Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan’s elite mechs ambushed the escort fleet and gave him a chance to board the Transport Ship and rescue Liang Xue. He freed her from Duolun’s men and left to rejoin the battle, ordering Zhang Hu to kill everyone on the bridge.

• Lin Fan led three hundred elite mechs in an attack that disabled escort warships and disrupted the fleet protecting the Transport Ship.
• Lin Fan, Zhang Hu, and their mechs cut into the Transport Ship and entered its cargo hold, while ten mechs guarded the hull.
• Duolun ordered Wood’s men to take Liang Xue to the escape pods, then demanded that they kill her when she resisted.
• Lin Fan arrived on the bridge in time to shoot one of Wood’s men and rescue Liang Xue, then defeated another attacker with his bare hands.
• Lin Fan freed Liang Xue, told her they needed to return to her father’s battle, and ordered Zhang Hu to leave no one alive.

Lin Fan rescued Liang Xue, killed the Ninth Prince, and directed the human forces to trap and destroy the Oakes fleet. The chapter ended with the Oakes commander learning that the Ninth Prince was already dead as reinforcements closed in.

• Lin Fan ordered the Ninth Prince and the other captives killed, then explained to Liang Xue that the Oakes invasion made the prince's survival strategically useless and that the enemy had targeted his wife.
• Will told Lin Fan that a fleet of roughly 5,000 warships was approaching, and Lin Fan confirmed it was friendly while ordering Will to keep the enemy occupied without engaging head-on.
• Lin Fan led Liang Xue and the mech pilots away from the transport ship, while Will used asteroid cover to prevent the Oakes fleet from turning back to help the Ninth Prince.
• The Oakes commander learned that the human reinforcements had arrived and ordered his fleet to retreat toward the transport ship while sacrificing ships to cover the escape.
• Lin Fan took command of the thirty-two incoming human fleets and assigned them to attack the Oakes forces across the battlefields.
• The Oakes commander learned that the Ninth Prince's body had been found aboard the transport ship and despaired as his fleet continued retreating under attack.

Lin Fan led thirty-one support fleets toward Sector 016 and revealed the plan he and Liang Xingchen had devised to trap the Oakes Empire fleet. The battle turned in the Federation’s favor as Lin Fan’s forces encircled the enemy’s tail-biting formation, leaving Cody with no way to avoid defeat.

• Lin Fan left one fleet to rescue survivors and clean up the battlefield, then took command of the remaining thirty-one fleets and explained the tactics he had planned with Liang Xingchen.
• Liang Xingchen learned that Liang Xue had been rescued, Duolun and Wood had been killed, and the support fleet was on its way, so he told Jiang Hai the outcome would be decided within two hours.
• Lin Fan divided his forces into two groups and ordered them to attack the flanks of the Oakes Empire’s Four Snakes Biting Their Tails Formation from both sides.
• Cody realized his fleet would be destroyed whether it stayed in formation or broke away, while Liang Xingchen ordered the Fourth Fleet to strike if the enemy exposed its flanks.

Lin Fan’s reinforcement fleets inflicted heavy losses on the Oakes Empire fleets and formed a crossfire to stop Cody’s desperate assault. As Cody ordered his ships to charge through, Liang Xingchen moved to encircle their rear and flank.

• Lin Fan ordered Reinforcement Fleets A and B to fire on the Oakes Empire fleets’ flanks, destroying thousands of warships.
• Cody decided to turn toward the human reinforcement fleets and break through their formation rather than suffer further flank attacks.
• Lin Fan split his 2,400 warships into three groups to create a crossfire against the advancing Oakes Empire fleets.
• Cody ordered a desperate assault through the crossfire, accepting heavy casualties to escape toward the Asteroid Belt.
• Liang Xingchen ordered the Fourth Fleet to attack the enemy’s right rear and tail, coordinating a three-sided encirclement with Lin Fan.

After defeating the Oakes Empire vanguard, Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen planned an ambush for Adams’s 90,000-warship follow-up fleet. Three days later, Adams encountered the roughly 15,000 surviving human warships and ordered his fleet to attack.

