Chapter Summaries

The Colony Sphere’s leaders debated whether to drive the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army out of the Wanluo Federation, while many powerful nations secretly preferred to prolong the conflict so they could study Dion military technology. Meanwhile, Long Fei enjoyed a rare day off at home, where Taoxiang suggested they have a second child.

• The Wanluo Federation president warned that its defeat would let the Dion Empire use its territory as a base and force more former citizens into battle.
• The Colony Sphere leaders weighed helping the Wanluo Federation against their countries’ losses, while some hoped to keep the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army occupied as they reverse-engineered its technology.
• Long Fei stayed at his hometown while Skywing Mercenary Group forces guarded the area and spies watched its hovering warships from the harbor.
• Taoxiang woke Long Fei from his afternoon nap and invited him to eat dumplings before he returned to sleep.
• Taoxiang asked Long Fei about having a second child, and he agreed they should try.

The family gathered for dumplings, where Yue Yangchun revealed that Lixiang pinched him when her temper flared. Taoxiang scolded and beat Lixiang, then dragged her away again after Yue Yangchun played an embarrassing old voice message.

• Long Fei, Yue Yangchun, and the family sat down to eat dumplings, wontons, and beef meatball soup.
• Yue Yangchun fed Lixiang dumplings, and Taoxiang dragged her away after Lixiang hit him and denied mistreating him.
• Yue Yangchun showed everyone bruises from Lixiang pinching him, so Taoxiang took Lixiang back to the room and beat her.
• Yue Yangchun played an old voice message of Lixiang speaking affectionately to him, embarrassing her in front of the family.
• Taoxiang hauled Lixiang back into the room to demand an explanation for the voice message, while Long Fei pretended not to hear her pleas for help.

Long Fei met with his generals over dinner to discuss prisoner arrangements, troop recovery, and the Dion Empire’s likely plans in the Wanluo Federation. He compared his psychic power with Fadis’s and learned that Barbaros’s ignorance of Fadis’s strength had led many to suspect him of spying, possibly contributing to his assassination.

• Li Jiaming told Long Fei that Newtype and Coordinator prisoners were being separated from ordinary humans and supervised by their own groups.
• Aixisi and Shlaik reported that Bases No. 21 and No. 22 would receive funding, while the mercenary group needed time to recover from nearly one million casualties; Shlaik said more than two million soldiers from fallen nations had joined.
• Li Jiaming said the United Army had asked Long Fei to drive out the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army, but Long Fei had declined, and he predicted the Dion forces might withdraw if the United Army attacked.
• Li Jiaming explained that many Dion soldiers occupying Wanluo Federation territory were former citizens whose families were hostages, and that the Dion Empire might use an attack on the Anglo-Saxon Democratic Republic to cover their withdrawal.
• Long Fei asked Salamander about his psychic power compared with Fadis’s, and said Fadis might have grown stronger since Salamander had seen him five or six years earlier.
• Salamander told Long Fei that Barbaros had claimed he knew nothing of Fadis’s power because he had been at the officer academy during the coup, and Long Fei said the disbelief surrounding that explanation may have contributed to Barbaros’s assassination.

Long Fei arrived in Longsog Kingdom and exposed Princess Youyou’s secret dealings with Metadeng, while Salamander used the occasion to take revenge for her past betrayal. Princess Youyou submitted to Salamander’s humiliation to save her kingdom.

• Long Fei arrived in Longsog Kingdom and occupied Princess Youyou’s palace with his troops.
• Long Fei and his commanders insulted Princess Youyou, then Long Fei ordered Salamander to deal with her.
• Princess Youyou slapped Salamander, but he knocked her down and recounted how she had betrayed him and fallen for the enemy who killed her father.
• Salamander revealed Longsog Kingdom’s secret weapons trade and trafficking of women, and said its leaders had plotted to seize Skywing territory.
• Salamander threatened to abolish the kingdom unless Princess Youyou crawled and barked like a dog.
• Princess Youyou licked Salamander’s foot to preserve her position and save Longsog Kingdom.

