Recaps

Han Xiao and Hila continued fleeing Germinal forces, using their modified vehicle and equipment to survive repeated pursuits. After defeating another convoy and salvaging its parts, they escaped before reinforcements arrived, while Hila’s powers continued to grow despite her exhaustion.

• Han Xiao’s identity as Zero and Black Phantom spread among the major factions, drawing attention to the Ofmera Family and Dark Net Organization.
• Han Xiao and Hila drove through the wilderness with Aurora as Germinal’s thirteenth search squad pursued them.
• Han Xiao turned the Viper Kai into a ranged combat suit and fought the encircling convoy while Hila attacked its troops with her Esper ability.
• Han Xiao defeated the convoy, gained additional Limit Trial progress for fighting outnumbered, and salvaged its equipment.
• Han Xiao and Hila left before reinforcements arrived, and Germinal’s troops found only the wreckage.

Han Xiao used Germinal players’ forum posts to stay ahead of the organization’s pursuit, while players invented romantic stories about him and his companions. A massive Germinal encirclement awaited him in the New Stone Wasteland, and the leader expected the trap to force Han Xiao into a decisive battle.

• Han Xiao learned from Germinal players’ forum posts that the organization was tracking him and used their shared intelligence to evade its deployments.
• Players turned screenshots of Han Xiao traveling with Hila and a young girl into fanciful romance stories, earning him the nicknames “Eloping with girls, Black Phantom” and “Tenderhearted toward beauties, Technician Han.”
• Han Xiao saw a player’s post revealing a large Germinal force assembled along his escape route and realized the situation was dangerous.
• The Germinal leader learned that an encirclement in the New Stone Wasteland was ready and that Han Xiao was expected to reach it in sixteen hours.
• The leader prepared eighty executives, six hundred super soldiers, thousands of troops, hundreds of vehicles, thirty helicopters, and five veteran executives to eliminate Han Xiao.

With Germinal encircling the New Stone Wasteland, Han Xiao planned a breakout with help from a hidden Six Nations rescue force. He and Hila left Aurora concealed inside the encirclement, intending to return for her after the fight.

• Han Xiao told Hila and Tu Shu that Germinal had sealed off the New Stone Wasteland and ruled out escaping through the encirclement alone.
• Han Xiao called the leader, taunted him about Germinal’s decline, and challenged him to face Han Xiao himself, but the leader ended the call.
• Han Xiao learned that the Six Nations rescue force had secretly reached the eastern edge of the wasteland and arranged to break out the next afternoon with its support in reserve.
• Han Xiao and Hila agreed to leave Aurora behind because taking her along would put her in danger and hinder their escape.
• Han Xiao enlarged and reinforced a natural hole, camouflaged its entrance, and left most of the group’s food supplies there for Aurora.

Han Xiao and Hila prepared a breakout from Germinal’s encirclement, using Hila in the Viper Kai armor as a decoy while Han Xiao planned a real attack elsewhere. Hila drew Germinal’s forces to the eastern sector, where Derwent discovered that the supposed Black Phantom was weaker than expected.

• Han Xiao hid Aurora in a cave with supplies, then reassured Hila and told her that Six Nations support was nearby as a fallback.
• Han Xiao gave Hila the Viper Kai armor and taught her to use it, explaining that she would pose as him and draw the enemy’s attention while he attacked their vehicles and ammunition under cover of invisibility.
• After training through the night, Han Xiao and Hila set out to begin their plan as Germinal’s forces maintained a tight encirclement of the New Stone Wasteland.
• Hila drove an armored vehicle toward Germinal’s eastern troops, then charged into their lines after the vehicle was destroyed, prompting the command center to send reinforcements toward the eastern sector.
• Derwent transformed his body with bone armor and struck Hila, but she barely withstood the blow, making him realize that the apparent Black Phantom was weaker than he expected.

Han Xiao used Dean’s invisibility to plant bombs among the Germinal troops’ vehicles while Hila drew their attacks in the Viper Kai. After the explosions, Han Xiao reclaimed the suit and swiftly defeated Derwent, leaving the other executives afraid to approach.

• Derwent and the executives attacked the weakened-seeming Black Phantom while Hila endured an assault from Germinal’s forces in the Viper Kai.
• Han Xiao used his remaining Character Summon Card ability to become invisible and plant bombs beneath the troops’ vehicles.
• Han Xiao told Hila to meet him after the explosion, then detonated the bombs and created an opening for their escape.
• Hila returned the Viper Kai to Han Xiao and drove away in an armored off-road vehicle he had spared.
• Derwent charged Han Xiao, who activated Mechanical Force Surge and Overload, pinned him down, and shattered his bone armor with a punch.
• The executives halted their advance after seeing Han Xiao defeat Derwent, and the leader’s confidence collapsed.

