Chapter Summaries

The Crimson Flame Civilization settled into life as humanity’s vassal, with freedom to develop under human oversight. Meanwhile, Yue Yuan told Shi Lifen that he had not aged after the Life Elixir’s effects ended, and she arranged to investigate the anomaly.

• The new Great Commander and A Mo Sang discussed the Crimson Flame Civilization’s submission and humanity’s other vassal species.
• Yue Yuan’s arrangements let the Crimson Flame Civilization preserve its social and technological systems, while humanity controlled its military, resources, and senior leadership.
• Shi Lifen examined the modified Life Elixir and remarked that it might let people live for an extraordinarily long time.
• Yue Yuan told Shi Lifen that he showed no signs of aging after the Life Elixir’s effective period ended and described his suspicions about the Red Mist.
• Shi Lifen proposed a comprehensive examination and further research into Yue Yuan’s condition.

Yue Yuan learned that the Life Elixir in his body remained effective despite its supposed five-hundred-year limit, and Shi Lifen speculated that it operated through microscopic particles and Negative Entropy. The chapter left Yue Yuan connecting her theory to Schrödinger’s idea that life feeds on Negative Entropy.

• Yue Yuan authorized Zhu Pete's awakening after humanity's research operations returned to normal.
• Shi Lifen brought Yue Yuan the results of his gene-related examination, with Zhu Pete staying to listen.
• Shi Lifen reported that Yue Yuan's cells and aging-suppression genes were normal, showing that the Life Elixir was still effective despite the passage of more than five hundred years.
• Shi Lifen suggested that the Life Elixir's effects might involve processes beyond biology, at the level of elementary particles and uncertainty.
• Shi Lifen proposed that the Life Elixir involved Negative Entropy, and Yue Yuan linked the idea to the claim that life feeds on Negative Entropy.

Shi Lifen explained that Yue Yuan’s unusual longevity might stem from a Red Gas-created Negative Entropy Factor that affected his life beyond the genetic level, though humanity could not verify the theory. The chapter left Yue Yuan wondering whether Awakeners or advanced civilizations understood this technology and whether the Universal Life Elixir could create such a factor.

• Yue Yuan asked Shi Lifen whether the Red Gas had planted an entropy-related seed in his life, and she named the conjectured mechanism a Negative Entropy Factor.
• Shi Lifen explained that Yue Yuan’s condition seemed to resemble the effects of traditional Life Elixirs, while the factor’s deeper effects remained unconfirmed.
• Shi Lifen said the factor might account for Yue Yuan’s five-hundred-year period and could represent life technology beyond humanity’s genetic research.
• Yue Yuan asked whether human life science could eventually reach or observe this technology, and Shi Lifen admitted she did not know.
• Shi Lifen suggested the civilization behind the Red Gas might have followed an entirely different technological path and might not even be material life.
• Yue Yuan wondered whether the Awakeners possessed Negative Entropy Factors and whether the Universal Life Elixir could create one.

After Shi Lifen explained the limits and unknowns of Negative Entropy Factors, Yue Yuan decided not to use the new Life Elixir yet and ordered preparations for awakening scientists and distributing the elixirs. As humanity approached vastly longer lifespans, Yue Yuan began considering reforms to government and spiritual life before their next journey among the stars.

• Shi Lifen explained that Negative Entropy Factors were power sources whose effects depended on their fuel and targeted the essence of life, leaving major questions unresolved.
• Shi Lifen gave Yue Yuan the examination materials and recommended checkups every hundred years; Yue Yuan said he would not use the new Life Elixir for now.
• Yue Yuan told Zhu Pete to arrange for scientists to be awakened after the New Life Elixir passed clinical trials and to prepare for large-scale distribution.
• Yue Yuan warned Zhu Pete that longer lifespans would change interstellar travel and create new management challenges, then asked how much time remained in Zhu Pete's term.
• Yue Yuan considered how extended lifespans could alter people's outlook and society, and weighed changes to the New Government, the delegation of his authority, and the development of humanity's spiritual civilization.

A social scientist proposed policies to improve humanity’s freedom, happiness, sense of crisis, and relations with affiliated races while defining a Cosmic View and a great objective for Human Civilization. He ended by asking the assembly to vote on adding that objective to the General Program.

