Recaps

Lin Fan ordered a revised strike plan and urged the Black Hole Cavity Creatures to withdraw so they could recover under Federal protection. Luofesi agreed to retreat with the wounded, but another wave of Avila's fleet arrived as they began moving.

• Lin Fan approved a strike plan expected to destroy 92% of the self-destruct ships in each wave and told Wang Hai to offer the Black Hole Cavity Creatures protection while they recovered.
• Luofesi mourned the Great Elder and hesitated between charging back into battle and retreating with the severely wounded clansmen.
• Wang Hai persuaded Luofesi that another charge would needlessly kill the more than seven hundred wounded companions who could recover.
• Luofesi agreed to withdraw and directed the uninjured and lightly injured creatures to carry the severely wounded to safety.
• Another wave of Avila's fleet arrived as the Black Hole Cavity Creatures began their retreat.

After the Federation crippled most of the Black Hole Lifeforms, Avila sought a way to break its defenses and received Taretel’s approval to attempt a fake surrender. The Federation intercepted the surrender message, and Lin Fan suspected the enemy planned to use it to get close and self-destruct.

• Avila learned that the Black Hole Lifeforms were fleeing and that the Federation’s attacks had killed or badly damaged most of them.
• The think tank estimated that a direct assault would require hundreds of billions of warships, so Avila considered its risky fake-surrender proposal.
• Avila sent the proposal to Taretel, who replied with permission to proceed.
• Avila ordered the think tank to prepare a detailed battle plan, while the Federation continued targeting the enemy’s self-destruct ships.
• The Federation translated the enemy’s message as a surrender offer, and Lin Fan suspected it was a fake surrender ploy.

Avila’s fleet pretended to surrender and packed its warships into an extremely dense assembly area, while Avila planned to wait for later fleets to distract the Federation before attacking. Just as he announced that the remaining Third Imperial Guard Legion fleets would arrive soon, the Mainframe’s alarm sounded.

• Avila received the Federation’s demand that his fleets shut down their weapons and assemble in a designated area, and he ordered them to comply.
• As nearly 100 billion Avila warships filled the assembly area, Avila ordered them to compress their formation further and told Taretel he would wait for later fleets to engage the Federation before launching his operation.
• Taretel confirmed that the later-arriving fleets would relentlessly attack the Federation’s defensive formation upon arrival.
• Two hours later, Avila’s assembled ships were packed roughly a hundred meters apart, with only about a dozen waves of his fleet still due to arrive.
• Avila ordered a message sent to the Federation warning that the other Third Imperial Guard Legion fleets would arrive in twelve waves, then the Mainframe’s alarm sounded.

Avila's fleet was caught in a Federation trap and suffered devastating losses before it could spread out or fight back. Legion Commander Taretel ordered Avila to detonate the fleet's self-destruct ships in a Black Hole Tide, leaving Avila to carry out the fleet's final attack.

• The Federation attacked Avila's densely packed, unpowered fleet, destroying billions of warships and trapping the rest under further strikes from more than a hundred Civilization Guardians.
• Avila ordered his fleet to disperse, told later-arriving fleets to attack the Federation, and asked Legion Commander Taretel for tactical guidance.
• Taretel replied that Avila should make the fleet's final embers burn and pave the army a path to victory.
• Avila realized Taretel had approved the plan regardless of whether it succeeded because the fleet could create an opening by detonating all its self-destruct ships together.
• Avila accepted that the fleet's end had come and prepared to use the mass detonation to trigger a Black Hole Tide.

Avila ordered the Punishment-class Warships to prepare Black Hole Energy compression while the fleet’s outer layers charged the Federal line to buy time. Lin Fan suspected the assault concealed a plan involving the suicide ships and ordered Wang Hai’s forces to destroy them, but the enemy’s purpose remained unknown.

