Chapter Summaries

Xie Ji and Lu Xunji discussed the rules of their new relationship, Lu Xunji’s jealousy, and his despair without Xie Ji before reuniting in person. Lu Xunji celebrated Xie Ji’s birthday with a cake and revealed that a medal he had earned would grant Xie Ji a small fief in the Empire.

• Xie Ji asked Lu Xunji to stop giving him the silent treatment, while Lu Xunji explained that he was jealous of Xie Ji’s close friendships but would not make him choose.
• After Xie Ji joked about breaking up, Lu Xunji eventually reassured him, said he was learning to love him, and admitted that life felt meaningless without him.
• Xie Ji worried that he was not good enough for Lu Xunji, who explained that joining the special assessment had also been a way to save himself from his weariness with life.
• Lu Xunji arrived at Xie Ji’s dormitory with a birthday cake, and Xie Ji kissed him and told him, “I love you.”
• Lu Xunji told Xie Ji that the medal he had earned could give him a small fief in the Empire and declared himself Xie Ji’s most valuable bargaining chip.

Xie Ji let Lu Xunji inspect his light brain, but Lu Xunji uncovered his private photos and set an embarrassing picture as his lock screen. Xie Ji got him to change it, and the two ended the chapter teasing each other about their intimate life.

• Xie Ji asked for Lu Xunji’s light brain, and Lu Xunji handed it over before asking to inspect Xie Ji’s device in return.
• Lu Xunji searched Xie Ji’s social apps, pinned his own contact, and renamed himself “That darling hubby who needs coaxing.”
• Lu Xunji guessed Xie Ji’s private album password and found saved photos of himself, including one taken after they had sex.
• Lu Xunji set the suggestive photo as Xie Ji’s lock screen, and Xie Ji snatched the device back in alarm.
• Xie Ji persuaded Lu Xunji to replace the photo with an image of the swing on their dorm balcony, then kicked him for joking about their sex life.

Lu Xunji thanked Xie Ji for accepting his need for control, and Xie Ji gave him access to monitor his whereabouts and communications. After Jin Li discovered the couple’s relationship was no secret, he told Xie Ji that Shen Ting wanted to see him.

• Lu Xunji thanked Xie Ji for loving and accepting him, and Xie Ji gave him monitoring software that allowed him to track her activities and access her light brain.
• Xie Ji reassured Lu Xunji about their relationship, and Lu Xunji cried as they stayed together until evening.
• Lu Xunji cooked dinner and tutored Xie Ji before Jin Li arrived at their dorm.
• Lu Xunji startled Jin Li, who pretended to faint, and Xie Ji dragged him outside.
• Xie Ji told Jin Li that he and Lu Xunji were together, and Jin Li said Shen Ting wanted to see him.

Shen Ting asked Xie Ji to read her fortune after learning that the academy was sending students to the front lines, and his chart suggested she might die on the mission. Xie Ji learned Lu Xunji had also received orders and wanted to go with him, but Lu Xunji refused because he feared losing him.

• Jin Li told Xie Ji that Shen Ting had asked to meet him, and they found her at a café.
• Shen Ting explained that a close senior had vanished after taking a secret academy mission and that she had received orders to deploy to the war zone in three days.
• Xie Ji read Shen Ting’s natal chart and saw signs of an early death, but Shen Ting said she would go because the Empire needed her.
• Shen Ting left to prepare for deployment, and Xie Ji returned to the dorm to find Lu Xunji had prepared dinner.
• Xie Ji confronted Lu Xunji about hiding his mission assignment and asked to accompany him, but Lu Xunji refused because Xie Ji meant too much to him.
• Xie Ji agreed not to go with Lu Xunji.

Xie Ji learned that the military academy was sending students to the front lines to face an unidentified alien species, and discovered that Lu Xunji and Ji Shi were among those deploying. After revealing that he and Lu Xunji were together, Xie Ji checked his friends’ destiny charts and found that nearly all of them had shattered.

• Xie Ji agreed to try the mecha simulation pods with Lu Xunji, and they kissed before Lu Xunji left for training.
• Jin Li told Xie Ji that many damaged mechas were arriving at the school and that Senior Shen Ting would leave the next day with other top students.
• Zhou Heyu, Mu Yao, Ji Shi, and Shang Yan told Xie Ji that Ji Shi and Lu Xunji were deploying to the front lines amid reports of an unidentified alien species near the empire’s borders.
• Xie Ji revealed that he and Lu Xunji were together, upsetting Ji Shi, who was leaving for the front lines the next day.
• Xie Ji read Ji Shi’s destiny chart and found it shattered, then checked Mu Yao, Zhou Heyu, Shang Yan, and Jin Li and discovered their charts had shattered too.

Xie Ji saw signs of disaster in the fate charts of those around him and decided he wanted to accompany Lu Xunji to the front lines. After they reconciled over his choice, Lu Xunji took him aboard the starship bound for the front lines.

