Chapter Summaries

Zhou Tai led the Dark Peng’s boarding team onto the Extreme North White Wolf and overwhelmed its defenders. He faced the enemy boarding captain, Third, and narrowly evaded his counterattack as their fight began.

• Wang Dong trusted Zhou Tai to lead the boarding assault while he remained aboard the Dark Peng.
• After the Scorpio Death Ray Cannon destroyed the Extreme North White Wolf’s shields, Wu Baiyi steered the Dark Peng into a boarding attack near the command cabin.
• The Extreme North White Wolf sent Third, its powerful boarding captain, to confront the invading team in Compartment R-3.
• Zhou Tai’s team drove back the defenders, and Zhou Tai killed their deputy captain.
• Third charged Zhou Tai, who launched a circular blade attack; Third dodged it, blocked Zhou Tai’s axe, and rolled away from a follow-up strike.

Wang Dong took control of the Extreme North White Wolf and confronted the captured Grand Duke of Northern Star Domain and Chen Detong. He demanded the remaining treasury of the Grand Duke’s Territory of Beidi in exchange for the Grand Duke’s safety, leaving Chen Detong to consider what Wang Dong had revealed.

• Zhou Tai defeated the third brother, who suffered several broken bones, and had the Dark Peng’s assault team capture and treat him.
• Wang Dong boarded the captured Extreme North White Wolf and identified himself to Chen Detong and the Grand Duke of Northern Star Domain.
• Wang Dong argued that the Grand Duke had lost the right to represent the North by agreeing with the Golden Snapdragon Federation and had provoked the conflict by attacking Wang Dong’s family territory.
• Wang Dong demanded the remaining wealth of the Grand Duke’s Territory of Beidi in exchange for ensuring the Grand Duke received proper treatment and was handed directly to Her Highness the Eldest Princess.
• Chen Detong rejected Wang Dong’s initial offer, and Wang Dong warned that he might otherwise harm the Grand Duke before turning him over; Chen Detong noticed clues in Wang Dong’s words.

Wang Dong tried to recruit Chen Detong and negotiated the safety of the Grand Duke of Northern Star Domain and the Extreme North White Wolf’s crew. He brought the Grand Duke and Chen Detong to North Wind Fortress, where the Grand Duke’s territory was already collapsing into infighting and looting.

• Wang Dong openly offered Chen Detong a place in the Viscounty of Black Stone and threatened to kill the Extreme North White Wolf’s crew if Chen refused.
• Chen Detong demanded that Wang Dong spare the Grand Duke and protect him, and Wang Dong agreed to shelter him in a secret star system.
• Chen Detong asked to take the ship, crew, families, and savings back to North Wind Fortress, but Wang Dong refused and promised confinement, compensation, and help bringing their families out.
• Wang Dong took Chen Detong and the Grand Duke aboard the Dark Peng, leaving Mada to control the Extreme North White Wolf.
• The Dark Peng reached North Wind Fortress ahead of the Royal Fleet, where the Grand Duke’s vassals fought over power and looted public assets.

Wang Dong and Chen Detong evacuated North Wind Fortress, rescuing their families and taking supplies from its hidden vaults. After joining the Black Stone Viscount, they arranged for the Grand Duke of Northern Star Domain and Chen Detong to find refuge in the Yang Zhong Star System, while Wang Dong set off to finish the Otherworldly Space battlefield and return to the Royal Fleet.

• Wang Dong entered North Wind Fortress without resistance and found that most of its garrison had fled.
• Chen Detong brought his family aboard the Dark Peng, and Wang Dong arranged cabins for the Grand Duke of Northern Star Domain's family as well.
• Chen Detong gathered hidden-vault supplies, including High-grade Energy Crystals and titanium crystals, and sent a small fleet away with the families of the Extreme North White Wolf's crew.
• Wang Dong's group rendezvoused with the Black Stone Viscount's fleet, which took the people and supplies toward the Yang Zhong Star System and the Black Stone Viscountcy.
• The viscount refused Wang Dong's offer to transfer the Extreme North White Wolf, keeping it as Chen Detong's flagship.
• Wang Dong left the main group to complete the Otherworldly Space battlefield and planned to return to the Royal Fleet for his share of the spoils.