Han Xiao and Hila escaped the encirclement but were intercepted by Germinal’s rapid response force and five veteran executives. After losing their vehicle, they fought together as enemy reinforcements closed in, leaving them surrounded and struggling to hold their ground.

• Han Xiao and Hila broke through the Germinal troops’ encirclement in an armored vehicle, but three Black Harrier Helicopters pursued them.
• Han Xiao’s sniper shot was stopped by Jeroz’s force field, while Inris raised a rocky slope that trapped the vehicle; the helicopters destroyed it with rockets.
• Five veteran executives jumped from the helicopters, and Han Xiao pulled Hila along as they fled and waited for their team’s support.
• When Hila offered to stay behind, Han Xiao refused and threatened to leave her sister behind if Hila sacrificed herself.
• After the executives caught up, Han Xiao and Hila fought them in the wilderness, but their coordinated attacks overwhelmed the pair.
• Germinal troops closed in behind them as more Black Harrier Helicopters arrived, surrounding Han Xiao and Hila with reinforcements.

Han Xiao and Hila fought five Germinal executives while reinforcements and military forces closed in. Hila helped Han Xiao kill Inris, but the remaining enemies badly wounded her, leaving Han Xiao to decide whether to escape alone.

• Han Xiao held off the five executives and asked Hila to disrupt Jeroz’s force field while he targeted Inris.
• Hila tricked Jeroz with a mental attack, dropping the force field, and Han Xiao killed Inris with a critical shot.
• Germinal helicopters and tanks attacked Han Xiao, damaging his mech suit, while Jeroz restrained him again.
• Hila stepped in front of the Pugilists to protect Han Xiao, but their blows and Jeroz’s force-field attack left her gravely wounded.
• Han Xiao found Hila unresponsive and, seeing the enemy forces closing in, considered escaping alone.

Han Xiao and the critically wounded Hila escaped Germinal’s encirclement with help from a Six Nations rescue team. After the group crossed into a desert and believed they had evaded pursuit, the Leader revealed he had anticipated their route and surrounded them with a much larger force.

• Gray mist streamed from nearby corpses into Hila, and her wounds healed enough for her to survive, though she remained gravely weak.
• Han Xiao prepared to leave Hila behind, but a Six Nations rescue team arrived and broke through Germinal’s encirclement with fire and smoke.
• Han Xiao carried Hila into the lead SUV, where Tang Tang introduced himself and the other rescuers, Dannina and Aropaigo.
• The rescue team drove through the desert for two hours and believed they had put distance between themselves and Germinal’s pursuers.
• The Leader contacted Han Xiao and revealed he had tracked the rescue team and predicted their route.
• Han Xiao saw Germinal forces surrounding the dunes ahead, with attack helicopters, machine-gun positions, and more than a hundred soldiers.

The Germinal leader ambushed Han Xiao’s extraction force, forcing the Six Nations’ fighters into a fierce battle against Germinal’s troops and executives. Just as Han Xiao prepared to face the leader, Bennett arrived with Dark Net allies and challenged him, leaving the two powerful fighters colliding on the battlefield.

• The Germinal leader revealed that he had secretly arranged an ambush in the desert, trapping Han Xiao and the extraction force.
• Han Xiao received the C-class mission The Traitor's Counterattack, which required him to defeat the leader while dealing at least 60% of the damage.
• Germinal troops opened fire on the three vehicles, but Fardrod shielded the extraction force as its espers charged into the enemy positions.
• Dannina, Aropaigo, Tang Tang, and other experts fought Germinal’s soldiers and executives while Han Xiao helped Hila out of a vehicle.
• The Germinal leader advanced toward Han Xiao, but Bennett and four other high-level espers emerged from the last vehicle to support the extraction force.
• Bennett confronted the leader, and the two charged at each other, their auras colliding in a thunderous impact.

Han Xiao exploited the stalemate between Bennett and Germinal’s leader to farm trial points, then fled the battlefield once he completed [Limit Trial]. After escaping long enough for combat to end, he advanced to level 60 and evolved into a Type I Cosmic Human, gaining new attributes, a racial trait, and a skill.

