Chapter Summaries

Shan Jingsheng and Qian Changxin tried to hunt a Lù Shǔ, but Qian Changxin killed it and a herd fled from a deadly Cyan Mist. Shan Jingsheng sacrificed Qian Changxin to the mist, concealed what happened from their teammates, and the chapter ended with Pan Nanjie returning from the creek without discovering anything unusual.

• Qian Changxin spread foul-smelling liquid on his teammates to conceal their human scent, and the contaminated creek awakened something underground.
• Shan Jingsheng and Qian Changxin approached a Lù Shǔ, but Qian Changxin shot it dead after it cried out to alert its herd.
• A herd of Tiger-striped White-headed Horse-like animals charged past Shan Jingsheng and Qian Changxin, fleeing from a Cyan Mist that emerged from a crack in the creek bed and tore them apart.
• Shan Jingsheng threw Qian Changxin into the Cyan Mist, which consumed him and retreated into the crack before sealing it.
• Shan Jingsheng told his teammates that Qian Changxin had run ahead and gone missing, then Pan Nanjie checked the nearby creek and returned without finding anything unusual.

Shan Jingsheng found that Qian Changxin and all traces of the bloody scene had vanished, while Xia Chujian’s team headed to a designated overnight campsite on Resource Island. There, Xia clashed with Qiu Zining, and Qiu Zijun arrived just as the confrontation escalated.

• Shan Jingsheng returned to the site and found no trace of Qian Changxin, the bloodstains, or the scattered animal limbs.
• Shan Jingsheng and his teammates left the area as new flying vehicles arrived over Green Radiance Star.
• Tantai Raoming ordered the expedition teams to stay overnight on Resource Island in their flying vehicles and sent them campsite coordinates.
• Xia Chujian flew ahead to the campsite in her mecha and met Qiu Zining, who resembled Princess Jing and demanded to know how Xia could use a mecha.
• Qiu Zining drew a gun, and Xia warned her attendants with warning shots before shooting Qiu Zining and knocking her down.
• Qiu Zining ordered Qiu Shiwu and Qiu Shiba to seize Xia, but they hesitated until Qiu Zijun rushed between them.

Xia Chujian confronted Qiu Zining after she shot at her, but Qiu Zijun and Tan Tai Raoming shielded Zining because of her mysterious, powerful background. Xia let the incident go for Qiu Zijun’s sake, then chose a camp site for her squad as expedition teams arrived and exploration robots were distributed.

• Qiu Zijun stopped Qiu Zining from continuing to threaten Xia Chujian, apologized, and offered to handle the shooting under Expedition Team rules.
• Tan Tai Raoming ignored Xia Chujian’s complaint and ushered Qiu Zining away, while Zining dismissed her gunfire as a joke.
• Qiu Zijun warned Xia Chujian that Qiu Zining had a special background and was best avoided, and Xia agreed to let the incident go for Zijun’s sake.
• Xia Chujian and Qiu Zijun agreed they owed each other favors, then Zijun went after Zining while Xia picked a central camp site for her squad.
• Chen Yanjun and Jiang Sheng went to investigate newly arrived flying vehicles and saw exploration robots being handed out to the squads.

Xiao Fei secretly joined the expedition and volunteered to stand night watch for Xia Chujian’s squad. During attendance, the school learned that Qian Changxin was missing after pursuing a rare animal, and Xia Chujian and Zong Ruoning recognized it as a Lù Shǔ.

• Chen Yanjun was surprised to find Xiao Fei among the Exploration Robots, and Xiao Fei told him it had joined under the Expedition Team’s command.
• Xia Chujian questioned how Xiao Fei had arrived, and Xiao Fei showed her a video proving it had flown from Darkness Village and blended in with the other robots.
• Xiao Fei volunteered to guard Xia Chujian’s squad overnight, so she canceled the squad’s night-watch shifts and postponed their meeting until morning.
• Fan Ruisi told Xia Chujian that Qian Changxin had gone missing and that Dun Lixing and Ka Mi wanted to leave Shan Jingsheng’s squad.
• During attendance, Shan Jingsheng explained that Qian Changxin had pursued an unfamiliar animal and never returned, then showed the picture he had taken.
• Xia Chujian recognized the animal as a Lù Shǔ, and Zong Ruoning realized Qian Changxin had discovered one too.

