In the Solar Residence, Perry Rhodan meets with Druu Katsyria, the Second Messenger of Thoregon, who just emerged from the Mushroom Dome on Trokan. She says that hostile aliens have appeared in Plantagoo and they are mercilessly destroying all life they come across in the Galornian galaxy. Similar events are happening in the other galaxies of Thoregon : Karakhoum, Shaogen-Himmelreich, Gorhoon, Chearth, all the galaxies are fighting different threats.

Rhodan tells her about the situation in the Milky Way but without mentioning Morkhero. He shares with her his interpretation of the recent chaos : the void left by the super-intelligences when they moved inside the Pulse is now being filled in by other intelligences, hostile to the members of Thoregon. Rhodan and Katsyria reach the conclusion that there is nothing they can do to help each other for now and the Galornian returns to Plantagoo.

In Terrania, two Monochrome mutants have died mysteriously, but the doctors can't come up with an explanation. Rhodan is not pleased with the Mutant Ring organization, now fifty thousand mutant strong, because it might introduce a new fracture between mutants and Terrans, something he's been trying to fight. He talks with Moharion Mawrey about his concerns but the woman seems to be encouraging this initiative for reasons Rhodan doesn't understand.

The doctor conducting the autopsies of the dead mutants makes a stunning discovery : the genes of all the mutants' ancestors have been subtly altered during the Monos era by the Cantaros on Horrikos. Startac Schroeder and Trim Marath, who have also noticed that Mawrey has been behaving strangely lately, break into her home and discover the missing piece to the puzzle : not only have the genes of all mutants been altered several generations ago, but they have also been programmed to die shortly after their majority

The genetic program initiated by Monos was meant to create a race of mutants based on the genotype of the Antis, thus giving the dictator an army able to oppose Rhodan's mutants. The experiment failed and resulted in the birth of the Monochrome Mutants, several generations later. The alleged cause for enabling the mutant genes is a violent hyperstorm that erupted thirty years ago.

Startac and Schroeder interrupt a reunion of the Mutant Ring in a stadium, and they inform the thirty-five thousand mutants of their discovery, and also the fact that Moharion Mawrey had been concealing it from them.