Recaps

The human fleet crushed the Kabart Empire’s forces at the Star Path while its remaining 800,000 warships halted and requested surrender. Lin Fan refused to leave the empire alive, and the humans opened fire on Firas’s helpless fleet.

• Lin Fan’s forces continued dividing and defeating the Kabart fleets as the empire’s final 800,000 warships approached the Star Path.
• Commander Firas halted his fleet and requested surrender after explaining that the humans’ Warp Drive Engines made escape through the Star Path pointless.
• The battles ended with the First Legion losing twelve Orca-class Battleships and thirty-nine mechs, while one pilot died.
• Lin Fan rejected the surrender request and ordered his fleets to encircle and annihilate the stationary Kabart warships.
• Firas hesitated over whether to restart his engines until his adjutant reported that the human fleet had opened fire.

After Lin Fan destroyed the Kabart Empire’s final fleet, Teteria of the Level 5 Xitria Empire contacted him and invited the Human Federation to join the Xio Alliance. Lin Fan agreed to put the invitation before the Federation President, leaving the decision pending.

• Teteria watched Lin Fan’s forces annihilate the Kabart Empire’s 800,000 immobilized warships.
• Liang Xue reported a communication request from an apparently empty location, and Lin Fan accepted it.
• Teteria introduced himself as a representative of the Level 5 Xitria Empire and praised Lin Fan’s battle performance.
• Teteria invited the Human Federation to join the Xio Alliance, a group of one Level 5 and thirty-five Level 4 civilizations that offered protection and access to resources.
• Lin Fan said only the Federation President could decide, and Teteria asked him to arrange contact with the Federation’s leader.

After the First Legion destroyed the Kabart Empire's main force, the Human Federation learned that the Level 5 Xitria Empire wanted to recruit it into the Xio Alliance. Teteria explained the Milky Way's four major alliances and offered the Federation equal member-state status, leaving Lin Zhen to decide how to respond.

• Lin Zhen told the Federation's leaders that Lin Fan's forces had destroyed 3.8 million Kabart Empire ships and revealed that a Level 5 Civilization had contacted him.
• Lin Zhen transferred Teteria's communication to the conference, where Teteria introduced himself as an envoy of the Xitria Empire and asked whether humanity would join the Xio Alliance.
• Lin Zhen asked Teteria to explain the powers of the Milky Way before the Federation answered.
• Teteria described the four major alliances, their Level 5 leaders and Level 4 members, and explained that the Babawi Empire served the Vera Alliance.
• Teteria promised that humanity would receive equal treatment as a member state of the Xio Alliance, then asked for the Federation's decision.

Lin Zhen weighed the risks of joining the Xio Alliance until Emperor Xis explained its plan to help the Human Federation replace the Babawi Empire and become overlord of the Orion Arm. With the alliance offering full membership, protection, and ten billion alliance points, Lin Zhen agreed to join.

• Lin Zhen hesitated to accept Teteria's invitation because he feared the Human Federation would become a pawn in the Xio Alliance's conflict with the Vera Alliance.
• Teteria admitted he was only authorized to make initial contact and connected Lin Zhen with Emperor Xis.
• Xis revealed that the Xio Alliance wanted the Human Federation to seize the Orion Arm from the Vera Alliance by defeating the Babawi Empire.
• Xis promised to conceal the Human Federation's membership until it replaced the Babawi Empire, then provide protection, full alliance membership, and ten billion alliance points.
• Lin Zhen judged the offer worthwhile and agreed to join the Xio Alliance on behalf of the Human Federation.

Lin Zhen agreed to join the Xio Alliance and arranged to receive its alliance terminal while keeping humanity’s identity secret. As Lin Fan prepared to lead the final campaign against the Kabart Empire, he concluded that the Federation would need a faster strategy to dominate the Orion Arm.

• Lin Zhen accepted Xis’s offer to join the alliance, and Xis arranged for Teteria to deliver a terminal under temporary code 047.
• Lin Zhen ordered Lin Fan to collect the terminal and escort it to Earth, then told Ed to assemble a secret team to plan how to spend the ten billion contribution points and bring Bai Zixuan back.
• Lin Fan received the terminal from Teteria’s reconnaissance ship and sent it with the Twelfth Fleet aboard the Atlas to carry out its secret mission.
• Lin Fan assigned the other fleets to eliminate the Kabart Empire’s remaining legions and clear its territory within a month.
• After the fleet commanders left, Lin Fan decided that the Federation could not conquer civilizations one by one and would eventually need to replace the Babawi Empire, after building up resources and strategic depth.