Salamander humiliated Princess Youyou, while Long Fei explained why he thought she had brought her fate on herself. As the war between the Wanluo Federation and the Dion Empire continued, Purvi spread conspiracy theories about the Skywing Mercenary Group, which dismissed them as being caught in the crossfire.

• Salamander left Princess Youyou after warning her that recordings of her licking his shoes had spread online, and she collapsed after vomiting blood.
• Long Fei told Taoxiang that Princess Youyou had deserved Salamander's revenge, then shared an affectionate moment with his wife.
• Dion soldiers who had once been Wanluo Federation citizens said the Dion Army had forced them to fight by holding their families hostage, while the Dion Empire dismissed international condemnation.
• Purvi accused the Skywing Mercenary Group of secretly working with the Dion Empire and called for international sanctions, drawing both support and ridicule.
• Long Fei mocked Purvi's claims, and the Skywing Group's official website replied, "Caught in the crossfire while doing nothing."

Long Fei prepared the Skywing Mercenary Group for an expected war with the Dion Empire while considering faster field repairs and the changing technological balance. He concluded that the coming conflict could threaten the group’s survival and resolved to prepare for it.

• Long Fei watched the Sonic Gundam and Phantom Gundam being built and learned about a proposed automated repair workshop that could quickly restore damaged units.
• Li Jiaming reported that the plan in Colonial District No. 7 was complete, and Long Fei gave him instructions.
• Sakchi told Long Fei that Jegan and Murasame sales were growing and that national militaries were buying Skywing weapons; Long Fei warned that the United Army could gain Dion technology and narrow Skywing’s advantage.
• Li Xiucheng visited Long Fei with Alice and discussed the Deep Strike assembly module and the possibility of another great war.
• Long Fei told Li Xiucheng that the Dion Empire would drag the Skywing Mercenary Group into a battle for its survival, explaining why he was making every preparation.

Long Fei discussed the war’s immense death toll and continued preparing his forces while the United Army gathered to drive the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army from the Wanluo Federation. The Anglo-Saxon Democratic Republic refused to join the rescue, and Long Fei anticipated widespread devastation as the coming battle unfolded.

• Alice reported that the war had killed more than 300 million soldiers and armed personnel, at least one billion civilians, and possibly billions more who were missing.
• Long Fei and Li Xiucheng discussed the shrinking population and condemned governments that treated elderly citizens as a burden.
• In October of Cosmic Year 124, the United Army assembled two army groups to attack the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army in the Wanluo Federation.
• The Anglo-Saxon Democratic Republic declined to send troops, prompting former Wanluo Federation president Purvi and citizens on both sides to trade accusations online before their governments reaffirmed their alliance.
• Long Fei considered how the Dion Army might use Warheads and Scorpion Tigers without Minov Particle interference and resolved to continue developing technologies for his forces.

In October of Cosmic Year 124, Wanluo Federation forces fought the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army with their Fei Lei II and Suojiasi machines. At the Colony Satellite No. 52 border, Xiao was forced by a Dion soldier to fight his older brother Rui, and he killed him to protect his hostage wife and child.

• Two United Army fleets entered the Wanluo Federation, whose forces fielded Fei Lei II mobile suits and Suojiasi Mobile Armors.
• At Colony Satellite No. 52, Rui's Fei Lei II destroyed a Koukai and then engaged an Azure piloted by his younger brother, Xiao.
• Rui recognized Xiao and urged him to surrender, but Xiao refused because the Dion Army held his wife and child hostage.
• A Dion soldier threatened the family and shot Xiao's wife, forcing Xiao to attack Rui and activate Azure's Efficiency Boost Mode.
• Azure overwhelmed Rui's Fei Lei II, while a Warhead disabled the machine and left Rui unable to fight back.
• Xiao apologized as Azure's Beam Saber pierced Rui's cockpit, and the Dion soldier promised treatment for Xiao's wife and identification as a Dion soldier.

The Dion Army took Wanluo soldiers’ families hostage and forced captains and troops to attack their own comrades, throwing the Wanluo Army into chaos across multiple battlefields. Wanluo commanders ordered a retreat, while military headquarters waited for the United Army to investigate possible hostages before the next battle.