Wang Dong reinforced the Dark Peng’s Epic-grade Hull Structure Module and chose the Orange trait Immortal Mystery. The Dark Peng gained powerful self-repair and 50% damage reduction, making it far more durable.

• Wang Dong took the Dark Peng to a free port, then sailed to an inconspicuous area of space and entered stealth mode.
• Wang Dong reinforced the Dark Peng’s Hull Structure Module to LV.5 and spent a High-grade Energy Crystal to select a new trait.
• Wang Dong reviewed 108 possible traits, considered Resonance Mystery, and chose Immortal Mystery for its damage reduction and self-repair.
• The Dark Peng’s Hull Structure Module gained Immortal Mystery, bringing its Hull Structure Strength to 160 and increasing its survivability.

Wang Dong and the Dark Peng encountered the fleeing seed fleet of the defeated Lanfang Republic, whose last survivors were being pursued by the Nailang Kingdom. As the crew considered whether to intervene, they discovered that the Lanfang people looked almost identical to humans.

• Wang Dong removed the blue Particle Repair Robots and upgraded the Reformer Alliance Contract to LV.5, then used Spatial Signal Capture to enter the battlefield.
• The Dark Peng received data identifying the Lanfang Republic and spotted its seed fleet, centered on a colony ship protected by more than two thousand escort warships.
• A battlefield report revealed that the Nailang Kingdom had nearly destroyed the Lanfang Republic and that its scout ship had alerted pursuers to the fleeing fleet.
• Wang Dong asked the crew whether they should get involved, and Shi Zunhou, Zhou Tai, and Gao Luanqin suggested observing first while Wu Baiyi and Mada weighed in.
• Wang Dong focused the Sky Survey Radar's virtual image on the colony ship's control hub, and the crew saw that the Lanfang people looked almost identical to humans.

The Dark Peng’s crew confirmed that the people of the Lanfang Republic were biologically compatible with their own civilization and listened as Commander Reinhardt rallied the last known surviving seed fleet to fight back. Mada explained how Reinhardt’s tactical successes could not prevent the Republic’s defeat, and how he had been entrusted with its largest seed fleet.

• Mada compared the Lanfang Republic’s biological data with that of the Kindling Human Civilization and found a 99.99 percent match.
• The Lanfang Republic’s escort lieutenant colonel proposed a desperate stand, while the colony ship’s captain suggested splitting up to improve their chances of escape.
• Reinhardt revealed that eleven seed fleets had sent final transmissions and declared that Seed Fleet 013 would ambush its pursuers in an asteroid belt.
• The lieutenant colonel, the colony ship’s captain, and the other senior decision-makers pledged to follow Reinhardt’s plan.
• Mada described Reinhardt’s record of battlefield victories and explained that a technologically superior mercenary fleet had helped the Nailang Kingdom defeat the Lanfang Republic.

Wang Dong waited for the Nailang Kingdom’s pursuit fleet to drive Reinhardt’s seed fleet to desperation before making his move. When scouts confirmed that twenty thousand enemy ships were approaching, the seed fleet’s fate seemed sealed.

• Mada briefed Wang Dong and the crew on the Nailang Kingdom’s forces and predicted that its pursuit fleet would meet the seed fleet in the Asteroid Belt.
• Wang Dong chose to wait until Reinhardt and the seed fleet were desperate before intervening, despite the cost of using his last High-grade Energy Crystal.
• Reinhardt prepared the 013 Seed Fleet aboard the Gale, believing his two thousand escort ships could defeat a smaller pursuing force or buy time for the colony ship to escape.
• Wang Dong upgraded the Star Hunter’s Crown to LV.5, planning to rely on its Pursuer trait.
• Eleven hours later, scouts spotted twenty thousand Nailang Kingdom ships approaching the Asteroid Belt, and the seed fleet realized it could not defeat them.

