Contents
Prologue
Overview
Yang Guang leads a televised defense against a Hundun herd, transforms the Nine-Tailed Fox, and kills a rare Prince-class foe. The victory cements his status but reveals the brutal cost: concubine-pilots are drained to death. The prologue establishes Huaxia’s war machines, qi-powered combat, and the system’s sanctioned sacrifices.
Summary
Yang Guang pilots the Chrysalis Nine-Tailed Fox from a watchtower outside the Great Wall to intercept a herd of Hunduns crossing the wilds. He psychically merges with the machine through acupuncture needles, amplifying his power by draining qi from his concubine-pilot, whose mind is subsumed into his.
As common-class Hunduns swarm, Yang Guang suppresses their projected emotions and showcases control for camera drones and his audience. When a Prince-class Hundun appears, he calls for cover from Xing Tian and transforms the Fox into its Ascended Form for greater finesse and lethality.
Yang Guang snaps a tail lance and impales the Prince-class Hundun, resisting the surge of alien terror as its core dims. The victory promises strategic and political rewards, including materials for a new Prince-class Chrysalis and a boost to his rank.
Amid triumph, Yang Guang senses his concubine-pilot’s rising fear and acknowledges that the psychic link will fatally stop her heart upon disconnection. He distances himself from her identity, rationalizing her death as necessary sacrifice with compensation for her family, and refocuses on finishing the herd to reassure the nation.
Who Appears
- Yang GuangAce Chrysalis pilot of the Nine-Tailed Fox; kills a Prince-class Hundun while draining his concubine-pilot’s qi.
- Concubine-pilot (unnamed)Psychically linked partner whose qi powers the Fox; her mind is subsumed and she is doomed by disconnection.
- Xing TianComrade pilot of the Headless Warrior; covers Yang Guang during the Fox’s transformation.
- Prince-class HundunRare, powerful enemy equal to the Fox; destroyed by Yang Guang’s lance after transformation.