Recaps

Xing Lan revealed that she was a symbiote bonded with a City Destruction Level Star Moon Butterfly, and Sun Hai tested whether she was strong enough to stay. Their fight left Xing Lan's starry wings shattered after Sun Hai caught her by surprise.

• Nanming explained that symbiotes fused with Variants and were often hostile toward humans, before Xing Lan announced her bond with a Star Moon Butterfly.
• Sun Hai challenged Xing Lan to a strength test, and she accepted eagerly, drawing her saber.
• Xing Lan traded attacks with Sun Hai, then summoned starry butterfly wings and took to the air.
• Xing Lan pursued Sun Hai with volleys of stars, but he used a thrown blade to distract her and reappeared behind her.
• Sun Hai struck Xing Lan's wings repeatedly, shattering both pairs into scattered starlight.

Xing Lan lost her spar with Sun Hai but was accepted into the Special Investigation Team. As Feng Xuan explained the team’s members and Sun Hai’s strength, Xing Lan learned that Sun Hai had defeated her without using his abilities.

• Xing Lan fell after Sun Hai defeated her, and Sun Hai accepted her into the team by telling Nanming to assign her a dorm room.
• Xing Lan celebrated by hugging Si Xiaobei so tightly that he nearly passed out, and Nanming carried him to the infirmary.
• Feng Xuan introduced himself as the team’s logistics specialist and Liu Xiaogang as a combatant without abilities.
• Liu Xiaogang showed Xing Lan her empty dorm room, while he and Feng Xuan quietly recognized each other’s feelings for someone.
• Feng Xuan told Xing Lan that Sun Hai was a Transcendent who had beaten her using only fighting skills and physical strength, without using his abilities.

Feng Xuan explained the Night Stars and introduced Xing Lan to her squadmates before Captain Sun Hai took her to his apartment. He handed her Hela and a note about her, leaving Xing Lan confused and responsible for taking care of her.

• Feng Xuan explained the Night Stars’ duties and the Special Investigation Squad’s high-risk work, but Xing Lan said she was excited to join it.
• Feng Xuan introduced Si Xiaobei and Nanming to Xing Lan and explained their roles in the squad.
• Sun Hai arrived and told Xing Lan to come with him; Feng Xuan and Liu Xiaogang shared the story of how Sun Hai’s childhood dog was killed by a mutant.
• Sun Hai drove Xing Lan to his apartment, where he handed her Hela and a note with information about her, then told Xing Lan to take good care of her.

Xing Lan took Hela shopping and brought her back to the Star Barbershop. That night, a young man rented a cheap basement room, where a monstrous presence killed him, and the elderly landlady cleaned up the blood the next morning.

• Xing Lan read that Hela had suffered a shock and lost her memory, then excitedly hugged her and hurried away after noticing onlookers.
• Xing Lan spent the afternoon shopping with Hela, bought her various belongings, and made Hela carry most of them back to the Star Barbershop.
• A young man looking for a cheap place to stay found an elderly landlady and rented a room in her basement.
• After noises from a rolling shutter kept him awake, the young man struck it with a mop and shouted for whoever was inside to stop.
• The shutter rose, and a huge hand dragged the terrified young man into the darkness as he tried to escape.
• The next morning, the elderly landlady cleaned up the blood and remarked that her dear one was still messy.

Xing Lan spent the night with Hela, then woke early to train at the Special Investigation Squad. The chapter left Xing Lan sparring with Liu Xiaogang while Si Xiaobei taught Hela Chinese and Nanming prepared breakfast.

• Xing Lan started a pillow fight with Hela, then fell asleep cuddling her after Feng Xuan sent them to bed.
• Xing Lan got up at five thirty and slipped out of the dorm, telling Si Xiaobei she was going to train.
• Xing Lan heard someone cursing at a game, then startled Liu Xiaogang in the basement while announcing her arrival.
• Xing Lan challenged Liu Xiaogang to a spar, and he agreed to train the newcomer as the captain had instructed.
• Si Xiaobei taught Hela Chinese while Nanming served them millet porridge and showed Hela how to cool it by blowing on it.

