Chapter Summaries

Kernid and the other captured powerhouses faced being transferred away from the Shattered Star Ring, while Lagi deepened their despair with grim predictions. Black Star and the Dragon Emperor attacked the captors’ headquarters with a fleet, and the defenders’ attempt to escape failed when a mage countered Eilet’s teleportation spell.

• Kernid woke in the captors’ prison, where Shana, Albert, and Eilet counted the prisoners and Albert warned they would be sent away forever.
• Lagi told the prisoners they would probably be dissected and displayed, prompting them to tell him to shut up.
• A tremendous crash shook the prison, and Albert and his companions discovered Black Star and the Dragon Emperor tearing their hidden headquarters from the ground.
• Albert ordered Eilet to prepare a teleportation spell while the six defenders faced the arriving attackers.
• Han Xiao summoned a fleet and Calamity Grade forces to surround the defenders, then ordered an attack; a red-robed mage countered Eilet’s teleportation spell before it could form.

Han Xiao led a crushing assault that captured Albert and the other five, then allowed them to blame Krent while he pursued the real mastermind privately. Rescuing the prisoners won him new allies, strengthened Amethyst’s coalition, and brought Lagi into the Black Star Army.

• Han Xiao’s forces overwhelmed Albert and the other five, captured them, and rescued the prisoners held at their headquarters.
• Albert claimed Krent had ordered the kidnappings, and Han Xiao pretended to believe him while letting the accusation spread.
• The rescued captives thanked Han Xiao, improved their relations with the Black Star Army, and helped some forces agree to join Section Zero against Krent.
• Most independent Grade A Supers declined Han Xiao’s invitation, but Lagi joined the Black Star Army after Han Xiao welcomed him.

Han Xiao’s operation strengthened his alliances, damaged Krent’s standing, and delayed the War Realm’s plans, but Iso’s interrogation linked the attack to the powerful Ancient Ones. Han Xiao remained unsure who had targeted him and faced a decision about what to do with the six prisoners.

• Han Xiao welcomed Lagi as the Black Star Army’s first high-end Grade A combatant and formed new partnerships with the Star Beast Organization and other rescued allies.
• News of Han Xiao’s operation spread through the Shattered Star Ring, boosting Dragon Calm’s reputation and bringing condemnation and strategic trouble to Krent.
• Aboard the Blacklight Stealth, Han Xiao extracted the prisoners’ Esper Genes and had Iso interrogate Albert and his five companions.
• Iso revealed that the attack was connected to the Ancient Ones, though Albert denied that they were his masters.
• Han Xiao recognized the danger of provoking the Ancient Ones and considered killing the six prisoners as Eilet trembled at his killing intent.

After eliminating Albert and the other Hunters, Han Xiao returned to the Black Star Army and turned his attention to the upcoming second professional league. Seeing the league as both a chance to boost Huaxia’s standing and a major business opportunity, he prepared to travel to the tournament venues and sell supplies to players.

• Han Xiao killed Albert and the other five Hunters, learned that a powerful member of the Ancient Ones was behind them, and received Iso’s prediction that the threat would pause for now.
• Han Xiao brought Lagi to Number One Base, introduced him to the officers, and left him without a position while he settled in.
• Han Xiao watched Galaxy Times explain the second league’s divisions, survival matches, qualification rounds, and international championship format.
• The captains of Dynasty, Temple, Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, and Long Sky declared their championship ambitions, while Frenzied Saber set a more modest goal for his team.
• Han Xiao decided that the league could attract future players to the Black Star Army and increase equipment sales, so he planned to take a fleet to the venues and begin preparations ten days before the event.

Han Xiao brought the Black Star Army fleet to the league planet, where players competed in the second league and used his supply station. The qualifiers ended with Maple Moon becoming a dark horse, while the Amethyst Civilization mistakenly concluded that Han Xiao had gathered his mercenaries to train them for the Secret War.

• Han Xiao arrived at the competition planet with a fleet and supplies, telling players he had come to investigate the gathering and stayed to watch their tournament.
• The second league began, and qualifiers filled the forums as teams and individual contestants fought for regular-season places.
• The qualifiers ended with new teams appearing in the Shattered Star Ring roster, and Maple Moon qualified for the individual competition using a budget Void Dragon Mechanical Suit.
• Han Xiao earned substantial income from selling equipment and gene potions to players and club teams during the qualifiers.
• Amethyst Civilization officers discussed the gathering of Black Star Army mercenaries, and Laifer confidently claimed Han Xiao was training his troops for the Secret War.

Han Xiao upgraded his Tenacious Life talent after receiving rare biological potions, while Manison dispatched a new squad to continue capturing targets in the Shattered Star Ring. Stefan and nine others prepared to replace Albert’s failed team and pursue the escaped prey.