• Bennett and Germinal’s leader fought evenly while Han Xiao calculated that the battlefield could help him complete [Limit Trial].
• Han Xiao picked off weakened enemies to gather trial points, ignoring his teammates’ orders and their growing suspicion of him.
• Germinal reinforcements joined the battle, and the group’s condition worsened as Tang Tang and the beast-summoning Esper came under concentrated attack.
• Han Xiao saved Tang Tang from Jeroz’s attack, then killed the wounded Trejo and gained enough trial points to complete [Limit Trial].
• Han Xiao fled toward the weaker defenses behind him, drawing Jeroz and other pursuers away while his teammates debated his motives.
• After five minutes of flight, Han Xiao left combat, completed [Limit Trial], advanced to level 60, and evolved into a Type I Cosmic Human, gaining [Adaptive Group] and [Mechanical Continuation].

After evolving into a Type I Cosmic Human and raising his level to 70, Han Xiao returned to the battlefield and overwhelmed the Germinal pursuers. He then took over the fight against the leader, wearing him down and striking him with a borrowed war hammer, though the battle’s outcome remained unresolved.

• Han Xiao completed his first evolution, spent seventy-four million experience to reach level 70, and gained a major boost to his attributes and combat strength.
• Han Xiao killed Jeroz and drove off the pursuers before returning to the main battlefield.
• Han Xiao charged into the battle, scattered the executive forces, and took Bennett’s place against the leader.
• Han Xiao traded blows with the leader while using his weapons and Viper Kai armor to steadily wear down the leader’s health.
• Han Xiao activated Mechanical Continuation to restore the battered Viper Kai, then borrowed a powered war hammer and smashed the leader into the air, breaking his mask.

Han Xiao fought the Germinal Organization’s leader after the Viper Kai fell apart, revealing that he had broken through a major barrier and could overpower the weakened boss without his exosuit. The leader fled into his troops’ positions, leaving Han Xiao poised to claim victory.

• The Germinal leader’s mask came off, but Han Xiao, Bennett, and the Six Nations’ experts failed to recognize his scarred face.
• Han Xiao continued attacking as the Viper Kai’s remaining thirty seconds ran out, and the exosuit collapsed.
• The leader struck Han Xiao with a powerful palm, but Han Xiao stood firm and revealed strength that made the leader realize he had broken through the barrier.
• Han Xiao battered the injured leader with the powered war hammer while the Six Nations’ experts recognized him as the strongest fighter on their side.
• The leader feigned a powerful attack, then used his energy to launch himself into the Germinal troops’ position and collapsed with 14% health remaining.

Han Xiao escaped Germinal with the Six Nations convoy after choosing not to pursue the wounded leader, and their distant exchange of gazes later became a historic moment. At a safe campsite, he examined his evolution into a Type I Cosmic Human and selected two abilities from the leader’s rewards.

• Han Xiao abandoned the chance to finish off the protected leader and escaped with Tang Tang and the Six Nations convoy.
• Han Xiao and the leader exchanged a final gaze across the desert, an encounter later remembered as a turning point in the war.
• The survivors stopped in the hills, where Han Xiao examined the changes from his evolution into a Type I Cosmic Human.
• Han Xiao received five randomly selected abilities from the leader and chose [Tough Body] and [Countershock: Thorns].

Han Xiao maxed out his Magnetic Ring Mechanic class and learned the requirements for advancing to the next stage, then dealt with Havalen, Bennett, and a damaged vehicle. Hannes revealed that he might know the leader’s origins, tying the discovery to Han Xiao’s hidden mission about Planet Aquamarine’s history.

• Han Xiao spent experience to max out Mechanical Continuation and Countershock: Thorns, then learned that his next class advancement required level 80, over 400 intelligence, and five pieces of Mechanic Class Advanced Knowledge.
• Han Xiao assigned his remaining attribute points to intelligence and decided to find a suitable subclass while leveling toward the requirements.
• Havalen asked for his powered war hammer back, but Han Xiao claimed it needed repairs so he could study its blueprint.
• Han Xiao repaired a damaged tire for Bennett and Hannes, then followed Bennett aside, where Bennett confronted him about concealing that he was an alien.
• Bennett asked how Han Xiao had broken past the limit, and Han Xiao gave him a deliberately ridiculous explanation.
• Hannes approached and said he might know the leader’s origins, connecting the matter to the mission Han Xiao had assigned to uncover Planet Aquamarine’s hidden history.

Hannes revealed that Germinal grew out of Minmok, a terror group secretly created by Golan’s government, and that its leader was a Golan resistance member whose country was destroyed by Raylen. Han Xiao then began arranging a way to retrieve Aurora while avoiding a dangerous return to New Stone Wasteland.