• Avila ordered the outer warships to launch desperate attacks and all Punishment-class Warships to prepare for Punishment Judgment.
• The Avila Fleet’s outer layers broke formation and charged the Federal defensive line, diverting some of its firepower.
• Lin Fan rejected Liang Xue’s theory that the assault was only meant to disperse Federal fire and noticed that no suicide ships had joined it.
• Lin Fan ordered Wang Hai’s Civilization Guardian Squadron and the Peak Dark Energy Manipulators to focus on destroying the suicide ships.

Wang Hai and Lin Fan tried to destroy Avila’s self-destruct ships before they could trigger a Black Hole Tide. Lin Fan fired the Hongmeng Warship’s untested detonation device, but Avila’s Punishment Fleet lost power just as its ships synchronized, and a catastrophic Black Hole Energy eruption tore through the fleet.

• Wang Hai ordered the Civilization Guardian squadron to concentrate on Avila’s self-destruct ships while the fleet handled conventional warships.
• Avila ordered his ships to plug gaps in the formation with their own vessels while the Punishment Ships synchronized, reaching 63%.
• Lin Fan ordered Liang Xue to activate the Hongmeng Warship’s untested detonation mode, and she agreed despite the risk.
• The Hongmeng Warship unfolded its wings, charged its Black Hole Cavity Particle Detonator, locked onto the center of Avila’s formation, and fired.
• Avila’s Punishment Ships reached 97% synchronization, but the fleet abruptly lost power before the Black Hole Energy Detonation Device ignited the energy at its center.
• Black energy erupted through Avila’s fleet, destroying warships and killing Avila.

Taretel learned that Avila’s fleet had been annihilated, but the expected black hole tide never formed. He ordered Taylors to investigate the destruction site, unsure whether Avila’s fleet had self-destructed uselessly or been destroyed by the enemy’s weapon.

• The adjutant reported that Avila’s fleet had self-destructed after sending the message “Long live the Empire!” and Taretel praised Avila’s service.
• Taretel ordered the expected black hole tide and its danger to arriving ships kept secret from the rest of the fleet.
• Taretel discovered that the frontline fleet could still communicate, then questioned Taylors about Avila’s fate.
• Taylors reported that black hole energy had erupted inside Avila’s formation, destroyed every ship, and vanished after about three minutes.
• Taretel appointed Taylors temporary commander and ordered him to approach the destruction site, record data, and send it to the scientists.

The Federation repaired its defenses after the Black Hole Cavity Particle Detonator caused widespread system failures, while Taretel's trapped legion faced renewed attacks and no path to victory. Taretel contacted Lin Fan to learn who had defeated him, and the chapter ended with their brief introductions.

• Lin Fan ordered emergency repairs, told the fleet to hold the Fault Channel entrance, and recalled Wang Hai and the others to the defensive line.
• Taretel's adjutant warned that the legion was trapped, its offensive fleets were gone, and the Federation still had a vast reserve force.
• The Black Hole Cavity Creatures recovered and charged again, prompting Taretel to request a communications channel with the enemy commander.
• Liang Xue reported that most of the Federation's damaged systems were repaired, but the Black Hole Cavity Particle Detonator could not be used again.
• Lin Fan accepted Taretel's communications request, and Taretel gave a lengthy introduction before Lin Fan simply stated his name.

Lin Fan rejected Taretel’s offer of a ceasefire and alliance after explaining that the Human Federation had already purged the Sun River Empire for betraying the Azure Dragon Universe. He planned to destroy the Third Imperial Guard Legion and alert the Tailo Empire, leaving Taretel facing the consequences of the Black Mang Empire’s defeat.

• Taretel learned that Lin Fan belonged to the Human Federation of the Azure Dragon Universe and realized he had helped arrange the Alphart Civilization’s takeover of it.
• Lin Fan told Taretel that the Sun River Empire had been purged decades earlier and that the Kado Universe served as the Azure Dragon Universe’s natural barrier.
• Taretel offered to withdraw to Dorando, avoid expanding toward the Azure Dragon Universe, and form an alliance with the Human Federation.
• Lin Fan refused Taretel’s proposal, called the Black Mang Empire weak and ignorant, and rejected the idea that the attack had been a mere misunderstanding.
• Lin Fan declared that he would wipe out the Third Imperial Guard Legion and inform the Tailo Empire that it had vanished.