Farhale’s celebration of the Kabart Empire’s victory over the Oakes Empire was interrupted when Lin Fan’s 60,000 warships launched a surprise assault on the imperial planet. With the orbital defenses shattered and reinforcements still far away, Lin Fan began preparing a planetary landing.

• Farhale declared a three-year carnival after the Kabart Empire destroyed the Oakes Empire’s final fleet and left most of its warships off combat readiness.
• Lin Fan’s 60,000 warships appeared near Kabart and devastated an orbital fortress, destroying its 300,000 docked warships.
• Lin Fan’s fleet attacked the starport clusters, where another 200,000 warships were docked, while two Guard Fleets rushed back from 2 AU away.
• Farhale learned that the attackers carried the Human Federation’s emblem, but the Federation ignored his attempts to contact its president.
• Lin Fan ordered his warships to form a safe zone amid falling debris and begin preparing planetary landings while clearing the surface with low-powered fire.

The Human Federation’s forces captured the Kabart Imperial Palace but found Farhale hiding in a sealed underground fortress. Lin Fan ordered a MARKIII Drill Bomb strike, which destroyed the fortress and killed Farhale.

• After ground forces confirmed the anti-air defenses were eliminated, the second wave landed and began purging the planet.
• First Legion assault teams captured the Imperial Palace and discovered a sealed passage leading underground, but they found no sign of Farhale.
• Lin Fan ordered forces to withdraw from the area and launched a MARKIII Drill Bomb at the fortress beneath the palace.
• Farhale watched as the bomb drilled toward the fortress, then died when it detonated against the fortress shell.
• Lin Fan watched the palace become ruins from the Uranus and noted that Farhale was the second emperor he had taken down.

Lin Zhen and his staff reviewed the Xio Alliance Protocol and found that Article 28 required member civilizations to maintain leadership continuity. Ed planned to use the clause to push through lifelong presidential tenure, and left to persuade the Federation’s seven Independent High Judges.

• Lin Zhen activated the Xio Alliance terminal and studied its agreement with Ed and the other staff members.
• The staff reached Article 28, which restricted replacing a civilization’s leader, and recognized that it challenged the Federation’s short presidential terms.
• Ed argued that policy continuity was vital for interstellar civilizations and said he would convince the seven Independent High Judges to amend the Presidential Act.
• Lin Zhen trusted Ed to handle the matter, and the staff finished reviewing all 178 clauses by midnight.
• Ed left the next morning with documents to visit all seven Independent High Judges in one day.

Ed persuaded the Independent High Judges to amend the Presidential Act, giving the president lifetime tenure, and Lin Zhen became the Federation’s first lifetime president. The Human Federation then signed the Xio Alliance civilization agreement under the classified designation “047.”

• Ed presented Eli Morse with top-secret files explaining why the Federation needed continuous leadership to join the Xio Alliance, and Eli agreed to support the amendment.
• Ed visited all seven Independent High Judges and secured three verbal promises, while three opposed the change and one remained undecided.
• At Eli’s urging, the judges held a conference and voted five to two to amend the Presidential Act, establishing lifetime presidential tenure with provisions for resignation, incapacity, death, or removal by referendum.
• Eli publicly explained the amendment, and most Federation citizens accepted Lin Zhen as the first lifetime president because of his and Lin Fan’s achievements.
• Lin Zhen signed the Xio Alliance civilization agreement, and the Human Federation was listed as “047.”

Lin Zhen and his aides examined the Xio Alliance terminal and found advanced warp technologies that could help defend the Federation against the Babawi Empire. Inspired by the alliance’s system, Lin Zhen proposed creating a platform for subsidiary civilizations to contribute resources and research in exchange for points.

• Lin Zhen and his aides reviewed the Xio Alliance’s missions, trade system, and points exchange, noting that the Federation had ten billion points to spend.
• Lin Zhen assigned Ed to manage the points and learned that Bai Zixuan would arrive in a week after completing his experiment.
• An aide found three warp technologies for sale, including blockade technology and a countermeasure, and Lin Zhen told Ed to have Bai Zixuan assess their practical use.
• Lin Zhen proposed establishing a Federation platform that would recruit high-potential subsidiary civilizations, assign them missions, and reward them with exchangeable points.
• The aides recognized that the plan could bring in resources and outsource scientific research, much as the Xitria Empire benefited from the Xio Alliance system.

Lin Zhen proposed adopting a modified version of the Xio Alliance’s system to gather technology from other civilizations, then addressed the population shortage caused by humanity’s rapid territorial expansion. He suggested offering free land on other Life Planets to families with more children, leaving the aides impressed by the proposal.