• Hannes explained that Golan’s government had secretly fostered Minmok to frighten its people into accepting strict controls, until the scheme was exposed and the government fell.
• Hannes said that after Golan was destroyed by Raylen, Minmok survived, later became the Germinal Organization, and came under the control of Golan resistance member who became its current leader.
• Han Xiao and Bennett concluded that the Germinal leader’s hostility toward the Six Nations likely came from losing his country, while the second phase of the [New Era--Origin] missions appeared.
• Hila urged Han Xiao to return for Aurora, but Han Xiao refused to risk another encounter with the Germinal leader and promised he had someone better suited to retrieve her.
• Han Xiao called Dean to order equipment and asked him to help pick someone up.

Han Xiao reunited Hila with Aurora and offered them a safe place to recover, then brought the Six Nations’ representatives together to deliver Germinal’s classified intelligence. The chapter ended as he displayed Germinal’s plans, forces, and secrets to the conference.

• Aurora waited in a cave until Dean arrived and escorted her out of Germinal territory.
• Hila reunited with Aurora, and Han Xiao invited the sisters to stay with him while Aurora recovered; both sisters accepted.
• Dean told Han Xiao that the supplies he had requested were being shipped to the Southern Continent.
• Han Xiao arrived at the Six Nations’ temporary base and met with representatives including Gu Hui.
• Han Xiao connected a hard drive and displayed Germinal’s classified intelligence to the representatives.

Han Xiao gave the Six Nations intelligence that turned the Expeditionary War against Germinal, then returned to the Southern Continent with Hila and Aurora. At the Third Sanctuary, a group of raiders prepared to exploit a planned blackout to steal supplies while players secretly followed them.

• Han Xiao handed the Six Nations intelligence on Germinal’s nuclear warheads and watched the representatives prepare to act on it.
• The Six Nations scored a string of victories, while players across Planet Aquamarine saw their missions change and debated Han Xiao’s role in the war.
• Han Xiao left Andia with Hila and Aurora, and Bennett, Hannes, and Vernina departed separately after they arrived on the Southern Continent.
• Frenzied Saber, Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Meat Bun followed disguised raiders through the Third Sanctuary after accepting an emergency mission.
• The raider leader said his group would raid the warehouse after accomplices cut power to the area.

Frenzied Saber and three other players tried to capture bandits robbing the Third Sanctuary warehouse, but the security Rangers killed both the bandits and the players. Han Xiao returned to the Sanctuary, learned it had grown to more than twenty-three thousand residents, and ordered an arena built to channel player fights and earn revenue.

• A bandit group tried to enter the warehouse, and their leader shot a guard after his accomplices failed to sneak past him.
• Frenzied Saber, Hao Tian, Meat Bun, and Maple Moon attacked the bandits, but the Rangers opened fire and killed everyone in the restricted area.
• The four players respawned in the square, where they heard that Black Phantom had returned and joined the crowd heading to the helipad.
• Han Xiao arrived at the Sanctuary and heard Huang Yu report that it had more than twenty-three thousand residents and that security robots had killed would-be warehouse thieves.
• Han Xiao ordered Huang Yu to build an arena where players could fight, with admission fees and wagers generating revenue.

Han Xiao planned to strengthen his main city and profit from the coming professional league while searching for a way off Planet Aquamarine. After arranging missions for Frenzied Saber and upgrading his Mechanic knowledge, he spent seven days building an enhanced combat suit.

• Han Xiao decided to stay on Planet Aquamarine until the professional league, hoping to improve his main city and earn from the influx of players.
• Hila brought Aurora to Han Xiao’s Sanctuary, where Huang Yu arranged a room for the sisters.
• Han Xiao wrote down his plans for improving the main city and leaving the planet, then burned the notes and gave Frenzied Saber a generous mission.
• After Dean’s supplies arrived, Han Xiao used potential points to maximize [Neural Link] and began rebuilding his destroyed combat suit.
• Seven days later, Han Xiao finished a bulkier, upgraded suit based on the Viper Kai, with improved performance, armor, power supply, and modules.

Han Xiao completed the Flying Serpent, a powerful flying battlesuit controlled through Neural Link, and considered it an early preparation for space. He also pondered whether players could be transferred into native bodies in Galaxy, but set the mystery aside to focus on growing stronger.

• Han Xiao reinforced the mech's Bonfire reactor, added backup energy slots, upgraded its armor and controls, and equipped it with turbine wings for flight.
• Han Xiao named the new mech the Flying Serpent and completed its specifications, including powerful modules and the Snake · Devil ability.
• Han Xiao admired the battlesuit and concluded that its combined strength made him nearly untouchable on Planet Aquamarine and would serve him in space.
• Han Xiao reflected on Neural Link's potential to transfer a player's mind into an NPC body and wondered what would happen to the player's identity and ability to revive.
• Han Xiao decided that he needed more knowledge to investigate the mystery and prioritized becoming stronger before future crises.