Reinhardt prepared the Lanfang Republic’s Seed Fleet to make a last stand against the Nailang Kingdom’s pursuit fleet. The Dark Peng appeared unexpectedly and destroyed the pursuing fleet’s five-thousand-ship vanguard with a single shot, leaving the Seed Fleet stunned.

• Reinhardt and the Seed Fleet resolved to fight to the death rather than surrender to the Nailang Kingdom.
• Reinhardt ordered an ambush for the Nailang Kingdom’s five-thousand-ship vanguard and planned to distract its main fleet with his escort ships.
• The Dark Peng emerged from stealth near the Asteroid Belt and identified itself as a warship of the Pan-Universal Human Alliance.
• Reinhardt asked the Dark Peng for help, and its crew agreed to deal with the pursuit fleet quickly.
• The Dark Peng fired a shot that engulfed and destroyed nearly all five thousand ships in the Nailang Kingdom’s vanguard.

The Dark Peng destroyed the Nailang Kingdom's pursuing fleet and saved Reinhardt's Seed Fleet from annihilation. Wang Dong explained the Pan-Universal Human Alliance and asked Reinhardt for his medal of merit as a historical keepsake.

• The Dark Peng fired its Supernova Burst Cannon twice, wiping out nearly all twenty thousand Nailang Kingdom warships pursuing the Seed Fleet.
• Reinhardt and the Lanfang Republic's fleet welcomed the Dark Peng, but Wang Dong declined their invitation to board and said he had to leave.
• Reinhardt asked whether the Lanfang Republic could join the Pan-Universal Human Alliance, and Wang Dong described it as a loose association guided by customary principles.
• Wang Dong explained that the alliance encouraged aid to human civilizations in distress and discouraged actions against humanity's overall interests.
• Reinhardt offered Wang Dong an artifact from the Seed Fleet, and Wang Dong asked for the medal of merit on Reinhardt's chest.

Wang Dong left the Otherworldly Space battlefield after helping Reinhardt’s fleet, gaining a tracking beacon and a new coordinate-recording function. He received Reinhardt’s Gale’s Chapter medal, installed it on the Dark Peng, and discovered why the ship had earned fewer Source Points than expected.

• Reinhardt gave Wang Dong his medal of merit, and Wang Dong’s Star Hunter’s Crown placed a Tracking Beacon on the seed fleet’s colony ship as the Dark Peng departed.
• Wang Dong activated Advanced Function Six, allowing him to record and later revisit up to three Otherworldly Space battlefields, and he recorded the current battlefield.
• Shi Zunhou reflected on the Dark Peng’s unusual role as a savior, while Mada asked Wang Dong about the Pan-Universal Human Alliance.
• Wang Dong examined the Gale’s Chapter and learned it could boost the speed of up to one hundred warships by ten percent; he installed it in the Dark Peng’s auxiliary module slot.
• Wang Dong and Mada investigated the Dark Peng’s Source Point gain and found it had received only half the normal amount because its combat rating had reached LV.18 against a Level 2 Civilization.

Wang Dong considered the Dark Peng’s growing strength and traveled to North Wind Fortress, where he reunited with Lin Xiaogui. In a private online conversation, Lin Xiaogui admitted she wanted to give their relationship a chance but faced pressure to marry a neighboring lord’s son.

• Wang Dong assessed the Dark Peng’s true combat strength as above LV.54 and considered seeking a Level 3 Otherworldly Civilization for its next battlefield.
• The Dark Peng collected its returning crew and headed to North Wind Fortress after the Royal Fleet captured it without resistance.
• At an audience aboard the Goddess of Dawn, the Eldest Princess praised Viscountcy of Black Stone’s campaign participation and awarded it a modest sum.
• Lin Xiaogui secretly signaled Wang Dong to meet online at seven, and they spoke privately on the Star Domain Network.
• Lin Xiaogui told Wang Dong she wanted to give their relationship a chance but was being pressed to marry the neighboring lord’s second son.