• A social scientist proposed expanding personal freedoms, including access to exploration, warships, and travel to affiliated race societies, with safeguards against microbial cross-infection.
• He suggested private Residential Spaceships and more spacious housing to improve citizens’ happiness.
• He proposed comparing scientific output across humanity and affiliated races to encourage progress and study racial talent.
• He argued that humanity should pursue The Great Voyage as its great objective while continuing to seek the culprit that destroyed the Solar System.
• He rejected Academician Gan De’s Cosmic Evolution Theory and urged humanity to remain wary of hostile civilizations.
• After speaking for roughly four hours, he asked the assembly to vote on incorporating Human Civilization’s great objective into the General Program.

Humanity began prioritizing spiritual civilization and a grand goal now that it had gained greater security and material abundance. Meanwhile, scientists studied the Crimson Flame Civilization’s Magnetic Propulsion Miniaturization Technology, and its researchers projected that human-provided technologies would let them develop a second generation within ten years.

• After a meeting, most of the New Government supported plans to focus on spiritual civilization and establish a grand goal for humanity.
• Human scientists and engineers studied the complete Magnetic Propulsion Miniaturization Technology materials captured from the Crimson Flame Civilization.
• Humanity learned that the Crimson Flame Civilization had used nanotechnology to shrink Magnetic Propulsion structures from kilometers to about one hundred meters.
• Humanity supplied Mechanical Specialization Technology and specialized Strong Artificial Intelligence to help the Crimson Flame Civilization advance its second-generation design.
• The Crimson Flame Civilization’s scientific team predicted that it would achieve second-generation miniaturized Magnetic Propulsion Technology within ten years.

As humanity’s spiritual-civilization initiative revived lost art, Li Xuan realized that art could help people born in space understand Earth and their own emotions. After hearing “Moscow Nights,” she decided to devote her life to art, as its influence began spreading through humanity.

• Li Xuan reflected on how her cake shop had closed and how her boyfriend dismissed her pursuit of art, then deleted their conversation.
• A recovered recording of “Moscow Nights” played for the first time in human society as part of the spiritual-civilization project.
• Li Xuan felt the song bring autumn and memories of Earth to life, and she understood the emotional power of art.
• Li Xuan decided to dedicate herself to art, while artistic interest began taking root among humanity.

Five years after integrating Crimson Flame Civilization’s technology, humanity established the United Science Research Institute, where scientists from several subordinate races worked together. The institute made a breakthrough in algorithms for nanostructuring Strong Artificial Intelligence, bringing humanity closer to a Nanobot consciousness like Silver Mist, but many technical barriers remained.

• Humanity established the United Science Research Institute aboard a Sea-Class research vessel, with facilities and living quarters for scientists from five races.
• The institute’s researchers made an algorithmic breakthrough that could let a swarm of Nanobots carry the self-awareness of Strong Artificial Intelligence.
• The institute applied to manufacture ten billion basic picometer-scale Nanobots for verification and communication experiments, and the production management department approved the request.
• The institute concluded that creating Silver Mist-like Nanobots would require advances beyond current picometer-scale manufacturing, while Crimson Flame scientists had once believed nanotechnology had reached the limit for a Level 3 Civilization.

Humanity and its allies developed a vast network of super-micro Nanobots capable of carrying Strong Artificial Intelligence, powering them with light and giving them mining functions. At the demonstration, Yue Yuan watched the swarm emerge from a spacecraft and assemble into the form of a young girl.

• The United Science Research Institute advanced Nanobot research through breakthroughs in component manufacturing and communication among millions of units.
• The Academy of Sciences devised photoelectric energy storage, and the institute focused on equipping the Nanobots to identify, separate, and transport metals.
• Fifty years after the institute was founded, Yue Yuan received an invitation to witness the new mining swarm and hurried to the Lyra’s bridge.
• At the demonstration’s start, Nanobots poured from a spacecraft and spread over its hull like gray mist.
• The swarm flowed upward and gathered into the shape of a young girl atop the spacecraft.

Grey Wind, a self-aware Nanobot entity nicknamed Little Grey, introduced herself to the Lyra crew and pledged loyalty for five thousand years. Yue Yuan assigned her a warship and mining equipment, then ordered her to test her mining abilities on a satellite.

• Little Grey shrank to a manageable size, introduced herself as Grey Wind, and declared her loyalty to the crew.
• Yue Yuan realized the Research Personnel had given Little Grey an unusual personality, while Yi Kai and Yu Nanfeng denied responsibility for it.
• Little Grey explained that she could alter her shape, control machinery and warships, and mine resources.
• Yue Yuan ordered a Sea-Class Warship and a complete resource extraction system for Little Grey.
• Yue Yuan authorized Little Grey to test her mining abilities on a nearby Rocky Satellite, and she challenged it to surrender its metals.