Si Xiaobei taught Hela to speak while the Special Investigation Squad gathered for breakfast after Xing Lan returned injured from training with Liu Xiaogang. Xing Lan recovered enough to join the meal, where the squad bickered and she fed Hela.

• Si Xiaobei praised Hela for learning to say hello and continued teaching her over breakfast.
• Xing Lan returned from training with Liu Xiaogang bruised and limping, and Si Xiaobei took her to the infirmary.
• Si Xiaobei treated Xing Lan's injuries and told her that Liu Xiaogang had gone easy on her.
• Xing Lan joined the squad for breakfast and snatched a meat bun from Feng Xuan and Liu Xiaogang before giving it to Hela.
• Liu Xiaogang bragged about his strength as a Transcendent, and Feng Xuan mocked him while they argued over breakfast.

Nanming’s Special Investigation Squad received a suspected Variant case in Guangshen and flew there to investigate. Meanwhile, Dr. Hong studied a rapidly regenerating Variant, named it [HeLa Cell], and secured it, while Hela reacted at the Star Barbershop.

• Nanming summoned the squad after receiving notice of a suspected Variant case in Guangshen, and Xing Lan eagerly prepared to go.
• Feng Xuan revealed the squad’s stealth fighter, and the team flew from City D to Guangshen.
• Xing Lan jumped from the plane without a parachute, followed by Liu Xiaogang, Si Xiaobei, and Nanming.
• At an experimental base, Dr. Hong observed a cell rapidly regenerate and grow after absorbing glucose.
• Dr. Hong named the Variant [HeLa Cell] and froze it in a special container for storage.
• Back at the Star Barbershop, Hela’s eyes trembled slightly.

After returning from a mission, Xing Lan reunited with Hela and later took her shopping during a rare break. When Xing Lan’s phone died and they couldn’t afford a hotel, they searched the streets for somewhere to stay and spotted an old apartment building.

• Xing Lan returned with the others after killing a Beast King-level Variant, and Feng Xuan scolded her for charging in without checking its strength or telling the group.
• Nanming prepared extra dinner after the group realized Hela had been left alone without food, and Xing Lan later climbed into Hela’s bed to sleep beside her.
• Over the next month, Xing Lan and Hela trained and went on six missions, while Si Xiaobei helped Hela learn to understand speech and express herself.
• Xing Lan took Hela shopping, but her phone ran out of battery, leaving them unable to find their way back.
• Xing Lan and Hela couldn’t afford a hotel room, so they continued searching for somewhere to stay until Xing Lan noticed an old-fashioned apartment building.

Xing Lan and Hela rented a basement room from an old woman, and Xing Lan searched the house for a supposed hidden treasure. After Hela spotted something behind a rolling shutter, a giant withered hand reached out and grabbed at Xing Lan.

• Xing Lan persuaded the old woman to let her and Hela stay the night in a basement room for fifteen a day.
• The old woman locked the basement gate after showing them to their room.
• Xing Lan and Hela searched their room for a Strange Artifact or cultivation technique but found nothing.
• Xing Lan stopped searching the other rooms, but Hela pointed out a rolling shutter and said there was a big head behind it.
• Xing Lan approached the shutter after hearing strange noises, and a huge withered hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed at her.

Xing Lan fought a powerful spider-like Variant in the basement, but an elderly landlady’s interference let it reach Hela and cut her in half. As the Variant moved to kill a grief-stricken Xing Lan, Xiaogang arrived and stopped it with a spear.

• Xing Lan attacked the spider old man and realized its strength and defense were formidable, though it was slow and clumsy.
• The elderly landlady grabbed Xing Lan and begged her not to hurt her husband, allowing the spider old man to charge at Hela.
• The spider old man cut Hela in half, leaving Xing Lan devastated and unable to react.
• The spider old man prepared to kill Xing Lan, but Xiaogang arrived and shattered its forelimb with a silver-white spear.
• Xing Lan recognized Xiaogang and began telling him that Hela had been killed.