Lin Fan explained why the Federation had to destroy the Third Imperial Guard Legion and appear overwhelmingly powerful to deter other civilizations while it grew stronger. With his legion trapped and facing certain defeat, Taretel chose to gamble on a dangerous theory that could destroy the Fault Space and take much of the Federation fleet with it.

• Lin Fan told Taretel that the Federation would annihilate the Third Imperial Guard Legion, then Liang Xue ended their communication.
• Lin Fan explained to Liang Xue that the Federation had to make itself seem powerful and unyielding to discourage attacks while it developed its strength.
• Taretel ordered his adjutant to send the conversation’s intelligence to headquarters and inform the emperor that the legion would fight back.
• Taretel recalled Cui Wa’s theory that increasing particle density in a Fault Channel could destabilize the Fault Space and expel a destructive wave of Black Hole Cavity Particles.
• Taretel decided that the trapped legion should risk the theory’s catastrophic effects and ordered his adjutant to contact Cui Wa.

Taretel committed to carrying out a plan to reduce the threat posed by spatial passages, and Sharet promised him a place in the Empire’s Hall of Merits. As the Federation continued destroying the Third Imperial Guard Legion at the Fault Channel exit, Lin Fan warned that Taretel was likely preparing a final strike.

• Taretel asked Cui Wa how to proceed with his plan, and she agreed to help after he explained the danger to the Empire.
• Sharet joined their communication, praised Taretel’s service, and promised that the royal family would care for his family and that he would enter the Hall of Merits.
• Cui Wa challenged Sharet over monitoring her communication, and he explained that everyone in the imperial capital, including the Emperor, was under surveillance.
• Taretel received Cui Wa’s instructions and ordered his staff to prepare a detailed operational plan within an hour.
• At the Fault Channel exit, the Federation destroyed more than a hundred billion Third Imperial Guard Legion warships at the cost of about a hundred thousand of its own.
• Lin Fan warned Liang Xue not to underestimate a God-tier Civilization, saying Taretel might be planning a final strike.

Taretel’s Third Imperial Guard Legion released Black Hole Cavity Particles into the Fault Channel to trigger the eruption predicted by Cui Wa. As the channel’s balance collapsed, Luo Hao detected escalating energy chaos at the Federation defensive line.

• Taretel ordered the First through Sixth Fleets to release their particle stores, gradually raising the channel’s concentration index to 0.16.
• Taretel ordered the Seventh and Eighth Fleets to release their particles when the Critical Point was reached, but the channel’s balance remained intact.
• Taretel sent the Ninth and Tenth Fleets to release their particles, pushing the concentration index higher until the balance collapsed and the intensity fluctuations reached plus or minus 100.
• Taretel learned that the predicted eruption could begin within three minutes and calmly awaited it aboard the flagship.
• Luo Hao detected increasingly chaotic energy inside the Fault Channel aboard Zero Ship and warned Lin Fan that something bad was about to happen.

Luo Li warned Lin Fan that the Black Mang Empire was destroying a Fault Channel, which would trigger a vast collapse of the surrounding Black Hole Cavity Space. Lin Fan ordered an immediate retreat, and the chapter ended with the channel collapsing and the destruction spreading outward.

• After reviewing Luo Hao’s data, Luo Li identified the danger as Fault Collapse and ordered Lin Fan’s forces to retreat from the Fault Channel entrance.
• Luo Li explained that the channel supported the surrounding space and that its destruction could collapse an area roughly 1,500 Standard Black Hole Units wide.
• Lin Fan ordered the fleets to retreat toward the Azure Dragon Universe and told Wang Hai to warn the Black Hole Cavity Creatures to withdraw.
• Liang Xue reported that the fleets, the hundred Civilization Guardians, and the Black Hole Cavity Creature swarm were retreating.
• Luo Li warned that the collapse was beginning, and waves of Black Hole Cavity Particles swallowed the Third Imperial Guard Legion fleet at the entrance.
• The Fault Channel collapsed, the surrounding space began breaking apart, and Luo Hao calculated that the collapse was spreading at about 128 Standard Black Hole Units per year.