• Dion Army soldiers hacked Wanluo communications and showed soldiers’ bound families, threatening to kill them unless they turned against their comrades.
• Captain Shulai hesitated as the Dion Army demanded his surrender, while his first officer aimed a pistol at him under pressure from the crew.
• Captain Shulai ordered Kedi to target and attack a fellow warship, and other coerced captains and subordinates likewise turned on Wanluo forces.
• Across the battlefields, Wanluo soldiers fought and killed their own comrades while Dion Army soldiers watched and encouraged the infighting.
• Wanluo commanders ordered a retreat, and coerced soldiers disarmed themselves as Wanluo military headquarters awaited a United Army investigation into hostage-taking.

Long Fei and Salamander interrogated Jorge, who traded secrets about Yelishao De, Emperor Fadis, and the Dion forces for money and a place in Long Fei’s service. Long Fei assigned Jorge to Salamander, while Li Jiaming advised using him cautiously.

• Salamander deduced that Jorge had been acting on orders from Yelishao De or one of his aides, and Jorge confirmed that Long Fei was listening.
• Jorge revealed that Fadis considered Yelishao De the best heir and had quietly expanded his authority, despite appearing to treat him coldly.
• Jorge explained that Fadis’s injuries had weakened his body and spiritual power, limiting his likely lifespan to between one hundred and sixty and one hundred and seventy years.
• Jorge identified the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army’s supreme commander as Muswati, a woman whose true identity was known only to Fadis, Julius, and Yelishao De.
• Long Fei paid Jorge for his intelligence, had his handcuffs removed, and ordered Salamander to put him to work.
• Li Jiaming advised Long Fei that Jorge could be useful but should never be trusted with great responsibility.

Long Fei explained why he was using Jorge despite his disloyalty, while Salamander promised to watch him and Li Xiucheng agreed to prepare more MS pilots. On the battlefield, the United Army tested its mass-produced Mobile Drifting Ballistic Missiles against a Dion fleet, but repeated waves were intercepted.

• Long Fei told Li Xiucheng that Jorge was useful for his talent and would be watched and eliminated if he turned against them.
• Salamander promised to keep an eye on Jorge, then advised Li Xiucheng to recruit outstanding MS pilots from other bases.
• The United Army developed the cheaper Mobile Drifting Ballistic Missile as a counter to Dion Empire Sky Rocket Battleships.
• The 3rd Army-level Fleet launched a first wave of over 50,000 missiles at a Dion fleet, and Dion defenses intercepted them all.
• A second wave lost most of its missiles to Dion defenses, and the roughly 300 that broke through were shot down by warship escorts.
• The United Army launched a third wave of over 50,000 Mobile Drifting Ballistic Missiles.

The United Army’s repeated Mobile Drifting Ballistic Missile waves inflicted little damage as the Dion Army withdrew from former Wanluo Federation Colony Satellite No. 53. The commander began securing the colony and awaiting supplies, unaware that an unexpected event was about to occur.

• The United Army launched its fourth missile wave, but the Dion fleet’s Energy Shields resisted the few missiles that broke through, while the Dion Army sent more MS units from Colony Satellite No. 53.
• The United Army commander ordered a fifth wave and preparations for two more as the Dion Army withdrew its MS units and warships, allowing former Wanluo soldiers to return to their carriers and contact their families.
• The fifth wave was intercepted, and the sixth and seventh waves achieved similarly limited results as the Dion Army retreated from the colony.
• The commander reported that the missiles had only marginal effect, though their drifting maneuvers prevented Dion Sky Rocket Battleships from easily attacking them.
• The United Army began restoring order in the colony and arranging for the Wanluo Federation to take it over, while the commander ordered first-level alert and waited for logistics.
• As the commanders helped recover the colony and pacify its population, an unexpected event occurred.

After retaking Colony Satellite No. 53, the United Army found its residents hostile and launched coordinated attacks on its troops. As soldiers fought back and tried to secure buildings, they discovered that the residents used suicide bombs and included teenagers or children.

