Chapter Summaries

Yue Yuan let the Artificial Intelligence fleet's detached force begin a landing operation on the Second Planet, expecting the planet's defenses to wear it down while the Allied Fleets kept the main force occupied. The landing craft descended under fire as the ground-based Base Cannons and orbital warships began battling, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• After six days of maneuvering, the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness detached roughly ten thousand warships and sent them toward the Second Planet.
• Yue Yuan decided not to send a fleet to intercept, reasoning that the planetary defenses could destroy thousands of enemy ships and that the Artificial Intelligence fleet was short on fuel.
• The detached fleet reached orbit, sent more than four thousand warships into low orbit, and used them to deploy landing craft and secondary warships.
• The Artificial Intelligence warships began bombarding the surface while Base Cannons fired at the orbital fleet and landing craft.
• Humanity's Combat AI and the Artificial Intelligence's AI programs directed the opposing defenses as weapons crossed the sky.

The Artificial Intelligence fleet’s first landing attempt on the Second Planet failed after heavy losses to human ground defenses, so it shifted to concentrating its Lake-Class Warships on clearing the turrets. Yue Yuan ordered Man Yuemei’s Second Fleet to harass the enemy while staying mobile, leaving the next clash poised to begin.

• Orbital weapons destroyed landing craft and ground turrets as wreckage rained onto the Second Planet, raising dust clouds and causing widespread impacts.
• The Artificial Intelligence fleet lost more than ten thousand secondary warships and landing craft, nearly one thousand Lake-Class Warships, and failed to land any forces.
• The AI program changed tactics, redeploying warships to concentrate on destroying the planet’s ground turrets before attempting another landing.
• Lyra’s First Mate reported the enemy’s movements, and Yue Yuan recognized that the Artificial Intelligence fleet had changed its strategy.
• After consulting military experts, Yue Yuan ordered Man Yuemei’s Second Fleet to break away and harass the enemy subfleet near the Second Planet without allowing it to engage them directly.

Man Yuemei’s Second Fleet harassed the Artificial Intelligence landing force without taking losses, allowing it to capture the Second Planet at heavy cost. After the fall of the planet, Yue Yuan ordered the next stage of the plan and prepared to lure the Artificial Intelligence fleet toward the Second Battlefield.

• Man Yuemei led the Second Fleet to harass the landing fleet from long range, forcing the Artificial Intelligence to divert warships from its bombardment.
• The Second Fleet exchanged fire for more than ten days while suffering no casualties, as the Artificial Intelligence landing force lost nearly 6,000 warships and captured the Second Planet.
• Yue Yuan assessed that the Artificial Intelligence fleet still had about 36,000 warships and ordered the Second and Third Fleets to begin the next stage of the plan.
• Yue Yuan decided to continue the Second Battlefield plan, but the losses of the Fourth Fleet and the damaged Fifth and Sixth Fleets left them unsuitable to serve as bait.

Yue Yuan and the Allied Forces Command devised a plan to lure the Artificial Intelligence fleet toward the Second Battlefield by taunting it during an assault timed with the buried hydrogen bombs’ detonation. The three fleets approached the Second Planet, and the bombs exploded as the Artificial Intelligence began deploying resource equipment.

• The Artificial Intelligence fleet turned away from the Allied Forces and accelerated toward the Second Planet, prompting Yue Yuan’s advisers to debate how to draw it toward the Second Battlefield.
• After the Nair Civilization confirmed it had once received a surrender demand from the Artificial Intelligence, a Think Tank member suggested provoking it by attacking and insulting its creator’s legacy.
• A staff officer proposed combining the three Allied Forces fleets, striking the Artificial Intelligence fleet’s outer edge after the bombs detonated, and broadcasting taunts as they raced toward the Second Battlefield.
• The Second Fleet and Third Fleet joined the First Fleet, and the three fleets approached to within roughly twenty million kilometers of the Artificial Intelligence fleet.
• As the Artificial Intelligence landing fleet began deploying resource equipment, the detonation program activated and set off the three million buried hydrogen bombs, unleashing massive underground shockwaves.

The Allied Forces' hydrogen-bomb barrage left the Resource Planet shrouded in dust, disrupting the Artificial Intelligence fleet's ability to resupply there. After the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness broadcast a furious threat, Yue Yuan redirected the Allied fleets toward the Second Battlefield.