Lin Fan learned from Luo Li that the Black Hole Cavity Creatures had been created by the Great Xia Federation as weapons against the Sweeper Civilization. Luo Li revealed that their refusal to fight and the Federation’s decision to eradicate them led to the creatures’ history being erased, leaving Lin Fan wondering what happened next.

• Lin Fan waited for Wang Hai and his group to rendezvous with the First Legion, intending to speak with the Black Hole Cavity Creatures’ leader.
• Luo Li told Lin Fan that she had led the project that created the Black Hole Cavity Creatures to counter the Sweeper Civilization’s numerical advantage.
• Lin Fan reasoned that created lifeforms would rebel against being treated as weapons, and Luo Li acknowledged that the creatures’ rebellion may have been inevitable.
• Luo Li explained that the creatures refused to fight for the Federation and demanded permission to leave and reproduce freely.
• After the creatures’ leader killed the final Federation negotiating party, the Federation decided to eradicate every Black Hole Cavity Creature.

Luo Li told Lin Fan how the Great Xia Federation exterminated the Black Hole Cavity Creatures, while she secretly saved a thousand and limited their reproduction. After nearly seven hundred creatures arrived, Luofesi recognized the humans’ resemblance to the Great Xia Federation, and Luo Li appeared before him.

• Luo Li secretly saved a thousand Black Hole Cavity Creatures from the Federation’s slaughter, altering their reproductive capacity so they could survive beyond its borders.
• Lin Fan agreed to let Luo Li speak with the Black Hole Cavity Creatures’ leader, promising to protect her and eliminate any threat.
• Wang Hai, a hundred Civilization Guardians, and nearly seven hundred Black Hole Cavity Creatures arrived at the First Legion’s rest area.
• Lin Fan asked Luofesi about his race’s origins, prompting Luofesi to recall that the Great Xia Federation had founded his people.
• Luofesi recognized the humans’ resemblance to the Federation and demanded to know their connection to it, then froze when Luo Li appeared.

The Federation announced that the Black Mang Empire had destroyed a Fault Channel and caused a massive Spatial Collapse, prompting nearby God-tier Civilizations to form a coalition against it. Meanwhile, the First Legion reached the Kado Universe to begin integrating it into the Azure Dragon Universe.

• Lin Fan and the First Legion left the battlefield for the Kado Universe as the Spatial Collapse spread.
• Cui Wa analyzed the final data from Taretel's operation, questioned her hypothesis, and asked Sharet to send reconnaissance ships.
• The Federation broadcast that the Black Mang Empire had annihilated the Third Imperial Guard Legion and caused a massive Spatial Collapse by destroying a Fault Channel.
• The Tailo Empire ordered three legions to attack the weakened Dorando Region, while nearby God-tier Civilizations formed a coalition against the Black Mang Empire.
• After more than seven years of travel, the First Legion arrived in the Kado Universe to make it a sub-universe of the Azure Dragon Universe.

Zhang Kai traveled to the Kado Universe to attempt to take control of it while the First Legion protected him. Meanwhile, the Tailo Empire captured Dolando, leaving Sharet facing an overwhelming coalition and a threat to the Black Mang Empire’s capital.

• The Alphart Supreme Council chose Zhang Kai, rather than Lin Hong, to attempt to merge with the Kado Universe’s consciousness, and the Federation sent him there through a Black Hole Teleportation Channel.
• Zhang Kai began the process of taking control of the Kado Universe while the First Legion stayed to guard him.
• The Tailo Empire’s three legions captured Dolando, and Emperor Valeri sent five more legions to support the advance and prepare to divide the Black Mang Empire.
• Sharet learned of Dolando’s fall and realized that the eight opposing God-tier Civilizations had deployed more than fifty legions against the Black Mang Empire.
• Sharet considered abandoning peripheral universes and contracting the Empire’s defenses, but feared the Tailo Empire would reinforce Dolando and attack the imperial capital before the Empire’s returning fleets arrived.

