Chapter Summaries

Xia Chujian shared her merit allowance with Lin Xiaoxiao, then questioned the danger of the upcoming Special Military Operation and decided to prepare several wills. She left the chapter planning how to entrust her valuables and estate to Huo Yushen, Su Buyan, and Quan Yuxun before the mission.

• Xia Chujian exchanged merit points for one hundred thousand Beichen Coin and sent Lin Xiaoxiao fifty thousand, which Lin accepted to help support her family.
• Lin Xiaoxiao reflected on her family's hardships and vowed to become their provider and take them away from Kanwei Seven.
• The base investigated a complaint against Zhuo Hanchen, confirmed he was outside the Zhuo Clan's fifth-degree kinship, and kept him ranked eighteenth and qualified for the operation.
• Xia Chujian asked her roommates how dangerous the Special Military Operation would be, and Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi explained the risks and rewards of military service.
• Xia Chujian decided to write wills, planning to sell her flying vehicle and Ghost Face Safe to Huo Yushen and entrust Seven Lù to Su Buyan.
• Xia Chujian considered asking Quan Yuxun to serve as executor so he could ensure Huo Yushen and Su Buyan honored her inheritance plans.

Xia Chujian struggled to write a will, and Seven Lù refused to help, prompting her to question how much she could rely on the Mechanical Intelligence. The top twenty trainees received medals and orders to join the Special Military Operation, and Xia Chujian boarded the airship bound for Cangge Star.

• Xia Chujian asked Seven Lù to help write eleven wills, but it refused and insisted that it had no suitable template.
• Xia Chujian realized Seven Lù could refuse her commands and considered asking Su Buyan to change its programming.
• Pei Zijing announced the top twenty trainees, including Xia Chujian, and awarded them gold or silver medals.
• Pei Zijing told the top twenty to pack for the Special Military Operation, while the remaining trainees would join Kanli Star Region Guard operations.
• Xia Chujian packed her belongings, received orders to travel to Cangge Star, and hung her medal around her neck as her ship ticket.
• Xia Chujian and her roommates reached the airship, where Robots and Mechanical Intelligence handled boarding and preparations.

Xia Chujian and her roommates learned that their Special Military Operation on a lush resource planet was to hunt valuable Longevity Flying Fish while avoiding the mutated native Shang People. The team grew excited about the rewards, but Xia Chujian suspected the fish were more dangerous and valuable than the briefing suggested.

• Xia Chujian and her roommates boarded the airship after their identities and medal numbers were verified, then slept until it reached space.
• Pei Zijing showed the cadets footage of the planet’s dense rainforest and introduced its mutated native inhabitants, the Shang People.
• The girls watched footage of Shang People fighting with primitive weapons and saw one ride a giant flying fish that sprayed a yellow liquid, melting its victims.
• Pei Zijing announced that the mission was to capture Longevity Flying Fish, with white ones especially valuable, and warned that each team had to catch at least one to return.
• Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, and Sang Yadi grew excited about the fish’s rewards, while Xia Chujian suspected the creatures were not simple prey.

Xia Chujian learned that the Longevity Flying Fish lived on land on the unclaimed Senze Star, where the military planned a large-scale capture mission. After the trainees formed teams and debated which cruiser to take, Xia Chujian argued that her top-ranked team should get the best ship so no one could accuse them of winning unfairly.

• Pei Zijing explained that Senze Star was a habitable, unclaimed planet with a small primitive Shang population, and that twenty thousand Starry Sky Marines would accompany the trainees to catch Longevity Flying Fish.
• Xia Chujian discovered that Longevity Flying Fish lived on land, then formed a team with Mao Yonggui, Chu Qingjuan, Sang Yadi, and Chen Yansheng.
• Chu Qingchen, Hui Zhifeng, Zhuo Hanchen, Ji Nabi, and Lü Luyu formed another team as the trainees organized into four groups.
• Pei Zijing assigned the teams to four Falcon-class Starry Sky Cruisers and explained how the Marines would be divided among them.
• Xia Chujian offered to take the new D499 cruiser after Lü Luyu objected to her team choosing D1, but Zhuo Hanchen argued that his team needed the best equipment to survive.
• Xia Chujian countered that her first-place team should take the worst cruiser, D1, so all teams would start on equal footing and no one could claim they won unfairly.

