Chapter Summaries

A year after the battle at Girt, Bellt warned the Four Overlords that a massive Zerg fleet was closing on the Viers Defense Line and proposed bringing in the Human Federation. The other three rejected his proposal, leaving Bellt to trust Lin Fan’s plan as the expected battle drew near.

• Lin Fan reviewed intelligence on the Vera Federation and decided humanity should continue building its strength while waiting for an opportunity within three years.
• Bellt reported that the Zerg fleet was less than 0.3 light-years from the Viers Defense Line, and explained that Helme’s ability had weakened the Warp Interruption Devices.
• Bellt reassured the Four Overlords that the Zerg still had to cross the final 0.3 light-years at sublight speed, so the battle was expected in about a year.
• Bellt warned that the approaching Zerg fleet could exceed one thousand trillion warships, far outnumbering the Milky Way’s coalition forces.
• Bellt proposed inviting the Human Federation to defend the Viers Defense Line, but Xis, Moros, and the other overlord rejected the idea and insisted humanity remain within the Orion Arm.
• Bellt gave up trying to persuade the three overlords and decided to wait for Lin Fan to act.

The Zerg launched an immense assault on the Viers Defense Line, and West struggled to hold the first defensive line despite the Haidon’s powerful Gamma Ray Cannon strike. As the line neared collapse, Belt said victory was impossible, and the Big Four argued over retreating while the civilizations behind them remained at risk.

• Lin Fan’s fleet assembled at Ode as the Zerg targeted fifty-eight defense zones around A211.
• West ordered the Haidon to sweep its Gamma Ray Cannon across the approaching Zerg fleet, destroying 1.8 billion warships before withdrawing for repairs.
• The Zerg reached the Viers Defense Line and began a fierce exchange of fire, while West redeployed forces to contain breakthroughs and battle bugs.
• After an hour of fighting, West struggled to keep the first defensive line intact as the Zerg reinforcements increased the pressure.
• Belt told the Big Four that the Viers Defense Line could not be held, prompting three leaders to demand a retreat to the Galactic Core Channel.
• Belt’s colleagues urged an immediate withdrawal, but one of them refused to agree, citing the civilizations of the Vera Alliance behind the line.

West struggled to hold the Viers Defense Line as the Zerg overwhelmed the first line and The Big Three withdrew. Bellt summoned Lin Fan’s help, then ordered West to use the Vera Alliance’s Gravity Cannon warships to save the remaining fleets, leaving the second line exposed.

• West refused to retreat while the Zerg could pursue his fleets into the second line, but the first line soon ran out of reserves and began to buckle.
• The Big Three withdrew their fleets without authorization, ruining West’s plan to evacuate most of the first line’s warships.
• Bellt argued with Moros and the other leaders, then contacted Lin Fan for help after they left the Virtual Meeting Room.
• Lin Fan agreed to support Bellt and said his fleet was ready to depart, though it could not arrive in time to save the first line.
• Bellt told West to deploy every Gravity Cannon warship, and West ordered them to cover the retreat of the first-line fleets.

West deployed the Gravity Cannon fleet to support the first defense line, inflicting massive losses on the Zerg but failing to keep them at a safe distance as the cannons ran low on energy. He ordered the fleet to keep fighting because Human Federation reinforcements were arriving across the battle sectors.

• West ordered five billion Gravity Cannon warships to fire on the Zerg fleet, destroying hundreds of billions of ships and halting its advance.
• Helme recognized the cannons as a primitive form of advanced spatial technology and reconsidered the civilization’s strength.
• After five minutes, the Gravity Cannon fleet’s firing rate fell, and the Zerg pressed forward again.
• West refused to withdraw the Gravity Cannon fleet and ordered it to keep delaying the Zerg while reinforcements arrived.
• An enemy detection officer reported that Human Federation warships were arriving in every engaged defense sector.

Lin Fan’s reinforcements arrived at the Viers Defense Line, where the Human Federation used Spatial Tear to devastate the Zerg fleet. West ordered the allied fleets to retreat as Lin Fan’s forces began pushing the enemy back.

• Seven minutes earlier, Lin Fan ordered the fleets of the Federation’s twelve administrative regions to activate their Super Star Gates and deploy to their assigned defense zones.
• West learned that Human Federation warships had arrived and told the frontline fleets to hold on until the reinforcements could support them.
• In Sector 697, a commander whose fleet had lost ninety percent of its warships ordered the survivors to form a dense defensive formation, but the Zerg fleet suddenly began breaking apart.
• West contacted Lin Fan, who confirmed that his forces were attacking with Spatial Tear and told the defense-line fleets to withdraw.
• Lin Fan explained that Spatial Tear was an advanced application of spatial technology and the final form of the Gravity Cannon.