• The Fourth Fleet counted 4,886 warships and 3,617 mechs lost, while the Oakes Empire lost 30,000 warships and Ninth Prince Duolun.
• Liang Xingchen explained that Wood had used the Scott Family’s influence to control asteroid detectors and feed the humans false information.
• Lin Fan proposed adapting a tactic from his graduation simulation, and Liang Xingchen approved the plan and assigned Lin command of the left wing.
• After clearing the battlefield, the surviving human fleet moved deeper into the Asteroid Belt to prepare an ambush.
• Adams concealed Duolun’s death from his fleet and continued toward the humans with 90,000 warships.
• When scouts found the roughly 15,000-ship human fleet, Adams assumed it was humanity’s last force and ordered his fleet to crush it.

Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen’s ambush trapped Adams’s 90,000 warships in a crossfire, forcing the Oakes fleet to flee while taking heavy losses. Just as Adams thought the casualties were manageable, another human fleet appeared ahead to block his escape.

• Adams ordered his 90,000 warships to attack the human rearguard, but human fleets appeared on both flanks and the retreating ships turned back, forming a three-sided encirclement.
• Adams ordered the Third Imperial Guard Legion to turn and flee, but two more human fleets appeared ahead and began firing on the fleet’s front.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen discussed how the apparent 55,000-warship force used mechs to disguise nearly 50,000 warships and agreed to destroy roughly half of Adams’s fleet.
• Adams’s fleet endured crossfire while escaping, losing about 7,000 warships as one-third passed through and about 15,000 as two-thirds passed through.
• A new human fleet of about 5,000 warships appeared directly ahead of Adams’s fleet in a reinforced formation.

Liang Xingchen, Lin Fan, and Jiang Hai used disguised fleets and a coordinated ambush to destroy most of Adams's force and drive the survivors back to Jupiter. After the Fourth Fleet's battle report stunned the Federal leadership, Ed proposed promoting Lin Fan and putting him in command of the reorganized First Fleet.

• Liang Xingchen let Adams's fleet appear to break through his formation, then split his ships to attack it from the sides as Lin Fan and Jiang Hai closed in from behind.
• The Fourth Fleet's three-sided attack destroyed more than forty thousand enemy warships, and Adams ordered his battered survivors back to Jupiter Base.
• The Fourth Fleet ended its pursuit, rescued surviving crew members, and returned toward Mars Base.
• At the Federal Presidential Palace, Lin Zhen and his aides heard that the Fourth Fleet had won both battles using tactics proposed by Lin Fan.
• After viewing the campaign details, Ed proposed promoting Lin Fan to lieutenant general and appointing him commander of the reorganized First Fleet.

Lin Fan was unanimously promoted to lieutenant general and appointed acting commander of the Federation's First Fleet. His system issued a three-phase mission to drive the Oakes Empire from the Solar System and revealed that it was still in its novice period.

• Ed argued that Lin Fan's achievements and wartime ability outweighed concerns about his age, and the aides unanimously approved his promotion.
• Lin Zhen announced that Lin Fan would become a lieutenant general and acting commander of the First Fleet until he became a general.
• Three days later, Liang Xingchen awarded Lin Fan his lieutenant general insignia and ordered him to lead the First Fleet.
• Lin Fan received system rewards for completing his missions, including rewards for exceeding the sub-fleet command requirement.
• The system issued Lin Fan a three-year mission to drive the Oakes Empire out of the Solar System and explained that completing three assessment phases would upgrade it to the official version.

After his promotion to fleet commander, Lin Fan studied the civilization levels and the Orion Arm’s star chart, then brought Bai Zixuan the Brain Development Potion research. The chapter ended with Liang Xingchen asking Bai Zixuan for a report on the potion’s costs and the number of people it could help.

• Lin Fan returned to the 101st Task Force Fleet’s base after Liang Xingchen put him in command and assigned Liang Xue to join him.
• Lin Fan read the civilization-level guide and learned that the Federation was only a quasi-Level 4 Civilization, while the Orion Arm held over ten thousand civilizations, including a Level 4 Civilization.
• Lin Fan found that the Oakes Empire was a relatively weak Level 3 Civilization but still controlled thirty-eight star systems, far more than humanity’s single Solar System.
• Lin Fan gave Bai Zixuan the Brain Development Potion documents, and estimated that the potion could raise ordinary people’s brain development to around 15–20%.
• Bai Zixuan tried to call Liang Xingchen, who cut off the call, then received Liang Xingchen’s message asking how many people the potion could serve and how much it would cost.

Adams awaited the Emperor’s judgment after taking responsibility for the Third Imperial Guard Legion’s losses, while Lin Fan prepared the First Fleet to receive new graduates. Emperor Ramiro Oakes ordered Adams to launch a final all-out attack against humanity, promising to execute him if he failed.