Little Grey’s successful tests demonstrated that humanity had created a powerful mining robot, while nanotechnology advances from cooperation with the Crimson Flame Civilization also began reshaping civilian and military products. The chapter left humanity firmly established as an experienced Level 3 Civilization, though self-replicating Nanobots and reaching Level 4 remained future goals.

• Little Grey mined and processed materials with impressive efficiency, though she could not replicate herself and needed replacement Nanobots from human factories.
• Engineers estimated Little Grey increased humanity’s mining capacity by at least a hundredfold, and the Academy of Sciences aimed to develop self-replicating Nanobots.
• Technological cooperation with the Crimson Flame Civilization drove a nanotechnology boom that strengthened humanity’s standing as an experienced Level 3 Civilization.
• Humanity began producing nano-upgraded vehicles, furniture, clothing, tools, and other goods that could compress into mist-like forms and reassemble on command.
• Humanity’s nano products remained limited to metal alloys and preset forms, since transforming materials into entirely different substances was beyond its capabilities.

Humanity successfully tested three compatibility-modified Life Elixirs and established access rules that gave ordinary people less access to the longest-lasting versions. Public anger grew into the Life Equality movement, and Yue Yuan heard officials warn that the policy could create a privileged class and spark conflict.

• Researchers confirmed that all three Life Elixirs rejuvenated volunteers, though they estimated the modified three-thousand-year elixir would last at least two thousand years.
• The New Government awakened hibernating humans, prioritized scientists and Research Personnel, and announced new access rules for the elixirs.
• Ordinary citizens protested the unequal access policy, and their loose association developed into the Life Equality movement.
• Nong Huaxue and other senior officials warned Yue Yuan that demands to open access were spreading across humanity's Residential Spaceships.
• An official argued that the longevity gap could produce a privileged class and deepen conflicts between civilians, special professions, and administrators.

Yue Yuan and the Administrative Officers debated whether to open access to all Life Elixirs, weighing social unrest against widespread idleness. Yue Yuan scheduled an expanded meeting for the next day and began preparing for the discussion, while hoping cultural development could curb hedonism.

• An Administrative Officer warned that restricting Life Elixirs could provoke revolution, while another argued that universal access could discourage people from working and researching.
• Nong Huaxue asked how the Crimson Flame Civilization handled access, and an Administrative Officer explained its genetically assigned professions and humanity’s rejection of similar methods.
• An Administrative Officer urged the group to decide because both restricted and universal access carried serious risks, and Yue Yuan acknowledged he had delayed weighing those consequences for years.
• Yue Yuan scheduled an expanded meeting for the next day and asked Zhu Pete to strengthen internal precautions, especially against the Life Equality organization.
• Yue Yuan notified his assistant about the meeting and said he favored opening access completely, but hoped spiritual and cultural development could prevent humanity from becoming decadent.

The New Government convened a fifteen-day expanded meeting in Virtual Reality, bringing together officials and representatives elected from Humanity’s Residential Spaceships. The meeting focused on fully opening the Life Elixir and the many related questions of fairness, work, rewards, and virtual-world safeguards.

• The New Government invited officials, leading figures, and civilian representatives from the Residential Spaceships to an expanded meeting, with many attending through Virtual Cabins.
• Humanity’s advanced Virtual Reality technology had grown from gaming and Tactical Armor microcurrent systems, and the New Government had also adopted it for uses such as combat simulations and large meetings.
• Attendees gathered in a virtual stadium and were scheduled to speak at the central podium before discussing proposals and agenda items.
• The coordinators set the meeting to last fifteen days, with the full opening of the Life Elixir as its main issue.
• The meeting agenda included questions about virtual-world risks, civilian access to Strong Artificial Intelligence, work motivation, fairness, and special treatment for researchers, soldiers, and officials.

The enlarged conference approved fully opening access to the Life Elixir and passed laws defining civic obligations, professional status, and restrictions on people who refused to contribute. The new regulations gained broad support, the Life Equality organization disappeared, and its initiators faced public attacks and possible punishment under newly established laws.