Xia Chujian took command of the Falcon-Class D1 Cruiser and ordered its Marines to train in Mecha before the mission at Senze Star. She reunited with familiar crew members and left the Cruiser’s piloting to Gu Zhongjin as the journey began.

• Xia Chujian discovered that her assigned Cruiser was the same Falcon-Class D1 she had taken to the Asteroid Belt, and its five thousand Marines saluted her as captain.
• Xia Chujian ordered the five hundred Marines already trained in Mecha to teach the others, aiming for half the force to become Mecha Warriors before they reached Senze Star.
• Xia Chujian told Mao Yonggui that she was in command, then tasked Sun Jiahao with organizing the Marines’ training.
• Xia Chujian checked the crew roster and found Gu Zhongjin leading the Pilots, Navigators, and other technical staff.
• Gu Zhongjin told Xia Chujian that the trip to Senze Star would take twelve hours through three Wormholes, and she entrusted the Cruiser’s piloting to him.

Xia Chujian organized the mission preparations aboard her Starry Sky Cruiser and discussed investigating Senze Star for hidden water and Longevity Flying Fish. She decided to keep the five thousand Starry Sky Marines together and began coordinating with the other cruiser captains before departure.

• Gu Zhongjin reported that the cruiser had enough Advanced Nutrient Solution, and Xia Chujian ordered the crew to prepare for departure.
• Xia Chujian and her officers considered whether Senze Star had hidden groundwater and chose a site near the Longevity Flying Fish sightings as their initial investigation point.
• Xia Chujian told her officers to select rooms and practice with Starry Sky Fighters in Mecha form, while Mao Yonggui warned her that Marines using Mecha violated an established military convention.
• Xia Chujian reviewed the roster and decided she wanted all five thousand Starry Sky Marines to fight as one force rather than splitting them into smaller units.
• Xia Chujian contacted Lin Xiaoxiao and learned that her cruiser had the same ratio of female and male soldiers, then began speaking with Xu Teng of D337.

Xia Chujian prepared her Starry Sky Cruiser and its crew for the mission to Senze Star, balancing their powerful arsenal with caution about landing in an unfamiliar world. As the cruiser began its journey, she learned that Ye Shijie had gone on a solo mission and promised her Dark Night Hunter teammates she would return in two weeks.

• Xia Chujian learned that Chu Qingchen considered the Starry Sky Cruisers competitors, so she accepted that she could command only her own crew.
• Xia Chujian inventoried the cruiser’s weapons and equipment, then let Sun Jiahao train the Marines to pilot Mechas.
• Xia Chujian studied Pei Zijing’s information about Senze Star and decided to send one Carp-Class Interstellar Airship first to verify that the landing area was still safe.
• Xia Chujian told Ye Shijie she had been wrong and learned from Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ping Qiong that Ye Shijie had left on a solo mission.
• Xia Chujian promised to return in two weeks, and her Starry Sky Cruiser departed Kanli Star and reached the first fixed Wormhole.

Xia Chujian reached Senze Star and learned from Seven Lù that an unexplained disaster had killed the planet’s normal human population more than ten thousand years earlier. Seven Lù also revealed that Senze Star’s ancient ecosystem included a colossal space-dwelling creature called the Starry Sky Yuan-chu, leaving Xia Chujian stunned by its immense size.

• Xia Chujian arrived near Senze Star after traveling through three fixed wormholes and ordered the cruiser to halt while the team prepared to land.
• Xia Chujian activated her helmet and asked Seven Lù what was unusual about the planet.
• Seven Lù told Xia Chujian that Senze Star’s normal humans had died in a catastrophe more than ten thousand years ago, leaving mutated survivors known as the Shang People.
• Seven Lù explained that the ancient Sanghe Nation had unified Senze Star before the disaster killed over one hundred million people and destroyed the country.
• Seven Lù showed Xia Chujian pictures of the Starry Sky Yuan-chu, an enormous space-dwelling creature, and Xia Chujian was dumbfounded by its size.

