a Wang Family commercial Starship modified for military use and secretly marked it for tracking.
• Wang Xiankun proposed that he and Q exchange moves, but Q remained standing and listened.

Q and Wang Xiankun arrived near Ningkui Star, where Xi Xiu and Li Zhengfeng intercepted them and forced their aircraft to crash on a barren planet. Wang Xiankun challenged Li Zhengfeng to a fight to the death while Xi Xiu prepared to guard against his ability to extract consciousness.

• Q insulted Wang Xiankun, then selected a transmission point near Ningkui Star and replied to an ally that he was on the way.
• The Alliance detected the approaching Starship, and Xi Xiu and Li Zhengfeng prepared defenses while investigating Ye Zhenwei's secret communications.
• Q's Starship emerged off course after its asteroid markers had been moved, and Q and Wang Xiankun separately headed toward Ningkui Star.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian concealed themselves with Li Zhengfeng, seized Q's and Wang Xiankun's aircraft, and hurled them onto a barren planet.
• Wang Xiankun challenged Li Zhengfeng to a fight to the death, and Xi Xiu warned Li Zhengfeng to guard against an attempt to extract his consciousness.

Xi Xiu faced Q, a powerful opponent created by Qin Hongjun, while Li Zhengfeng fought Wang Xiankun nearby. As Q’s combat patterns raised suspicions that he was linked to the Anvile People and Ye Zhenwei, A Xian alerted Wu Jingyang.

• Xi Xiu prepared to fight Q after suspecting he had been created by Qin Hongjun and recognizing similarities to Q from the Virtual Network.
• Li Zhengfeng attacked Wang Xiankun, whose mechanical wings helped him keep pace with the robot.
• Q struck Xi Xiu with a spear, but she blocked his Mental Power and cut through the shockwave, revealing that her strength surpassed his.
• A Xian recorded Q’s combat data and asked Wu Jingyang to analyze its resemblance to the Anvile People’s patterns.
• A Xian told Wu Jingyang that Q was the person Xi Xiu and A Xun had encountered on the Virtual Network and that his Mental Power resembled Ye Zhenwei’s.

Xi Xiu fought Q while A Xian faced a newly arrived enemy who also possessed Anvile Mental Power. Q grew curious about Xi Xiu's abilities and changed tactics, attacking her with an unfamiliar weapon.

• Wu Jingyang learned from A Xian's data that Q and a newly arrived creature both carried Anvile Mental Power.
• A Fox Tail-like enemy landed nearby, and A Xian sensed Anvile Mental Power within him before engaging him in battle.
• A Xian told Ebony to protect Xi Xiu and evacuate her if danger arose.
• Xi Xiu and Q exchanged twenty moves, and Xi Xiu began to find her rhythm.
• Q intensified his spear attacks, but Xi Xiu used her Silver Beads to break his spinning strike and hit him several times.
• Q stopped the spear fight, decided to capture Xi Xiu, and attacked her from the side with an unfamiliar weapon.

Xi Xiu disabled Q’s weapon and used Anvile-powered Silver Beads to press him, but Q merged with the other consciousness in his body and greatly increased his Mental Power. A Xian warned Xi Xiu that he had used an Anvile secret technique, and Q began attacking with his new strength.

• Xi Xiu quickly immobilized Q’s tracking saw weapon, surprising him with her knowledge of its construction.
• Q suppressed the other consciousness in his body while Xi Xiu attacked with her saber and surrounded him with Silver Beads.
• Q struggled against the Silver Beads and forcibly merged with the other consciousness, multiplying his Mental Power.
• A Xian broke away from her own opponent and warned Xi Xiu that Q had merged with another consciousness using an Anvile secret technique.
• Xi Xiu withdrew beyond Q’s attack range as he regained clarity, then Q used his enhanced Mental Power to knock away some of her Silver Beads.

Li Zhengfeng defeated Wang Xiankun and joined Xi Xiu and A Xian against Q, whose immense Mental Power came from a forbidden technique that drained power from plants. The three coordinated their attacks and began to suppress Q, but he broke out of their formation and hovered above them.