Xia Chujian and Shan Jingsheng clashed over Qian Changxin’s disappearance, while Zong Ruoning revealed that the Lù Shǔ were harmless and extremely valuable. Squad members’ accounts made Shan Jingsheng the last known person with Qian Changxin, and Qiu Zining’s suggestion to use a Lie Detector angered her cousin.

• Zong Ruoning ordered Treasure Hunt 2nd Squad to report to Exploration Command, and Shan Jingsheng accused Xia Chujian of causing Qian Changxin’s disappearance.
• Xia Chujian denied Shan Jingsheng’s claims, defended her teammates, and wondered whether someone in her squad had leaked information to him.
• Zong Ruoning explained that the Lù Shǔ were precious, docile herbivores and said Qian Changxin could not have gone missing because of them.
• Treasure Hunt 2nd Squad members described their movements, revealing that Shan Jingsheng had accompanied Qian Changxin and was the last person to see him.
• Xia Chujian’s teammates backed her with video evidence, while Shan Jingsheng’s squad members distanced themselves from him.
• Qiu Zining suggested putting Xia Chujian and Shan Jingsheng on a Lie Detector, and Qiu Zijun apologized after Xia Chujian dismissed the suggestion as someone else’s mistake.

Qiu Zijun stopped Qiu Zining from provoking Xia Chujian, while the school authorities began searching for missing student Qian Changxin. Shan Jingsheng vanished after leaving his flying vehicle, and the search found his cracked, graying heirloom jade pendant as Xia Chujian’s squad prepared for the dangers of the night.

• Qiu Zijun stopped Qiu Zining from causing trouble on the Public Channel, and Qiu Zining later examined a yellowed blueprint in secret.
• Zong Ruoning persuaded the school authorities to search for Qian Changxin, but Shan Jingsheng fled his flying vehicle before they could question him.
• A mass of Cyan Mist swallowed Shan Jingsheng in a Mountain Hollow, and his teammates’ footage showed him leaving the vehicle minutes earlier.
• Xia Chujian learned Shan Jingsheng had vanished and traced how information about her squad had reached him through Wu Hang and Yao Pingle’s group chat.
• Gu Demao told the authorities he had seen Shan Jingsheng run toward the mountains, and the searchers found his cracked, graying family heirloom jade pendant.
• Xia Chujian’s squad discussed whether the pendant had blocked evil, and Xia urged everyone to stay cautious while relying on her Mecha and heavy sniper rifle.

Xia Chujian led an expedition up the western mountain to investigate the vanished Lù Shǔ and search for clues about Qian Changxin and Shan Jingsheng. The hoofprints led to a creek, where Liang Peng found an unusual mineral reading in the water.

• Xia Chujian collected spring water with Huo Yushen, and they agreed that the island required caution and that expedition members should travel in groups of at least three.
• Xia Chujian organized her team into scouting, survey, and rear groups, then moved Liang Peng to the front group to search for minerals.
• Xia Chujian chose the western mountain peak, where she had seen Lù Shǔ the previous day, and found the area empty.
• Xiao Fei discovered hoofprints leading east, and Xia Chujian, Liang Peng, and Xiao Fei followed them to the place where they had found Wild Wheat Seeds.
• Xiao Fei found that the hoofprints ended in a grassy area, while Liang Peng tested the nearby creek and found a mineral present in the middle and downstream sections but absent upstream.

Xia Chujian and Liang Peng investigated unusual mineral readings in a creek while Qiu Zining violently seized a rare plant from another squad. The chapter ended with Qiu Zijun offering that squad a different rare flower as compensation.

• Xia Chujian and Liang Peng traced the creek's abnormal mineral concentration to a possible underground fault in its middle reaches, and Xiao Fei began drilling to investigate.
• Qiu Zining ordered her guards to tie up four members of Treasure Hunt Squad 7 so she could claim the rare plants they had found.
• Qiu Zining slapped Qiu Zijun when she tried to stop her, then went up the mountain with her guards.
• Qiu Zijun found Qiu Zining and her guards had defeated twenty people, and Qiu Zining proudly revealed the Star Crystal Grass she had taken from Treasure Hunt Squad 7's captain.
• Qiu Zijun apologized to Treasure Hunt Squad 7 and offered its captain a Purple Mist Crown as compensation.

