Chapter Summaries

Goddora launched Operation Hodrarias, ambushing DarkStar fleets across multiple sectors with help from the mercenaries and Han Xiao’s infiltrated AI. The attack caught the six-mothership force by surprise, and Resta cut off communications aboard Degulish’s mothership as the trap closed.

• A Goddoran fleet commander coordinated Operation Hodlias and learned that a mysterious source had provided intelligence on DarkStar’s locations.
• Goddora formally hired the Black Star Army for the war, awarding Han Xiao and the players generous mission rewards.
• Han Xiao watched DarkStar’s movements through Resta as the mercenary fleet waited at the ambush site.
• Gurega ordered the combined fleet to attack, and Goddoran forces and mercenaries surrounded and bombarded DarkStar’s six motherships.
• Degulish ordered his forces to break out after learning that DarkStar fleets elsewhere were also under attack, but Resta severed his mothership’s communications.

Han Xiao helped Goddora destroy DarkStar’s fleet, then captured Degulish after revealing that he had exposed DarkStar’s location. With DarkStar’s motherships destroyed and its forces defeated or fleeing, Degulish accepted that the organization was finished.

• Han Xiao arranged for Resta to pilot a DarkStar mothership carrying Degulish onto a nearby planet, where Goddora and the mercenaries could capture them.
• Han Xiao led the Black Star Army and its players to the crash site, where he revealed his Calamity Grade strength and chased Degulish away from the battlefield.
• Hila joined the ground battle as the players overwhelmed DarkStar’s soldiers, while Melos and the other officers dealt with powerful enemies.
• Han Xiao fought Degulish until he was exhausted, then told him that he had infiltrated DarkStar and given Goddora the intelligence that led to the battle.
• Gurega reported that Goddora had destroyed the DarkStar motherships and was pursuing the few escapees; Degulish surrendered and lamented that DarkStar was finished.

Han Xiao defeated DarkStar’s forces, captured Degulish, and earned Goddora’s highest favorability and an invitation to a public award ceremony. He used the Child of Destiny card to locate the escaped Ashes, who planned to attack the ceremony before receiving a call from the DarkStar leader.

• Han Xiao defeated Degulish, who surrendered while holding on to the hope that the DarkStar leader remained alive.
• Han Xiao reunited with the allied forces, handed DarkStar’s prisoners and mothership to Goddora, and completed three missions for over seventy million experience and [Revered] status.
• Goddora invited Han Xiao and the mercenary groups to a ceremony where Serre V would award Han Xiao a medal and pay the remaining balance.
• Han Xiao’s victory made the Black Star Army famous, and Melos reflected on Han Xiao fulfilling his promise to destroy DarkStar.
• Han Xiao used the Child of Destiny card and saw that Ashes had escaped alone, intended to attack Goddora’s victory ceremony, and then received a call from the DarkStar leader.

After Goddora destroyed DarkStar’s fleet, the DarkStar leader ordered Ashes to retreat and contacted the secret backers who had funded him. He learned they would not help rebuild DarkStar yet, while Goddora welcomed Han Xiao and the other armies to its victory celebration.

• Ashes told the DarkStar leader that Goddora had destroyed every mothership and that only a handful of DarkStar members had escaped.
• The DarkStar leader rejected Ashes’s plan to attack Goddora’s ceremony and ordered him to leave the Garton Star System and regroup.
• The DarkStar leader contacted a secret ally, who refused immediate funding and advised him to rebuild DarkStar in another star field after preparing an esper ability as an offering.
• The DarkStar leader reflected that he had made DarkStar a pawn of powerful backers in hopes of securing a homeland for mixed-bloods.
• Han Xiao and the Black Star Army arrived on Goddora’s home planet with the other armies for the victory celebration.

After DarkStar's destruction, Han Xiao received Goddora's thanks, a large final payment, warships, and advanced Mechanic knowledge. He used his new knowledge and materials to prepare a powerful mechanical suit.

• Han Xiao arrived on Goddora's homeworld with the army commanders and settled into the official guesthouse.
• A senior War Bureau official told Han Xiao that Serre V wanted to meet him, then brought him to the supreme leader.
• Serre V thanked Han Xiao for helping destroy DarkStar and awarded him fifty Frenzied Falcon Class warships, one Fortress Class flagship, fifteen million Enas, and five kinds of Super knowledge.
• Han Xiao secretly placed an observation mark on Serre V before leaving the political headquarters.
• Han Xiao bought costly materials, raised three new knowledge areas to Lv5, and refined and leveled a mechanical suit blueprint in preparation for building a Grade A combat suit.

