Chapter Summaries

Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition Fleet fought Universe Monsters defending a star that served as their hatchery, while the star’s delayed detonation forced the battle to last longer than expected. After the combat teams withdrew, Duanmu Huai destroyed the remaining monsters and the fleet escaped before the star exploded.

• Yaz complained as she fought the smaller monsters, and Duanmu Huai explained that they were defending their hatchery inside the star.
• Duanmu Huai told Yaz that the star’s detonation had been delayed to half an hour because the monsters had absorbed its energy.
• Echote directed the Inquisition Fleet’s defensive battle as the squads grew exhausted, while Captain Tashiro watched from the Exelion and Ann was recalled because she lacked space-combat training.
• When the countdown arrived, Duanmu Huai ordered the combat teams back to their ships and had Noriko sweep Gunbuster’s beams across the battlefield to hinder the monsters.
• Duanmu Huai summoned Sky City and Might of the Relic, whose lightning destroyed the Universe Monsters as the Inquisition Fleet retreated.
• The star exploded after the fleet escaped, and the resulting shock wave erased the star system.

After the Bird Head Galaxy was destroyed, Duanmu Huai stayed with the fleet and asked Maria to build him a transforming fighter for direct combat. Maria completed a powerful, custom two-seat craft, and Duanmu Huai eagerly inspected it before planning to add his own paint job and decals.

• The Exelion prepared to return to Earth, while Captain Tashiro left Gunbuster with the fleet and replaced Kazumi Amano with Jung Freud as its pilot.
• Duanmu Huai chose to travel with the fleet and asked Maria to design him a tough, transforming fighter with canards, remote weapons, and Okegis in a support role.
• Maria spent several sleepless nights building the fighter, which used an Antimatter Reactor, BFG9000 Plasma Cannons, and other advanced equipment.
• Duanmu Huai inspected the finished black fighter and praised its streamlined design and capabilities.
• Ann questioned the fighter’s appearance, and Duanmu Huai announced that he would paint it and add decals.

Duanmu Huai and the Immigrant Fleet found a seemingly habitable planet in the Proxima Galaxy, and the president sent an advance team to establish a base. The planet’s harmless-looking animals transformed into deadly Xenomorphs and overwhelmed the team.

• Duanmu Huai cautioned Okegis and Ann that the green planet might harbor dangers despite its promising appearance.
• The president reviewed the exploration report, then ordered an advance team to build a watchtower and base for further study.
• The advance team landed, checked the atmosphere, and began assembling its camp.
• Two soldiers approached small, furry creatures, which suddenly attacked and killed them.
• The captain ordered the team to fire, but the creatures transformed into armored monsters as countless Xenomorphs poured from the woods and consumed the advance team.

After the first advance team was wiped out on the lush planet, the Fleet sent a second team under fighter escort despite Duanmu Huai’s warnings that the world was dangerous. The team encountered transformed survivors whose explosive bodies devastated the landing party, leaving the planet’s threat unchecked.

• The president-general ordered a second advance team to the planet with a VF Fighter squadron escort and declined to seek help from the Inquisition.
• Duanmu Huai told Rumiere and the others that the planet was likely dangerous and warned the Fleet to prepare for battle.
• The second advance team found the first team’s base wrapped in flesh-like growths and detected life signs inside.
• The Captain led the team toward the base, where the transformed advance-team members came out and charged them.
• The squad leader ordered the mutants shot, causing them to explode and engulf the landing party.
• The VF Fighters fought the remaining creatures, but a monster appeared before the wounded squad leader and killed him.

Duanmu Huai recognized that the fleet had encountered the Zerg and launched an Extermination Order, but the Whirlwind Torpedo failed to stop the swarm. He warned the fleet that the Zerg could learn the location of Earth, then prepared to sortie in the newly painted Pink Little Rabbit.

• The president contacted Duanmu Huai after the second advance team was wiped out, and Duanmu Huai watched footage of the Zerg-infested outpost.
• Duanmu Huai ordered the fleet to raise its Void Shield and fire a Whirlwind Torpedo at the planet, but the Zerg destroyed it before it could hit.
• Duanmu Huai warned the president that the Zerg could extract the fleet's memories and jump to Earth, putting the Earth Federation and ZAFT at risk.
• Duanmu Huai ordered the fighters to use high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds and told Echote to target the Zerg Leviathan.
• Duanmu Huai took Okegis to the hangar and prepared to pilot Maria's pink, rabbit-painted variable fighter, the Pink Little Rabbit.