Liu Xiaogang killed the spider old man after seeing Hela apparently cut in half, but Hela regenerated and returned unharmed. The group realized the old man was a [Puppet Worm] using the grieving old woman to lure people in, and Nanming ordered her to come with them for sheltering a Variant.

• Liu Xiaogang rushed at the spider old man and shredded him after seeing Hela apparently cut in half.
• Hela walked back unharmed, and Xing Lan embraced her in relief while Si Xiaobei and the others reacted with shock.
• Liu Xiaogang explained that Hela's upper and lower halves had joined back together, and Hela confirmed his account.
• Feng Xuan identified the spider old man as a [Puppet Worm] that parasitized corpses and used the deceased's family to conceal itself.
• Nanming told the old woman that sheltering a Variant violated Great Xia Nation's laws and ordered her to come with them.

Sun Hai investigated Hela’s unusual regeneration and suspected she was a Symbiote linked to the murderous [HeLa Cell]. He arranged to test Hela’s abilities, leaving her to decide whether to reveal them.

• Nanming gave Sun Hai records about regenerative abilities and [HeLa Cell], and Sun Hai compared them with the team’s account of Hela rejoining her severed body parts.
• Sun Hai suspected [HeLa Cell] had entered into symbiosis with Hela after both were gravely injured, though he also considered that Hela herself might be [HeLa Cell] in another form.
• Xing Lan, Liu Xiaogang, and Si Xiaobei protested when Sun Hai placed a knife on the table, then learned he only wanted to test Hela’s regeneration.
• Xing Lan tried to cut Hela’s hand, but the knife tip only indented her skin before it sprang back without leaving a wound.
• Hela understood that demonstrating her regenerative ability might strengthen Sun Hai’s suspicion, and she pondered whether to reveal it.

Hela demonstrated that she could regenerate her severed hand and use the [HeLa Cell]'s energy to grow a copy of her arm. Sun Hai concluded that Hela should become a Night Star, but her friends disagreed over the danger, leaving Xing Lan uncertain.

• Hela cut off her own left hand, then quickly regrew it while everyone panicked.
• Hela made the severed hand clench and heal, confirming to Sun Hai that she was a [Symbiote] sharing a symbiosis with the [HeLa Cell].
• After Hela said she was hungry, Xing Lan gave her three candies, and the severed hand grew into a forearm.
• Hela swallowed the forearm, horrifying the others and prompting Nanming and Liu Xiaogang to remark on the [HeLa Cell]'s influence.
• Sun Hai said Hela should become a Night Star, while Liu Xiaogang argued she should live as an ordinary girl.
• Feng Xuan supported Sun Hai, but Xing Lan remained conflicted about whether Hela should fight alongside her.

Hela agreed to join the Night Stars and signed an application to attend recruit training camp. Nanming revealed that a mysterious young man may have given the old woman the means to turn her husband into a [Puppet Worm], raising suspicions about the Light God Society, while Xing Lan took Hela to begin training.

• Sun Hai asked Hela whether she wanted to join the Night Stars, and she agreed after realizing she could fight and eat more Variants.
• Hela signed the application form, and Sun Hai told the squad to train her during the two months before recruit training camp began.
• Nanming reported that a masked young man had given the old woman an insect egg to revive her husband as a [Puppet Worm].
• Nanming said the man might belong to the Light God Society, an organization of [Symbiotes] that had attacked the Night Stars before.
• Sun Hai left to report the suspected Variant-control ability to his superiors, while Xing Lan took Hela and Liu Xiaogang to the basement to train.

Liu Xiaogang and Xing Lan tested Hela’s strength and speed, discovering that she could lift a hundred-kilogram barbell and run quickly once she learned proper form. They decided to teach her fighting skills, with Xing Lan insisting that she help.