• Han Xiao watched the player league regular season, where Frenzied Saber's Jiangcheng team placed second and Maple Moon finished thirty-eighth in the individual competition.
• The Star Beast Organization delivered rare creature potions, and Han Xiao injected them until Intermediate Tenacious Life upgraded to Advanced Tenacious Life.
• Han Xiao celebrated his increased health and new combat effect, anticipating that he could take on the War Realm’s vanguard officers during the coming Secret War.
• At the Ancestral Land of Shadows, a man informed Manison that Albert had failed and the squad in the Shattered Star Ring had been wiped out.
• Manison sent ten new agents through the black mirror, and Stefan recalled his orders to continue Albert’s mission and capture the escaped prey.

Dynasty crushed Tulip in the International All-Star Tournament’s opening match, then advanced through the divisional finals to qualify for the international regular season. The Shattered Star Ring’s top four were set, and Frenzied Saber’s Jiangcheng prepared to face Rainstorm while Dynasty met Long Sky for the divisional championship.

• Dynasty dominated Tulip in both the team battle and arena match, surprising viewers who had expected the reigning champions to put up a fight.
• Dynasty’s victory drew intense attention and pressure as Huaxia’s viewers began treating the team as their home representatives.
• Long Sky defeated Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, while Dynasty beat Nine Gates, Jiangcheng narrowly defeated Madman, and Rainstorm upset Temple to reach the divisional top four.
• Dynasty, Long Sky, Jiangcheng, and Rainstorm qualified for the international regular season, leaving Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, Madman, Temple, and Nine Gates eliminated.
• The divisional championship matchups were set: Dynasty faced Long Sky, while Frenzied Saber’s Jiangcheng faced Rainstorm.

After Dynasty won the division championship, Han Xiao expanded the Black Star Army and sent Lagi to support a Sky Ring squad facing a Calamity Grade enemy. The international regular season then began, and Dynasty’s clashes with teams that teamed up against it sparked a furious forum backlash before Kings and Generals openly challenged them all ahead of the finals.

• Dynasty defeated Jiangcheng in the division final, while Jiangcheng took runner-up and Long Sky finished third.
• Han Xiao used his profits to prepare the Black Star Army for the coming Secret War and ordered Lagi to rescue a Sky Ring squad in the Feven Star System.
• During the international break, Li Ge sparred with qualified Huaxia teams, and reporters heard rival teams declare they would defeat Dynasty.
• The international regular season began with Dynasty and Jiangcheng in Group B, Long Sky in Group A, and Rainstorm in Group C.
• Dynasty led the standings at first, but other teams repeatedly teamed up against it in survival matches, drawing angry protests from Huaxia players.
• Kings and Generals dismissed the controversy and vowed to teach every opponent a lesson in the finals.

Jiangcheng gambled everything on its final regular-season match, and Frenzied Saber’s Han Xiao Character Card helped the team advance to the international top eight. Huaxia placed three teams in the finals, while Han Xiao turned his attention to Lagi, who had reached the mercenary squad’s distress location.

• Frenzied Saber told Jiangcheng that it had to defeat Kimchi by a wide margin and rely on Long Sky to keep Yamata’s points low, so he planned to spend every Ability Potion and use his Black Star Character Card.
• Jiangcheng barely won its team battle against Kimchi, then Frenzied Saber used dozens of Ability Potions and defeated five opponents in the arena before losing; Xie Xiaojian beat the remaining players.
• Long Sky overwhelmed Yamata, allowing Jiangcheng to advance by two points and giving Huaxia three of the eight finals spots alongside Dynasty and Long Sky.
• The finals bracket paired Dynasty against Jiangcheng and Long Sky against Kimchi, while Han Xiao observed that Lagi had reached the location where the Sky Ring mercenary squad had requested help.

Lagi rescued Goya’s squad from Getolod and revealed himself as a powerful Calamity Grade officer of the Black Star Army. Meanwhile, Long Sky defeated Devil to win the second season’s championship for Huaxia.

• Goya and her surviving Sky Ring squad members fled Bullseye’s forces and called for Black Star Army reinforcements.
• Getolod destroyed their aircraft and ordered his forces to attack, but Lagi froze the battlefield with Space-Time Mystic Arts and destroyed the enemy aircraft.
• Getolod escaped after Lagi broke his confidence, and Lagi escorted Goya and her squad to safety; Han Xiao recognized Lagi’s strength.
• Long Sky defeated Dynasty in the semifinals, while Devil defeated Swedish Battle Axe to reach the final.
• Long Sky beat Devil three to two in the final, winning the world championship and sending Huaxia’s players into celebration.