• Xie Ji noticed fissures in the fate charts of his acquaintances and worried that a catastrophe threatened them.
• Ji Shi suspected Xie Ji planned to sneak to the battlefield, while Shang Yan reminded him they were leaving for the front lines the next day.
• During mecha simulation training, Xie Ji’s simulated mecha was destroyed after two minutes, and Lu Xunji comforted him.
• Lu Xunji agreed to take Xie Ji with him, and Xie Ji said he wanted to stand beside him; Lu Xunji apologized for limiting his choices.
• Lu Xunji took Xie Ji back to their dorm, and the next morning he packed their things and brought Xie Ji aboard the starship bound for the front lines.

Xie Ji traveled toward the front lines with Lu Xunji under official deployment orders, while Ji Shi joined the expedition and worried about his safety. Before parting, Xie Ji gave Ji Shi a protective talisman, then reassured Lu Xunji with a kiss as they continued their journey.

• Lu Xunji told Xie Ji that he had secured deployment orders for him and kept him close aboard the crowded starship.
• Xie Ji encountered Ji Shi aboard the ship, and they discussed who else might be heading to the front lines.
• Xie Ji gave Ji Shi a protective talisman that would let him call for help in danger, and Ji Shi joked that he wanted to be Xie Ji's side piece.
• Lu Xunji admitted that he had been afraid to listen to Xie Ji and Ji Shi's conversation because of his jealousy.
• Xie Ji kissed his fingers and pressed them to Lu Xunji's lips, and Lu Xunji kissed them in return.

Xie Ji joined Lu Xunji aboard the Second War Zone commander's starship, reassured him about their relationship, and helped him review the front-line reports. They discovered that strange creatures were emerging from a rapidly collapsing black hole near the Empire's borders, and Little Black warned that the world was going to collapse.

• Lu Xunji told Xie Ji he would stay with him in the Second War Zone commander's office under family transfer orders, and Xie Ji admitted that Lu Xunji was his boyfriend.
• Lu Xunji explained that he had told the principal Xie Ji was his little brother, and Xie Ji reassured him that he was not ashamed of their relationship.
• Lu Xunji took command of the Second War Zone and read reports about a black hole near the Empire's borders and creatures that were attacking mechas and starships.
• Lu Xunji explained that only mechas equipped with thermal ion guns could kill the creatures, while researchers still did not know what they were.
• Xie Ji asked Little Black to use the system to discover where the creatures came from, and Little Black said the world was going to collapse.

Xie Ji learned that the world was nearing collapse because Lu Xunji’s affection for himself remained too low, and he faced a choice between abandoning the world or letting Lu Xunji die to reset it. As Lu Xunji managed the worsening war, Xie Ji helped around Combat Zone Two, and the chapter ended with Lu Xunji kissing him in his office and telling him to get on the bed.

• Little Black warned Xie Ji that the world was close to collapse and offered him a choice: leave the world or have Lu Xunji willingly die so it could reset.
• Xie Ji refused to decide whether Lu Xunji or the rest of the world should be sacrificed, then left the commander's office to help wherever he could.
• Lu Xunji organized Combat Zone Two's defenses and worked without sleep while Xie Ji distributed food, repaired mechas, and helped salvage battlefield equipment.
• After an unfamiliar man brought Xie Ji to the commander's office, Lu Xunji pinned him against the door and kissed him.
• Xie Ji urged Lu Xunji to rest and said he was dirty, but Lu Xunji told him to take off his clothes and get on the bed.

Xie Ji tried to comfort the exhausted Lu Xunji while they worked on the crisis of multiplying unidentified creatures and a collapsing black hole. As Lu Xunji let Xie Ji stay beside him, Xie Ji asked whether he would keep fighting if he knew his efforts were futile.

• Xie Ji helped Lu Xunji relax, then watched him sleep before returning to the repair department.
• Lu Xunji woke to an urgent call and worked for more than ten hours as the unidentified creatures multiplied and the black hole continued collapsing.
• Xie Ji visited Lu Xunji during his brief break and helped ease his tension before preparing to leave.
• Lu Xunji asked Xie Ji to sleep in his office, and Xie Ji agreed to stay beside him.
• After watching Lu Xunji work, Xie Ji told him he loved him and asked whether he would continue if he knew everything he was doing was futile.

Xie Ji heard Ji Shi’s final message through the protective talisman and learned that Ji Shi was trapped in a black hole after the Fifth War Zone’s escape pod was pulled inside. He insisted on going to find him, and Lu Xunji revealed that his devotion to directing the war was driven by his desire to prove his worth to Xie Ji.

• Lu Xunji told Xie Ji that he valued the process of pursuing something more than its outcome.
• Xie Ji woke to alarms and overheard that the Fifth War Zone had been attacked and its commander was missing.
• Through the protective talisman, Ji Shi described the Fifth War Zone’s collapse, Shen Ting’s sacrifice, and his own entrapment inside a black hole where the monsters were born.
• Xie Ji demanded a combat mecha so he could rescue Ji Shi, but Lu Xunji initially refused.
• Lu Xunji agreed to go with Xie Ji, then told him that he directed the war to prove his worth to Xie Ji and threatened the Empire if Xie Ji died.