Duanmu Huai fought the Zerg’s Suicide Bats and a clustered Wyvern while the Swarm breached the Fleet’s Main Island. After destroying the Wyvern, he learned the Swarm had entered the main ship and sent the Night Watch to respond.

• Duanmu Huai saw a Fleet warship destroyed by Suicide Bats and ordered the Night Watch and the others to defend the Main Island.
• Duanmu Huai dodged a Wyvern’s attack and recognized its clustered formation and continuous tail-flick technique.
• Okegis launched drones to trap the Wyvern, but it split into hundreds of copies to evade Duanmu Huai’s plasma attack.
• Duanmu Huai used his Aura of Fear, transformed his fighter into a mech, and cut the Wyvern apart with his Chainsaw Sword.
• Echote reported that the Swarm had entered the main ship’s island, and Duanmu Huai sent the Night Watch to deal with it.

Duanmu Huai landed on Flagship Island and helped defend a shelter from the Zerg, rallying fleeing soldiers as he slaughtered the attackers. When a Thunder Beast charged into the battle, he returned to Okegis and sent the transformed mecha to meet it.

• Duanmu Huai jumped from his fighter and smashed a Zergling with his Thunder Warhammer before advancing through the streets.
• Soldiers guarding a shelter began to flee as Zerglings overwhelmed their defensive line, but Duanmu Huai charged in and destroyed the attackers.
• Duanmu Huai ordered the soldiers to resume protecting the shelter and learned that this was the first wave of the Swarm attack.
• A Thunder Beast burst through the buildings, and Duanmu Huai called Okegis to carry him into the fighter's cockpit.
• Okegis transformed into a humanoid mecha and charged the Thunder Beast with its Chainsaw Sword.

Duanmu Huai destroyed a Thunder Beast with the mech, but the damaged machine immediately shut down. Meanwhile, Echote destroyed the Tyranid planet and used a decoy flagship and a surprise attack to destroy Leviathan, then worried Duanmu Huai would be angry about the flagship's damage.

• Duanmu Huai and Okegis killed the Thunder Beast, but its tusks pierced the mech and left it unable to move.
• Duanmu Huai abandoned the disabled mech and continued on foot.
• Echote used the flagship's BFG10000 main cannon to destroy the green planet and prepared to attack Leviathan.
• Echote drew the Tyranids' defenses toward the flagship while a Patrol Fleet ambushed Leviathan from behind and destroyed it.
• Echote explained her strategy to Mary and worried that Duanmu Huai would be angry about the flagship's damage.

After the battle with the Zerg, Duanmu Huai demanded that Maria make his mech tougher and then led a boarding party to investigate a Protoss warship. They found its corridors empty and bloodstained, leaving the cause of the ship’s silence unknown.

• Duanmu Huai praised Echote for destroying the Leviathan and told Maria to improve her damaged mech’s durability.
• Duanmu Huai reviewed the Colonial Fleet’s heavy losses and dismissed Ann’s offer to help with the mech because her design required constant calculations.
• Rumiere reported that the Fifth Patrol Fleet had found a Protoss warship, and Duanmu Huai decided to board it with Okegis, Ann, Mary, and the Night Watch.
• Duanmu Huai’s destroyer broke the Protoss ship’s shields and launched landing pods through its hull.
• Duanmu Huai and the boarding party found no crew or alarms inside the bloodstained ship, and he ordered them to search it.

Duanmu Huai and his team discovered that Xenomorphs had invaded a Protoss warship and attacked both the swarm and the Protoss in its Hibernation Chamber. As a Protoss warrior tried to seize one of the women as a hostage, Mary shot it dead with Falcon Moon.

• Duanmu Huai led Okegis, Ann, Mary, and Rumiere toward the bridge while the Night Watch split up to investigate the warship.
• Rumiere detected Xenomorphs aboard and located them fighting the waking Protoss warriors in the Hibernation Chamber.
• Duanmu Huai charged into the chamber, and the Night Watch opened fire on both the Xenomorphs and the Protoss.
• The Protoss tried to retreat while the Night Watch continued attacking both sides, leaving the warriors confused about the newcomers.
• A Protoss warrior used illusory soldiers and teleportation to try to capture one of the women, but Mary saw its approach and shot it through the head.

