Chapter Summaries

Insects overwhelmed Baltra’s Lasso Empire fleet and turned toward the crowded planet Deo VII. Governor Cruz ordered Dru’s worlds evacuated, then prepared to leave his orbital fortress and direct operations from the Dru Special Fleet’s flagship.

• Insects breached a Lasso Empire warship, killed its soldiers, and spread through the ship and nearby vessels.
• Baltra ordered his fleet to retreat, but the insects caught and destroyed forty thousand warships; his faster flagship and Guard Fleet escaped.
• The insects sensed the population on Deo VII and rushed toward the planet.
• Baltra reported the attack to Governor Cruz, who ordered the evacuation of Dru’s inhabited planets through the Star Path.
• Cruz arranged to transfer to the Dru Special Fleet’s flagship, claiming he needed a better position to command the evacuation.

Deo VII was overwhelmed by a vast swarm of insects that slaughtered Lasorians across the planet and destroyed civilian spacecraft fleeing into orbit. Hasso, the Triangle Empire’s Fourth Prince, escaped with his warship escort and ordered a test engagement to learn whether the insects could break through Level 4 Civilization defenses.

• Lasorians on Deo VII fought over escape shuttles as the descending insect swarm became visible and began attacking the planet.
• The insects breached buildings, including Deo VII’s heavily fortified luxury hotel, and devoured the Lasorians inside.
• The swarm caught and destroyed most civilian spacecraft fleeing into orbit, while Hasso escaped with a fleet of Triangle Empire warships.
• Hasso contacted Cruz and obtained intelligence about the insects’ attack on Deo VII and the destruction of the Deo Special Fleet.
• Hasso ordered ten warships to engage a swarm of roughly one million insects and gather data on their strength.

Hasso led ten Triangle Empire battleships into a direct engagement with an insect swarm to gather combat data. The ships’ Energy Shields initially held, but the insects used a blue-glowing attack to break them, leaving all ten battleships exposed.

• Hasso ordered the ten battleships to attack a swarm of more than a million insects while holding position to collect data.
• The battleships and their fighters killed large numbers of insects, but the swarm overwhelmed the fighters and reached the ships.
• The insects could not initially penetrate the battleships’ Energy Shields, so Hasso ordered the fleet to withdraw.
• The insects gathered a faint blue glow around their forelegs and used it to destroy the ships’ shields more than a hundred times faster.
• The remaining eight battleships lost their shields and were invaded before Hasso’s withdrawal order could save them.

After Hasso witnessed the insects overwhelm Deo VII, he warned the Vera Alliance and reinforced the Triangle Empire’s border, while the alliance planned a delayed punitive campaign. A queen insect began expanding the swarm through warp travel just as humanity’s fleets gathered at Shanhai Pass to face Babania’s thirty million warships.

• Hasso ordered his fleet to retreat from Deo VII and sent the Vera Alliance intelligence showing that the insects had destroyed the soldiers aboard ten warships.
• Verto organized a punitive campaign against the insects, but Hasso gathered ten million Triangle Empire warships near the Lasor Federation in case the swarm spread.
• A queen insect arrived on Deo VII, fed on prey brought by the swarm, and laid eggs before ordering the insects to seek more territory and food.
• The insect nests began warping outward from Drou as the swarm spread into surrounding regions.
• Lin Fan reported that Babania’s thirty million warships were headed for Shanhai Pass, and Lin Zhen sent Liang Xingchen’s legions, Io Federation forces, and allied fleets to prepare for battle.

Shanhai Pass assembled a vast allied defense force, and the Federation appointed Lin Fan supreme commander for the coming battle against the Babawi Empire. The chapter ended with the Empire’s 30 million warships nearing Virallas through the Star Path.

• The defenders gathered 35.88 million warships at Shanhai Pass, including the Federation’s new warp-capable battle star, Mars.
• Liang Xingchen read the order appointing Lin Fan supreme commander and himself deputy commander for the operation.
• The officers accepted Lin Fan’s appointment without objection, and Liang Xingchen handed him control of the operational conference.
• Seven days later, the Babawi Empire’s 30 million main-force warships traveled through the Star Path, with the foremost fleet ten minutes from Virallas.

