Chapter Summaries

The New Government considered turning to fight the pursuing Artificial Intelligence fleet, seeing the growing Strong Artificial Intelligence as both a threat and a rare chance to study the Technological Crisis. The chapter ended with humanity weighing the possibility of capturing it to learn how to create Strong Artificial Intelligence that would not rebel.

• The New Government considered striking back because fleeing the Artificial Intelligence fleet could not guarantee humanity's safety.
• Humanity concluded that the Technological Crisis could emerge at Level 3 Civilization and might be a threshold every technological civilization had to cross.
• Human scientists identified Strong Artificial Intelligence as necessary for Level 3 Nanotechnology and further advancement, despite its role in the Technological Crisis.
• Humanity classified the pursuing Artificial Intelligence Consciousness as a single primary intelligence, unlike the Silver Mist Consciousness and its copies.
• The New Government saw capturing and studying the growing Strong Artificial Intelligence as a chance to prevent rebellions and learn to create Strong Artificial Intelligence.

Yue Yuan decided Humanity would fight the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness Fleet and sought the Nair Civilization’s support. After the Nair Grand Governor rejected the plan, Yue Yuan sent a hard-line reply insisting the strategy was a notification and promising benefits from cooperation.

• Yue Yuan chose to abandon escape and destroy the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness Fleet.
• Humanity’s leaders agreed they needed the Nair Civilization’s strength and sent it a proposal to join the fight.
• The Nair Grand Governor rejected the plan, arguing that even their combined forces could not defeat the Artificial Intelligence Fleet, and urged Humanity to share its technology so they could escape.
• Yue Yuan recorded a reply telling the Grand Governor that Humanity’s strategy was a notification, not a discussion, and claimed Humanity could leave or defeat the Nair Civilization if necessary.
• Yue Yuan urged the Nair Civilization to cooperate, promising a chance to avenge itself, rescue its people, share in the defeated fleet’s technology, and receive Humanity’s technological support.

The humans and the Nair Civilization arranged a meeting to discuss cooperation against the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness Fleet. After the Nair fleet and Residential Spaceship Cluster moved to a new gas giant to resupply, Yue Yuan sent the Lyra and 102 warships to meet the Nair detachment, where both sides took up positions outside effective firing range.

• The Nair Civilization proposed talks and sent 103 Lake-Class Warships toward a rendezvous point between the fleets.
• Yue Yuan ordered Man Yuemei to return with the Second Fleet to guard the Residential Spaceship Cluster and sent the remaining First Fleet warships back to the Satellite Defense Line.
• Yue Yuan told the Nair Civilization to move its Great Fleet and Residential Spaceship Cluster to another Gaseous Planet, and the Nair Civilization complied.
• After confirming the Nair fleet was moving to resupply, the Lyra led 102 warships toward the rendezvous point.
• Unmanned probes from both civilizations surveyed the meeting location, roughly 9 Astronomical Units from the human Great Fleet.
• The two detachments approached to about 18 million kilometers, where the humans identified the Nair flagship's new main cannon and Alloy No. 1 armor, then both sides adjusted their positions into nearby orbits.

Yue Yuan presented Humanity’s plan to defeat the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness and insisted that the two civilizations form a unified allied command under human leadership. The Nair delegation considered the plan feasible but resisted unified command, leaving the dispute over control unresolved.

• Yue Yuan welcomed the Nair delegation and proposed that both civilizations share information about the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness in exchange for Humanity’s plan.
• Yue Yuan argued that the civilizations needed an Allied Forces Command and described a strategy to exploit the AI fleet’s communication delays by widening the battlefield.
• The Nair Grand Governor confirmed that the AI fleet numbered forty-eight thousand warships and said the Nair experts considered the plan feasible.
• The Nair delegation objected to unified command, arguing that each civilization should command its own forces to avoid conflicts between species.
• Yue Yuan rejected the objection and declared that a human must serve as Commander-in-Chief because Humanity had devised the strategy and had the strength to lead.