After the Fifth War Zone fell, Xie Ji planned to enter the black hole to rescue Ji Shi, whose heartbeat he could still sense. He teamed up with Zhuang Huan, a doctor and researcher from the fallen Seventh War Zone, and they headed for the mecha area to find another person for the dangerous mission.

• Lu Xunji refused to send someone to watch Xie Ji and said he would report the Fifth War Zone's fall to headquarters.
• Xie Ji wandered through the war zone, considering stealing a mecha to fly into the black hole and rescue Ji Shi.
• Xie Ji ran into Zhuang Huan, who said the Seventh War Zone had fallen and that Lu Xunji was holding back monsters from reaching civilian areas.
• Xie Ji told Zhuang Huan that Ji Shi believed the black hole might be where they could end the crisis, and Zhuang Huan agreed to investigate.
• Xie Ji insisted on going with Zhuang Huan, who led him to the mecha area and said they needed to bring one more person.

Xie Ji reunited with Mu Yao and persuaded Lu Xunji to lend them a mecha so they could head toward Ji Shi and investigate a possible way to stop the black hole. Lu Xunji gave Xie Ji ten days to return, and Xie Ji, Mu Yao, and Zhuang Huan launched in mecha No. N709.

• Xie Ji found Mu Yao among the broken mechas and learned that Shang Yan was delivering supplies while Zhou Heyu had joined an individual combat squad.
• Zhuang Huan and Mu Yao told Xie Ji that he was the only one who could persuade Lu Xunji to lend them a mecha.
• Xie Ji asked Lu Xunji for a mecha, promised to return safely, and agreed to come back within ten days.
• Lu Xunji authorized Xie Ji to take mecha No. N709, while declining his adjutant's suggestion to send someone else.
• Mu Yao took the pilot's seat, and the three launched toward their destination.

Xie Ji, Mu Yao, and Zhuang Huan crossed the monster tide and reached the enormous tree at the black hole’s center, where they found Ji Shi alive in a safety capsule. As they tried to recover and escape, Mu Yao was revealed to have a fatal wound, and Xie Ji’s attempts to save him failed.

• Mu Yao piloted the damaged mech through the monster tide while Xie Ji guided him with his astrolabe, until the black hole’s magnetic field pulled them into a crash.
• Xie Ji, Mu Yao, and Zhuang Huan discovered the glowing tree whose brain-shaped fruit fell and became monsters.
• Xie Ji and Mu Yao found Ji Shi in a safety capsule behind the tree and brought him back to the mech.
• Little Black climbed the tree while Zhuang Huan studied it, but Xie Ji returned to find Mu Yao bleeding from a fragment embedded in his back.
• Mu Yao urged Xie Ji to take Ji Shi home and confessed his feelings, while Xie Ji’s medicine failed to stop the bleeding; Mu Yao’s last words wished the empire and his loved ones well.

Xie Ji learned that he was Ji Qing and that Lu Xunji had taken on Di Mang’s karmic punishment across the three thousand worlds. As they escaped the black hole, Ji Shi sealed Xie Ji in an escape pod and sacrificed the mecha, leaving Xie Ji drifting toward the Second War Zone.

• Little Black revealed that Xie Ji was Ji Qing and showed him how Ji Qing had punished Di Mang, then entered the three thousand worlds to atone for Di Mang’s massacre.
• Xie Ji urged Zhuang Huan to leave, but Zhuang Huan chose to remain by the World Tree, so Xie Ji left him food and departed with Ji Shi and Mu Yao.
• Ji Shi piloted the mecha toward the black hole’s edge and sent Xie Ji to search the escape pod for a spare core.
• Ji Shi locked Xie Ji inside the escape pod, ejected it toward the Second War Zone, and let the mecha plunge into the black hole.
• System notifications reported that Ji Shi’s and Zhou Heyu’s favorability toward Xie Ji had fallen to zero.

Xie Ji woke after the final battle and found Lu Xunji at the watchtower, where Lu planned to sacrifice himself to save the world. Xie Ji jumped after him, and when the mission reached its limit, he awoke in his old room and reunited with Lu Xunji.

• Xie Ji woke in the Second War Zone and rushed to the watchtower after learning Lu Xunji was there.
• Lu Xunji explained that his blood and life were needed to stop the vengeful spirits and restart the world.
• Lu Xunji fell from the watchtower, and Xie Ji jumped after him and caught his hand.
• The system announced that Lu Xunji's affection had reached its limit, and time stopped before they struck the ground.
• Xie Ji awoke in his room at the Xie Household and found that Lu Xunji and his friends were missing from his light brain.
• Lu Xunji appeared beside Xie Ji, accepted his rose, and kissed him.