Chapter Summaries

Han Xiao and Bennett searched the Somar Desert after Hannes and his companions disappeared, then returned as Han Xiao prepared for the approaching Goddora arrival. Meanwhile, the divisional competition advanced, with Frenzied Saber rising to prominence and Long Sky still fighting to qualify from Group A.

• Han Xiao discovered that Hannes and his companions had gone missing after entering the Somar Desert, and he traveled there with Bennett to investigate.
• Han Xiao and Bennett found no trace of Hannes at the Dark Net outpost, so they assigned subordinates to continue searching and returned by plane.
• Bennett warned Han Xiao that the Inhumans might pose a danger and that Goddora would send investigators, while Han Xiao knew their spaceship would arrive in a little over a month.
• Frenzied Saber helped Jiangcheng reach the regular season and performed well individually, prompting the club to make him team leader and core while asking Xing Duhe to terminate his contract.
• Ilex was eliminated in the group stage, while Long Sky remained third in Group A with the top five still closely competing for advancement.

Long Sky staged a comeback against Fish-Fragrant Eggplant and qualified for the divisional finals, while Han Xiao began planning to build his own faction by taking players into space. He prepared the unused Flying Serpent Mecha and set out to act on his plans.

• Long Sky defeated Fish-Fragrant Eggplant by a wide margin, tied their points, and advanced to the divisional finals in second place behind Dynasty.
• At the joint press conference, Sun Eggplant challenged Hao Tian to a rematch, and Hao Tian said he would beat him again.
• Tai Erzi complained that reporters were ignoring Dynasty, but Kings and Generals reminded him that he had failed to reach the individual top sixteen.
• The divisional finals lineup was announced, and Han Xiao recognized several expert players he hoped to recruit as fighters and helpers.
• Han Xiao decided to establish his own faction and offer players the chance to travel into space, then drained the gel around the Flying Serpent Mecha and prepared to leave.

Goddoran investigator Kerlodd arrived at Juberly Hub on his way to investigate an anomaly on Planet Aquamarine, while an unknown black slime infiltrated his ship. On Aquamarine, Han Xiao waited in the mountains as the tournament’s elimination rounds began, with Hao Tian set to face Li Ge.

• Kerlodd arrived at Juberly Hub and said he would travel to the Ninth Star Zone to investigate an anomaly in a low-level civilization.
• A black slime crawled into Kerlodd’s Observer spaceship while he was away.
• Han Xiao waited in a snowy mountain range with pilot Huang Jian and watched the international All-Star Tournament.
• Temple gained foreign fans at the All-Star Tournament, and the division’s final rounds began after a three-day break.
• Hao Tian drew Li Ge in the first round of the individual competition, and Li Ge claimed he had a ninety percent chance of winning.

Han Xiao waited for an alien spaceship to crash on Planet Aquamarine, then flew to the wreckage and found the surviving Godoran investigator Kerlodd with an interstellar communicator. Kerlodd asked Han Xiao where they were, while Han Xiao focused on obtaining the communicator.

• Li Ge defeated Hao Tian three games to one and advanced to the individual competition’s top eight.
• Frenzied Saber narrowly defeated Jiang Yuluo, drawing abuse from her fans before she asked them to back off and apologized to him privately.
• Raylen’s observatory detected an unidentified object heading toward the North Continent, and officials ordered troops to the projected crash site.
• Han Xiao equipped the Flying Serpent Mecha and Bat Wing flight apparatus as the spaceship crashed into a snowy mountain range.
• Kerlodd survived the crash, assessed his damaged spaceship, and retrieved an interstellar communicator from its exposed structure.
• Han Xiao landed beside Kerlodd, recognized the investigator’s equipment, and fixed his attention on the communicator as Kerlodd asked where they were.

Han Xiao seized Kerlodd’s communicator and fought the Goddoran investigator, whose advanced weapons pushed the battle into a fierce contest. As Kerlodd prepared to finish him, Han Xiao activated a series of powerful abilities and unleashed a devastating barrage.

• Han Xiao tricked Kerlodd into lowering his guard, kicked him away, and stole the communicator.
• Kerlodd’s shield and advanced weapons protected him as he fought Han Xiao across the woods.
• Han Xiao wore down Kerlodd’s shield with his mecha, sonic attacks, and close-range strikes.
• Kerlodd’s greataxe damaged Han Xiao’s armor, but Han Xiao used [Countershock: Thorns] to reflect the blow and wound him.
• Kerlodd rose with new weapons and vowed to defeat Han Xiao, who activated [Snake · Devil], [Armor-Piercing Combo], Willpower Burning, Overload, and Mechanical Force Surge before attacking.