After Huaxia teams’ success in the Galaxy League, Han Xiao prepared the Black Star Army for the ten-year gap before version 3.0 and attended Section Zero’s founding. The version 2.0 update began as players logged out, while Stefan arrived in the Shattered Star Ring.

• Huaxia teams celebrated their strong Galaxy League results, and Han Xiao anticipated that their success would attract more players to the Black Star Army in version 3.0.
• Han Xiao considered the dangers and opportunities facing the Black Star Army during the ten-year update, including Krent’s Secret War and competition for new players.
• Laifer summoned Han Xiao to Scimitar, where he declared Section Zero officially established to resist the War Realm’s invasion of Colton.
• Hao Tian invited Frenzied Saber, Li Ge, and other professional teams to celebrate together before players logged out at Black Star Number One Base.
• Han Xiao received notice that the version 2.0 update had begun and reflected on the ten years ahead.
• Stefan arrived in the Shattered Star Ring aboard a spaceship.

Han Xiao planned the Black Star Army’s development after the Inhumans disappeared and prepared to join the Secret War on Amethyst’s side. The war began when War Realm invaded Colton, and Han Xiao received a Grade S mission that could last ten years.

• Han Xiao planned to strengthen the Black Star Army by expanding its training, fleet, recruitment, and high-ranking fighters while earning merit for Section Zero.
• Han Xiao reduced the army’s commissions, ordered its factories to build small ships, recruited more fighters, and warned his senior officers to prepare for war.
• Reynold announced that he had advanced to Grade A, giving the Black Star Army three Calamity Grade fighters alongside Han Xiao and Lagi.
• War Realm invaded the Colton Star Cluster, beginning the Secret War, and Amethyst ordered Section Zero to deploy.
• Han Xiao received the Grade S Secret War mission, recognized that he had triggered the main storyline ten years before the players, and ordered Phillip to gather the troops.

War Realm’s vanguard established a bridgehead in the West Wind Star System, and Section Zero assembled its forces to attack. Han Xiao joined the allied army and received orders to hold back the enemy flank as the battle began.

• Jorde briefed War Realm’s vanguard on occupying uninhabited planets, while Frothers Slot declared that he intended to kill Black Star.
• Austin divined that Han Xiao was connected to one of his forbidden sorcerers and sent sorcerers to retrieve that person.
• Han Xiao arrived in the West Wind Star System with three hundred warships and joined Section Zero’s allied forces.
• At the pre-battle meeting, Han Xiao was assigned to hold back War Realm’s flank and agreed to help Sevitt disrupt the enemy’s main force if he could.
• Han Xiao warned his officers to protect themselves, and a day later Section Zero’s allied forces advanced toward War Realm’s planetary stronghold.

Han Xiao led Team Seven in Section Zero’s assault on the War Realm, destroying an enemy flagship and gaining the upper hand in their local battle. He was ordered to retreat after the alliance’s main force was crushed, while Fosters noted that Black Star had been spared the slaughter on the frontal battlefield.

• Han Xiao directed Team Seven to pin down a War Realm fleet as Section Zero launched its assault on the fortress planet.
• Han Xiao contested two Grade A Virtual Mechanics while the fleets exchanged fire and Myriad Beast Soldiers boarded ships; Lagi helped rescue Melos’s vessel.
• Han Xiao piloted the Berserk Ape with Lagi and three other Calamity Grades into the enemy formation, where they killed its lone Calamity Grade and destroyed its main ship.
• Team Seven gained the advantage, but Han Xiao received orders to retreat after the War Realm defeated Section Zero’s main force, destroying over two thousand ships and killing eight of its fifteen Calamity Grades.
• On the burning Arc Light Organization ship, Hunting Blade killed Sevitt, and Fosters remarked that Black Star had not been on the frontal battlefield.

After Section Zero’s defeat, Han Xiao assessed his losses and recognized that the War Realm was targeting its Grade A fighters to exploit the alliance’s disunity. He offered to hold off all eight enemy vanguard officers in the next battle in exchange for advanced Mechanic knowledge, and Laifer agreed.

• Han Xiao learned that Section Zero’s main force had suffered heavy casualties, while his own fleet lost only thirty-four warships and no high-level combatants.
• Han Xiao spoke with Laifer about the War Realm’s strategy of killing Section Zero’s Grade A fighters and learned that reinforcements would arrive before the next attack.
• Han Xiao volunteered to join the main battlefield and hold off all eight War Realm vanguard officers.
• Han Xiao demanded advanced knowledge for the Mechanic Class in exchange for taking the risk, and Laifer agreed.
• Lagi offered to collect Han Xiao’s corpse, but Han Xiao asked him to keep jinxing him.