Wang Dong deduced that Lin Xiaogui’s proposed political marriage was with the Seaton Duchy’s second son and saw a way to help her by offering the aging Grand Duke a life-extending supplement. Lin Xiaogui realized Wang Dong had obtained something exceptionally valuable and pressed him to explain where it came from.

• Wang Dong identified the Seaton Duchy as Lin Xiaogui’s likely marriage partner and understood how the alliance would benefit both kingdoms.
• Wang Dong accepted that Lin Xiaogui felt responsible for considering the political marriage and did not urge her to reject it for love.
• Wang Dong learned that the elderly Grand Duke Seaton had only a few months left and proposed giving him a life-extending supplement.
• Lin Xiaogui explained that the Grand Duke had already used a purple-quality Level 5 Biological Essence Liquid, making anything weaker ineffective.
• Wang Dong signaled that he had a gold-quality Level 5 Biological Essence, and Lin Xiaogui excitedly demanded to know where he got it and whether he had broken the law.

Wang Dong and Lin Xiaogui planned to use golden-quality Level 5 Biological Essence to win the old grand duke’s favor and delay a rushed marriage, while advancing their own relationship. After Wang Dong returned to Viscountcy of Black Stone, the viscount gave him bad news about the situation in Viscount Highland Territory.

• Lin Xiaogui proposed discussing the details of using the essence later, and Wang Dong agreed to let her arrange a trade with the old grand duke.
• Wang Dong agreed to join Lin Xiaogui on an expedition to the Weijing River, where they planned for him to find the essence and present it to her for the trade.
• Lin Xiaogui and Wang Dong postponed the expedition until roughly two months later, while she remained at North Wind Fortress to help settle the northern territories.
• On May 3, Wang Dong returned with the Dark Peng to Silver Castle, which had suffered few losses and was reclaimed by the viscount’s fleet.
• The viscount told Wang Dong that the situation in Viscount Highland Territory was complicated after Viscount Zhang Qingwen reclaimed his land and other noble forces became involved.

Wang Dong traveled to the Phoenix Star System to investigate the disappearance of the Viscountcy of Black Stone's merchant fleet and learned that the Phoenix Family was responsible. The fleet had anticipated the danger and moved its personnel aboard three Kindling Warships, but their whereabouts remained unknown.

• The viscount told Wang Dong that the merchant fleet had gone missing from a free port in the Phoenix Star System, and Wang Dong agreed to find it.
• Mada's intelligence revealed that the Phoenix Family, not the Earl's Territory of Tianfang, had attacked the fleet.
• Wang Dong prioritized locating the fleet's people and upgraded the Chapter of Gale to LV.5 before setting out aboard the Dark Peng.
• On May 6, the Dark Peng arrived in the Phoenix Star System under altered identity information.
• Mada reported that the merchant fleet had moved its personnel aboard three Kindling Warships before the Phoenix Family acted, but their current whereabouts were still unknown.

Wang Dong chose Rodan Phoenix, the Phoenix Family's heir, as a target to capture and interrogate about the merchant fleet. When Rodan's small fleet left the Phoenix Star System, a single enemy ship attacked and heavily damaged his cruiser, leaving him facing another potentially decisive barrage.

• Mada reported that the Phoenix Family was pursuing the merchant fleet because it had taken in a young explorer who possessed a secret the family wanted.
• Wang Dong ordered Mada to locate a senior Phoenix Family member and chose Rodan Phoenix as the best target for an interrogation.
• Rodan Phoenix left the Phoenix Star System aboard the Phoenix Banner, escorted by one cruiser and ten destroyers, on his way to visit the Eldest Princess at North Wind Fortress.
• An unknown single ship attacked Rodan's fleet, reducing the Phoenix Banner's shield durability by fifty-six percent in one strike.
• Rodan ordered a distress signal and a counterattack after realizing the lone enemy ship could collapse the Phoenix Banner's shield with its next barrage.