Han Xiao captured the Goddoran investigator Kerlodd after defeating him near the crashed spacecraft, then escaped with Huang Jian. Raylen's troops found the wreckage and secretly transported it into their territory while planning to conceal the crash and search for Kerlodd.

• Han Xiao returned to Huang Jian with the battered, bound Kerlodd and ordered him to fly away before Raylen's troops arrived.
• Han Xiao inspected his damaged mechanical suit and planned to question Kerlodd, while Huang Jian's questions and teasing drove Kerlodd to knock himself unconscious.
• Raylen's troops found the crashed Goddoran spacecraft and concluded that a powerful local fighter had probably captured the investigator.
• Raylen ordered the spacecraft secretly transported into its territory, imposed a gag order, and planned to search quietly for the missing Goddoran.

After securing Kerlodd, Han Xiao examined the Goddoran weapons he had taken and used the interstellar communicator to negotiate a way off Planet Aquamarine. Kerlodd agreed to lend Han Xiao the money in his personal account in exchange for being released and taken along.

• Han Xiao examined the standard-issue Goddoran weapons and noted that their power could only serve as a stopgap for his own machinery.
• Han Xiao operated the interstellar communicator easily, switched its interface to Planet Aquamarine's language, and asked Kerlodd for his personal account details.
• Kerlodd was shocked that Han Xiao knew how to use the communicator and identify him as a Goddora investigator sent to investigate the Inhuman Incident.
• Han Xiao explained that he wanted the communicator to contact an interstellar tour group and leave the planet, then offered to release Kerlodd and take him along.
• Kerlodd agreed to let Han Xiao borrow the money in his personal account and swore to Gaol that he would not seek revenge.

Han Xiao secured Kerlodd’s money and arranged interstellar passage for himself and a group of players, while preparations continued on Planet Aquamarine. As the league reached its final stages, Bennett arrived at the Third Sanctuary to confront Han Xiao about the alien and the trouble he had caused.

• Han Xiao kept Kerlodd under guard, had him transfer 878 Enas, and arranged for fifty passengers to travel with Short Horn Star to Juberly Hub in twenty days.
• Frenzied Saber defeated Li Ge in the quarterfinals and advanced to the individual competition’s top four, while Hao Tian led Long Sky past Temple into the team finals.
• Long Sky and Dynasty advanced to the divisional team championship, and Frenzied Saber became a likely candidate for the international finals as the players reached the level cap.
• Bennett called Han Xiao from the Third Sanctuary and demanded to know where Kerlodd was, saying Han Xiao had stirred up trouble again.

Han Xiao told Bennett he planned to leave Planet Aquamarine and warned him about the coming Mutation Disaster, but Bennett chose to stay and protect the Sanctuaries. Han Xiao then informed Hila and Aurora of his plans, leaving Kerlodd knocked flat after he roared at Aurora.

• Bennett told Han Xiao that Raylen demanded he hand over Kerlodd and threatened to use force if he refused.
• Han Xiao revealed that he planned to leave Planet Aquamarine and warned Bennett that a disastrous Mutation Disaster would strike in two or three years.
• Bennett refused to leave, choosing to stay and defend his home, and agreed to let Huang Yu take charge of the Third Sanctuary.
• Han Xiao urged Bennett to accept the Inhumans as defenders against the disaster, and Bennett agreed to take his warning seriously.
• Han Xiao told Hila and Aurora that he would soon leave for space, introduced Kerlodd as an alien, and knocked him down when he yelled at Aurora.

Han Xiao prepared to leave Planet Aquamarine, but Hila refused to go with him, so he left her a way to reach his secret base if danger came. As Raylen pressured him to hand over Kerlodd, Han Xiao turned to Kerlodd’s investigation of the players and asked whether he had reached a conclusion.

• Baby Bear showed signs of unusual growth while living with Aurora, whose ability Han Xiao identified as S-class potential.
• Han Xiao invited Hila and Aurora to leave Planet Aquamarine with him, but Hila refused because she wanted to care for her sister.
• Han Xiao gave Hila keys to his secret base and told her to use it if darkness swallowed the Sanctuary.
• Han Xiao decided to leave Hila and Aurora on the planet to grow stronger before the Mutation Disaster, while One Leaf Green overheard their conversation and learned of the coming danger.
• Raylen contacted Han Xiao with an ultimatum to hand over Kerlodd, but Han Xiao ended the call without negotiating.
• Kerlodd asked Han Xiao about the players, and Han Xiao asked whether Kerlodd had reached any conclusions about their unusual phenomenon.