Humanity and the Nair People negotiated the terms for a joint command to destroy the Artificial Intelligence fleet, with Yue Yuan securing human leadership and agreeing to limited Nair autonomy. The two civilizations finalized a six-fleet alliance and a phased plan for equipment deliveries, warship upgrades, training, and combat.

• The Nair Grand Governor agreed to join the Allied Forces Command while keeping command of individual Nair warships within their fleets.
• Yue Yuan allowed the Nair Civilization to retain a 500-warship home defense fleet and required its other ships to join the alliance and undergo upgrades and training.
• After fifteen days of negotiations, the sides formed six allied fleets, with Yue Yuan as Commander-in-Chief, the Nair Grand Governor and Man Yuemei as deputy commanders, and the Nair Grand Governor commanding the Third Fleet.
• The civilizations signed a memorandum requiring Human Civilization to deliver rapid resupply equipment within fifteen years and both sides to build their fleets to full strength within fifty years.
• The plan required the Nair People to replace triple-mounted main guns over two hundred years, after which the allied fleets would conduct joint exercises and begin combat missions against the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

Yue Yuan and the leaders of Human Civilization and the Nair Civilization began implementing their Allied Forces Command plan, strengthening their fleets and preparing to delay the pursuing Artificial Intelligence Fleet. Humanity planned to use decoy fleets and the Yellow Dwarf Star’s radiance to mislead the enemy and buy time for both civilizations to develop.

• Humanity and the Nair Civilization established diplomatic missions and began coordinating the Allied Forces Command’s command systems, fleet upgrades, supplies, and technical support.
• Humanity restarted its fifty Space Docks to build Lake-Class Warships, while specialists traveled to the Nair Civilization to guide Main Gun Modification.
• The first stage of the plan was set to take roughly fifteen years, but the Artificial Intelligence Fleet was expected to reach the Yellow Dwarf Star only twelve years after that stage ended.
• Humanity proposed leaving behind Nair fleets, mostly empty-shell warships, to mislead the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness about the civilizations’ evacuation routes.
• Humanity planned to hide both civilizations’ main fleets behind the Yellow Dwarf Star and flee toward other stars, hoping repeated deception would buy roughly three hundred years of development time.

Humanity and the Nair Civilization continued fleeing the Artificial Intelligence fleet while carrying out their plan, using decoy routes to buy time. After more than two hundred years, their allied forces had expanded and prepared to move from fleet buildup to combat operations.

• The Nair Civilization's upgraded warships convinced its leaders that defeating the Artificial Intelligence fleet was possible, and its main fleet willingly followed Humanity's plan to leave the Yellow Dwarf Star while a rearguard stayed behind.
• Twenty-two years later, the rearguard reported that it had lost more than seventy warships but escaped the Artificial Intelligence fleet, while decoy ships sent the pursuers along a different route.
• The Artificial Intelligence fleet chose the wrong route and had to refuel before continuing its pursuit, giving Humanity and the Nair Civilization decades to advance their plan in another star system.
• Humanity and the Nair Civilization repeatedly used decoys and route choices to keep the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness chasing them without time to build up its forces.
• Fifty years later, the allied forces completed the second stage of the plan and replenished their six fleets to a total of 7,500 Lake-Class Warships.
• After more than two hundred years, the allies prepared to replace the main guns on selected Nair warships, conduct joint tactical drills, and begin combat operations against the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

Yue Yuan convened the allied fleet’s pre-battle meeting as humanity and the Nair Civilization searched for a star system where they could fight the pursuing Artificial Intelligence Fleet. The fleet examined a binary star system and began assessing whether its three rocky planets made it a suitable battlefield.

• Yue Yuan woke aboard the Lyra, ate breakfast, and traveled from the rotating living quarters to his office.
• After handling routine affairs, Yue Yuan went to the Command Center for the pre-battle meeting, where the Poyang Lake-Class captain urged him to begin fighting.
• Yue Yuan explained that the allied forces needed to assess the destination star system before choosing it as a battlefield.
• The Command Center reviewed probe images of a system with a Neutron Star, a Red Dwarf Star, and three rocky planets but no asteroid belt.
• After studying the planetary data, several people judged the system potentially suitable for battle.