After Section Zero’s first defeat, its allied forces hesitated to risk their Calamity Grade experts in another assault, while Han Xiao volunteered to face the War Realm’s vanguard. As the second battle turned against Section Zero, Han Xiao confronted Fosters and deployed his mechanical army, standing alone against the eight officers.

• Jorde praised the War Realm vanguard’s first victory, and Fosters asked to hunt down Han Xiao to provoke Ames into drawing Heber into the Secret War.
• After suffering casualties, the Arc Light Organization and other allied forces resisted joining another frontal assault, while Han Xiao volunteered and kept his troops out of the most dangerous fighting.
• Section Zero launched its second attack after reinforcements arrived, but its Calamity Grade experts avoided the eight vanguard officers as they tore through the fleet.
• Laifer urged Han Xiao to intervene, and Han Xiao revealed himself before the vanguard officers and challenged them to attack.
• Fosters charged Han Xiao and punched through his giant mechanical fist, but Han Xiao released hundreds of thousands of machines and challenged all eight officers to fight him.

Han Xiao used his mechanical army and evasive abilities to keep Fosters occupied, until all eight War Realm vanguard officers joined the fight and destroyed nearly the entire army. Han Xiao then endured their combined assault without dying, leaving Section Zero’s onlookers wondering whether the Undying Body title was true.

• Fosters attacked Han Xiao with an External Wave, but the Oathkeepers stopped it while Han Xiao’s mechanical army opened fire.
• Han Xiao evaded Fosters’s attempts to reach him and used his machines to drain Fosters’s energy while repairing damaged units.
• Fosters called in the other seven vanguard officers, and together they devastated Han Xiao’s mechanical army.
• With less than a tenth of his army left, Han Xiao stayed to face all eight officers instead of retreating.
• The eight officers battered Han Xiao until his mechanical suit shattered, but his body remained intact, shocking them and the watching Grade A powerhouses.

Han Xiao held off the Tyrant’s eight vanguard officers and survived their combined Star Shattering Fists, proving his strength to Section Zero. Though Section Zero retreated after losing the larger battle, Han Xiao returned as a celebrated powerhouse, while Fosters and the others let him go.

• Han Xiao fought off the eight vanguard officers, who changed tactics and tried to overwhelm his regenerative abilities with sustained attacks.
• As Han Xiao’s strength rose during the battle, Fosters unleashed Star Shattering Fist, and all eight officers struck him with the move.
• Han Xiao survived the combined blast by switching forms and using his defensive abilities, then restored himself with Aurora’s [Life Returns] character card.
• Section Zero ordered a retreat after losing ground on the main battlefield, and Han Xiao rejoined its fleet without the exhausted Fosters pursuing him.
• Section Zero’s fleet welcomed Han Xiao back, and those who witnessed the fight recognized that he had become a major powerhouse.

After holding off War Realm’s eight vanguard officers, Han Xiao earned the Star Cluster Legend [Undying Body] and secured advanced Mechanic knowledge from Laifer. He withdrew from the Secret War to rebuild his army, while the battle’s reports led major powers to identify him as a Beyond Grade A candidate.

• Han Xiao regrouped with his troops, earned the [Undying Body] Star Cluster Legend, and completed the tactical mission.
• Han Xiao told Laifer he needed to withdraw temporarily, and Laifer approved his leave in exchange for his return after recovery.
• Han Xiao advised Section Zero to conserve its strength and wait until War Realm spread its forces thin; Laifer agreed to pass the proposal to headquarters.
• Laifer sent Han Xiao a list of advanced Mechanic knowledge, and Han Xiao chose [Exotic Energy] from the energy branch.
• Han Xiao returned to the Garton Star System with the Black Star Army as the other Section Zero members watched them depart.
• Reports of Han Xiao facing eight vanguard officers prompted major organizations to reassess his strength and recommend him for the Shattered Star Ring Beyond Grade A Seed Watchlist.

After Han Xiao’s victory made him famous as a Beyond Grade A seed, major powers changed their plans around him and rumors exaggerated his potential. Back at his base, Han Xiao learned Exotic Energy and advanced to the Truth Mechanic class.

• Heber dismissed concerns about Black Star and insisted that no potential rival threatened him while he led War Realm.
• Amethyst officials agreed to invest more in Han Xiao, raise the Black Star Army’s status, and protect him as rumors spread that he would become the Shattered Star Ring’s fifth Beyond Grade A.
• Aurora told Hila that Han Xiao was rumored to be nearing Beyond Grade A, prompting Hila to return to training while Ames admired her determination.
• Han Xiao returned to his base, received improved cooperation and compensation from the Goddora and Amethyst civilizations, and ordered replacements for his losses.
• Han Xiao learned Exotic Energy, fulfilled the requirements for a class change, and became a level-one Truth Mechanic.