Lin Fan prepared to use Bai Zixuan’s newly built Super Star Gate to send the Babawi fleet into the insect race’s occupied territory. The Star Gate activated at Shanhai Pass, leaving the plan ready as the enemy fleet approached.

• Babania learned that the Babawi forward fleet would reach Virallas in five minutes and ordered it to scan and report intelligence as soon as it emerged.
• Lin Fan prepared to destroy the Babawi fleet at the Star Path’s exit rather than let it pass into Shanhai Pass.
• Bai Zixuan completed the first fleet-class Super Star Gate, which required one million Lyca Crystals to activate and ten thousand more per minute to operate.
• Lin Fan ordered Bai Zixuan to lock onto coordinates in the insect race’s occupied territory and activate the Star Gate.
• The Super Star Gate formed a passage aimed at the center of the insect race’s thousand-light-year occupied zone, where the Babawi fleet would arrive despite possible transmission error.

Lin Fan’s plan sent Babawi warships through a Super Star Gate, concealing its existence and isolating the ships from their fleet. The first five thousand arrived in an unknown region, while Marshal Babania still had no word from the earlier batches.

• Lin Fan explained that the Super Star Gate could operate for fifteen hours, enough to divert millions of Babawi warships, and Liang Xingchen confirmed that the second batch of gifts had been sent ahead.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen watched surveillance feeds showing Zerg battle insects ignoring lifeless devices, while Liang Xue reported that the Babawi fleet was about to arrive.
• Babania’s densely packed batches of warships emerged from the Star Path and entered the hidden Super Star Gate without realizing it, leaving him increasingly worried when no reports came back.
• The first five thousand warships arrived in an unfamiliar region, and their mainframes flagged their location data as abnormal.
• A Babawi captain ordered his crew to analyze the surrounding star charts and contact Babania.

Babania’s fleet emerged from the Star Path in Deo instead of Virallas and discovered that hundreds of billions of insect race creatures were approaching. Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen watched as the Babawi Empire’s warships began fighting the swarm, intending to gather combat intelligence.

• Babania learned that his first fleet had emerged in the Deo Star System, far from Virallas, and that the later fleets had arrived there too.
• The fleet detected hundreds of billions of living creatures closing in, and Babania recognized them as the insect race and ordered the warships to form up and intercept them.
• Seventy thousand warships assembled as the swarm approached within firing range, and the commander ordered them to attack at full force.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen watched the battle begin, hoping to observe the insect race and collect detailed combat data.

Babania’s fleet became trapped at Deao when Lin Fan’s Warp Interruption Devices disabled its Warp Drives, forcing the ships to break through the insect swarm at heavy cost. The Babawi forces escaped the Stargate exit and began assembling elsewhere while kiting the bugs.

• Babania realized that the Deao Star System was occupied by at least 500 billion Combat Bugs, far more than the force Prince Hasso had faced.
• Babania assembled 200,000 warships and planned to warp away from the approaching swarm, but Lin Fan’s Warp Interruption Devices disabled their Warp Drives.
• Babania ordered the fleet to deploy carrier-based craft and intercept the bugs, but the swarm overwhelmed the formation and swallowed many warships.
• Babania ordered the warships to break out at full speed and directed later arrivals to leave the Stargate exit immediately.
• The first 200,000 warships escaped after losing half their number, while later ships suffered lighter casualties and the fleet assembled away from the exit as it kited the bugs.

Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen observed the Babawi Empire encounter the Sprayers, a long-range insect type, and watched as Socrates directed them against a test fleet. Babadiila lost nearly seven hundred warships but concluded that the Sprayers’ range was limited to five hundred thousand kilometers, leaving him confident in continuing his tactics.

• Lin Fan showed Liang Xingchen footage of the Sprayers and explained that their attacks rivaled Level 4 Civilization secondary cannons.
• Babadiila learned that a swarm of one hundred million Sprayers was approaching and reported the discovery to Babania.
• Babania ordered Babadiila to draw the insects away from the fleet assembly area and test the Sprayers’ attack range.
• Socrates recognized Babadiila’s plan and ordered the Sprayers to wait until the test fleet came within five hundred thousand kilometers.
• The Sprayers attacked the fifth-class fleet, destroying nearly seven hundred warships before Babadiila ordered the survivors back to the main fleet.