Lin Fan revealed that humanity had deployed a Star System Legion to every Viers Defense Line sector and began a counterattack with Spatial Tear weapons. Helme fled toward Ao after recognizing the threat, while humanity tracked its movement and prepared to destroy the leaderless Zerg fleets.

• West learned that humanity had sent one hundred million warships to each of the fifty-eight defense sectors and planned a full-scale counterattack.
• Helme recognized humanity's Spatial Tear attacks as technology beyond its ability to confront and fled toward Ao to reach the Bug Nest Channel.
• Bai Zixuan and the others detected Helme's movement through the hacked Zerg Mental Network and reported that it was heading for Ao.
• Lin Fan told West that Helme would take months to reach Ao, while humanity could catch up in seven minutes, and declined allied fleet support.
• Humanity's fleets attacked the Zerg from nearly twenty million kilometers away with Spatial Tear weapons and stopped their advance.

Humanity destroyed the Zerg fleet at the Viers Defense Line without losing any warships, while Xis, Hussein, and Moros planned to smear humanity to protect their position. Two months later, Lin Fan’s fleet trapped Helme at the Bug Nest Channel entrance and demanded his surrender, leaving Lin Fan baffled by Helme’s request for “Zerg Path Treatment.”

• The Human Federation fleet destroyed the trillion-scale Zerg force in five days, and the civilizations at the Viers Defense Line celebrated their survival.
• Xis, Hussein, and Moros worried about humanity’s next move and agreed to accuse it of deliberately waiting before joining the battle.
• Two months later, Helme reached the Bug Nest Channel entrance and found Lin Fan’s fleet waiting there.
• Lin Fan’s forces activated a Warp Interruption Device, preventing Helme from escaping, and sent him a psychic message demanding that he surrender or die.
• Helme surrendered but demanded “Zerg Path Treatment,” leaving Lin Fan confused.

Lin Fan let The Big Three’s rumors discredit humanity before announcing a response that began with 398 supposed guests, including people believed to have died defending the Deo Defense Line. Their appearance shocked the Milky Way and left The Big Three scrambling.

• The Big Three spread rumors accusing humanity and the Vera Federation of conspiring to seize control of the Milky Way, and Lin Fan waited instead of responding.
• The Big Three escalated their accusations, claiming humanity had sabotaged the Deo Defense Line, which angered more than four hundred civilizations that had fought there.
• After a month of silence, the Human Federation announced that it would address the rumors, prompting The Big Three to celebrate what they thought was an irreversible public-opinion victory.
• Lin Fan began the livestream by inviting 398 guests onto the stage, including Zi Guang and others believed to have died at the Deo Defense Line.
• Xis recognized the supposed dead and angrily demanded to know why Verto had not taken care of them.

After Zi Guang exposed The Big Three’s deception, Lin Fan declared war on the Xitria Empire, the Bakeland Republic, and the Sephira Consortium. Their leaders panicked but turned to a secret trump card after Xis revealed he had obtained one of the energy cores Belt received from humanity.

• Zi Guang recounted how West and Lin Fan had helped her escape to the Human Federation with more than twenty billion warships, exposing The Big Four’s efforts to conceal Deao’s fate and silence its survivors.
• Lin Fan revealed that the Xitria Empire, the Bakeland Republic, and the Sephira Consortium had jointly spread rumors against humanity, then declared war on the three Level 5 Civilizations.
• Civilizations across the Milky Way reacted to the declaration, and Lin Fan warned the member states of the three alliances about how The Big Three treated civilizations that reached the peak of Level 4.
• Xis, Moros, and Hussein argued in a Virtual Meeting Room about how to stop humanity, whose weapons far outclassed theirs.
• Xis reminded Moros and Hussein of The Big Three’s secret trump card, then revealed he had taken one of the three energy cores Belt obtained from humanity.

Xis revealed that he had secretly obtained one of Bert’s energy cores and prepared an ancient planet-sized warship for a decisive battle against humanity. After 109 Level 4 Civilizations withdrew from The Big Three, Lin Fan scheduled the war to begin, then received Xis’s challenge and asked Bert what trump card the enemy might possess.

• Xis told Moros and Hussein that he had obtained Bert’s unused energy core but refused to explain how.
• Lin Fan gave the member civilizations of the three major alliances time to choose sides, and 109 of 136 Level 4 Civilizations withdrew from The Big Three.
• Lin Fan ordered humanity’s fleet to prepare for war in three days against the civilizations that remained loyal to The Big Three.
• At the hidden Star System Ram, Xis’s team installed a new energy system in an intact 20,000-kilometer warship and announced a decisive battle with humanity at the Galactic Center Passage.
• Lin Fan questioned Xis’s motives, suspected the warship concealed a dangerous trump card, and asked Bert what he knew; Bert said he had an idea.