Duanmu Huai and Mary fought off the Zerg, Star Spirit Warriors, and a Dark Templar aboard an alien warship. After Rumiere discovered the ship had been headed to Aiur to warn its inhabitants about the Zerg, Duanmu Huai ordered the fleet to set course there.

• Duanmu Huai overwhelmed the Zerg and Star Spirit Warriors with his fear aura, then charged into their combined assault while Okegis attacked with invisible blades.
• Mary spotted a Dark Shadow targeting the group, countered its psychic lightning with Caria Style Retaliation, and forced it back with a Caria Greatsword strike.
• Duanmu Huai killed the Dark Shadow with his warhammer and praised Mary for holding her own against a Dark Templar.
• Rumiere accessed the warship's records and learned it had been heading to Aiur to warn the Star Spirits that the Zerg had discovered their location.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Rumiere to restore Aiur's coordinates and told the fleet to prepare to depart.

Duanmu Huai brought his fleet to Aiur to seize its Khaydarin Crystals and ordered the planet exterminated, destroying both the Zerg and Protoss. With Aiur reduced to a wasteland, he prepared the Planet Cracker Ship to mine the crystals.

• Duanmu Huai identified the Khaydarin Crystal deposits as a way to earn enough points to unlock the Ascension System.
• Duanmu Huai declared an Extermination Order against Aiur and ordered Echote to fire a Whirlwind Torpedo.
• Fenix learned that the Cerebrate had revived and went to the front line, where Hydralisks surrounded him and his Light Blade failed.
• The Whirlwind Torpedo ignited Aiur, killing the Zerg and Protoss and leaving the planet a barren wasteland.
• Duanmu Huai ordered the Planet Cracker Ship to begin mining the Khaydarin Crystals.

After wiping out the Zerg and Protoss on Aiur, Duanmu Huai took its Khaydarin Crystals and spent his points on Ascension Perks. He unlocked Become the Scourge and chose the Universe Monsters as his first major enemy faction to eliminate.

• Duanmu Huai mined Aiur for its Khaydarin Crystals after the Whirlwind Torpedoes destroyed the Zerg and Protoss, then exchanged the crystals and left.
• Ann and Mary criticized Duanmu Huai’s opportunistic approach, but he dismissed their objections as unnecessary fussiness.
• Duanmu Huai chose War Lord and Technology Above All as prerequisites for Become the Scourge.
• Duanmu Huai unlocked Become the Scourge and received the phase-one mission to eradicate one major enemy faction.
• Duanmu Huai decided that the billions of Universe Monsters in the Milky Way Galaxy would be his first target when Exelion returned.

Tassadar returned to find Aiur destroyed and swore to avenge it, while Duanmu Huai learned that the Solar System’s war had worsened and humanity wanted the Inquisition’s help against the Universe Monsters. Duanmu Huai accepted a mission to seize the Vajra homeworld and use it to create a Black Hole Bomb.

• Tassadar saw Aiur reduced to a burned, excavated ruin and vowed to find whoever had destroyed it.
• Duanmu Huai reunited with the Fleet and learned that PLANT and the Earth Federation had resumed fighting, while Chairman Durandal’s Destiny Plan fractured PLANT and he was killed.
• The Exelion returned with another Fleet, whose people chose to leave the Solar System rather than remain caught in its wars.
• The United Earth Forces asked the Inquisition to help destroy the Universe Monsters with a Black Hole Bomb made from the Vajra homeworld.
• Duanmu Huai agreed to the mission, which would advance his goal of Become the Scourge.

Duanmu Huai and the President agreed to turn Vajra's habitable Homeworld into a Black Hole Bomb to destroy the Universe Monster, while Duanmu explained his ruthless view of victory and survival to Shinn Asuka and his companions. After outlining the attack to his crew, he returned to his room, where Okegis amused and unsettled him by imitating Ling Nu's catlike behavior.

• Duanmu Huai, Captain Tashiro, and the President agreed to use Vajra's Homeworld and its FLOD Crystal to speed up the creation of a Black Hole Bomb.
• Shinn Asuka asked Duanmu Huai whether their past choices had been right, and Duanmu told him that victors decide the rules while losers are eliminated.
• Duanmu Huai gathered his crew and explained that they would attack Vajra's Homeworld, hold back its defenders, and have Echote fire an Extermination Order at the planet.
• Duanmu Huai returned to his room, where Okegis sat on him because Ling Nu had told her he liked it, then asked whether he accepted cats too.