Babadiila mistook the Sprayer Bugs’ range and lured his fleet within striking distance, where their overwhelming firepower destroyed most of his ships. His flagship was then blasted apart, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Babadiila ordered more than 800,000 warships to approach the Sprayer Bugs, believing their attack range was only 500,000 kilometers.
• Socrates ordered the Sprayer Bugs to charge and fire at Babadiila’s fleet from 1 million kilometers away.
• The Sprayer Bugs tore through the fleet, destroying nearly all the warships caught in their first barrage.
• Babadiila ordered the remaining ships to scatter, but the Sprayer Bugs split into swarms and pursued them.
• The Sprayer Bugs reduced Babadiila’s fleet to fewer than 100,000 warships, then destroyed his flagship with a concentrated barrage.

Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen concluded that intelligent forces were directing the insect race, while Lin Fan prepared Shanhai Pass for the Babawi fleet. When the Star Path returned to normal, the Babawi ships emerged into a massive encirclement, and Babania learned that more than thirty million enemy warships awaited them.

• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen watched the battle footage and suspected that intelligent bugs were commanding the insect race.
• After Babania failed to break his fleet out of the insect swarm at De'ao, Lin Fan ordered the stargate modules separated and deployed a hemispherical fleet around the Star Path exit.
• The first Babawi wave emerged at Shanhai Pass and found itself surrounded by more than thirty million warships instead of insect forces.
• The enemy fleet destroyed all but a few hundred of the arriving Babawi ships in its first attack, and the survivors retaliated before expecting to be destroyed.
• Babania learned that the Star Path had returned to normal, then watched footage of the enormous enemy fleet surrounding the exit.

Babania discovered that nearly 36 million enemy warships were waiting at Virallas and concluded that his forces could not win a direct battle. After consulting Babareya, he gathered 500,000 warships at the Star Path exit, where the enemy prepared to destroy them with a Star Cannon.

• Babania sent probing waves through the Star Path and concluded that the enemy fleet consisted of Level 4 or quasi-Level 4 warships.
• Babania decided to gather enough ships at the Star Path exit to warp away and wage guerrilla warfare, then informed Babareya of the battle and his plan.
• Babareya approved Babania’s plan so the Babawi Empire could gain time to mobilize and expand its forces.
• After more than eight hours and several million losses, the Babawi Empire assembled 500,000 warships at the exit.
• The enemy commander ordered a Star Cannon fired at the assembled fleet.

Babania’s fleet suffered catastrophic losses from the enemy’s Long-Range Gamma Ray Cannon, leaving him to order a desperate retreat from Virallas. He learned that warp was impossible there and fainted on the bridge.

• Babania’s command terminal detected an incoming ray attack that destroyed about 450,000 of the 500,000 assembled warships and crippled many of the survivors.
• Babania regrouped another 500,000 ships ten hours later, but the second Star Cannon attack destroyed more than 60% despite his precautions.
• Babania ordered the frontline fleet to warp away and told later fleets to retreat as soon as they emerged from the Star Path, explaining that even a small force could wage guerrilla warfare.
• Babania’s adjutant reported that warp was impossible within Virallas, and Babania fainted on the bridge.

After Babania fell unconscious during the disastrous battle at Virallas, his adjutant Babaruiro requested tactical guidance from headquarters. Babareya assembled the Empire’s senior commanders, but they concluded the expeditionary fleet was doomed and urged the Empire to prepare for a larger war.

• Babaruiro took command after Babania collapsed, then requested tactical guidance because he could not manage the fleet’s dire situation.
• Babareya summoned more than a thousand current and retired commanders to a Virtual Meeting Room and asked Babaruiro to explain the battle.
• Babaruiro’s report revealed that the Babawi fleet was outnumbered and trapped against an enemy with terrain advantages, powerful weapons, and the ability to block warp travel.
• Babatena declared the situation a dead end and advised Babareya to expand the fleet by one hundred million warships within ten years and seek help from the Vera Alliance.
• Babareya and the assembled commanders accepted that the expeditionary force at Virallas could not be saved.

