Chapter Summaries

Xia Chujian briefed Kang Shanxing on the Son of Forrest and the suspected Bodhi Leaf spies aboard the trapped base airships, then arranged for Su Buyan to receive the monster’s corpse for research. Kang Shanxing confirmed that Huo Yushen had already set up protection for Xia Chujian’s family, while the Bodhi Leaf leader remained at large.

• Xia Chujian warned the Starry Sky Marines about the Son of Forrest, showed them the surveillance footage, and told them to flee if they encountered one on the Starry Sky Battlefield.
• Kang Shanxing identified the creature as the rare Remnant Species called the Son of Forrest, and Xia Chujian explained why she suspected it had come from the base.
• Xia Chujian asked Kang Shanxing to transfer the corpse to Su Buyan, who eagerly agreed to study it and make equipment from its hide.
• Xia Chujian showed Kang Shanxing footage of the hibernating cadets and Instructor, reported the suspected Bodhi Leaf spies and the deaths of four Instructors, and asked whether escaped Space Pirates might target her family.
• Kang Shanxing told Xia Chujian that Huo Yushen had raised her family’s security level and arranged a false home address as a trap for any Bodhi Leaf survivors.

Kang Shanxing and the Special Security Bureau evacuated the captured fighters and the women aboard No. 18 Starship, then transferred both vessels into the Bat-style Fighter Jet. Xia Chujian returned to the Fourth Interstellar Fleet’s Starry Sky Cruiser to say goodbye to its Marines before preparing to leave for Kanli Star Flying Base.

• Kang Shanxing brought twenty-four Special Security Bureau staff members to the Fifth Layer Hold, where they loaded all 191 base fighters onto ten Interstellar Airships.
• Kang Shanxing and Xia Chujian accompanied four staff members to No. 18 Starship, where the staff tested the pilots, settled the women, and disabled the ship’s autopilot.
• The Special Security Bureau moved No. 18 Starship into the Bat-style Fighter Jet, and Xia Chujian asked Kang Shanxing for time to return to the Fourth Interstellar Fleet’s Starry Sky Cruiser.
• Xia Chujian lifted the fighters’ hibernation and told the Starry Sky Marines she was returning to the base, promising that none of them would miss out on military merit.
• Xia Chujian told the Marines she would report the two Navigators and four pilots who had disobeyed orders, and Sun Jiahao supported her decision.

After completing her mission, Xia Chujian returned to the Bat-style Fighter Jet, where Kang Shanxing helped her deal with disobedient soldiers and brought her to see the recovering Pei Zijing. The chapter left Pei Zijing learning that Xia Chujian had set a flight record and led a rescue mission in the Asteroid Belt.

• Xia Chujian thanked Gu Zhongjin, added him as a friend, and declined his offer of a Quantum Optical Brain.
• Xia Chujian asked Kang Shanxing to discharge six crew members who had disobeyed her orders, and Ye Chenfeng stripped them of their ranks and benefits before discharging them.
• Kang Shanxing led Xia Chujian to the medical area, where physicians explained that Pei Zijing had awakened after suffering a sudden attack that rapidly depleted his Mental Strength.
• Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing visited Pei Zijing, who was recovering after three days of unconsciousness.
• Kang Shanxing told Pei Zijing that Xia Chujian had crossed the Asteroid Belt in a record twelve hours and led a Fourth Interstellar Fleet rescue mission there.

Kang Shanxing recounted Xia Chujian’s achievements to Pei Zijing, who explained how he had resisted the Mother of Forrest’s attempted parasitism. Xia Chujian then visited the rescued women and learned that strict insurance rules could leave them without compensation, before asking about her military merits and share of the captured Starship.

• Kang Shanxing told Pei Zijing that Xia Chujian had found the missing aircraft and destroyed the Bodhi Leaf Star Pirates, while Pei Zijing described his dream and suspected parasitism by the Mother of Forrest’s Mental Strength Spores.
• Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing visited the thirty-eight rescued women, wearing Face Masks so they would not recognize her.
• Kang Shanxing explained that the Special Security Bureau could treat the women and certify that they had been held hostage, but could not prove their spaceship had been attacked for insurance purposes.
• Xia Chujian decided to speak with the women about what they wanted and asked Kang Shanxing about the captured Starship and her military merits.
• Kang Shanxing said the Starship was spoils of war shared with the Fourth Interstellar Fleet and Special Security Bureau, and would be sealed until Marshal Huo returned.