• Li Zhengfeng used Anvile combat data to overwhelm Wang Xiankun, destroyed his Combat Robot, and left Qi Mang and Wu Yuan to deal with him.
• Li Zhengfeng joined Xi Xiu and warned her that Q's Mental Power exceeded the Alliance's known limits.
• Q drained the spiritual attributes from a plant, and A Xian explained that he was using a forbidden Anvile technique that rapidly increased Mental Power at great cost.
• Xi Xiu, Li Zhengfeng, and A Xian identified Q's incomplete fusion as a weakness and coordinated an attack from three directions.
• Xi Xiu reclaimed her Silver Beads while the trio surrounded Q and disrupted his attempt to gather power and information from outside the battlefield.
• Q broke free of their formation, rose into the air, and Xi Xiu sensed that something was wrong.

Q used a device to create spatial vortices and tried to isolate Xi Xiu, but she held her ground and fought him to a standstill. As Q summoned metal needles and Ebony intercepted them, A Xian and Li Zhengfeng sensed new enemies approaching after Q sent his route back to base.

• Wu Jingyang warned A Xian that Q's vortices could cause Spatial Distortion and said Q must have a supporting device.
• Q tried to split Xi Xiu from Li Zhengfeng and A Xian, but they resisted, and Xi Xiu forced him back with a powerful strike.
• Xi Xiu and Q fought at close range while Li Zhengfeng judged them evenly matched and A Xian explained that Anvile deserters opposed protecting the star domain.
• Ebony wrapped around Xi Xiu and blocked Q's Mental Power attacks and metal needles while Q struggled against her cautious fighting style.
• Q sent his route back to base after realizing his calculations were wrong, and Li Zhengfeng warned A Xian that new enemies were approaching.

Xi Xiu defeated Q by trapping him in a storm of Mental Power vortices, forcing him to transmit his consciousness back to The Cradle. There, Q overheard Qin Hongjun and Qin Jian preparing a new body for him, and discovered that Qin Hongjun had secretly implanted a control program in the Blank Bodies.

• A Xian met the incoming Departed in midair while Xi Xiu faced Q on the sealed planet.
• Xi Xiu used Ebony and her Silver Beads to fight Q, then trapped him in countless vortices that tore apart his body.
• Q transmitted his consciousness back to The Cradle before his body was destroyed, while Xi Xiu collected a sample of his blood.
• Qin Hongjun asked Qin Jian to place Q's consciousness into a new Blank Body, which Qin Jian had designed for faster combat.
• Q secretly awakened and overheard Qin Hongjun and Qin Jian discuss the control program hidden in every Blank Body.

After Xi Xiu defeated Q, she learned that defectors could abandon their bodies and survive as consciousnesses, while Qin Hongjun began considering a new way to create powerful bodies. Back aboard the Starship, Xi Xiu gathered the captains to review the battle and prepare for the enemy’s return.

• Q awoke with only combat memories and skills, and Qin Hongjun questioned how Xi Xiu had defeated him.
• Qin Jian suggested using test subjects’ genetic information to create new test subjects, prompting Qin Hongjun to consider obtaining genetic inheritance from someone still alive.
• Qin Jian fled from Q, who mocked him and forgot that Xi Xiu had killed him.
• Xi Xiu questioned why Q had turned to dust, and A Xian explained that defectors could abandon their bodies and survive as consciousnesses.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian returned to the Starship, where Arivik confirmed the crew had suffered injuries but no deaths.
• Xi Xiu called a meeting, showed the captains footage of the battle, and warned that the enemy would likely attack again; Arivik asked where Q had come from.

Xi Xiu and the Alliance prepared for war after she revealed her overwhelming Mental Power, while Qing Zhixun faced a fleet of bio-constructs attacking Liuning Fortress. The fighting began with Liuning’s forces repelling the first assault, tracing the enemy fleet to a likely experimental base, and launching a counterattack.

• Olivia and the others were stunned when Xi Xiu revealed Major General Hong's Mental Power, and Xi Xiu urged everyone to stay at their posts and prepare defenses.
• Arivik told Xi Xiu that the Dark Department would divide its forces between Liuning and other regions, and they agreed to share intelligence as partners.
• After seven quiet days of preparation and training, six unidentified motherships appeared outside Liuning Fortress, where Qing Zhixun identified their crews as bio-constructs and ordered the fortress to repel them.
• Liuning's forces struck the attackers' mobility zones and held them outside the Protective Shield, then Qing Zhixun and Lu Zong'an infiltrated a Starship's system and traced the fleet to a likely Qin Hongjun experimental base.
• Lin Changchang's forces bombarded the enemy motherships, while Li Yuanting and Gerhe led fighters toward them and soldiers advanced under cover toward the ships.