Xia Chujian learned about the Starry Sky Yuan-chu, the Haidagong, and Senze Star’s history before sending Sang Yadi to survey the planet. The survey revealed deadly levels of radioactive isotopes, but Seven Lù confirmed their Mecha and vehicles could protect the crew, leaving Xia Chujian to prepare an order she expected some people to disobey.

• Seven Lù explained that Starry Sky Yuan-chu fed on Haidagong and that the Shang People descended from Haidagong-human hybrids.
• Xia Chujian decided to survey Senze Star before landing and sent Sang Yadi down in a Small Combat Aircraft with measuring Drones.
• The Drones detected extremely high concentrations of five radioactive isotopes throughout Senze Star’s atmosphere and soil.
• Seven Lù warned Xia Chujian that the radiation could cause severe Genetic Disease and that its isotopes would persist for millions of years.
• Seven Lù determined that Beichen Empire Mecha and Flying Vehicles could block the radiation, and Xia Chujian prepared to order the Starry Sky Marines to keep their Mecha and Helmets on.

Xia Chujian prepared her Marines to land on Senze Star after detecting dangerous levels of radioactive isotopes, using the threat of an unknown virus to enforce protective gear. She warned the other Cruisers, but Chu Qingchen rejected her advice, and Xia led a thousand Marines down as a vanguard.

• Xia Chujian ordered everyone landing on Senze Star to wear full mecha armor and Combat Suits, telling Sang Yadi that the planet’s radiation could cause Genetic Disease.
• Xia Chujian warned the other three Cruisers about the radiation; Lin Xiaoxiao and Xu Teng delayed their landings so their Marines could practice using mechas.
• Chu Qingchen refused Xia Chujian’s warning and told her not to interfere with his military command.
• Seven Lù told Xia Chujian that unprotected ordinary people could become incapacitated within hours, while her upgraded Shao Siming Black Silver Mecha could withstand the radiation.
• Xia Chujian gathered the Marines and ordered Sun Jiahao to select a thousand Mecha Warriors for the vanguard landing, accompanied by Mao Yonggui and Chu Qingjuan.

Xia Chujian led a thousand Mecha Warriors to Senze Star, where she and Seven Lù discovered that most of the apparently land-covered planet was actually ancient ocean overgrown with mutated coral. Seven Lù claimed the Coral Trees could reach thousands of meters tall, but Xia Chujian doubted the estimate.

• Sun Jiahao assembled one thousand Mecha Warriors, and Xia Chujian led them aboard a Carp-Class Interstellar Airship.
• Xia Chujian had the airship land on Senze Star while Seven Lù secretly assisted its autonomous systems.
• Seven Lù compared Senze Star's current humidity with its ten-thousand-year-old data and revealed that the planet had once been ninety-nine percent ocean.
• Seven Lù used an unmanned survey vehicle to test the vegetation-covered ground and found that it consisted of sea deposits rather than soil.
• Xia Chujian realized the strange, leafless Great Trees were mutated coral, and Seven Lù said they could grow thousands of meters tall.

Xia Chujian discovered that the apparent land was a mass of marine plants rooted beneath the ocean and led a scouting team out to search for Longevity Flying Fish. The scouts found no Shang People nearby, and Li Dali encountered suddenly appearing toxic gases as he searched east.

• Seven Lù showed Xia Chujian footage revealing dense roots and stalks beneath the debris-covered sea, and Xia realized the Longevity Flying Fish likely lived underwater.
• Xia Chujian decided to scout for Longevity Flying Fish and took Chu Qingjuan, Sun Jiahao, and Li Dali outside in their mechas while Mao Yonggui remained aboard the airship.
• Xia Chujian scanned the area and found no Shang People within five hundred li, despite Pei Zijing's footage showing them there.
• Xia Chujian ordered the team to search in four directions and warned them that the radiation levels were dangerously high.
• Li Dali detected suddenly appearing hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide at extreme levels, then contacted Xia Chujian and sent her the data.