Xia Chujian learned that treating the thirty-eight injured women would leave her owing at least 1.9 million Beichen Coins, then joined Kang Shanxing to observe the screening of suspected space pirate spies aboard Huo Yushen’s Bat-style Fighter Jet. The screening began with the trainees and Instructors under observation, while Xia Chujian sampled a dessert Marshal Huo had arranged for her and seemed unimpressed.

• Kang Shanxing told Xia Chujian that treatment costs for the thirty-eight women would be deducted from her salary, and she resolved to earn bonuses to repay the resulting debt.
• Kang Shanxing explained that dangerous mining missions could pay up to two million Beichen Coins, and Xia Chujian joked that her Star Net gaming experience made her an expert miner.
• Kang Shanxing led Xia Chujian through the Bat-style Fighter Jet’s detention area, where they disguised their faces and voices before entering.
• Kang Shanxing showed Xia Chujian the trainees and Instructors being screened, including Pei Zijing, and explained that each person was treated as a possible spy until cleared.
• Kang Shanxing offered Xia Chujian a Golden Fruit cake prepared at Marshal Huo’s request, but she drank water and nutrient solution after tasting it, leaving Kang Shanxing thinking she was unappreciative.

Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing reviewed surveillance footage showing that the three dead instructors had been controlled by the Son of Forrest and made to take poison. Their investigation linked the instructors’ mission to a deadly power struggle at Kanli Star Base, where they suspected the person who assigned the mission had been killed.

• Kang Shanxing accessed hidden surveillance footage of the three instructors, and Xia Chujian noticed they had moved in perfect unison while turning off their cameras.
• Kang Shanxing explained that the Son of Forrest had likely controlled the instructors because their airship was near Pei Zijing’s and Electromagnetic Interference was not active.
• Xia Chujian reasoned that the instructors had been controlled into committing suicide after the Son of Forrest failed to parasitize Pei Zijing and instead parasitized the young instructor sharing his cabin.
• Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing concluded that the instructors may have been chosen as sacrifices and scapegoats because they carried Brain-Computer Interface equipment and chips.
• Xia Chujian connected the instructors’ mission to an attempted seizure of power at Kanli Star Base, and Kang Shanxing confirmed that armed clashes had killed more than a dozen people.
• Kang Shanxing and Xia Chujian suspected that the person who assigned the instructors’ mission was among those killed at the base.

Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing investigated the hidden plot behind the instructors’ deaths and planned to conceal that she had killed the Son of Forrest’s parasite. They screened the remaining instructors for possible collaborators, while disagreeing over how harshly to judge their reactions to danger.

• Xia Chujian reasoned that the mastermind would strike again and asked Kang Shanxing to keep her role in killing the Son of Forrest’s parasite secret.
• Kang Shanxing arranged to alter the Starry Sky Marines’ recent memories so they would believe they had remained in hibernation, preserving the secret from the mastermind.
• Xia Chujian told Kang Shanxing that she had seen Space Pirates exchange Signal Flares with someone at the base, and they concluded that the Son of Forrest’s parasite might have controlled insiders.
• Kang Shanxing explained that the three dead Instructors could not receive martyr status or family pensions without proof that they had been murdered.
• Kang Shanxing showed Xia Chujian the consciousness screening of twenty-six Instructors, using Mental Strength penetration to expose their subconscious reactions.
• Xia Chujian defended the Instructors who feared battle or thought of loved ones after Kang Shanxing criticized their responses as unfit for soldiers.

Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing examined consciousness footage from the airship and found signs that Mother of Forrest's Mental Strength Spore had altered what the surviving instructor remembered. Xia Chujian alone saw the Pink Mist in the footage and suspected the instructor was being controlled, leaving her unsure why she could perceive what Kang Shanxing could not.

• Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing reviewed the instructors’ reactions to the Space Pirates and saw that Pei Zijing had been unconscious while resisting Mother of Forrest's Mental Strength Spore.
• They watched footage of a young instructor feeding Pei Zijing Nutrient Solution and inhaling Pink Mist that drifted from his mouth; the instructor’s appearance then changed.
• Yu Fei’s recorded conversation claimed Pei Zijing had gone on a spacewalk, but Xia Chujian remembered the surviving instructor had said Pei fainted shortly after boarding the airship.
• Xia Chujian replayed the footage and saw Pink Mist that Kang Shanxing could not see, while noting that the dead, previously parasitized instructor had given the conflicting account.
• Xia Chujian suspected Mother of Forrest's Mental Strength Spore had controlled the surviving instructor’s thoughts and altered the footage, and wondered whether it could affect electromagnetic signals.

Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing discovered that the Mother of Forrest’s Mental Strength Spores were still affecting people, and Xia found a way to expose and capture the remnants. Her review of the consciousness recordings still left the person who fired the signal flare unidentified, while revealing that a Space Pirate vehicle had escaped Bodhi Leaf.

• Kang Shanxing suspected Pei Zijing, but Xia Chujian urged him not to judge without evidence and showed him Yu Fei’s matching consciousness recording.
• Xia Chujian suggested Kang Shanxing scan himself for lingering spores, and he found and crushed an obstruction in his brain before trying to cleanse her Mental Strength.
• Kang Shanxing escorted Xia Chujian to the young instructor’s sealed honeycomb cell, where she insulted the Mother of Forrest and caused Pink Mist to emerge.
• Kang Shanxing used a special instrument to absorb the Pink Mist, and faint traces also appeared in cells containing Yu Fei and trainees before he captured them.
• Xia Chujian reviewed the deepest consciousness recordings and concluded that one of the three trainees who died by suicide had been bought off and that a Space Pirate vehicle had escaped Bodhi Leaf.

Xia Chujian learned how Mother of Forrest’s Mental Strength Spores could be eliminated and found surveillance footage among the wreckage of Chang Shengnan’s ship, giving the victims evidence for their insurance claim. She then gathered the victims in a large room to discuss matters before they disembarked.

• Kang Shanxing told Xia Chujian that the signal-sending mole was likely among the three dead, explained the spores’ limits, and arranged for the fighter jet and its occupants to undergo hibernation and inert-gas treatment.
• Xia Chujian went to Starship No. 18 to find evidence for the victims’ insurance claim, while secretly considering taking gold to compensate them herself.
• Seven Lù identified the wreckage of Chang Shengnan’s ship and found an intact surveillance camera and part of its local hard drive.
• Xia Chujian watched the footage, felt nauseated, and asked Seven Lù to back up the files so she could give the original evidence to Kang Shanxing.
• Xia Chujian repaired the gouged warehouse wall, then met Chang Shengnan and the other victims and led them to a large room to discuss matters.

Xia Chujian explained that the thirty-eight women would receive no insurance compensation if the company classified the spaceship’s disappearance as a natural disaster, but they could sue the insurer and spaceship operator for compensation. The women unanimously chose to bring a case, and Xia Chujian began looking for lawyers to represent them.

• Xia Chujian told the women that the insurer could deny compensation by blaming a Magnetic Field Storm, and explained that they could sue the insurer and spaceship operator if they came forward publicly.
• Chang Shengnan rebuked Zhao Xiulan and Li Guifang for expecting Xia Chujian to handle everything, and Xia Chujian reminded the women that they would have to act as plaintiffs themselves.
• Xia Chujian gave the women five minutes to decide whether to sue together, warning that they needed a unanimous decision and would receive no compensation if they stayed hidden.
• Chang Shengnan rallied the women, and all thirty-eight signed a written guarantee agreeing to sue and accept responsibility for the consequences.
• Xia Chujian offered to find lawyers who would take their fees from a successful award, then switched back to Regular Mecha mode before returning to the Bat-style Fighter Jet’s office area.

Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing completed the twenty-four-hour hibernation that eliminated the remaining Mental Strength Spores, then returned to Cangge Star. She reunited with Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi at the Flying Base and told them about her rescue mission.

• Xia Chujian showed Kang Shanxing the recovered surveillance camera and hard drive containing evidence of the space pirates’ attack, and learned that both the insurer and spaceship operator belonged to the Zong family.
• Xia Chujian and Kang Shanxing took turns hibernating while the ships’ Mechanical Intelligence handled the safety procedures, and she agreed to fund safe treatment for the thirty-eight victims.
• After hibernation ended, Kang Shanxing assigned the return of the Kanli Star instructors and trainees and escorted Xia Chujian to Cangge Star’s Flying Base.
• Kang Shanxing offered to help Xia Chujian if she needed it, and she entered the base carrying her weapons.
• Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi joined Xia Chujian, who recounted what had happened during her trip to the Asteroid Belt.