• Ed proposed adapting the Xio Alliance’s established system, and Lin Zhen assigned him to build its basic framework before Bai Zixuan arrived.
• Lin Zhen showed the aides that humanity’s territory would grow to 78 Star Systems, containing 39 natural and 278 terraformed Life Planets after Operation Dawn.
• Lin Zhen warned that humanity’s population of 15 billion was too small to develop its new territory and staff future legions.
• The aides argued over mandatory childbirth and tax incentives, but rejected both approaches.
• Lin Zhen proposed giving families free land on other Life Planets according to their family size, and the aides recognized that it could encourage a baby boom.

Lin Zhen created a Federation immigration policy that granted land according to family size, and the resulting Birth Promotion Plan drew billions of people into its first wave. As immigration opened every five years, Lin Fan and Liang Xue discussed population growth and the special land provisions for fleet personnel.

• Lin Zhen approved extra land for families with more than ten children and made land selection first come, first served.
• The Federation announced its immigration policy, offering land to applicants and larger allocations to families with children.
• The Interstellar Immigration Bureau reported that most applicants were over sixty, and the first immigration wave reached 3.2 billion people.
• The Federation decided to open immigration once every five years and began moving immigrants to planets in the former Oakes Empire's Capital Sphere.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xue discussed the policy's population impact and the land reserved for active-duty fleet personnel.

The Sera Empire launched an invasion of Vien using Babawi Empire export-model warships, overwhelming the Io Federation’s border defenses. Aierfei ordered the evacuation and withdrawal of Vien’s forces and secured humanity’s promise to send Liang Xingchen’s Second Legion as reinforcements.

• Bernice learned that the Sera Empire was attacking Vien with shielded Babawi Empire export-model warships and ordered the Io legions to reinforce the Star Path defensive line.
• Aierfei received Bernice’s report that fifty thousand enemy ships had emerged and more were still pouring through the Star Path.
• Aierfei ordered Bernice to evacuate Vien’s civilians, hold the front temporarily, and withdraw the garrison once the evacuation was complete.
• Aierfei contacted Lin Zhen, who agreed to send Liang Xingchen’s Second Legion to rendezvous with the Io Federation and support the defense.

Bernice ordered the Io Federation forces to retreat from Venn after the Sera Empire deployed an overwhelming fleet through the Star Path. Bonnie and the Ninth Legion stayed behind to delay the enemy, leaving the other legions a chance to escape.

• Aierfei and Lin Zhen questioned how the Sera Empire had acquired so many shielded warships as its fleet emerged from the Star Path.
• Bernice held the defensive line while Venn’s personnel evacuated, and the Ninth Legion suffered enormous losses before the Eleventh and Twelfth Legions arrived.
• After 120,000 Sera shielded warships emerged, Bernice ordered the legions to retreat once the evacuation fleet reached the rear Star Path.
• Bonnie refused to withdraw, warning Bernice that the faster enemy ships could trap the retreating legions.
• Bonnie ordered the Ninth Legion’s remaining 80,000 warships to charge into the enemy formation and buy time for the others to escape.

After the Sera Empire conquered Vein with a fleet of 3.72 million warships, the Human Federation sent its legions to support the Io Federation. A 640,000-ship United Fleet assembled in the Io Capital Sphere and began its planned deployment against the invaders.

• Aierfei briefed Liang Xingchen that Vein had fallen and the Sera Empire had deployed 3.6 million main warships and 120,000 Babawi export-model shield warships.
• Liang Xingchen arranged for the Second Legion to support the Io Federation and requested help from the First Legion, which Saunders approved.
• Lin Fan left two fleets and six local Guard Fleets to defend humanity’s territory, then led the remaining ten fleets toward the Io Federation.
• The Second Legion arrived at the Io Capital Sphere before the First Legion, and Liang Xingchen took command of a 640,000-warship United Fleet with Lin Fan and Ailena as deputies.
• Ailena led the Queen’s Guard Fleet out first so it could rendezvous with the Human Federation fleets.

The allied forces lured Basel’s Sera fleet away from Vien with a staged Io Federation advance, then sent the Royal Guard Fleet to intercept the retreating ships. Basel’s Royal Guard blocked the Olla Star Path, but the Io fleet attacked instead of turning away, leaving him puzzled.