Qiu Zining continued stealing rare plants from Expedition Teams, while Cyan Mist made several unconscious students vanish. On the way back to camp, she spotted Xia Chujian holding a mysterious black vine-like plant and stopped to look at it.

• Qiu Zijun gave Treasure Hunt Squad 7 a Purple Mist Crown to compensate for Qiu Zining's theft, and Qiu Zining left with Qiu Shiwu and Qiu Shiba.
• Qiu Zining robbed Treasure Hunt Squad 8 of a Dragon Scale Fern, while Cyan Mist carried away two unconscious students.
• Qiu Zining explained that the flowering Dragon Scale Fern could help her advance her Gene Evolution Level from Peak Rank A to Rank S.
• Qiu Zining attacked Treasure Hunt Squad 5 and took its Cloud Dew Bananas, while Cyan Mist carried away three students she had kicked into the forest.
• Qiu Shiwu and Qiu Shiba asked to buy medicine made from the Cloud Dew Bananas for their wives and lovers, and Qiu Zining agreed.
• While heading back to camp, Qiu Zining saw Xia Chujian examining a strange black vine-like plant.

Qiu Zining tried to seize Xia Chujian’s Heavenly Devil Vine after learning it could resist mutations caused by Remnants, but Xia Chujian knocked her away and threatened her bodyguards. Qiu Shiba revealed the vine’s value, and Qiu Zining returned to challenge Xia Chujian as the squad aimed their weapons at her.

• Qiu Zining recognized Xia Chujian’s plant as a Heavenly Devil Vine and explained that it was a rare plant said to resist bodily mutations caused by Remnants.
• Qiu Zining tried to snatch the vine, but Xia Chujian dodged her and punched her away.
• Qiu Shiba threatened Xia Chujian, then dropped to his knees when her sniper rifle made his Danger Aversion superpower warn him of danger.
• Qiu Shiba told Xia Chujian that Qiu Zining wanted the vine because it ranked among the Qiu Family’s rarest plants and could resist Remnant-induced mutations.
• Qiu Zining and Qiu Shiwu returned to face Xia Chujian and the squad, and Qiu Zining confidently agreed to test whether their guns could hit her.

Xia Chujian and Chen Yanjun beat Qiu Zining after she tried to take their things, while Qiu Zijun rebuked her for stealing from other squads. As reports came in that five students were missing, Qiu Zijun began to suspect Qiu Zining had sent some of them flying, but Qiu Zining denied responsibility.

• Xia Chujian used her Mecha to overpower Qiu Zining, and Chen Yanjun and the Treasure Hunt 1st Squad joined in before Xia Chujian warned Qiu Zining not to steal from her again.
• Qiu Zining vowed to take Xia Chujian's Second Generation Mecha, but Qiu Shiba warned her that doing so would offend the Su Clan and Master Su.
• Qiu Zining asked Qiu Zijun to help her claim Xia Chujian had stolen the Heavenly Devil Vine, but Qiu Zijun refused to support her and ordered her to return the stolen plants.
• Qiu Zijun learned that five students had gone missing after Noble Ladies sent them flying, and she confronted Qiu Zining about the reports.
• Qiu Zining denied responsibility and argued that the missing students' teammates should have searched for them.

Qiu Zijun moved in with her teammates after refusing to keep sheltering Qiu Zining, while the Expedition Team’s leaders investigated the students who had disappeared after clashes with Qiu Zining. Zong Ruoning confronted her but left the question of her responsibility unresolved.

• Qiu Zijun told Qiu Zining she would no longer look after her, then paid her teammates for a place to stay and shared their seafood rice.
• Zong Ruoning reviewed reports of seven missing students and learned that teams had linked the disappearances to Qiu Zining.
• Zong Ruoning ordered an investigation into nonstudent camp residents, and security brought Qiu Zining and her two Rank S bodyguards to the headquarters vehicle.
• Qiu Zining invoked Tan Tai Raoming’s earlier invitation to travel with the Expedition Team, then agreed to follow its rules after learning Zong Ruoning’s status.
• Zong Ruoning challenged Qiu Zining over the missing students, but she denied harming them and Tan Tai Raoming suggested something strange in the mountains might explain their disappearance.