The Dark Peng destroyed Rodan Phoenix’s fleet and captured the Phoenix Banner, while Zhou Tai learned why the Phoenix Family had attacked the merchant fleet. Wang Dong recognized Xu Zhenzhi as a key member of Pan Kui’s future expedition to a ruin in the Weijing River.

• Wu Baiyi evaded the enemy’s attack, and the Dark Peng destroyed the ten destroyers accompanying the Phoenix Banner.
• Zhou Tai’s boarding party subdued the Phoenix Banner and interrogated Rodan Phoenix about the Phoenix Family’s pursuit of Xu Zhenzhi.
• Zhou Tai learned that Xu Zhenzhi had discovered a ruin in the Weijing River and was using its treacherous surroundings to evade the Phoenix Family.
• Zhou Tai showed Wang Dong the star chart marking the area where Xu Zhenzhi and the ruin were believed to be.
• Wang Dong recalled that Xu Zhenzhi had been a key member of the expedition organized by Pan Kui.

Wang Dong upgraded the Dark Peng’s Mirage System and led the crew into the Weijing River to find the merchant fleet. After failing to locate them, he sent a coded wide-area announcement and began patrolling, leaving the ship hidden near a region containing a star beast nest.

• Wang Dong left the Phoenix Banner parked in a secluded area and headed toward the ruin in the Weijing River aboard the Dark Peng.
• Gao Luanqin gave Wang Dong a star map of dangerous areas where her parents might have disappeared, and he agreed to explore them gradually.
• Wang Dong upgraded the Mirage System from LV.5 to LV.10, extending its concealment duration to 96 hours.
• Wang Dong and the crew reached the ruin’s approximate location after three days but found no trace of the merchant fleet.
• Wang Dong sent a coded announcement every minute, telling the fleet to approach him, while the Dark Peng patrolled the region.
• Two Fire Seed Warships remained hidden among asteroids beside a massive star beast nest.

Zheng Yan, Li Zi Qing, and Old Taylor received a sector-wide announcement from Wang Dong while hiding from the Phoenix Family in the Weijing River. They recognized his identity and decided to follow the signal, leaving Xu Zhenzhi stunned by their trust in him.

• Xu Zhenzhi said the sleeping Star Wyrm's nest would protect them for five days and explained that the Phoenix Family's tracking substance would take about ten days to dissipate from their engines.
• Old Taylor explained that the crew had accepted the dangerous job for a High-grade Energy Crystal to help Wang Dong advance in Body Forging Technique.
• The intelligence officer announced that Wang Dong had sent a sector-wide transmission using the Viscountcy of Black Stone's cipher.
• Xu Zhenzhi questioned whether the announcement was a Phoenix Family trap, but Li Zi Qing and Zheng Yan identified Wang Dong by his use of the nickname Brother Dong.
• Old Taylor decided they would follow the announcement's source as secretly as possible and asked Xu Zhenzhi to guide them.

Xu Zhenzhi plotted a cautious route toward the source of the broadcast while Manet Phoenix and Philip debated whether to investigate it. The Phoenix fleet chose to wait, and the concealed Dark Peng still had not received a response.

• Xu Zhenzhi used his knowledge of the Weijing River to plan a route for the caravan, and the two warships cautiously headed toward the broadcast source.
• Manet Phoenix complained about the danger and wanted to return, but Philip reminded him that abandoning the mission would cost him the heir competition.
• The Phoenix fleet received a garbled wide-area broadcast, and Philip judged that investigating it was the worst choice.
• Manet Phoenix decided to wait and see, then teased Philip about his limited understanding of human unpredictability.
• Gao Luanqin reported that the Dark Peng had received no response, and Wu Baiyi said the trade fleet likely lacked their concealment capabilities.