• The enlarged conference discussed the consequences of opening access to the Life Elixir, and ordinary people recognized both the complexity of the issues and the government’s willingness to address their demands.
• The conference passed the proposal to fully open access to the Life Elixir and enacted laws granting important professions higher status while imposing duties and restrictions on people who did not contribute.
• The government announced the conference’s decisions publicly and set dates for the new regulations to take effect, while publicity efforts encouraged people to support collective development.
• The Life Equality organization vanished as most people accepted the conference’s decisions and no opposition gatherings were organized openly.
• Interested parties exposed the backgrounds of the Life Equality organization’s initiators and called for their punishment under new laws defining conduct that harmed humanity’s internal unity.

Years after the new rules reshaped Wandering Civilization society, Man Yuemei brought Yue Yuan information from the Crimson Flame Civilization Database and discussed whether they should explore the star region. After watching footage of a huge off-road race, Yue Yuan agreed to go, since the system had few Rocky Planets and was unsuitable for long-term development.

• Man Yuemei visited Yue Yuan and asked what the Armed Forces Department recommended about trying their luck with information from the Crimson Flame Civilization Database.
• Man Yuemei described a Global Racing Competition held by captains and mechanical enthusiasts, with a lake-class starship as the prize.
• Yue Yuan watched footage of thousands of enormous, fusion-powered vehicles racing across rough terrain, and learned that Mechanical Association President Xu Yanxia had won.
• Yue Yuan agreed to go explore, noting that the Crimson Flame Civilization had originally come to the region for that purpose and that the Star System had few Rocky Planets.

Yue Yuan and Man Yuemei discussed an uncertain lead to civilization ruins, and a massive fleet of allied civilizations set out to search a vast region of space. The fleet reached its first target system and found no ruins there.

• Yue Yuan reviewed Crimson Flame Civilization's vague records of ruins and planned to discuss a search route with the Astronomy Department.
• Man Yuemei agreed to stay aboard Lyra until the fleet departed ten days later.
• Human Civilization, Crimson Flame Civilization, the Nair People, the Kuntai People, and the Dog-Headed People launched a Great Fleet of 180 million ships toward the ruins.
• Yue Yuan instructed personnel to deploy extra probes and inspect every planet as the fleet reached each star system.
• The Great Fleet examined the planets in its first target system, a binary system with a White Dwarf Star and a Red Dwarf Star, but found nothing unusual.

The Human Great Fleet used Little Grey to mine an entire planet, turning its mineral deposits into piles of sorted metals for the fleet’s supply chain. After nearly half a year of resupply, the fleet set course for a single-star system 21.7 light-years away.

• The Great Fleet ordered Little Grey to mine a rocky planet after surveying its resources.
• Little Grey spread nanobots across the planet and began extracting and sorting its mineral deposits.
• Engineers watching the mining recalled the Silver Mist Incident and the people who had died there.
• Little Grey asked for transport ships, and the resource management department hauled the metals to the Space Elevator for delivery to the fleet’s workshops.
• The Great Fleet completed resupply and departed for a single-star system 21.7 light-years away.

Scientists debated whether searching for the Civilization Ruins was worthwhile, and after hundreds of years without discoveries, Yue Yuan put a proposal to suspend the search to a vote. Most decision-makers chose to continue, leaving Human Civilization to explore the barren region despite finding nothing.

• Liu Miyan argued that the fleet should stop searching for Civilization Ruins and focus on developing toward Level 4 Civilization, while other scientists debated the possible value of the ruins.
• The Great Fleet searched ten Star Systems over four hundred years without finding signs of life, civilization, or unusual phenomena.
• Scientists proposed that Yue Yuan suspend the search and instead settle in a resource-rich Star System to pursue Level 4 Civilization.
• Yue Yuan convened a major meeting, where more than half the decision-makers voted to continue searching.
• After another two hundred years of exploration, Human Civilization still found nothing.

Humanity continued its centuries-long voyage while its nanotechnology and society flourished, but physicists recognized that fundamental research had stalled. aboard a Sea-Class Research Ship, Liu Miyan pushed her team to continue high-energy collision experiments despite doubts that their collider could reveal anything new.

• Humanity expanded nanotechnology, upgraded Little Grey, and made genuine nano products part of everyday life.
• Physicists aboard a Sea-Class Research Ship discussed how experimental physics had stagnated and argued that the Space Multi-Point Particle Collider could not reach the energy needed for useful results.
• Liu Miyan ordered her team to carry out the 183,377th collision experiment at 110% power and adjust the Cloud Chamber detector.
• The chapter explained why the collider was assembled during interstellar voyages and why constant-speed travel did not affect particle collision experiments.
• Humanity's propulsion limits were described: accelerating a massive object to light speed would require converting the entire system into energy, effectively turning it into light.