Qiu Zining signed the Expedition Team’s agreements and argued with other students in the Public Channel group, while Xia Chujian’s squad continued exploring as students vanished from the mountains. Seven Lù analyzed the disappearances and concluded that the culprit was targeting students from the five lowest-ranked Military Academies, leaving Xia Chujian seemingly safe.

• Zong Ruoning required Qiu Zining to sign agreements, register her Quantum Optical Brain number, and follow the Expedition Team’s rules, so she reluctantly complied.
• Qiu Zining argued with Treasure Hunt Squads in the Public Channel group, threatened to sue them, and stopped when Qiu Zijun promised to handle any lawyer’s letters.
• Xia Chujian noticed Qiu Zining had not mentioned their conflict and silently appreciated Qiu Zijun’s apparent intervention.
• Students continued disappearing over the next three days despite traveling together, and twenty-two students were missing by the morning of the fourth day.
• Xia Chujian asked Seven Lù about the disappearances, and Seven Lù determined that most victims came from the five lowest-ranked Military Academies and that the culprit avoided stronger students.

Xia Chujian led her squad to explore the island’s North Slope while avoiding areas she considered dangerous and discussing the missing students and the Interstellar Exploration Force’s search. When she praised Golden Fruit aloud, a tree appeared, leaving the squad with fresh fruit and a possible clue to the strange island.

• Seven Lù analyzed the missing students’ Treasure Hunt Squads and schools, and Xia Chujian agreed that the Mastermind probably targeted weaker students but decided not to pursue it recklessly.
• After Tan Tai Raoming urged the Expedition Team to resume exploring and offered double points for collected resources, Xia Chujian took her whole squad out together and avoided a suspicious area on the map.
• Xia Chujian’s teammates speculated that Huo Yushen and the Interstellar Exploration Force were investigating the vanished people from nineteen years earlier, while Xia Chujian suggested they might instead be mapping the island.
• On the North Slope, Xia Chujian felt watched and glimpsed a Loam Yellow Corona, then praised Golden Fruit to Fan Ruisi and watched a small fruit tree grow beside the path.
• Xia Chujian and her teammates picked and ate the tree’s unusually large Golden Fruits, while Chen Yanjun’s wish for Jasper Fruit produced no such tree.

Xia Chujian found that a hidden presence seemed to answer her wishes by providing rare plants, while a Griffon Sea Eagle repeatedly brought her precious specimens and a handmade pendant. She kept some gifts but remained uneasy about the mysterious attention as the team continued exploring the Small Island.

• After Xia Chujian joked about wanting Jasper Fruit, a Jasper Fruit Tree appeared beside the road, and the team picked and ate its fruit while she saved two for later.
• The team found and identified several Rare Plants, while Xia Chujian wondered about the origins of Qiu Zining's Collection of Exotic Herbs and thought of discussing it with Huo Yushen.
• A Griffon Sea Eagle left Xia Chujian a rooted section of Heavenly Devil Vine, which she secretly stored in a plant preservation bag.
• The Griffon Sea Eagle returned with Purple Mist Crown and Dragon Scale Fern, then brought Xia Chujian several other unfamiliar plants and a crude purple wooden pendant shaped like itself.

Xia Chujian reunited with her teammates after receiving a pendant from the Griffon Sea Eagle, but a terrifying Cyan Green Mist attacked and injured them. Huo Yushen arrived to help while Xia Chujian kept watch over the unconscious group.

• The Griffon Sea Eagle gave Xia Chujian a Precious Pendant and Rare Plants before flying away, and she left the forest without telling her teammates about the strange clearing.
• Xia Chujian reconnected with Chen Yanjun and learned that Wu Hang had lost track of her signal, then emerged from the forest as her teammates arrived.
• A Cyan Green Mist swept up Chen Yanjun, Jiang Sheng, and Xiao Fei, so Xia Chujian fired three shots and blasted them out of the mist.
• The mist revealed a horrifying face with clock faces for eyes and a mouth, and its ticking spread across the Small Island, disturbing people's minds and showing them a brief phantom.
• Huo Yushen detected the ticking and rushed to Xia Chujian, then began checking Chen Yanjun and Jiang Sheng while she guarded the group.