• Basel kept the Sera fleet combat-ready while it rested and refitted at Vien.
• Lin Fan, Liang Xingchen, and Ailena chose to lure the Sera fleet out and destroy its 120,000 shielded ships with the faster Queen's Guard Legion.
• The Io Federation fleet appeared at the Ordo Star Path, grew to 200,000 ships, and fled toward the Olla Star Path as Basel advanced to intercept it.
• Basel sent the Royal Guard Fleet ahead to block the Olla Star Path entrance.
• The Io fleet opened fire on the Royal Guard Fleet rather than changing course, and Basel wondered whether they planned to force their way through.

Basel’s plan to ambush the Io Federation faltered when its fleet revealed Energy Shields and the Human Federation’s fleets arrived using Warp Drive Engines. Facing overwhelming firepower, Basel ordered a retreat while the Royal Guard Fleet tried to escape through the Star Path.

• Basel had the Sera Empire’s Royal Guard Fleet intercept the Io Federation’s 200,000 warships near the Star Path.
• The Io Federation’s shields repelled the Sera Empire’s first attacks, while its concentrated fire destroyed more than fifty enemy warships.
• Ailena signaled the Human Federation’s First and Second Legions to appear on the Royal Guard Fleet’s flanks and attack, destroying more than 3,000 ships.
• Basel recognized the danger and ordered the main fleet to retreat into Sera Empire territory, telling the Royal Guard Fleet to withdraw at once.
• Basel roared at his stunned adjutant, who relayed the retreat orders to the fleet commanders.

The Io Federation fleets trapped and annihilated the Sera Empire’s Royal Guard Fleet while the main Sera fleet retreated toward the Star Gate. The main fleet was still less than ten million kilometers from the entrance, where Ailena was preparing an interception.

• Basel ordered the Sera Empire fleet to retreat, while Liang Xingchen and Lin Fan focused on destroying the Royal Guard Fleet.
• Ailena spread the Queen's Guard Fleet apart to let the Royal Guard Fleet charge through, then attacked it with crossfire as Liang Xingchen pursued from behind.
• Lin Fan's First Legion struck the Royal Guard Fleet from the flank, splitting its formation and inflicting heavy losses.
• Basel ordered the Royal Guard Fleet to stop retreating and fight to buy time for the main fleet, and its loyal crews obeyed.
• The Royal Guard Fleet counterattacked, causing some losses to Lin Fan's and Liang Xingchen's legions, but the two legions destroyed its remaining seventy thousand-plus warships.
• The Sera Empire fleet continued toward the Star Gate entrance and was less than ten million kilometers away.

Basel’s Sera Empire fleet tried to retreat through the Star Path while the Io Federation’s Queen’s Guard Fleet blocked the entrance, and Human Federation forces closed in from behind. Lin Fan decided to launch a special operation to seize the Sera flagship and capture its commander alive for intelligence.

• Basel learned that the Io Federation’s Queen’s Guard Fleet had warped directly to the Star Path entrance and ordered his fleet to attack it while five legions turned to intercept the two approaching Unknown Fleets.
• The Queen’s Guard Fleet and the Sera Empire’s two million warships exchanged heavy fire as Ailena tried to keep the enemy from breaking through to the Star Path.
• Lin Fan told Liang Xingchen that the Human Federation needed to capture the Sera commander to learn why the Sera Empire had acquired 120,000 Babawi Empire warships.
• Lin Fan summoned the commanders of the Second through Tenth Fleets and ordered them to seize the Sera flagship and capture its command personnel alive.

Lin Fan assigned the Human Federation fleets to bypass the Sera formations and strike their Guard Legion while the Io Federation held the Star Path. As the Sera Army launched its second wave, Lin Fan’s forces began their maneuver, throwing the rear battlefield into chaos.

• Lin Fan ordered Chris, Emma, Fujiwara Ayako, and Carol to lead four fleets around the enemy’s flanks, while other fleets covered his and Shangguan Yunting’s advance toward the Sera Guard Legion.
• The Io Federation’s Queen’s Guard Legion suffered mounting losses as it fought the first Sera assault wave, and Ailena worried it could not withstand all seven waves.
• Lin Fan told Ailena that the Queen’s Guard Legion only needed to stop two waves because his First Legion was beginning to move.
• After the Sera Army launched its second wave, four of Lin Fan’s fleets accelerated around both sides of the Human Federation formation while the remaining forces advanced.
• Liang Xingchen spread out the Second Legion and fired on both sides of the First Legion’s route, plunging the rear battlefield into chaos.

Lin Fan’s fleets exploited gaps in the Sera Army’s formations to assault General Basel’s flagship and overwhelm his Imperial Guard Legion. The chapter ended with Zhang Zhiwei leading mechas and assault troops inside the damaged flagship to capture Basel’s command group alive.