Kerlodd outlined possible explanations for the Inhumans, including planar rifts and higher-dimensional projections, then described how civilizations develop competing theories about the universe. His suggestion that reality might be a simulated experiment startled Han Xiao.

• Kerlodd explained that the Inhumans' immortality and sudden, growing population could have several causes, from superpowers to intervention by another civilization or a cosmic wonder.
• Kerlodd proposed that a planar rift might explain the Inhumans' arrival and asked whether anyone had suddenly disappeared from the planet.
• Han Xiao recalled Hannes and the others vanishing, then asked Kerlodd about planes and whether they could lead to another universe.
• Kerlodd described secondary, dimensional, and wormhole-connected planes, as well as the possibility that the Inhumans were a higher-dimensional projection.
• Kerlodd explained that civilizations could confirm many apparently contradictory theories of the universe because their senses and methods revealed only partial perspectives.
• Kerlodd mentioned the theory that the universe was a virtual simulation created by a greater species, and Han Xiao reacted with shock.

After the league finals, Han Xiao launched a selection mission to recruit powerful players for a secret trip into the galaxy. Nearly a thousand players gathered for his combat test, but Detection revealed that his level and attributes were still completely unknown to them.

• Kerlodd explained that different civilizations treated theories as tools and said the Inhumans might be a Cosmic Wonder.
• Dynasty won the team championship, Kings and Generals won the individual competition, and Frenzied Saber took third place.
• Han Xiao announced a five-day mission requiring level 60 players to pass his combat test for a chance to accompany him into the galaxy.
• Pro players flocked to the Sanctuary to accept the mission, eager to reach a new map during the league off-season.
• Han Xiao told the competitors they had to last thirty seconds, and their Detection results showed question marks for his level and attributes.

Han Xiao demonstrated his overwhelming strength by defeating max-level players in seconds during the selection, turning the trials into a spectacle across the player community. After the first day, he invited Frenzied Saber and the other three followers to leave Planet Aquamarine with him.

• Han Xiao defeated Fallen Leaves in about five seconds using Sonic Attack Spheres and hidden turrets, shocking the assembled players.
• Han Xiao continued testing contestants, quickly overpowering those who could not evade his attacks and drawing growing crowds.
• Players shared recordings of the trials, praised Han Xiao’s strength, and turned lasting thirty seconds into a popular meme.
• After the selection ended for the day, Han Xiao visited Frenzied Saber and the other three followers and offered them the choice to accompany him into space.
• Frenzied Saber eagerly agreed to go with Han Xiao.

Han Xiao selected a roster of top players to accompany him into space, while hinting that Planet Aquamarine would face a catastrophe. After the selection, he revealed a frozen mission about protecting the Third Sanctuary from that future disaster.

• Frenzied Saber, Hao Tian, and Meat Bun Hits Dog accepted the chance to join Han Xiao, and Han Xiao valued Meat Bun's show as a way to build his influence among players.
• Han Xiao told Maple Moon that a catastrophe would strike Planet Aquamarine and that a solution might be found among the stars.
• Tai Erzi survived Han Xiao's thirty-second test by rolling across the arena, earning a place on the team as onlookers joked about his fighting style.
• Han Xiao assembled a roster of top-ranked players, while Hao Tian and Frenzied Saber were revealed to have qualified through their hidden storyline instead of taking the test.
• Han Xiao posted the frozen challenge mission [The Last Stand], which required players to protect the Third Sanctuary during a future catastrophe.

Han Xiao left Planet Aquamarine’s players anticipating a future calamity and convinced many that he planned to seek a solution in space. Meanwhile, Raylen’s researchers struggled to understand Kerlodd’s captured spaceship.

• Han Xiao issued the frozen [The Last Stand] mission to keep Planet Aquamarine’s players focused on the Third Sanctuary and prepare them to defend it when the calamity arrived.
• Players debated what the calamity might be and whether Black Phantom was fleeing it, while Meat Bun released footage showing Han Xiao intended to find a solution in space.
• Meat Bun announced a new series documenting their interstellar adventures, and players began looking forward to following Han Xiao into space.
• Raylen studied Kerlodd’s spaceship in a secret mountain institute, but its advanced technology and magical systems left the researchers unable to make much progress.