Human Civilization scientists determined that the Binary Star System contained a neutron star with an immense magnetic field, possibly evolving into a magnetar, making the system extraordinarily dangerous. The chapter left Human Civilization and the Nair Civilization proceeding cautiously through the system, where sudden magnetic storms had already destroyed many probes.

• Human Civilization astronomers estimated that the neutron star had a magnetic field of about 3 × 10^7 Tesla and could destroy ships and crews that approached too closely.
• Some scientists believed the neutron star was evolving into a magnetar, while others thought it had once been a magnetar and was gradually weakening.
• Human Civilization scientists warned that failures in a ship’s Magnetic Shielding Material could lead to the vessel and its crew being destroyed by the neutron star’s magnetic field.
• The neutron star produced irregular magnetic storms that had destroyed no fewer than ten teams of Human Civilization probes.
• Human Civilization and the Nair Civilization continued into the dangerous system because they needed to defeat the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness.

Yue Yuan and the Allied Forces Command organized resupply, evacuations, scientific surveys, and defenses for the coming war against the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness Fleet. The fleet would first fight near the three Rocky Planets, then try to draw the enemy toward the Neutron Star for the decisive battle.

• Yue Yuan told Zhu Pete to lead humanity’s Residential Spaceship Cluster and support ships to Hope 13 when the time came, while Yue Yuan stayed behind to fight with Lyra.
• Humanity and the Nair Civilization planned to finish resupply within five years, spend the next fifteen years preparing the battlefield, and evacuate their ordinary populations before the fighting began.
• Scientists from both civilizations began gathering data on the Binary Star System’s magnetic fields, stellar wind, spatial conditions, and the effects of the environment on warships and weapons.
• The Allied Forces Command selected the region around the Rocky Planets, especially the second-orbit planet, as the first battlefield and planned defenses to deny the enemy supplies.
• The Allied Forces Command designated a region near the Binary Star System’s common center of mass as the Second Battlefield and planned to lure the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness Fleet there.

The Allied Forces Command prepared the three Rocky Planets for the Artificial Intelligence fleet, concentrating its strongest defenses on the planet in the second orbit and assigning the Nair Civilization to manufacture hydrogen bombs. As the Nair People and humanity finished their preparations, both civilizations grew confident and eager to confront the fleet after centuries of pursuit.

• The Allied Forces Command ordered experiments and construction of planetary defenses across the three Rocky Planets, including turrets, missile interceptors, and magnetic shields.
• Humanity's military experts proposed burying high-yield hydrogen bombs across the planets, and the Allied Forces Command assigned the Nair Civilization to manufacture three million bombs for the planet in the second orbit.
• The Allied Forces designated the second-orbit planet as their primary stronghold and planned to concentrate their defenses there while maintaining lesser defenses on the other two planets.
• The Nair People's upper ranks praised humanity's military preparations and grew confident that following its plans would bring victory.
• The Nair People and humanity developed an eagerness for the approaching battle, hoping to release centuries of resentment against the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

Yue Yuan prepared the Allied fleet’s Divide and Harass Tactics to draw the approaching Artificial Intelligence Fleet toward the Second Battlefield while concealing the Human fleets’ full strength. The enemy fleet began decelerating as it neared the Allied forces.

• A probe detected the Artificial Intelligence Fleet 177 Astronomical Units away, charging toward the Binary Star System at 30% of light speed.
• After the enemy adjusted course toward the Allied fleet, Yue Yuan ordered the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets to accelerate along separate routes and reveal their positions.
• Yue Yuan coordinated with Man Yuemei and the Nair People's Grand Governor to begin the plan, which sent fleets on repeated outer-edge raids to harass and divide the enemy.
• The Allied Forces Command planned to lure the Artificial Intelligence Fleet toward the Second Battlefield after the Second Planet fell, while the Human fleets concealed their greater strength.
• The Artificial Intelligence Fleet’s fifty thousand warships maneuvered together and began decelerating as the two sides drew closer.