Han Xiao completed Mad Ape, a powerful pink-quality transforming mecha, and postponed testing it until after the celebration. Goddora announced DarkStar’s destruction and promised to reveal the details at its upcoming celebration, drawing intense attention across the Shattered Star Ring.

• Han Xiao built and activated Mad Ape, a pink-quality super-nano transforming mecha with powerful combat, repair, and interstellar travel functions.
• Han Xiao compressed Mad Ape into a sphere and decided not to seek a fight before the celebration.
• Han Xiao planned to manufacture more weapons and mechanical soldiers to rebuild his mechanical army.
• Goddora announced that DarkStar had been destroyed and said it would explain how at the celebration.
• Interstellar reporters and broadcasters gathered on Goddora as citizens across the Shattered Star Ring awaited the celebration.
• The day of the celebration arrived.

Goddora held a public celebration to announce DarkStar’s destruction and honor Black Star for helping locate its fleet. The chapter ended with the unprecedented reveal that he would receive Goddora’s highest medal despite being an outsider.

• Players speculated that the celebration might introduce a new main storyline centered on the Black Star Army.
• Han Xiao and the army commanders traveled to Glittering Gold Plaza, where Youyu teased the pilot with strange jerky and tossed snack shells onto Han Xiao.
• Serre V arrived to cheers and began the ceremony with a speech celebrating Goddora’s victory over DarkStar.
• Serre V described how an unnamed key individual helped Goddora track DarkStar’s fleet, then announced an award ceremony for the Gaol Golden Statue Medal.
• Han Xiao stood as Serre V introduced him as the medal’s recipient, astonishing the crowd because no outsider had ever received Goddora’s highest honor.

Serre V awarded Han Xiao Goddora’s highest honor for providing the intelligence that led to DarkStar’s destruction, and the ceremony made him a celebrated figure across the Shattered Star Ring. After reviewing his rewards and planning the Black Star Army’s expansion, Han Xiao left Goddora while the DarkStar leader and Ashes watched the broadcast and understood the cause of their defeat.

• Serre V announced that Han Xiao had uncovered DarkStar’s coordinates and personally awarded him the Gaol Golden Statue Medal.
• Han Xiao turned his acceptance speech into an advertisement for the Black Star Army, while Goddoran commanders and players reacted to his new fame.
• Han Xiao examined the medal’s relationship benefits, collected the rewards for completing the Alliance of Goddora mission, and gained two Star System Legend points.
• Han Xiao planned to collect more than fifty spaceships and take the players to Number One Base on Planet Golden Gate.
• The DarkStar leader and Ashes watched the award ceremony broadcast from their ship and realized why DarkStar had suffered a crushing defeat.

The DarkStar leader and Ashes fled the Shattered Star Ring to seek support from a Beyond Grade A, while the War Realm delivered an invitation to Ames. Planet Aquamarine began attracting interstellar investment, and Han Xiao returned to Planet Golden Gate with a greatly expanded fleet.

• The DarkStar leader told Ashes that a Beyond Grade A would back them and discussed creating a separate home for mixed-bloods, then learned that Black Star could be targeted with an offer of a dangerous mercenary job.
• Mazaks of the War Realm arrived at Dragon Calm to deliver an invitation, and Ames threw him out of the palace with her force field.
• Bennett and the Six Nations agreed to begin negotiations with interstellar financial groups seeking to invest in Planet Aquamarine.
• Han Xiao collected fifty Frenzied Falcon Class warships and one Fortress Class flagship from Goddora and led the Black Star Army away.
• Han Xiao arrived at Planet Golden Gate and welcomed the fleet back to headquarters.

Han Xiao welcomed the players to Black Star Number One Base, set up a system for tracking their contributions and assigning mercenary jobs, and opened the base’s shops to them. He arranged to send two hundred thousand mercenaries to Planet Sunil, where a large-scale rescue mission gave the players a new direction.

• The fleet arrived at Black Star Number One Base, where Phillip gave the players a mercenary verification program and Han Xiao let them explore their new main city.
• Han Xiao reviewed the growing number of job offers and decided to use players and freelance mercenaries to expand the Black Star Army’s reach.
• Han Xiao promised Melos two hundred thousand mercenaries for Planet Sunil and asked permission to build a Black Star branch base there; Melos agreed.
• The players bought equipment at Number One Base and learned that their mission access depended on their faction rank and that they had to return to the base to accept jobs.
• The players saw the new Operation Sunil Rescue employment for two hundred thousand mercenaries and were drawn to the large-scale mission.