Lin Fan and Belt discovered that Xis had stolen a Zero-Point Particle Energy System, likely to power an ancient Planet-class Warship. Lin Fan revealed that the stolen system had a backdoor, then warned Belt that Xis had also manipulated the Vera Alliance and the Freedom Alliance into war.

• Belt told Lin Fan that The Big Four had hidden the location of an ancient battlefield containing a powerful warship, which Lin Fan suspected was a Planet-class Warship.
• Lin Fan asked Belt to check the spare Zero-Point Particle Energy System, and Belt’s deputy found it missing from the strategic reserve warehouse.
• Belt learned that more than two hundred members of his guard had transported the system away and ordered Soo to detain the guard members and come to him.
• Lin Fan concluded that Xis had stolen the system and explained that it contained safeguards and a backdoor because the Human Federation had manufactured it.
• Lin Fan warned Belt that Xis had previously provoked war between the Vera Alliance and the Freedom Alliance by brainwashing people into attacking the Vera Alliance.

Lin Fan arranged for the Vera Federation to receive brainwashing-detection devices, then challenged The Big Three to a decisive battle at the Galactic Core Channel. Confident in their planet-class warship’s devastating cannon and seemingly intangible defenses, The Big Three demanded humanity surrender, but Lin Fan met their threats with silence and a faint smile.

• Lin Fan told Bert he would supply ten thousand Cerebral Scan Devices to detect brainwashing, then exchanged for the devices and sent them to the Vera Federation’s Capital Sphere.
• Lin Fan announced that humanity would settle its war with The Big Three in a battle at the Galactic Core Channel in three days, and The Big Three agreed to the fight, believing their new warship could defeat humanity.
• Three days later, the two sides assembled in the Galactic Core Channel, with humanity fielding 5.8 billion warships against The Big Three’s 150 billion.
• Xis, Moros, and Hussein discussed using their powerful planet-class warship to win and decided to demand humanity’s surrender over the public channel.
• Xis demanded that Lin Fan surrender and hand over all of humanity’s technology while allowing The Big Three to station troops in the Human Federation’s Capital Sphere, but Lin Fan only smiled faintly.

The Big Three lured Lin Fan’s fleet toward the Galactic Core Channel, intending to draw humanity into the Second Main Arm before destroying it with their superweapon. Lin Fan saw through the plan but attacked anyway, leaving the three alliances devastated as Hans ordered the staged retreat to begin.

• Xis and The Big Three agreed to feign defeat in the Galactic Core Channel and lure the human fleet into the Second Main Arm.
• Lin Fan recognized the trap and ordered his fleet to advance and attack with Spatial Tear.
• Humanity opened fire from within range, destroying the three alliances’ warships without suffering any losses.
• The three alliances lost billions of warships, and their soldiers were pushed toward collapse.
• Xis agreed to begin the second phase, and Hans ordered the fleets to retreat toward the Second Main Arm as if routed.

Lin Fan’s fleet pursued the Three Alliance’s collapsing forces into the Second Main Arm, where Hans and The Big Three prepared a trap with the Planet-class Warship Dark Star. Lin Fan had already detected the Dark Star and readied a Stargate, mecha, and Cosmic Knights to assault and capture it.

• The Three Alliance’s staged retreat turned genuine, causing tens of millions of warship collisions as its fleet fled into the Second Main Arm.
• Lin Fan ordered all fifty-eight Star System Legions to pursue the retreating fleet, and the human fleet entered the Second Main Arm.
• Xis and Moros prepared the Dark Star to attack the human fleet as it emerged from the Galactic Core Channel.
• Lin Fan located the Dark Star and monitored its energy buildup while the human fleet completed its entry into the Second Main Arm.
• Lin Fan learned the Dark Star was charging its weapon and confirmed that the Stargate, First Mecha Legion, and First Legion of Cosmic Knights were ready to assault it.
• Lin Fan ordered CODE.71 to be sent through Special Channel Three.

Lin Fan’s assault force exploited a sudden shutdown of Dark Star’s main power system to emerge behind it and launch an attack. The Federation’s First Mech Legion overwhelmed Dark Star’s hastily deployed defenses as Quinn struggled to respond.