Cui Wa proposed using one hundred million Transport Ships to trigger Fault Channel collapses without sacrificing a legion, and Sharet approved the plan against Valeri. Three years later, the Black Mang Empire prepared to use the collapse to strike the Tailo Empire’s forces near Dorando, and O’Neal ordered the operation to begin.

• Sharet learned that Cui Wa could not uncover how Fault Channel collapses worked, but she could simulate the Third Imperial Guard Fleet’s operation with far fewer losses.
• Cui Wa proposed sacrificing one hundred million Transport Ships loaded with Black Hole Cavity Particles to trigger a collapse, and Sharet ordered her to send the operational details.
• By Federation Year 305, two Black Mang local legions had secretly left their defensive line, while a Tailo Main Legion continued watching the decoy fleet.
• Sharet positioned the Transport Ship fleet inside a Fault Channel near the Tailo forces and planned to destroy the vanguard legion and the two legions stationed in Dorando.
• O’Neal ordered the decoy fleet to withdraw and the Transport Ships to begin the operation, telling them the Empire’s survival depended on them.

Montero urged Garian to attack the Black Mang Empire immediately, but Garian expelled him and sent him back to the homeland. Years later, as Garian prepared to unite with reinforcements, his legion detected a spreading collapse in Black Hole Cavity Space that might be approaching them.

• Montero argued that delays could bring unforeseen dangers and urged Garian to advance quickly, but Garian accused him of risking Imperial lives and dismissed his advice.
• Montero’s past revealed how Garian’s powerful family had manipulated his academy results and kept him suppressed as a staff officer; Garian ordered him to return to the homeland.
• Montero warned Garian he would regret the decision, then packed and departed aboard a Transport Ship.
• In Federation Year 306, Garian learned that two legions would arrive in five years and five more reinforcements within ten, and he planned to prove himself without Montero.
• Garian’s legion detected a strange phenomenon about one hundred Standard Black Hole Units away, and the adjutant recalled the Human Federation’s broadcast about destroying Fault Channels.
• Garian ordered an immediate scan to determine whether the Black Hole Cavity Space collapse was spreading toward the legion.

The Tailo Empire learned that the Black Mang Empire’s spreading anomaly threatened the Seventh Legion, and Emperor Valeri considered rallying other civilizations against the threat. Grand Duke Carterman then revealed that Garian had sabotaged Montero’s career and stolen his perfect academy results.

• Garian learned the anomaly was spreading faster than his fleet could escape and ordered every fleet to run.
• Emperor Valeri gathered the Empire’s leaders and heard Grand Duke Carterman propose an allied force against the Black Mang Empire.
• Carterman reported that Montero’s sound plans had been rejected by Garian for three hundred years, leaving the Seventh Legion exposed to the crisis.
• Carterman revealed that Montero had ranked first at the Officer Academy while Garian had ranked last.
• Carterman told Valeri that someone had switched Montero’s and Garian’s graduation results, so Montero—not Garian—had earned perfect scores.

Grand Duke Carterman revealed how Montero’s perfect assessment score was switched and how Garian suppressed his career for three hundred years. After learning Montero had been expelled from the Seventh Legion and could survive its impending disaster, Valeri planned to appoint him commander of the Fourth Royal Legion.

• Grand Duke Carterman told Valeri that Montero’s perfect score had been switched with Garian’s near-zero result and that Montero was assigned as a Ship Staff Officer under Garian.
• Carterman explained that Garian rejected all of Montero’s military plans and kept his name off the Seventh Legion’s records for nearly three hundred years.
• Valeri condemned the nobles who had ruined Montero’s career and lamented that the Seventh Legion was likely to perish.
• Carterman revealed that Garian expelled Montero a year earlier, allowing him to leave the front before the coming disaster.
• Valeri asked how Montero could be put to use, and Carterman proposed making him commander of the Fourth Royal Legion while his son Carmen served as adjutant.