Han Xiao oversaw the Black Star Army’s first employment missions and planned to expand its military and logistical capabilities. After repaying his loan, he accepted a 5.2-million-Enas investment from the Noriosse Financial Group, leaving the two sides to begin a long-term partnership.

• Players shared reports of Planet Aquamarine’s rapid development and split into groups to explore, take missions, or travel to Planet Sunil with Melos.
• Han Xiao prepared new equipment sales and delivery services for players, then planned to rebuild and expand his mechanical army while staying at Number One Base.
• Han Xiao decided to repay his four-million-Enas loan to Rockefeller before its interest increased and transferred 4.4 million Enas.
• Rockefeller offered the Black Star Army 5.2 million Enas and proposed a long-term agreement covering logistics, business expansion, and other support.
• Han Xiao accepted and signed the investment agreement, and the Noriosse Financial Group transferred the funds.

Han Xiao’s 200,000 mercenaries arrived on Planet Sunil, where the players began accepting missions to help the Sunils fight the Calamity. Meanwhile, Slaik threatened Han Xiao with kidnapped players unless he returned Beverly, and an imposing figure boarded the pirates’ ship to seize it.

• Melos and the Sunil mercenaries welcomed the Black Star Army fleet, and the Sunil leaders thanked Han Xiao for sending help.
• Melos decided he might remain with Han Xiao after Sunil’s crisis ended, while the players explored Forest City and accepted jobs that triggered missions to help resolve the Calamity.
• Slaik contacted Han Xiao and demanded Beverly’s return, threatening to capture and sell more mercenaries after showing him kidnapped players.
• Han Xiao placed an Observation Mark on Beverly and decided to handle Slaik personally.
• On the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group’s ship, an imposing figure killed the guard and announced that he was commandeering the vessel.

Han Xiao went to an uninhabited planet to exchange Beverly for his kidnapped mercenaries, but Mazaks ambushed him before the handover. Han Xiao fought back, and the battle continued as Mazaks charged again.

• Han Xiao brought Beverly to the designated planet, intending to use an Observation Mark on him to track the star pirates back to Slaik's lair.
• Han Xiao noticed a star pirate ship waiting at the handover site and told Resta to keep the engines ready while he approached with Beverly.
• Mazaks burst through the ship's hatch and struck Han Xiao, sending him crashing through a rocky hill.
• Han Xiao emerged with little damage, identified Mazaks as a powerful fighter, and learned that Mazaks called him 'Indestructible Body' Black Star.
• Han Xiao used Nagokin's character card and the Mad Ape mecha's Berserk Throw to hurl Mazaks into a distant mountain.
• Mazaks recovered quickly and charged at Han Xiao again as Han Xiao prepared his mechanical forces.

Han Xiao fought Mazaks, a War Realm officer, through several escalating exchanges and proved strong enough to withstand his True Name Liberation. Mazaks revealed that he had arranged the fight to test Han Xiao and offered him a place as War Realm’s ninth vanguard officer.

• Han Xiao used the Mad Ape’s Giant Ape Form to battle Mazaks, then faced the demon’s True Name Liberation and increased combat power.
• Han Xiao used Beverly’s serum, Berserk Overload Form, and a boosted Power Blast to send Mazaks flying for over a dozen kilometers.
• Mazaks returned with a bruised face, praised Han Xiao’s strength, and ended the fight.
• Han Xiao recognized Mazaks as an officer of War Realm and asked why he had attacked him.
• Mazaks explained that War Realm had tracked Han Xiao after the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group’s kidnapping and that he had staged the encounter to test him.
• Mazaks offered Han Xiao a chance to join War Realm as its ninth vanguard officer.

Han Xiao refused Mazaks’s offer to join the War Realm, then resumed the hostage exchange with the space pirates despite their hostages having vanished while the Gods Guild players were logged out. After sending the players away on a mission, he secretly boarded the pirates’ departing ship in his Chaos Body, leaving his next move undisclosed.

• Mazaks tried to recruit Han Xiao for the War Realm and warned him to think carefully, but Han Xiao refused and Mazaks left, promising they would meet again soon.
• Han Xiao found the hostage cell empty and realized the Gods Guild players had logged off; when they logged back in, he insisted the deal with Slaik would proceed.
• Han Xiao issued Jupiter and the Gods Guild players an evacuation mission and sent them to the nearest city planet aboard the Blacklight Stealth.
• The pirates collected Beverly and prepared to leave after Han Xiao let them go with a warning.
• Han Xiao used Advanced Void Travel to sneak aboard the pirates’ raiding ship before it took off.