• Bai Zixuan’s special stargate enabled transfers of up to 100 AU in one minute, and Lin Fan’s forces used it to reach Dark Star.
• CODE.71 gave the attackers control of Dark Star’s highest administrative authority, and the system shut down its main power as the assault began.
• Quinn’s specialist team restored auxiliary power, allowing scans to reveal the First Mech Legion and First Cosmic Knight Legion behind Dark Star.
• Quinn ordered Dark Star’s fleets and fighters to sortie, but the First Mech Legion attacked before they could fully deploy.
• Wang Hu’s ten-million-strong legion used seventh-generation Greed Wolf Mechs to shrug off close-defense fire, and Quinn roared in disbelief at the machines.

Wang Hu’s First Legion used six-mech squads to assemble piercing cannons that launched Spatial Attacks, disabling warships around the Dark Star despite their Spatial Shields. With the blockade breached, the Cosmic Knights began breaking into the spaceport under mech protection.

• Quinn ordered his warships and starfighters to seal the Dark Star’s spaceport entrances while its primary energy system was repaired.
• Wang Hu ordered his First Legion’s squadrons to open a path through the enemy blockade and protect the Cosmic Knights as they entered the warships.
• Greed Wolf Mechs squads linked their back modules into piercing cannons and charged them with energy from six mechs.
• A squad fired its cannon, punching through a warship’s Spatial Shield and hull and disabling the ship.
• Wang Hu ordered escort mechs to protect the Cosmic Knights as they breached the gap before the Dark Star’s spaceport.

Human forces overran the Dark Star before its core energy system could be repaired, capturing the warship and leaving the Xitria Empire’s leaders unable to send reinforcements. The Gonggong received confirmation that the assault task force had taken control of the Dark Star.

• Xis, Moros, and Hussein realized they could not reinforce the Dark Star because Warp Interruption Interference prevented warp travel.
• Quinn ordered every available guard unit to defend the Dark Star after enemy troops broke through the escort fleet and entered all twelve spaceports.
• Federal Cosmic Knights advanced through the Dark Star’s corridors and killed the Xitria Empire guards who tried to stop them.
• Quinn learned enemy forces had reached the passage outside the bridge and realized the Dark Star was lost.
• Cosmic Knights cut through the bridge doors, subdued the command staff, and captured the Dark Star.
• The assault task force reported to the Gonggong that it had taken control of the enemy Planet-class Warship.

Lin Fan sent Lin Tian’s special assault fleet to join the attack on the three allied Capital Spheres, while Lin Yu led the assault on the Xitria Empire’s Capital Sphere. The Federation fleets overwhelmed the defenders, and Lin Yu’s forces began dropping mech troops onto the Imperial Star to secure the palace and prevent anyone from escaping.

• Lin Fan ordered the enemy fleet destroyed and authorized Lin Tian’s special assault fleet to depart from Losart.
• Lin Tian ordered Lin Yu and Lin Kexin to depart through the Super Star Gates with their legions.
• Human fleets invaded the Capital Spheres of the Xitria Empire, the Sephira Consortium, and the Bakeland Republic, trapping their leaders in the virtual meeting room.
• Lin Yu’s First Fleet destroyed the Xitria patrol fleets, and his forces began annihilating the Capital Sphere’s defenders.
• Lin Yu’s fleet surrounded the Imperial Star, cleared its military targets, and began orbital drops to eliminate hidden threats and secure the palace.

Humanity’s mech forces seized the imperial palace after the Xitria Empire’s defenses collapsed. Xis prepared to kill himself rather than be captured, as a mech team found him on the observation platform.

• Humanity’s orbital strikes destroyed the planet’s anti-air defenses, and its mech forces landed with only one mech lightly damaged.
• The Imperial Guard Legion broke and turned on the palace guards as humanity’s mechs advanced on the imperial palace.
• Xis told his guards to leave and ordered them not to move his body, hoping his death would spare the empire’s citizens.
• Seventh Team located Xis on the palace observation platform and saw him raise his Beam Rifle toward his head.

Lin Yu received the captured emperor Xis of the Xitria Empire and sent him, along with his message, to the Governor. Lin Kexin captured Hussein after digging his bunker out of the ground and ordered him locked in the engine room’s “luxury suite.”

• Lin Yu confirmed that the captured Xis was the Xitria Empire’s emperor and ordered his delivery to the Governor with the message he had left.
• Lin Kexin learned that Hussein was hiding in a bunker beneath Bakeland’s ruined capital planet and pressed her crew to locate him.
• Lin Kexin’s forces used a Tractor Beam to pull Hussein’s bunker out of the ground.
• Lin Kexin ordered Hussein locked in the engine room’s “luxury suite,” and her adjutant escorted him there with pity.