Raylen officials struggled to understand the alien spacecraft and decided to pressure the Dark Net and Han Xiao into returning the missing Goddoran investigator. As the Short Horn Star tour group prepared to arrive, Han Xiao readied his team and supplies, then led a convoy out of the Sanctuary with a growing crowd of players following.

• The research institute director showed Raylen officials a strange, self-multiplying black fuel oil but admitted that the alien spacecraft remained beyond their understanding.
• Raylen officials decided to enlist the other nations to pressure the Dark Net into handing over the missing investigator, whom they believed could help them study the spacecraft.
• Han Xiao received word that the Short Horn Star tour group would reach Planet Aquamarine's orbit the next day and prepared to leave for the stars with his selected teammates and supplies.
• At dawn, Han Xiao mobilized a convoy of heavy trucks and led it out of the Sanctuary as players and passersby followed.

Han Xiao left Planet Aquamarine aboard the Short Horn Star, a vast spaceship that stunned the gathered players and the Six Nations. After his departure, Hila and Aurora wondered whether they would see him again, while Bennett put Huang Yu in charge of the Third Sanctuary and the Six Nations reeled from learning the ship had come specifically for Black Phantom.

• The Short Horn Star descended over the crowd, and Han Xiao had his player teammates load the supplies before boarding its drop pod with Kerlodd.
• The Short Horn Star rose into the sky, and Han Xiao watched Planet Aquamarine shrink through a porthole as he departed.
• Hila and Aurora watched the ship leave from the Third Sanctuary, and Hila suggested they might meet Han Xiao again someday.
• Bennett appointed Huang Yu to manage the Third Sanctuary and told him Han Xiao had recommended him.
• The Six Nations learned the Short Horn Star had come only to pick up Han Xiao, leaving Raylen and the other governments horrified and bewildered.

Han Xiao and the players left Planet Aquamarine aboard the Short Horn Star, beginning their journey into the galaxy. After arriving in the ship’s standard cabin, Han Xiao sent the players to explore and ask the passengers about their stories.

• Raylen realized that the Six Nations’ pressure campaign against Han Xiao had failed and that he had access to power far beyond Planet Aquamarine.
• Han Xiao watched Planet Aquamarine recede, thought of Bennett, Hila, and Aurora, and turned toward the spacecraft.
• Han Xiao paid the extra fare for his group, and they passed through inspection and stored their supplies aboard the Short Horn Star.
• The players explored the crowded standard cabin and reacted to the unfamiliar alien species, while Kerlodd accepted a room assignment as the apparent leader.
• Han Xiao gave Kerlodd 10 Enas for drinks and led the group to their room, then told the players to explore and ask the passengers about themselves.

Han Xiao planned to grow stronger in the Colton Star Cluster, gather information, and prepare to prevent Planet Aquamarine’s Mutation Disaster. After reaching the Garton Star System, he confronted a scavenger who had tried to buy the players from Kerlodd.

• Han Xiao decided to develop in the Colton Star Cluster, seek a rare subclass and Mechanic Advanced Knowledge, and use the players to earn money and assist him.
• Han Xiao identified DarkStar and the Goddoran civilization as the starting points for preparing against the Mutation Disaster.
• The Short Horn Star entered a light-jump tunnel and traveled for three days toward the Garton Star System’s fifth star sector.
• Sisoli approached Kerlodd and offered to buy the players, whom he recognized as superhumans.
• Han Xiao told Sisoli to leave, and Sisoli walked away after bidding Kerlodd farewell.

Han Xiao learned that Sisoli was a Boneless Bird slave-trade middleman, while the Short Horn Star picked up the Green Knight and continued its journey. The Boneless Bird ambushed the passenger ship, leaving Han Xiao and the other passengers facing an attack.

• Kerlodd told Han Xiao that Sisoli belonged to the Boneless Bird scavenger gang and warned him to be careful.
• The Short Horn Star landed on a dangerous planet to collect a passenger, who was revealed to be the cyborg mercenary known as the Green Knight.
• Han Xiao spent the journey gathering information while Kerlodd exhausted his money and slept through the days.
• Sisoli sent a message to Snake Braid, and the Boneless Bird leader rallied his scavengers to target the Short Horn Star for a fortune.
• The Boneless Bird ships attacked the Short Horn Star, whose shield absorbed their barrage as Han Xiao, Kerlodd, and the players rushed into the panicked hall.