Jupiter and the players considered how to fund a mining ship while traveling aboard Black Star’s vessel. After reaching the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group’s fleet, Han Xiao ambushed Slaik’s flagship and attacked the pirates, leaving Slaik hurled through the ship’s hull into space.

• Jupiter discussed buying a mining ship with Michael and weighed the costs and profits of organizing mining teams.
• Han Xiao hid aboard the raider ship for more than ten days before it reached the Feven Star System and rendezvoused with Slaik’s fleet.
• Beverly told Slaik that Han Xiao had imprisoned him and repeatedly extracted his Esper Gene, leaving him physically and mentally broken.
• Han Xiao revealed himself in the flagship’s hall and announced that he had come to make a deal, then blasted open the ship’s hull and sent the pirates into space.
• Slaik tried to reach his armor, but Han Xiao caught him and used Berserk Throw to hurl him through the flagship and out into space.

Han Xiao used his virtual Mechanic abilities to defeat and capture the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group, then extracted Slaik’s Esper Gene and gained a temporary summon card. He left for the Garton Star System with the captured ships, while the Black Raven Civilization kept Slaik’s bounty active in hopes of winning Han Xiao over.

• Han Xiao seized control of the Purple Snake flagship and several raider ships, turning the pirate fleet’s weapons against its own vessels.
• Han Xiao defeated Slaik and captured twenty-four ships, then extracted Ability Potions from Slaik and the other captured pirates.
• Han Xiao obtained a temporary Slaik summon card with the Purple Poison: Tide ability and decided that hunting space pirates could be profitable.
• Han Xiao departed for the Garton Star System with his captured ships after checking on the players’ missions and equipment upgrades.
• Escaped pirates spread news that Black Star had destroyed the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group, and the Black Raven Civilization chose to keep Slaik’s bounty active to pursue ties with Han Xiao.

Han Xiao expanded the Black Star Army’s mercenary network and sold practical support machines to players, using the resulting profits to advance his growth and expansion plans. With his funds rising, he ordered mechanical materials to upgrade his combat equipment to Calamity Grade.

• Han Xiao returned to Number One Base with twenty-four captured spaceships, added them to his fleet, and secured Slaik and the other captives in a heavily guarded cell.
• Han Xiao reviewed the players’ completed mercenary assignments, penalized those who damaged the army’s reputation, and arranged interviews for six or seven thousand freelance mercenaries seeking to join.
• Han Xiao added practical auxiliary machines to the faction store, and players quickly bought or preordered the limited stock.
• Han Xiao earned 6.6 million Enas from the sale, bringing his savings to 44 million Enas, and outlined plans to expand the Black Star Army across the Garton Star System and beyond.
• Han Xiao ordered a large batch of mechanical materials so he could upgrade his combat equipment to Calamity Grade.

Reynold left his mercenary team after urging it to join the Black Star Army, while undercover DarkStar operative Borick pursued his plan to infiltrate it. During interviews for new recruits, Han Xiao identified Borick and ordered him to stop.

• Reynold recommended that his mercenary team join the Black Star Army, then quit when the captain objected.
• Borick, a DarkStar operative hiding as a freelance mercenary, decided to infiltrate the Black Star Army and undermine it from within.
• Han Xiao prepared to interview thousands of applicants as players joined the army and the mercenary recruitment drive proceeded.
• Han Xiao offered failed applicants the choice of leaving or training before they could take jobs under the Black Star Army's name.
• Borick passed through the interview line, but Han Xiao called after him and told him to stop.

Han Xiao discovered that Borick was a DarkStar spy and recruited him as a training instructor while secretly keeping him under observation. After testing thousands of applicants and reflecting on the Black Star Army’s need for stronger elites and better management, Han Xiao found that the final applicant, Reynold, was a powerful Grade B+ Mechanic with a template talent.

• Han Xiao recognized Borick as a DarkStar agent, offered him an instructor position, and secretly placed an Observation Mark on him.
• Han Xiao tested the remaining applicants, accepting around five thousand as mercenaries and sending more than a thousand to the training camp.
• Han Xiao promoted three Grade B espers to squad leaders and considered the Black Star Army’s factions, vacant management positions, and shortage of high-level fighters.
• Han Xiao tested the final applicant, Reynold, and discovered that he was a level 135 Grade B+ Mechanic with extensive blueprint knowledge and a template talent.