• The United Army inspected Colony Satellite No. 53 and found ruined, quiet cities, weapons factories, and civilians who stayed inside their homes.
• An elderly man blew himself up beside a United Army convoy, and armed residents emerged from shops to attack the troops.
• Headquarters ordered soldiers to treat attacking civilians as militants while sparing those who surrendered and those who did not attack.
• United Army squads regrouped and returned fire against ambushing residents, killing several, including elderly people and women.
• A dead resident's body exploded inside a house, prompting the squad leader to warn headquarters about bombs hidden in corpses.
• After another ambush, the squad retreated into a house for defense and saw that some of the residents approaching included teenagers or children.

Coerced residents with bombs implanted in their bodies attacked United Army soldiers on the Colony Satellite, while the soldiers struggled to fight back because children and other civilians were among them. After learning the residents were being blackmailed by the Dion Army, the United Army commander ordered a withdrawal, and Muswati watched the retreat with satisfaction.

• Local residents attacked a United Army house, and a bomb inside a resident who was shot dead blasted open the entrance, allowing the attackers to overwhelm the remaining soldiers.
• Some residents received messages that their families were safe and their bombs would not be activated, so they discarded their weapons and went home.
• The United Army commander learned that the Dion Army had taken residents’ relatives hostage and implanted bombs in those left behind, then ordered precision strikes against adult attackers.
• Bombs implanted in restrained children detonated during treatment, killing the medics and leaving the commander unsure how to proceed.
• The commander ordered United Army units to withdraw as residents continued attacking, and war correspondents filmed the soldiers’ forced retreat.
• Muswati watched the livestream and was satisfied that her scheme of coercing civilians with hostages and implanted bombs had worked.

After the United Army lost control of the reclaimed Colony Satellites, Long Fei and the Skywing Mercenary Group discussed how to respond if civilians were forced to attack them. Long Fei proposed establishing an Alpha Unit, and the chapter ended with him and Taoxiang going to check on their daughters.

• The United Army retreated from the reclaimed Colony Satellites, while the Wanluo Federation blamed the Dion Empire for threatening civilians' relatives.
• Li Jiaming warned Long Fei that Skywing Mercenaries might hesitate to kill attacking children and could suffer lasting psychological trauma.
• Long Fei presented a hypnosis-based device to test whether recruits could fight children without being haunted by their conscience, and proposed establishing an Alpha Unit at every base.
• Most generals supported the proposal, and Li Jiaming ordered the devices built so Skywing Mercenaries could be tested and selected for the unit.
• Taoxiang told Long Fei that protecting their mercenaries and their families justified the decision, and Long Fei recognized how much she had changed.
• Long Fei and Taoxiang went to check on their two daughters, whom Aunt Li cared for with Butler Wu's help.

Skywing Mercenary Group tested its members’ willingness to kill children in a simulated combat scenario and began forming the Alpha Unit, whose deployment still required more time. Taoxiang watched her daughters play and learned more about Long Fei’s childhood interest in military designs.

• Skywing Mercenary Group tested its personnel in a virtual scenario, where most hesitated to shoot children and teenagers, while only a few retaliated without remorse.
• The testing computers identified those who carried guilt or self-reproach, and personnel with no psychological burden were selected for the Alpha Unit.
• Sky Wing Mercenaries discussed the transfer of three thousand members into the Alpha Unit and the United Army’s dilemma over the reclaimed Colony Satellites.
• The mercenaries said the Alpha Unit needed at least three hundred people per combat unit and more time to adjust before deployment.
• Taoxiang asked Aunt Li about Long Fei’s childhood, and Aunt Li recalled his military drawings, models, and late-night design work.

Duras Vegas led a United Army delegation to the Skywing Mercenary Group’s main base to commission help against coerced Wanluo Federation civilians and the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army. Li Jiaming rejected the combat commission, citing the group’s losses and the costs of replacing its elite troops.