Babareya appointed Babatena Grand Marshal as the Babawi Empire faced certain defeat. Babatena revealed a secret method to destroy the Star Path between Taylor and Virallas, leaving Babaruiro with a desperate plan to delay the enemy.

• Babareya appointed Babatena Grand Marshal and gave him command of the Empire's armed forces.
• Babatena encouraged Babaruiro to face his likely death as a soldier rather than surrender his final choice to the enemy.
• Babatena dismissed the other meeting participants and told Babareya and Babaruiro that a secret archived by Babator described how to destroy a Star Path.
• Babatena explained that destroying a Star Path would spread special particles across thousands of light-years and make warping impossible in that region.
• Babatena told Babaruiro to operate one hundred billion Warp Drive Engines simultaneously within the Star Path and force open a warp passage.

Babatena ordered the Babawi Empire fleet to activate its Warp Drive Engines inside the Star Path, hoping to collapse it and create a chance for the Empire to survive. The plan destroyed the Star Path and the fleet vanished, leaving their fate unknown.

• Babatena explained that activating hundreds of billions of Warp Drive Engines could collapse the Star Path, and Babaruiro agreed to lead the mission.
• Babaruiro took control of the fleet's warp systems while Babania approved the plan and ordered it carried out immediately.
• The fleet activated its Warp Drive Engines despite warnings that most were overloaded, and Babaruiro and Babania rejected requests to stop.
• The Star Path trembled, shattered, and dissolved into particles, while the Babawi Empire's army disappeared without a trace.

After the Star Path connecting Shanhai Pass and Taylor vanished, Bai Zixuan suspected it had been destroyed by the Babawi Empire. A test then revealed that warp travel could trigger catastrophic spatial distortions, narrowly saving Liang Xingchen from sending his fleet into danger.

• Lin Fan sent an unmanned reconnaissance ship to investigate the Star Path after Bai Zixuan urgently warned him to check it.
• The reconnaissance ship found that the Star Path entrance had disappeared, and Bai Zixuan said he had detected its collapse after sensing over a hundred billion unnatural energy sources.
• Lin Fan ordered Liang Xingchen to take sixty-five legions to Taylor and determine whether the enemy warships had been lost in the collapse.
• Lin Fan urgently stopped Liang Xingchen's departure and brought him into a Virtual Meeting Room to watch a Research Department test.
• A test ship's warp engine malfunctioned, warping and cracking space around a distant Orca-class Warship until the ship was crushed beyond recognition.
• Liang Xingchen realized the test had exposed the danger his fleet might have faced if it had warped to Taylor.

After the Star Path’s collapse made jumps unsafe, Bai Zixuan spent a year studying the foreign particles causing the problem. He developed a way to store them safely in crystals and revealed they could power a Super Star Gate for a year.

• Bai Zixuan explained that foreign particles had disrupted the universe’s rules and that the universe might take decades to expel them, while Lin Fan refused to wait that long for the Babawi Empire to rebuild.
• Bai Zixuan said he had leads on a solution, and Lin Fan gave him full support to investigate.
• A year later, Bai Zixuan and his team completed their research at a laboratory near Virallas Star.
• Bai Zixuan showed Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen a special crystal that isolated Zero-Point Particles from the surrounding universe.
• Bai Zixuan revealed that the crystal’s Zero-Point Particles held enough energy to keep the Federation’s Super Star Gate running for a year.

Lin Fan learned that Zero-Point Particles could power the Super Star Gate and restore warp travel, then prepared to have the new energy system installed. Meanwhile, the insect race overran the Triangle Empire and forced the Vera Alliance to retreat toward the First Main Arm.

• Bai Zixuan explained three ways to address the loss of warp travel: wait, collect Zero-Point Particles to speed the universe’s recovery, or use the Super Star Gate.
• Lin Fan realized the Zero-Point Particle crystal could power the Super Star Gate for a year and asked Bai Zixuan to install the new energy system, which he said would take three days.
• Verto recalled the Vera Alliance fleet as the insect race swept through the end of the First Main Arm.
• Hasso’s forces were defeated by the insect race’s second wave, and the Triangle Empire’s emperor and leaders fled to the Vera Federation.
• Moros faced the strange reversal of the Freedom Alliance being saved by the insect swarm.