Xia Chujian reunited with her roommates, filed an appeal over the canceled flight results, and stayed behind at Cangge Star to handle personal matters. Quan Yuxun arrived to drive her away from the base, and the chapter ended with him calling her “too clever by half.”

• Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi scolded Xia Chujian for rescuing the trainees alone, then praised her after hearing her account of the battle with Bodhi Leaf.
• Chu Qingjuan, Mao Yonggui, Sang Yadi, and Xia Chujian filed appeals against the base’s decision to void their flight results.
• Xia Chujian arranged for her three roommates to return with the Fourth Interstellar Fleet while she stayed behind to deal with personal matters.
• Xia Chujian left Cangge Star Flying Base and encountered Quan Yuxun, who offered her a ride in his car.
• Quan Yuxun asked where Xia Chujian was going, and she asked whether he needed her as a bodyguard before he called her too clever by half.

Quan Yuxun drove Xia Chujian to Su Buyan’s residence while checking on her after the battle with Bodhi Leaf. Xia Chujian asked him for advice on helping the rescued passengers sue Wanbang Insurance and the spaceship operator, and Quan Yuxun said the Quan Family might support the case because of her future potential.

• Quan Yuxun asked Xia Chujian about the battle with Bodhi Leaf, and she insisted she was unharmed but refused to reveal regulated details.
• Xia Chujian told Quan Yuxun that the rescued passengers had survived a pirate attack after their spaceship operator failed to protect them.
• Xia Chujian asked whether the passengers could challenge their insurance policy and sue the spaceship company, and requested lawyers who charged only if they won.
• Quan Yuxun explained that Wanbang Insurance belonged to Zong and revealed that the Quan Family was considering entering the insurance industry.
• Quan Yuxun said the Quan Family would consider supporting the lawsuit for Xia Chujian’s sake and described her as a Lieutenant with limitless potential.

Xia Chujian brought Quan Yuxun to Master Su’s villa, where they arranged lodging and legal help for the Space Pirate victims. She coordinated with Kang Shanxing to move the women into the villa and take them to treatment, while learning the transportation costs would be added to her growing expenses.

• Quan Yuxun offered Xia Chujian support and legal assistance, but she questioned the terms and worried that lawyers would take too much of the victims’ compensation.
• Quan Yuxun drove Xia Chujian to Master Su’s secluded villa, where Number Six recognized her and showed them the enormous house.
• Xia Chujian asked Su Buyan to let the victims stay in the villa for a while and insisted they pay rent, while Quan Yuxun contacted his legal team.
• Xia Chujian told Kang Shanxing the victims could stay at the villa and travel to the Special Security Bureau’s affiliated hospital for treatment, reducing their medical expenses.
• Kang Shanxing agreed to arrange the victims’ transport and treatment, and Xia Chujian learned the transportation costs would be charged to her account.

Quan Yuxun brought his legal team to Su Buyan’s villa to represent Chang Shengnan and the other victims in their lawsuit, while Xia Chujian returned to Huo Yushen’s fighter jet. The chapter left the women preparing to pursue their case with Quan’s team, unaware that he intended to represent them for free.

• Quan Yuxun decided to use his firm’s charitable legal aid quota for the victims, while his secretary privately celebrated the chance to enter the insurance market.
• Quan Yuxun arranged with Su Buyan to house his team at the villa, where Xia Chujian helped Number Six prepare a meal that impressed the lawyers.
• Xia Chujian returned to Huo Yushen’s fighter jet and asked Kang Shanxing for a regular Mecha so she could speak to Chang Shengnan without revealing her face.
• Xia Chujian told Chang Shengnan to stay at the villa, seek medical treatment, and work with Quan Yuxun’s legal team on the lawsuit.

Xia Chujian returned to the Kanli Star training base and challenged Chief Instructor Pei over the plan to cancel her group’s assessment results. Pei validated their perfect scores, while explaining that the newly formed Wormhole remained unstable and could not yet be treated as a reliable route.