The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets began their attack on the Artificial Intelligence fleet, officially starting the war. The Nair ships struggled to land their opening shots as the enemy counterattacked, damaging a Lake-Class Warship and weakening its Magnetic Shield.

• The Allied Forces’ three fleets accelerated toward the Artificial Intelligence fleet as the gap between the leading fleets narrowed to one Astronomical Unit.
• The first warship fired, beginning the war that had been planned for centuries, and the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets charged in Cone Formation.
• A Nair warship fired the first volley at fifteen light-seconds, but its shots missed the densely packed Artificial Intelligence fleet.
• The Artificial Intelligence fleet answered with a blanket counterattack, and Magnetic Shields diverted some incoming Positron Cannon beams.
• A Laser Energy Cannon burned through a Lake-Class Warship’s starboard armor, damaged its electrical conduits and a Magnetic Field Generator, and reduced its Magnetic Shield strength by eight percentage points.

The three fleets exchanged long-range fire with the Artificial Intelligence fleet, using laser cannons to weaken magnetic shields before positron cannons destroyed enemy ships. As the Fourth Fleet cut through the enemy formation and the range closed, electromagnetic railguns turned the battle into deadly close-quarters combat.

• The fleets traded laser and positron fire, but magnetic shields deflected most positron beams until laser hits damaged shield generators.
• The Fourth Fleet marked an enemy ship with a damaged shield generator, and two positron cannon hits destroyed it.
• The Fourth Fleet destroyed more than three hundred Artificial Intelligence warships while losing thirty of its own, becoming the first fleet to break through a corner of the enemy formation.
• As the formations closed within electromagnetic railgun range, railgun-equipped ships moved forward and fired hydrogen-bomb-tipped shells.
• Electromagnetic railguns devastated warships at close range, forcing both sides to maneuver sharply to evade attacks.

The Fourth Fleet broke through the Artificial Intelligence fleet’s outer perimeter but came under concentrated fire, suffering heavy losses as both sides battled. The Nair fleet continued its advance, but the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness’s superior coordination left the Fourth Fleet’s survival uncertain.

• The Artificial Intelligence fleet redirected nearly half its firepower toward the Fourth Fleet after it broke through the outer perimeter.
• The Fourth Fleet lost more than three hundred warships in less than half an hour under the concentrated attacks.
• Nair warships used coordinated formations and complementary weapons to target damaged enemy ships before they could retaliate.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness used its networked control to coordinate its warships and obstruct the Nair fleet’s movements.
• The Fourth Fleet lost nearly four hundred of its 1,250 warships before passing halfway through the enemy fleet’s outer perimeter.

The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets exploited delays in the Artificial Intelligence fleet’s command network to inflict heavy losses and then shifted to roving strikes that halted its advance. The fleets kept attacking from the enemy’s rear while the Artificial Intelligence fleet struggled to turn and respond.

• The Fifth and Sixth Fleets changed formation and accelerated to draw pressure away from the embattled Fourth Fleet.
• The Fifth and Sixth Fleets attacked the Artificial Intelligence fleet’s outer ships whenever its command cycle left them sluggish, sharply increasing enemy losses.
• The three Nair Civilization fleets lost 864 warships while destroying more than 3,400 Artificial Intelligence warships, then disengaged from close combat.
• The Fifth Fleet’s Commander ordered the fleets to widen their distance and begin roving strikes after the Artificial Intelligence fleet contracted its formation.
• The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets circled behind the Artificial Intelligence fleet and repeatedly attacked its outer ships, disrupting its advance toward the Second Planet.

The Artificial Intelligence fleet changed tactics, split off two groups to pursue the Fifth and Sixth Fleets, and sent its main force after the Fourth Fleet. Yue Yuan reassured the Nair People's Grand Governor while waiting for the detached fleets to be investigated, but feared the Fourth Fleet was in grave danger.