Valeri turned the Tailo Empire’s losses into support for a forty-one-legion coalition against the Black Mang Empire, appointing Montero to command the front. Meanwhile, the Human Federation opened the Kado Universe to settlement and established a path for another civilization to rise to God-tier status.

• After the Third and Fourth Legions entered a Fault Channel leading to collapsed Black Hole Cavity Space, Valeri appointed Montero supreme commander of the five remaining Main Legions, with Carmen as his adjutant.
• Valeri warned surrounding civilizations that the Black Mang Empire’s destruction of Fault Channels could collapse the Black Hole Cavity Space, then proposed a coalition army.
• The Tailo Empire and eleven other civilizations agreed to form a forty-one-legion coalition, with the Tailo forces leading the initial attack and the remaining legions assembling within two hundred years.
• Zhang Kai gained complete control of the Kado Universe, which stopped rejecting life from the Azure Dragon Universe and began rejecting civilizations that had fled from it.
• The Human Federation moved civilizations into the Kado Universe and banned civilizations across the Azure Dragon Universe from conquering one another for territory and resources.
• The Federation designated a governor civilization for the Kado Universe, offering it a chance to become a God-tier Civilization.

The Azure Dragon Alliance chose the Tri-Union Civilization as its next target and planned to build up its forces after conquering it. Meanwhile, Montero secretly led the Royal Fourth Legion behind the Black Mang Empire’s frontline fleet for a surprise attack, then told Carmen he planned to use a new method of warfare afterward.

• The Azure Dragon Alliance assigned Kado to the Divine Radiance Civilization and the next universe to the Gem Empire.
• The Alliance selected the Tri-Union Civilization in the Dolt Universe as its next target and planned to conquer it within a century before expanding its military forces.
• In Federation Year 318, Montero used four legions as a diversion while leading the Royal Fourth Legion on a nearly ten-year detour behind the Black Mang Empire’s frontline regional legion.
• Carmen praised Montero’s unusual plan, and Montero explained that the enemy could collapse Fault Channels and devastate fleets that advanced head-on.
• Montero told Carmen he intended to use a new, reliable method of warfare after the surprise attack.

As the Tri-Union Civilization wore down Peiton’s biological defenders, Frasca told the Council of Ten Races that a powerful outsider had offered to help them defeat the invaders. He left the Council with a promise of salvation—and the claim that Peiton’s people could someday surpass the Eleventh Order.

• The Tri-Union Civilization’s campaign left Peiton with fewer than thirty thousand Supreme Warriors after thirty years of fighting.
• The Great Elder of the Tar Clan warned the Council of Ten Races that the Tri-Union Civilization would soon launch a final attack.
• Frasca, the Great Elder of the Heiluo Beast Clan, revealed that someone outside Peiton had established a mental-sharing connection with him.
• Frasca said the outsider belonged to a powerful Biological Civilization and had surpassed the Eleventh Order.
• Frasca told the other Great Elders that the outsider offered to help defeat the Tri-Union Civilization and help Peiton’s people reach a level beyond the Eleventh Order.

Frasca persuaded the Great Elders of the ten races to accept Galon’s offer of protection and rule in exchange for submitting to the Azure Dragon Universe. A month later, the Federal Fleet arrived outside the Peiton Universe and attacked the Tri-Union Civilization’s unsuspecting forces.

• Frasca told the Great Elders that the Azure Dragon Universe could defeat the Tri-Union Civilization and help the Peiton races advance, and the Elders unanimously agreed to Galon’s terms.
• Frasca replied to Galon that the Peiton Universe accepted, and Galon said his army would arrive in one month.
• More than twenty days later, Liang Xue received the order to lead the twenty-trillion-strong Federal Fleet against the Tri-Union forces outside the Peiton Universe.
• A Tri-Union fleet commander reactivated his long-range detection equipment and discovered a massive Federal Fleet approaching his station.
• The Tri-Union commander ordered the fleet to prepare for combat and requested reinforcements from the Legion Commander.