Xia Chujian investigated Senze Star, found and burned a mass grave of Shang People, then continued surveying its radioactive forest and mutated sea life. She wondered whether the seafood could be made safe to eat while keeping its enormous size.

• Seven Lù identified a mass burial pit six hundred li east, and Xia Chujian ordered Li Dali to burn the thousands of Shang People corpses there.
• Xia Chujian and Li Dali found no nearby birds or animals, and Xia Chujian continued scouting south alone.
• Seven Lù explained that radioactive plants glowed and that Gene Evolvers could withstand the radiation, prompting Xia Chujian to worry about the ordinary trainees and Starry Sky Marines.
• Xia Chujian traveled nearly twelve thousand li through the forest and saw mutated sea creatures, including giant crabs, lobsters, and mantis shrimp.
• Xia Chujian asked Seven Lù whether genetic engineering could remove radioactive elements from the giant seafood while preserving its size.

Xia Chujian rescued Chu Qingjuan from a corrosive Mutated Jellyfish using her mecha’s powerful Flame Thrower. After Seven Lù knocked Chu Qingjuan unconscious to hide her from approaching Shang People, Xia Chujian reprimanded the mechanical intelligence and had Mao Yonggui come retrieve her.

• Xia Chujian learned that Senze Star’s ancient calamity had been man-made, then turned back after spotting other squads’ airships at the recommended docking site.
• Chu Qingjuan called for help, and Xia Chujian found her mecha trapped upside down in a color-changing Mutated Jellyfish.
• Seven Lù warned Xia Chujian that attacking the jellyfish would make it explode with toxic, corrosive liquid, but intense heat could safely destroy it.
• Xia Chujian used her Flame Thrower to evaporate the jellyfish and caught Chu Qingjuan as she fell.
• Seven Lù electrocuted Chu Qingjuan unconscious after detecting approaching Shang People, and Xia Chujian ordered it to seek permission before acting in the future.
• Xia Chujian hid with Chu Qingjuan and asked Mao Yonggui to pick her up.

Xia Chujian followed a group of Shang People into a highly radioactive marine forest and discovered that their leader, Da Zhao Shi, shared the name of an ancient royal sovereign. The radiation readings suggested that large-scale refining equipment had once operated there, leaving the reason for its presence unresolved.

• Xia Chujian burned the Mutated Jellyfish Traps that had caught Chu Qingjuan, then hid invisibly to watch the Shang People arrive.
• Seven Lù translated the Shang People’s speech, revealing that Da Zhao Shi wanted more jellyfish to keep people from escaping.
• Xia Chujian learned that Da Zhao Shi shared the name of the ancient sovereign who founded the Sanghe Nation, though she doubted his royal ancestry mattered.
• Xia Chujian secretly followed Da Zhao Shi’s group north into a marine forest with radiation far higher than the forest she had explored before.
• Seven Lù explained that the extreme radiation could indicate a past refining operation involving high-radiation isotopes, and Xia Chujian suspected it had occurred ten thousand years earlier.

Xia Chujian discovered that the Shang People had captured 321 Starry Sky Marines from the First Interstellar Fleet and were preparing to force seven of them to bear children. As the Shang People moved to attack the women, Xia Chujian prepared to intervene.

• Seven Lù and Xia Chujian speculated that damaged nuclear-refining equipment had caused Senze Star’s environmental catastrophe.
• Xia Chujian found a pit containing 321 women wearing torn First Interstellar Fleet Marine Combat Suits.
• Da Zhao Shi ordered Zhong Tiao to inspect the women and select seven who could bear children, while female Shang People performed a fertility dance.
• Da Zhao Shi told the seven women that their commanding officer had traded them to the Shang People for a Longevity Flying Fish and that radiation had left them unable to fight.
• As male Shang People rushed toward the seven women, Xia Chujian announced that she would help by killing the Shang People.