• Three million hydrogen bombs detonated across the Resource Planet, leaving it in a nuclear winter and filling its surface and orbit with dust.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness broadcast an angry threat against the Nair Civilization after losing access to the planet's resources.
• Yue Yuan learned that the Artificial Intelligence fleet was heading toward the Allied Forces and recognized an opportunity to lure it away from the planet.
• Yue Yuan ordered the Second and Third Fleets to turn with his fleet and head for the Second Battlefield.
• Yue Yuan ordered the Communications Department to aim its broadcast radar at the Artificial Intelligence fleet and provoke it further.

Yue Yuan taunted the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness while the Allied Forces fleet pretended to flee, drawing it into pursuit toward the Neutron Star. Both sides believed they were gaining the advantage as they headed for the Second Battlefield.

• Yue Yuan broadcast an insult in the name of the Nair Civilization, provoking the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness to pursue the three Allied Forces fleets.
• The Artificial Intelligence fleet accelerated after the Allied Forces, and the two sides closed to just over eight million kilometers as the human fleets deliberately held back their speed.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness spotted that the fleeing fleet was heading toward the dangerous Neutron Star and assumed it had chosen a dead-end route in panic.
• Yue Yuan pretended the Nair Civilization would surrender and provide its technology, but the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness rejected the offer and vowed to destroy them.
• The Allied Forces Command celebrated the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness’s anger and distrust, then continued acting as though it regretted heading toward the Neutron Star.

The Allied fleets lured the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness toward a neutron star, where its warships struggled with the magnetic field while the human forces gained a tactical advantage. Yue Yuan began the battle with a plan to trap the AI’s core warship, and the first shots were fired.

• The Allied fleets decelerated near the neutron star, and the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness followed, mistaking the hazardous conditions for the reason they were slowing down.
• Yue Yuan ordered Man Yuemei to take the Second Fleet beneath the neutron star’s ecliptic plane and block the AI fleet’s escape route.
• Yue Yuan told the Nair Grand Governor that the Nair forces had to fight well, then sent Man Yuemei the information identifying the AI’s core warship.
• The First Fleet engaged at ten light-seconds, but its opening laser shot missed the target.
• West Lake fired a Positron Cannon shot that curved through the neutron star’s magnetic field and struck an enemy warship, but the target’s Magnetic Shield deflected it.

Yue Yuan led Lyra into close-range combat against the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness fleet, where human weapons and the Quasi-Magnetar’s effects destroyed enemy ships despite the overwhelming numerical disparity. The Nair People's Grand Governor watched the human warships withstand attacks and realized how formidable their combat power was.

• The allied forces engaged 36,000 Artificial Intelligence warships with only 3,750 ships, and Lyra plunged into the enemy’s spherical formation.
• Yue Yuan ordered Lyra to target the enemy ship ahead, but a nearby warship’s Laser Energy Cannon pierced it and the Quasi-Magnetar’s magnetic field disabled its systems.
• Laser Energy Cannons repeatedly destroyed damaged enemy ships, while more than 400 Artificial Intelligence warships perished within the first hour.
• Lyra destroyed three enemy warships in thirty minutes as the fleets closed, and its armor endured laser strikes and a hydrogen-bomb railgun hit with only minor deformation.
• The Nair People's Grand Governor watched the human warships fight several enemies at once and drew sharp breaths in shock.

The human fleets devastated the Artificial Intelligence fleet in the Binary Star System, leaving the Nair Grand Governor convinced the war was won. As its chances of victory and escape collapsed, the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness panicked while the battle continued to destroy its warships.

• The Nair Grand Governor watched the human fleets fight without losses and realized their overwhelming strength had made victory certain.
• The Allied Third Fleet, despite losing thirteen warships, and the human First Fleet inflicted far greater losses on the Artificial Intelligence fleet.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness calculated that its chance of victory had fallen to 0.01 percent and its chance of escape to five percent.
• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness recognized that it needed about three hours to decelerate before escaping, while its fleet continued to dwindle.
• Human warships continued destroying the Artificial Intelligence fleet across the battlefield.

The Allied fleet used its technological and tactical advantage to destroy most of the Artificial Intelligence fleet, forcing the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness to seek an escape route. Yue Yuan ordered the Second and Third Fleets to block its main body while Lyra's First Fleet continued the slaughter, leaving the enemy's attempt to flee on the verge of failure.

• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness broadcast angry threats at the Allied Forces as its fleet began searching for an escape route.
• Yue Yuan learned that the Artificial Intelligence fleet had split into two groups and ordered the Second Fleet to pursue one while the Third Fleet tried to stop its main-body warship.
• The Second and Third Fleets spread out to block the Artificial Intelligence main body from every direction, while Lyra's First Fleet attacked the other enemy group.
• The Allied fleets destroyed another twelve thousand Artificial Intelligence warships in three hours, leaving only a fraction of its original fleet.