After the Vajra Homeworld was destroyed, Duanmu Huai returned to the Inquisition and agreed to help True Clever turn Horse Girl races into an idol event. He proposed building an Inquisition space station to host the races and serve as a public-facing venue.

• Duanmu Huai destroyed the Vajra Homeworld with a Whirlwind Torpedo, left Echote and Odel to oversee the Black Hole Bomb project, and returned to the Inquisition.
• True Clever asked Duanmu Huai to help share Horse Girl competitions with an audience without making them gambling events.
• Duanmu Huai agreed that the Horse Girls could present their races as idol activities.
• True Clever hoped audiences could watch the races in person, so Duanmu Huai proposed building an Inquisition space station as a venue.
• Duanmu Huai told True Clever to speak with Mia and have her arrange the project.

Duanmu Huai accepted a quest to investigate a deadly disease spreading through a city in the Far North, hoping the mission would help him claim Corruption's Filth. He prepared to travel with Okegis, while Ranni refused to join.

• Maria asked Duanmu Huai for an indestructible material to build his mecha, and he promised to seek the enhanced Exelion's Arutelimu technology after fighting the Universe Monsters.
• Duanmu Huai considered how to obtain the divine office tied to Corruption's Filth and browsed quests generated across the Milky Way.
• Duanmu Huai chose the Sorrow of the Northern Lands quest, which described a dark-force-born disease killing people in a Far Northern city.
• Duanmu Huai accepted the quest but declined immediate transport because he wanted to bring companions and avoid exposing living people to the disease.
• Duanmu Huai invited Okegis and Ranni to join him; Okegis agreed, but Ranni refused after he called her nonliving.

Duanmu Huai arrived in plague-stricken Neverwinter City after the invitation quest had already failed, and learned that a mysterious attack had disrupted the search for a cure. Erebes asked him to investigate the plague and join her investigation team, despite Deszel's objections.

• Duanmu Huai found Neverwinter City devastated by the Howling Death and learned that the quest had failed before he arrived.
• A guard escorted Duanmu Huai to Erebes, who explained that the plague cure required four creatures but that attackers had killed adventurers and let the creatures escape.
• Erebes asked Duanmu Huai to investigate whether Neverwinter City's enemies had deliberately released the plague.
• Deszel challenged Erebes for trusting an outsider, and Duanmu Huai insulted Helm and argued with him until Vansvik intervened.
• Erebes invited Duanmu Huai to join the investigation team, and Vansvik offered to introduce him to its members.

Duanmu Huai joined Emilia and Luo Qixi to investigate the plague in Neverwinter City, then searched the Great Druid Duzer Kades's abandoned hospital for clues. He suspected Duzer might be responsible for the outbreak and entered the sealed building to look for evidence.

• Vansvik introduced Duanmu Huai and Okegis to Emilia, who was leading the Investigation Team, and to Luo Qixi, a Fifth Ring Evocation Warlock.
• Emilia shared records showing that the plague began in the Nest of Beggars, resisted divine healing, and had first been identified by the Great Druid Duzer Kades.
• Duanmu Huai proposed investigating Duzer's residence, but the group learned that Duzer had not returned and that his treatment site was in the Nest of Beggars.
• At the Nest of Beggars, a guard told Emilia that adventurers had cleared out undead and an evil cult, allowing residents to return.
• The group found Duzer's chained-up hospital, and Duanmu Huai broke the chain and entered, suspecting the Great Druid was behind the plague.

Duanmu Huai found evidence that Master Duzer had been approached by a shadowy figure promising a cure for the plague, then uncovered a hidden chamber beneath the warehouse. He charged into a room of plague-infected zombies and flies, leaving Emilia and Luo Qixi behind as he attacked.

• Duanmu Huai searched the warehouse with Okegis and found Master Duzer's diary describing his failed attempts to treat Howling Death.
• Duanmu Huai used his ability to witness the past and saw a shadowy figure persuade Duzer that it could help him find a cure.
• Duanmu Huai scanned the warehouse with the Augury Device, detected something beneath it, and tore a bookshelf from the wall to reveal a secret passage.
• Duanmu Huai led Okegis, Emilia, and Luo Qixi down the passage, where they found a chamber full of plague-ridden zombies.
• Duanmu Huai told Emilia and Luo Qixi to stay back, then charged into the chamber as the flies swarmed him and struck at the monsters with his warhammer.