• Xia Chujian returned to the base ahead of Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi, and the four reunited in their dormitory.
• Pei Zijing told the four trainees that the base planned to cancel their assessment results because of the extreme hazards and the other trainees’ withdrawal.
• Xia Chujian argued that her group had endured the same dangers and deserved to be judged on their performance, prompting Pei to admit he had acted unfairly.
• Pei used his veto power to confirm perfect scores for Xia Chujian, Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi, but refused to award bonus points or recognize a record.
• Xia Chujian revealed that the Special Security Bureau had taken their fighter jets, and Pei explained that researchers wanted to study the emerging Wormhole’s properties and direction.
• Pei explained that emerging Wormholes shifted in location and destination until they stabilized, unlike the fixed Wormholes connecting Kanli Star and Cangge Star.

Xia Chujian explained why she was glad Jiang Yongbai had vanished, and Pei Zijing officially confirmed the training assessment results despite pressure to cancel them. After returning to the dormitory, Xia Chujian learned from Kang Shanxing why most instructors had favored smoothing things over and settled back into base life with her roommates.

• Pei Zijing told Xia Chujian that Jiang Yongbai had disappeared near an unstable wormhole, and Xia Chujian revealed that he had tried to steal her fighter jet before the mission.
• Pei Zijing used his authority to announce that Xia Chujian, Sang Yadi, Mao Yonggui, and Chu Qingjuan had earned perfect scores, while trainees who withdrew received no score.
• Yu Fei, Yang Ling, and Mu Qianlang publicly supported Pei Zijing’s decision, while Xia Chujian questioned why most instructors had wanted to cancel the results.
• Kang Shanxing replied through Meng Guanghui’s Quantum Optical Brain and explained that many instructors were no longer suited or willing to fight on the battlefield.
• Xia Chujian returned to the dormitory, cleaned and ate with her roommates, and felt at home again after their time away.

Xia Chujian worried about Seven Lù and the secrets surrounding the Shao Siming Mecha, then navigated tensions with Ji Nabi and Lü Luyu at the base. After weeks of training, she was promoted to Lieutenant and befriended Lin Xiaoxiao, whose family circumstances explained why she saved her food allowance.

• Unable to sleep, Xia Chujian worried that Meng Guanghui would tell Huo Yushen about the Phoenix Mecha and questioned whether she could trust Seven Lù.
• At the Cafeteria, Ji Nabi asked Xia Chujian where Jiang Yongbai had gone, and Xia Chujian accused Ji Nabi of trying to harm her before provoking Lü Luyu about her injured hands.
• Lü Luyu activated her Slaughter Superpower, and Xia Chujian pretended her Smart Bracelet had shocked her before running off with breakfast.
• Over the next three weeks, Xia Chujian was promoted to Lieutenant and ranked fifth overall after Lin Xiaoxiao's strong theoretical score pushed her down from fourth place.
• Lin Xiaoxiao gave Xia Chujian her study notes, and Xia Chujian treated her to a meal; Lin Xiaoxiao explained that she saved her allowance to buy food for her large family.
• Xia Chujian told Lin Xiaoxiao that her own family had been poor and that she had once begged for food.

Xia Chujian and Lin Xiaoxiao bonded over their poor backgrounds and Lin's goal of freeing her family from hereditary service to the Ji Family. After Lü Luyu attacked them during a confrontation, Xia Chujian restrained her, earned another base merit, and learned that merits could be exchanged for real allowances.

• Lin Xiaoxiao told Xia Chujian that her family had served the Ji Family for generations and that she hoped to rise from Commoner to Citizen by winning the Special Military Operation.
• As Xia Chujian and Lin Xiaoxiao passed the pavilion, Xia Chujian provoked Lü Luyu and Ji Nabi with mocking remarks.
• Lü Luyu attacked both women with her Slaughter Superpower, and Xia Chujian slammed Lü Luyu to the ground and restrained her.
• Base guards arrived, and Lü Luyu received a major demerit and was sent to a Mental Hospital for evaluation, while Xia Chujian earned another mark of merit and Lin Xiaoxiao recovered in a Medical Cabin.
• Sang Yadi messaged Xia Chujian that base merits could be exchanged for allowances in Beichen Coin.