• Liu Xiaogang tested Hela with increasingly heavy weights, and she lifted a hundred-kilogram barbell after her arms briefly grew muscles.
• Liu Xiaogang timed Hela’s hundred-meter run, and she first ran on all fours in 15.71 seconds.
• Xing Lan taught Hela to run on two legs, and Hela completed the hundred meters in 9.66 seconds.
• Liu Xiaogang said Hela needed to learn fighting skills, and Xing Lan insisted on helping teach her despite his doubts about her own skills.

Feng Xuan took Hela from practical training to a theory lesson about Variant Artifacts and the strength levels of humans and Variants. He explained the realm rankings and the danger posed by high-level Variants.

• Xing Lan collapsed from exhaustion while Hela and Liu Xiaogang continued fighting after more than two hours.
• Feng Xuan arrived, praised Xing Lan’s training, and called Hela away for a theory lesson.
• Liu Xiaogang stopped Xing Lan from leaving, insisting that her training was not over.
• Feng Xuan led Hela to the lounge and explained the three tiers of Variant Artifacts, including the captain’s Black Crow and Xing Lan’s blade.
• Feng Xuan described the human and Variant strength realms, noting that Variants were generally stronger than humans at the same level.

Hela completed two months of training and prepared to leave for the year-long recruit training camp in Guangshen. As Feng Xuan flew her there, she reflected on the aircraft that had once blown her up and asked whether Si Xiaobei and Nanming were a couple.

• After Sun Hai returned, he took over Hela's combat training, and she improved until she could fight Xing Lan to a draw and defeat her once.
• Feng Xuan made a packing list, and Si Xiaobei took Hela and Xing Lan shopping for supplies for the camp.
• Xing Lan gave Hela a hidden-blade pendant, but Sun Hai took it away and warned that it could cause trouble for Hela.
• Feng Xuan brought Hela aboard the invisible aircraft and flew her toward the recruit training camp in Guangshen.
• Hela remembered that the aircraft resembled the one that had blown her up, then asked Feng Xuan whether Si Xiaobei and Nanming were a couple.

A pair of brothers prepared to leave Neon for Great Xia, while Han Xiaoxiao signed up for recruit training despite a serious disability. At the training camp, Hela survived a fall from an aircraft and healed in front of the recruits and instructors.

• The white-haired boy told his brother he was returning to Great Xia that night, and the brothers said they missed their mother.
• Han Xiaoxiao signed the recruit training camp application despite being diagnosed with a grade-three limb disability.
• Chief Instructor Li Hu and Instructor Chuan discussed the new recruits and Chuan praised a capable Symbiote named Hela.
• Feng Xuan brought Hela to the training camp by aircraft, and she jumped out without using the parachute.
• Hela hit the ground, then her twisted limbs and wounds healed rapidly as the stunned onlookers watched.
• Instructor Chuan identified Hela as the recruit he had high hopes for, and Li Hu agreed she stood out.

Hela joined the training program, found a room in the girls’ dormitory, and met her new roommate, Han Keru. After the two introduced their abilities, Hela returned to unpacking while Keke wondered whether they would get along.

• The instructor dispersed the crowd around Hela, asked why she had come, and directed her to the dormitories.
• Hela chose an empty bed in a double room, made it, and changed into her uniform.
• Han Keru arrived, introduced herself as Hela’s roommate, and asked whether Hela was a foreigner.
• Hela said she was a [Symbiote] partnered with [HeLa Cell], and Han Keru demonstrated her ability to control metal.
• Hela praised Han Keru’s ability and went back to organizing her belongings.

Hela showed Keke around the training camp, then waited for the recruits’ first assembly whistle. She reached the instructors first by leaping from the seventh-floor window and sprinting to the martial arts platform.

• Keke guided Hela around the training camp and showed her its main buildings and facilities.
• Keke spotted two handsome people playing badminton near the supply station before she and Hela returned to their dorm.
• The next morning, Hela got up early while Keke slept, and later the assembly whistle woke them.
• Hela recalled Xing Lan’s instructions and jumped from the seventh-floor window to reach the assembly quickly.
• Hela arrived first at the martial arts platform, surprising the instructors as the first recruit to arrive was female.