• Duras Vegas and Count Klahu III visited the Skywing Mercenary Group’s advanced main base with generals from other nations.
• Li Jiaming, Li Xiucheng, and Pan Zhenhua received the delegation and showed them the base’s MS and Mobile Armor.
• At negotiations, Li Jiaming accused the United Army of wanting the mercenary group to use Operation Alpha against coerced Wanluo Federation civilians and take the blame.
• A Wanluo Federation general asked whether the Skywing Mercenary Group could use technology to detect or disable bombs inside civilians, and Li Jiaming said it was still experimental.
• Duras Vegas asked the group to accept a commission against the Dion 2nd Expeditionary Army, but Li Jiaming refused, citing its losses in the fight against the Dion 3rd Expeditionary Force.
• Lieutenant General Aixisi explained that the group had to fund and replace its own personnel, including elite troops lost in battle.

Duras Vegas and the United Army failed to persuade Sky Wing Mercenaries to accept a commission, while admitting the mercenary group’s battlefield advantage came from studying Dion tactics. On November 9, 124, United Army fleets began following Sky Wing ships and bases under the pretext of patrols, including the fleet carrying Long Fei to the Earth Sphere.

• Duras Vegas and his delegation repeatedly offered terms, but Li Jiaming refused their commission because Sky Wing Mercenaries needed time to recover from losses.
• Aboard their airship, Duras Vegas told Count Klahu that the United Army feared Sky Wing Mercenaries and explained how its red-blue simulated combat helped it develop tactics against the Dion Army.
• Duras Vegas’s aide reported that senior United Army officials wanted an online meeting about getting Sky Wing Mercenaries to accept the commission.
• On November 9, 124, Sky Wing bases reported that United Army warships were following their fleets and watching their branch bases while claiming to be on patrol.
• Li Jiaming protested the United Army’s conduct, but it maintained that the ships were patrolling, and some Sky Wing fleets used the Mirage System to evade them.
• Li Jiaming learned that the United Army was also following Long Fei’s fleet as Long Fei traveled with his wife and children to the Earth Sphere for two banquets.

Long Fei and his family attended Xu Jingyun’s wedding to Situ Jun, then traveled to the Oya Cross Nation for Saintess Aina’s wedding to John. Xu Jingyun’s ceremony left her acting happy despite her feelings for Long Fei, while Aina married her childhood sweetheart joyfully.

• Xu Jingyun married Situ Jun in the Hanxia Empire after choosing him from the men her father introduced, and Long Fei noticed Situ Jun’s hostility toward him.
• Xu Jingyun greeted her university classmates at the banquet, and Long Guo and Long Fu offered their godmother their blessings.
• Long Fei was surprised to see Saintess Aina and John among the guests, while Taoxiang and Xu Chaoge recognized Xu Jingyun’s happiness was an act.
• On November 20, Yuffie piloted Taurus as John and Aina rode to their wedding, where Pope David presided over their ceremony.
• Aina embraced Pope David in tears after exchanging rings and kissing John, and Long Fei contrasted her joyful smile with Xu Jingyun’s forced one.

Long Fei and his officers prepared for a possible operation to rescue civilians coerced by the Dion Army, while delaying the United Army and discussing Alpha Unit’s role. At the second round of negotiations, the Wanluo Federation objected to Alpha Unit’s deployment, and Aixisi described the conditions under which it would attack.

• Long Fei’s officers reported that the Dion Army had captured civilians’ relatives and planted remotely controlled bombs, while the Wanluo Federation’s rescue efforts had failed.
• Aixisi proposed delaying the United Army, locating more captives, and rehearsing rescue operations before deploying Alpha Unit as a last resort against Shameless General Muswati’s tactics.
• Fikes reported that the Dion Empire had attacked the Anglo-Saxon Democratic Republic, and Long Fei anticipated that Duras Vegas would seek Skywing Mercenary Group’s help.
• On December 1, Duras Vegas and his group returned to negotiate, and Li Jiaming presented conditions that postponed operations until the following month.
• The Wanluo Federation representative rejected the condition allowing Alpha Unit to conduct Operation Alpha, and Aixisi said it would attack if coerced civilians appeared on screen after rescue was no longer possible.