Huo Yushen examined the injured squad members and learned how Xia Chujian had driven back the Cyan Green Mist, then helped her conceal the full footage from General Command. After they returned to camp, Zong Ruoning prepared medical aid, while Huo Yushen discovered that the mist had severely corroded Xiao Fei’s electronic components.

• Huo Yushen found that Chen Yanjun and Jiang Sheng had severe external burns, while Wu Hang and the other Treasure Hunt Squad members had serious Mental Strength damage that would recover with rest.
• Xia Chujian told Huo Yushen that Cyan Green Mist had swept up her teammates and that she had fired three shots into it, revealing something strange babbling behind the mist.
• Huo Yushen watched Xia Chujian’s recording and told her to send General Command only the footage of the mist sweeping the squad away, keeping the rest secret.
• Huo Yushen edited the video, and Xia Chujian sent the shortened clip and a request for Medical Cabin access to the Exploration Team Headquarters.
• Xia Chujian and Huo Yushen carried the unconscious squad members and Xiao Fei to camp, where Zong Ruoning arranged medical care and medicines.
• Huo Yushen examined Xiao Fei and found that its electronic components had short-circuited after being severely corroded.

Xia Chujian explained the Cyan Green Mist attack and learned that its corrosive gas could harm her even though its Mental Strength attack could not. After Tan Tai Raoming and Hui Gu checked on the unconscious teammates, they asked to share Xia Chujian's video as a warning.

• Zong Ruoning brought Mental Strength recovery medicine and arranged for Chen Yanjun and Jiang Sheng to be moved to advanced Medical Cabins for treatment.
• Xia Chujian revealed that she had no Mental Strength, then covered her slip by crediting her protection to her Second Generation Mecha; Huo Yushen warned her not to expose her unusual trait.
• Huo Yushen found that the Cyan Green Mist had corroded Xiao Fei's high-grade Plastic and Alloy components, and warned Xia Chujian that its physical hazards could still injure her.
• Tan Tai Raoming and Hui Gu visited Xia Chujian's unconscious teammates and asked whether the missing students swept away by the mist might still be alive.
• Xia Chujian described the mist's corrosive effects, and Hui Gu asked permission to post her video on the Exploration Team's Public Channel as a warning.

After Xia Chujian rescued two teammates from Gethos’s Cyan Green Mist, she warned the other squads about the danger. Huo Yushen explained that her attack had injured Gethos and revealed information about the ranks of the Remnants, leaving Xia Chujian concerned about the power of second-Rank beings.

• Hui Gu posted a video of the Cyan Green Mist attack and Xia Chujian’s warning to the Expedition Team’s Public Channel.
• The returning Treasure Hunt Squads learned that Xia Chujian’s team had been attacked and that two teammates had suffered severe burns.
• Xia Chujian described the mist and advised the squads to shoot if it appeared, then flee and scatter.
• Qiu Zining watched the video and mocked Xia Chujian’s ability.
• Huo Yushen told Xia Chujian that she had injured Gethos and that it would be unable to cause trouble for at least ten thousand years.
• Huo Yushen described the Remnants’ ranks and identified Gethos, Tayam, and the Mother of Forrest as second-Rank beings.

Xia Chujian and Huo Yushen discussed Gethos’s power and the shared hallucinations students experienced after his fragment was destroyed. After considering why Gethos swept away their teammates, Xia Chujian began telling Huo Yushen about an earlier survey that might explain his intentions.

• Huo Yushen recounted how Tayam had survived twenty-four Space Plasma Cannons and destroyed a Starry Sky Cruiser, then promised to agree to any request from whoever could defeat Him.
• Xia Chujian and Huo Yushen found that neither had experienced the hallucination of scorched land that many students described on the Public Channel.
• Huo Yushen theorized that Gethos had inadvertently revealed his lair after Xia Chujian destroyed his fragment and injured his true body, and said they might know by the next day whether he was right.
• Xia Chujian learned that Chen Yanjun and Jiang Sheng had suffered severe burns to their internal organs but were being treated in the Medical Cabin.
• Huo Yushen speculated that the Cyan Green Mist, rather than Gethos himself, had caused the intense radiation, while Xia Chujian wondered why Gethos had swept away the team members.
• Xia Chujian told Huo Yushen about her earlier investigation of a creek with Liang Peng and began explaining their search for rare mineral deposits on the Small Island.