Hela and the other recruits began a training game in which five instructors hunted them, while recruits could earn excellent ratings by stealing bells. The game quickly turned violent as the instructors attacked the recruits and a scarred recruit used a sonic power against them.

• Head Instructor Li Hu called the recruits rookies and announced a game where they had to evade five instructors until two o'clock, with stolen bells earning an excellent rating.
• The instructors used Variant Artifacts to suppress their strength to High Rank, then started the game.
• Hela ran from the assembly area, and Keke followed her, while most recruits stayed behind.
• An instructor stomped the ground and blasted several recruits unconscious, prompting the others to attack the instructors with their powers.
• Instructor Chuan Cheng's barrier stopped the recruits' attacks, but a scarred recruit's sonic attack left the instructors clutching their ears.

Hela and Keke escaped the instructors and went to the armory for weapons. After Hela opened the locked doors and chose a straight blade, a one-armed girl entered, took a blade, and left.

• Yan Wusheng fought an explosion-wielding instructor with sound waves, but a blade-wielding instructor joined the attack and forced him to flee.
• Li Hu let Hong Wei chase Yan Wusheng to draw pressure away from the other recruits, then Deputy Chief Instructor Li ordered the instructors to move out.
• Keke followed Hela to the armory, where Hela kicked open the locked doors using Xing Lan's strategy.
• Hela took a straight blade, and Keke hurriedly chose a dagger.
• A one-armed girl entered the armory, took a straight blade with her left hand, and left without acknowledging Hela or Keke.

Yan Wusheng’s attempt to escape Instructor Hongwei caused an explosion that scattered the recruits and left Hela shaken. When Head Instructor Li Hu confronted her in the cafeteria, Hela recovered her nerve and prepared to fight for his bells.

• Hela asked Keke to team up and approached a recruit to ask whether he was strong.
• Yan Wusheng crashed into the armory, grabbed a rocket launcher, and fired it at Instructor Hongwei, blasting the room and knocking out nearly all the recruits.
• Keke found herself alone with the weakened Hongwei, who asked her to help him up.
• Hela escaped through a thick cement wall and ran to the cafeteria, where her injured hands healed; Yan Wusheng thanked her for helping him escape and left.
• Hela’s fear of explosions lingered until Head Instructor Li Hu entered, prompting her bone whip to strike him and drive him back.
• Li Hu recognized Hela’s High Rank strength, while Hela focused on the five bells at his waist and transformed her hands into thin whips.

Ye Yiqing intervened when an instructor nearly eliminated a one-armed recruit, then challenged the instructor himself. He disarmed the instructor in their exchange, but the instructor’s two other swords reached Ye Yiqing’s back as he prepared another strike.

• An instructor found a one-armed girl hiding in a classroom and attacked her with his floating swords, knocking her to the ground.
• Ye Yiqing protected the girl with a giant skeleton and cut the instructor’s cheek with sword qi.
• Ye Yiqing helped the girl up, then told the instructor he was an ordinary person with some swordsmanship and no ability.
• The instructor attacked Ye Yiqing with three swords, but Ye Yiqing blocked them and countered with a series of slashes.
• Ye Yiqing disarmed the instructor and swung at him again, while the instructor’s other two swords closed in on Ye Yiqing’s back.

Ye Yiqing fought the instructor for his bells while Ye Ciqing and Han Xiaoxiao left the area. After Hela fell from the sky and joined the fight, Ye Yiqing and Hela teamed up against the instructor, who struggled to defend himself without risking her life.

• Ye Yiqing fought off the instructor's three flying blades while Ye Ciqing introduced himself to Han Xiaoxiao.
• Han Xiaoxiao left with Ye Ciqing as Ye Yiqing and the instructor continued their duel.
• The instructor praised Ye Yiqing's swordsmanship, and Ye Yiqing encouraged him before noticing Hela falling from the sky.
• Ye Yiqing caught Hela, and she introduced herself as a Symbiote partnered with a HeLa Cell.
• Hela charged the instructor and let his blades pierce her while Ye Yiqing attacked, leaving the instructor unable to pull out his swords or defend himself effectively.