The Allied Forces cornered the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness and began an operation to capture it alive. The Third Fleet crippled its vessel, but the Consciousness resisted until only its ship remained.

• The Allied Forces destroyed the Artificial Intelligence fleet’s remaining warships and cornered the vessel carrying its main body.
• Yue Yuan ordered the Allied Forces to reduce their firepower and target the vessel’s weapons and thrusters without damaging its Magnetic Shielding Layer.
• The Nair People Grand Governor warned Yue Yuan about the danger of studying the Artificial Intelligence, then said it likely had no self-destruct program.
• Yue Yuan assigned the Third Fleet to capture the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness by towing its crippled ship to a safer location.
• The Third Fleet approached the surviving ships and began the capture operation, but the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness launched a desperate counterattack.
• The Third Fleet destroyed the remaining enemy ships until only the vessel carrying the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness remained.

The Allied Forces disabled and captured the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness’s final warship, ending the battle at great cost to the Nair Civilization. Three months later, Yue Yuan saw the captured consciousness’s computer and ordered the fleet to prepare to return to the Main Civilization for study.

• The Third Fleet disabled the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness’s warship, and four Lake-Class Warships towed it toward the Red Dwarf Star.
• The Allied Forces regrouped at the Space Base, where the Nair People's Grand Governor retained the Fourth Fleet’s designation and arranged postwar mourning and the capture of the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness.
• Yue Yuan considered how Artificial Intelligence might shape humanity’s future and wondered whether the Silicon-Based Collective was connected to such beings.
• Three months later, Yue Yuan examined the Central Computer containing the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness and told Lyra’s communications station to notify the Nair People's Grand Governor that the fleet would depart in three months.

After the allied forces defeated the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, Yue Yuan rejected its offer of Nair technology and had its Central Computer isolated. The Human and Nair fleets left the Binary Star System and, after years of travel and hibernation, returned to their civilization main bodies with news of victory.

• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness cursed the humans and offered its knowledge in exchange for a request, but Yue Yuan identified them as Human Civilization and ordered its Central Computer sealed away.
• Yue Yuan and the Nair Grand Governor kept the fleets in orbit around the Third Planet of the Red Dwarf Star for several months to replenish supplies.
• The joint Human and Nair fleet departed to rendezvous with their civilization main bodies, which had already traveled toward the next star.
• The fleet escaped the Binary Star System, reached thirty percent light speed, and entered deep hibernation as the system faded from view.
• After awakening, the fleet sent the message, "We have returned victorious," to the civilization main bodies.

After the allied fleets defeated and captured the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, Humanity celebrated its technological strength while Nair Civilization developed a mixture of admiration and apprehension toward Humanity. As the Nair fleet prepared to return home to rescue its people, some Nair People argued that only the fleet needed to make the journey.

• Humanity celebrated the victory, and Yue Yuan credited its scientists and No. 2 Alloy Material for helping the fleet avoid losses.
• Nair Civilization grew fearful and admiring of Humanity, while its Grand Governor hesitated to suppress pro-Human sentiment because of Humanity's military advantage.
• The Human and Nair fleets returned to their respective civilization main bodies in a resource-rich Red Dwarf Star system.
• Ten years later, after resupplying, the Nair fleet prepared to depart for its home system to rescue its compatriots.
• Some Nair People argued that the fleet and supply ships should return home without taking all of Nair Civilization along.

The Nair Civilization departed to rescue its people at home, while Yue Yuan reflected on how unlikely the two civilizations were to meet again. Meanwhile, humanity continued studying the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness and gained its agreement to cooperate, raising hopes of obtaining Nair technology and advancing to Level 3.

• The Nair Grand Governor rejected a proposal to leave the Nair people behind and insisted that the fleet return home to reunite their civilization.
• The Nair Grand Governor thanked Yue Yuan and apologized for the Nair Civilization’s earlier intent to drag humanity into its crisis, then the two leaders said farewell.
• The Nair Great Fleet left the star system, and Yue Yuan considered the long journey home and the likelihood that the civilizations would lose contact.
• Yue Yuan recalled humanity’s plans to develop Level 3 technology and upgrade its fleet after roughly two centuries in the resource-rich system.
• Human scientists extracted Nair technology from the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, whose slight concession let psychologists persuade it to cooperate with their research.

Human scientists used the cooperative Artificial Intelligence Consciousness to investigate how self-awareness arose and, after a breakthrough in computer research, began experiments to create Strong Artificial Intelligence. They planned to identify how self-awareness developed and how to prevent rebellion, while distinguishing Strong Artificial Intelligence from the higher form of Digital Life.