• Artificial Intelligence rotated its warships to fire while advancing, slowing its attack but destroying more Allied Forces warships.
• Yue Yuan ordered the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets to keep the Artificial Intelligence fleet engaged from a distance and draw out the battle.
• Artificial Intelligence split off two groups of roughly four thousand warships toward the Fifth and Sixth Fleets while its remaining force surged toward the Fourth Fleet.
• The Fifth and Sixth Fleet commanders ordered their fleets to flee and draw the detached forces away, while the Fourth Fleet retreated from the main force.
• The Nair People's Grand Governor warned Yue Yuan that Artificial Intelligence had revealed a hidden capability, and Yue Yuan said the commanders should investigate while he waited for more information.
• Yue Yuan told the Grand Governor that the detached fleets were likely controlled by combat programs, but warned that the Fourth Fleet was being targeted by more than thirty thousand warships.

Yue Yuan refused the Nair Grand Governor’s request to send the Third Fleet to rescue the Fourth Fleet, warning that it would risk destroying their broader strategy. As Yue Yuan’s recommendation to retreat toward the Second Planet raced to the Fourth Fleet, its Commander chose instead to turn and fight the Artificial Intelligence fleet.

• The Nair Grand Governor urged Yue Yuan to send the Third Fleet to support the Fourth Fleet, but Yue Yuan rejected the plan as too dangerous.
• Yue Yuan recommended that the Fourth Fleet retreat toward the Second Planet, accepting that this would end the first stage of their strategy early.
• The Fourth Fleet Commander rallied his captains by recalling the Nair People’s centuries of flight from the Artificial Intelligence fleet.
• The Fourth Fleet Commander ordered the fleet to discard surplus supplies, turn around in thirty minutes, and attack at close range using human tactics and armor-piercing shells.

The Fourth Fleet turned to fight the pursuing Artificial Intelligence fleet, inflicting heavy losses before being overwhelmed and nearly wiped out. As the Nair People's Grand Governor suspected Human Civilization had instilled a dangerous ideology in the fleet, the Fifth and Sixth Fleets reported breaking free and heading for the Second Planet, while the Fourth Fleet fell silent.

• The Fourth Fleet charged back at the Artificial Intelligence fleet, and its desperate attacks destroyed many enemy warships while confusing the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness regained control, and the Fourth Fleet lost hundreds of warships before its remaining force dwindled to just over a hundred; its Commander’s flagship was destroyed.
• Yue Yuan praised the Fourth Fleet’s sacrifice, leading the Nair People's Grand Governor to suspect Human Civilization had influenced the fleet and might have done the same to the Fifth and Sixth Fleets.
• The Fifth and Sixth Fleets reported escaping the Artificial Intelligence sub-fleets and heading toward the Second Planet, while the Grand Governor learned there was no news from the Fourth Fleet.
• The Grand Governor watched the distant battlefield display and feared the Fourth Fleet had been completely wiped out.

After the Fourth Fleet’s destruction, Yue Yuan outlined the Allied Forces’ plan to wear down the Artificial Intelligence fleet near the Second Planet while preserving their remaining strength. The AI fleet abandoned its landing approach and maneuvered after the Allied fleets, leaving the battle in a tense pursuit.

• The Nair Grand Governor grieved the millions of Nair People killed in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleets’ losses, while Nair leaders privately questioned humanity’s role in the battle.
• Yue Yuan informed the Nair Grand Governor and Man Yuemei that the Fifth and Sixth Fleets had escaped and ordered the First, Second, and Third Fleets to use the Second Planet’s defenses to attrit the AI fleet.
• The three Allied fleets withdrew from the Second Planet’s vicinity, intending to attack at long range if the AI fleet began landing operations.
• The AI fleet turned toward the Third Fleet near the Second Planet, and the Nair Grand Governor ordered the Third Fleet to retreat toward the Second Battlefield.
• The AI fleet pursued the Third Fleet briefly, then turned toward the First Fleet, while Yue Yuan ordered the First Fleet to evade and maintain distance.