Xia Chujian rescued seven women from Shang People who planned to use them as breeding stock and interrogated their leader, Da Zhao Shi, about how they had been obtained. After he revealed that people dressed like her had traded them for a Longevity Flying Fish, Xia Chujian killed him, leaving the Beichen Military’s previous exchange and its purpose unresolved.

• Xia Chujian killed the Shang People preparing to assault the seven women, then shot the others who prayed for permission to take the women as breeding stock.
• Xia Chujian confronted Da Zhao Shi in her Mecha and threatened him until he admitted that he understood Beichen Language.
• After Seven Lù found destroyed Military Exoskeletons in the Deep Pit, Xia Chujian beat Da Zhao Shi until he confessed that people dressed like her had exchanged the women for a Longevity Flying Fish.
• Da Zhao Shi explained that the women were kept in the Deep Pit for a month so Sang He Great God could choose those strong enough to survive and bear children.
• Xia Chujian demanded to know how Da Zhao Shi understood the women’s condition, cut off his ear when he refused to answer, and then shot him dead.

Xia Chujian learned that Major Rong Zhongruo had sacrificed two thousand First Interstellar Fleet Marines to the Shang People in exchange for Longevity Flying Fish, and she vowed to bring the dead women home and avenge them. She then reached the burning Shang settlement, where an armed female Gene Evolver confronted the Shang People holding the surviving male Marines.

• A dying female Marine identified Major Rong Zhongruo as the person who traded away the Marines and gave Xia Chujian the Longevity Flying Fish coordinates before the women killed themselves with baby Mutated Jellyfish.
• Xia Chujian saluted the dead women and promised to take them home, then flew toward an explosion at the Shang People tribe.
• Xia Chujian found the fifteen hundred male Marines alive but incapacitated, while the Shang People dragged them to a thatched cottage as explosions and fires spread through the settlement.
• An armed woman in a First Interstellar Fleet Combat Suit approached the Shang People and demanded they release the male Marines, then fired a burst into the air.

Xia Chujian rescued Qiu Zijun from the Shang People, but the poisoned male Marines and the female Marines in the Deep Pit were already dead. She brought their bodies to the airship and established a temporary base in the tribal settlement, where she began searching for the fallen soldiers’ identification tags.

• Xia Chujian killed the Shang People attacking Qiu Zijun and learned that the soldiers she sought had been dragged away.
• A hidden Shang Person poisoned the male Marines, who died before they could reveal where the missing soldiers had gone.
• Xia Chujian led Qiu Zijun to the Deep Pit, where Qiu Zijun found the dead female Marines and learned they had chosen suicide over surrender.
• Xia Chujian summoned Mao Yonggui and several hundred Starry Sky Marines to bag the bodies and store them aboard the Interstellar Airship.
• Xia Chujian made the tribal settlement a temporary base and searched it with Mao Yonggui and Qiu Zijun for identification tags, which they found melted together in a burned cottage.

Xia Chujian recovered melted identity tags and questioned Qiu Zijun about the failed mission to capture a Longevity Flying Fish, learning that Starry Sky Marines may have been traded to the Shang People. After showing Qiu Zijun evidence, Xia Chujian and Qiu Zijun were attacked by sniper fire, and Xia Chujian suspected other Gene Evolvers were nearby.

• Xia Chujian collected the fused identity tags and explained to Qiu Zijun that her Starry Sky Marines were equipped with Mecha.
• Qiu Zijun recounted leaving her airship to rescue Zhang Jie and the other Marines after they were ambushed, while the rest of her unit departed without them.
• Xia Chujian told Qiu Zijun that the Marines may have been traded to the Shang People and showed her recorded footage as evidence.
• Qiu Zijun broke down after watching the footage, and Xia Chujian waited for her to recover.
• Xia Chujian sensed danger and launched into the air, accidentally knocking Qiu Zijun aside as two incendiary sniper bullets passed through their former positions.
• Xia Chujian recognized the advanced sniper ammunition and wondered whether other Gene Evolvers were nearby.