One Leaf Green examined Aurora and found that her cells held extraordinary healing potential, though her suppressed Esper ability needed time to recover. As Aurora grew stronger and began making friends, Han Xiao turned back to preparing for departure and expanding his influence over the players.

• One Leaf Green said Aurora's cells were exceptionally active and that her health and scars would improve with rest, but Hila refused to let her take Aurora's blood for experiments.
• Han Xiao learned that Aurora's brainwashing might fade if it was not triggered, while Hila refused to risk using her aggressive mind ability to remove it.
• Han Xiao advised Hila to let Aurora rest and meet people, then told her he had rescued Aurora because he foresaw that she would save his life; Aurora promised she would do so.
• Han Xiao built Aurora a fast, pedal-driven wheelchair and assigned Frenzied Saber, Maple Moon, and two other players missions to spend time with her.
• Aurora's health and mood improved over the following days, and Han Xiao focused on gathering resources and improving the player hub as he planned to profit from the players.

Han Xiao sought to make the arena’s paid wagered matches appealing by creating a competitive mission for rival guilds. He manipulated a malfunctioning Ranger so the Gods Guild claimed the mission prize ahead of Sky Domain, leaving the two guilds furious with each other.

• Huang Yu silently criticized Han Xiao’s arena for costing the Sanctuary money while players fought for free in the plaza.
• Han Xiao decided to promote wagered matches and attracted Sky Domain’s Huang Tian Dang Li with a team mission to retrieve a malfunctioning Ranger’s chip.
• Han Xiao offered the same mission to the Gods Guild, whose leader Jupiter eagerly accepted it.
• Han Xiao controlled the weakened Ranger remotely, leading Sky Domain on a chase before redirecting it toward the Gods Guild.
• The Gods Guild destroyed the Ranger and took its chip, prompting Huang Tian Dang Li and Sky Domain to accuse Protoss of kill-stealing.

After Jupiter’s group kill-stole a mission from Sky Domain, Han Xiao kept himself hidden to push the rival guilds toward settling their dispute in a wagered arena duel. The high-profile match drew crowds and professional players, and many spectators recognized the arena’s potential as Han Xiao’s plan to promote its use took effect.

• Jupiter’s Protoss group killed the mission target after Sky Domain had nearly defeated it, then fought Sky Domain members and took the mission item.
• Guards refused to let Jupiter’s group enter the upper-level area to turn in the mission, and Azure Sky confronted them afterward; Jupiter refused to return the item or accept a duel.
• Azure Sky ordered Sky Domain to smear Protoss on the forums, and Han Xiao stayed out of sight to pressure Jupiter into accepting a wagered duel.
• Jupiter accepted a best-of-five arena challenge, wagering the [Out-of-Control Robot Chip] against an equal stake from Sky Domain.
• Both guilds booked the central arena stage, and spectators discovered that professional players—including Hao Tian—would compete for the two sides.
• Players and professional observers saw the wagered duel’s value for exposure, practice, and entertainment, advancing Han Xiao’s plan to encourage arena use.

Hao Tian’s overwhelming victory over Protoss in the arena wager match made the players recognize both his strength and the value of Black Phantom’s missions. After Han Xiao collected the mission item, he continued developing the arena into a lively hub for matches, events, and social activity.

• Hao Tian defeated all three Protoss players in under five minutes, winning the wager match for Long Sky and impressing the spectators.
• Hao Tian reconsidered Black Phantom’s missions as a valuable long-term path after realizing how much they had strengthened him.
• Jupiter regretted losing the wager but sent Li Ge a recording of Hao Tian’s fight so he could study it for the league.
• The arena’s successful wager match prompted guilds and players to book it for competitions, events, and other activities.
• Han Xiao envisioned the arena growing into a bustling entertainment hub that would help players feel at home in the Sanctuary.

Han Xiao sought to strengthen the Sanctuary’s appeal by turning the arena into a player hub and devising another draw: selling boxes of surplus goods with a chance at rare equipment. When Azure Sky opened a box containing purple gear, players realized Han Xiao had introduced loot boxes.

• Han Xiao decided to pursue real estate profits after making the arena a successful hub for players.
• Huang Yu praised the arena’s profits and its success in keeping Inhumans gathered away from the refugees.
• Han Xiao considered holding regular events and came up with a new way to attract players.
• Players abandoned construction work and crowded into the square after hearing that Han Xiao had a new feature.
• Han Xiao offered boxed warehouse goods for 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars each, and Azure Sky bought ten boxes.
• Azure Sky found a purple Folding War Blade in the final box and recognized Han Xiao’s offer as loot boxes.