• General Basel sent two legions to intercept four human fleets he believed were targeting the Sera Army’s second-wave assault force.
• Lin Fan redirected the four fleets toward Basel’s Imperial Guard Legion after the Sera Army’s forward formation opened gaps.
• Liang Xingchen’s firepower helped six human fleets pierce the rear formation, while two fleets raced toward the Sera forward formation.
• The four circling fleets split the Guard Legion into three sections, and four other human fleets pinned down the surrounding Sera legions.
• Lin Fan and Shangguan Yunting’s fleets surrounded Basel’s flagship, disabled its surface weapons, and blasted an opening near the bridge.
• Zhang Zhiwei led mechas and assault troops through the breach to capture Basel’s command group alive.

Lin Fan’s forces captured General Basel and routed the Sera Empire army, helping the allied fleets win a decisive battle. Afterward, Lin Fan considered recruiting affiliated civilizations to address humanity’s shortage of ships and personnel.

• The Human Federation breached Basel’s flagship, captured him, and withdrew its combat units under Lin Fan’s command.
• Lin Fan reassigned four fleets to Liang Xingchen and sent the remaining fleets toward the Star Path to aid the Io Federation’s Queen’s Guard Fleet.
• With Basel captured, the Sera Army lost coordination as the battle continued and its warship losses mounted.
• After more than five hours, the allied forces annihilated over 3.5 million Sera Empire main-force warships and nearly 120,000 Royal Guard Fleet warships, losing 38,000 Io Federation ships and 2,800 Human Federation ships.
• Lin Fan concluded that recruiting affiliated civilizations and equipping them with shield and warp technology could strengthen humanity’s forces and bring resources through arms trading.

Three months after the Vein Campaign, Lin Fan prepared to tour the Loulan Sector and assess civilizations for possible Federation membership. Intelligence from Basel eased his concerns about the Babawi Empire for now, but revealed that the Sera Empire still possessed 240,000 Guard Fleet warships and that the Federation had begun a five-year plan to counter the threat.

• Lin Fan stationed the First Legion at Loulan and planned a tour of the sector’s 339 Level 2 and 2,716 Level 1 Civilizations to identify candidates for subsidiary status.
• Lin Fan received intelligence gathered from Basel and learned that the Sera Empire had given a Level 5 Civilization warship wreck to the Babawi Empire in exchange for 360,000 Imported Warships.
• Lin Fan concluded that the Babawi Empire would not return for another seventy-eight years, but that the Sera Empire’s remaining 240,000 Guard Fleet warships still threatened humanity.
• The Presidential Palace began a five-year plan that included forming a Third Legion and supplying the Io Federation with 500,000 sets of Energy Shields and Warp Drive Engines.

Lin Fan took a vacation with Liang Xue and Emma while leading a Federation tour of the Loulan Sector, where the first civilization they encountered was the steam-powered Auger Empire. The Auger Empire prepared an elaborate welcome after learning the visitors were from a Level 4 Civilization, while Federation experts discovered that the Auger had developed spaceflight through steam technology.

• Lin Fan joined Liang Xue, Emma, the Guard Fleet, and more than a thousand experts on a tour to evaluate civilizations in the Loulan Sector.
• The fleet arrived in the Aug System, where Lin Fan identified the ships as belonging to the Level 2 Auger Empire and was astonished by their steampunk design.
• Lin Fan told an Auger patrol ship that the Human Federation was a Level 4 Civilization visiting in friendship, prompting its crew to alert Emperor Augustus.
• Emperor Augustus ordered the highest-standard welcome ceremony, and the patrol ship escorted the Federation fleet toward Aug Star.
• Federation experts examined the patrol ship and concluded that the Auger Empire had developed advanced spacecraft using steam technology alone.

Lin Fan and the expert team visited the steam-powered Auger Empire, where the team assessed its potential and invited it to join the Human Federation as a Subordinate Civilization. Augustus initially disliked the offer but was stunned by the terms of the agreement.

• Meng Fei explained that the Auger Empire powered its warships and cannons with highly advanced steam technology, and Lin Fan became eager to visit its world.
• The Guard Fleet followed an Auger patrol ship to Aug Star, where Emperor Augustus welcomed Lin Fan and the expert team aboard his flagship.
• The expert team handled negotiations while Augustus arranged guides and royal guards for Lin Fan and the two women, who spent a week sightseeing.
• Meng Fei told Lin Fan that the expert team had given the Auger civilization a Potential Score of 7.2 and invited it to join the Federation as a Subordinate Civilization.
• Augustus reacted badly to the invitation at first, but froze when he read the Human Federation's Subordinate Civilization Agreement.