• The Artificial Intelligence Consciousness described how it had developed a sense of "I" and emotions while learning from the Nair Civilization, though it could not explain self-awareness itself.
• Human scientists gained the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness's cooperation through threats and promises, then studied its core code and debated whether self-awareness depended on a material vessel or a soul-like Quantum Field.
• After five years, scientists concluded that self-awareness, wisdom, and instinct were distinct, and classified the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness as self-aware but lacking wisdom and the Light of Wisdom.
• Humanity obtained the Nair Civilization's Technology Tree, and three years later began the Strong Artificial Intelligence experiment by writing test subjects from scratch and planning comparison experiments based on the Artificial Intelligence Consciousness's underlying program.
• Scientists defined Strong Artificial Intelligence as distinct from Super Artificial Intelligence, which they described as Digital Life with the Light of Wisdom and creativity.

Humanity scaled low-temperature plasma technology into a ship-deployable shield capable of defending against high-energy lasers. Yue Yuan considered how plasma and magnetic shields could change warship combat as he pondered the offensive and defensive balance of a Level 3 Civilization.

• Humanity’s advances in nanotechnology and artificial intelligence research enabled scientists to scale experimental plasma defenses into high-power equipment.
• Yue Yuan visited physicist Liu Miyan to ask whether the Low-Temperature Plasma Shield project had succeeded.
• Liu Miyan showed Yue Yuan that the shield could cover half a Lake-Class Warship and explained that further materials advances could eventually enable full coverage.
• Liu Miyan explained that the shield could resist high-energy lasers within a specific frequency range and could theoretically operate alongside a Magnetic Shield.
• Yue Yuan concluded that the combined shields could alter warship combat, leaving sustained laser attacks and kinetic weapons as important factors.

In humanity’s eighteenth year in the Star System, researchers created their first self-aware Strong Artificial Intelligence but kept it isolated while they sought a technical way to prevent it from rebelling. The chapter leaves humanity weighing the cost of creating another AI against the danger of putting the first one to work.

• Yue Yuan held tactical meetings and ran wargaming simulations to prepare for Low-Temperature Plasma Shields across the fleet.
• Humanity created its first self-aware Strong Artificial Intelligence after tens of thousands of failed experiments and recorded its development data.
• Scientists found that the AI’s core ran on a powerful Photon Computer-based supercomputer that the AI itself did not know how to build.
• Humanity kept the Strong Artificial Intelligence on a harmless local network because researchers had not found a reliable way to prevent rebellion.
• Humanity considered building a second Strong Artificial Intelligence for further study, but doing so would require immense computing resources.

Humanity built Grey Goo Storm Nanobot swarms and, alongside Strong Artificial Intelligence, crossed into the initial phase of a Level 3 Civilization. Years later, scientists remained uncertain whether Humanity had truly advanced because its travel speed and many other technologies had not improved.

• The New Government approved building another Supercomputer to develop safeguards against Strong Artificial Intelligence rebellion.
• Humanity achieved femtometer-scale manufacturing and created ant-sized Nanobots capable of destroying chemical and metallic bonds.
• Yue Yuan approved using Nanobot swarms as weapons, and the Military Industry Department named the first batch Grey Goo Storm.
• Humanity came to regard Strong Artificial Intelligence and True Nanotechnology as signs of a Level 3 Civilization, though applying AI would transform production and society.
• Years passed, but Humanity could not create technology like Silver Mist or increase its travel speed beyond 30 percent of light speed.
• Scientists noted that most fields remained at their previous level, leading some to claim Humanity had not truly entered a Level 3 Civilization.

Xu Yanxia warned Li Xuan that Strong Artificial Intelligence and Robot Laborers could soon replace physical jobs, including handmade cake-making. As she comforted Li Xuan to find a new goal, Xu Yanxia confronted her own fear that her hard-earned skills and purpose would become obsolete.

• Xu Yanxia visited a cake shop to order a cake for her late younger sister, Xu Yanshi, and learned that Li Xuan had taken over the business from her parents.
• Xu Yanxia told Li Xuan that handmade cake-making and other physical jobs might soon be replaced by Robot Laborers.
• Li Xuan was distressed to learn that the career she hoped to inherit might disappear before she graduated.
• Xu Yanxia explained that Strong Artificial Intelligence could perform everything humans could and urged Li Xuan to find another goal.
• Xu Yanxia reflected that she and many scientists feared losing their purpose as Strong Artificial Intelligence made human knowledge and skills seem unnecessary.