• Adams sent the Emperor a report accepting responsibility for the defeat and asking to be executed alone.
• Emma learned that Lin Fan had become a lieutenant general and acting commander of the First Fleet, then kept her assignment there instead of transferring to the Fourth Fleet.
• Lin Fan addressed more than 30,000 academy graduates assigned to the First Fleet at Mars Base.
• Ramiro ordered the execution of the Third Imperial Guard Legion, but Ross persuaded him to send the legion into a final attack instead.
• Ramiro ordered Adams to attack humanity with all his remaining forces, telling him that failure would mean death.

Lin Fan and Liang Xue observed the Snow Leopard-class Battlecruiser’s shield tests, which showed it could withstand repeated Main Cannon fire. Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen then considered how the Oakes Empire might respond to the Ninth Prince’s death and agreed to prepare for another battle in the Asteroid Belt.

• Lin Fan joined Liang Xue and Elder Bai at the test zone to observe the Snow Leopard-class Battlecruiser’s systems.
• The test ship activated its Energy Shield and blocked three shots from the Uranus’s Main Cannon, while the crew measured its damage and recharge rate.
• Liang Xingchen concluded that the new battlecruiser could withstand at least twenty consecutive Main Cannon shots from Oakes Empire warships.
• Lin Fan warned Liang Xingchen that the Oakes Emperor might order Adams to launch a desperate attack rather than execute him outright.
• Lin Fan estimated that the Emperor’s orders would take two or three months to reach Adams, and Liang Xingchen ordered increased surveillance of the Asteroid Belt.

The Federation expanded its fleet with new Snow Leopard-class Battlecruisers and Sky-class Aircraft Carriers while Adams prepared the Third Imperial Guard Legion for a desperate attack on humanity. After Liang Xingchen reported that Adams's 48,000 warships were charging toward Mars Base, Lin Fan concluded that his second prediction was likely correct.

• The Federation produced 6,000 Snow Leopard-class Battlecruisers and 700 Sky-class Aircraft Carriers, strengthening the First Fleet and replacing part of the Fourth Fleet's Guard Fleet.
• Adams told the Third Imperial Guard Legion that Emperor Milao had ordered them to attack humanity, promising a pardon if they won and death on the battlefield if they lost.
• The Third Imperial Guard Legion rallied to Adams's order and prepared to charge against humanity the next day.
• Emma met Lin Fan in his office, where he and Liang Xue teased her about avoiding him and feeling distant from them.
• Liang Xingchen told Lin Fan that Adams's 48,000 warships were charging toward Mars Base, and Lin Fan said his second prediction was likely correct.

Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen planned a decapitation strike to defeat Adams's 48,000 suicide warships with minimal losses. Adams charged his fleet at Liang Xingchen's force, while Lin Fan and Liang Xue prepared a Warp attack on the exposed position behind Adams's wedge formation.

• Lin Fan told Liang Xingchen that a decapitation operation could help the Federation minimize losses against Adams's suicidal fleet.
• Adams ordered his 48,000 warships to ignore casualties and charge at any human ambush, believing their willingness to die would break conventional tactics.
• Adams spotted Liang Xingchen's 25,000 warships in an open region of Sector 039 and sent his fleet forward in a wedge formation.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xue identified that Adams's flagship and 5,000 ships were exposed behind the wedge, while the Uranus and 6,700 new-model warships waited 2 AU away.
• Lin Fan ordered the waiting fleet to Warp to the optimal surprise-attack coordinates.

Lin Fan’s 6,701-ship ambush fleet appeared behind Adams’s wedge and overwhelmed his central fleet with advanced shields and weapons. Adams ordered the remaining ships to press on toward humanity’s homeworld, but an ion cannon blast destroyed his bridge before he could finish his final broadcast.

• Adams ordered his 48,000 warships to advance in formation toward the human fleet.
• Lin Fan’s 6,701 warships warped in behind Adams’s formation and charged his central fleet.
• The human fleet’s opening volley destroyed more than 1,000 ships, while its Energy Shields blocked the fighters’ attacks.
• Adams realized the Oakes Empire could not win and broadcast orders for the vanguard to continue toward humanity’s homeworld.
• An ion cannon blast struck Adams’s bridge and killed everyone aboard before he finished his broadcast.

Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen destroyed the Third Imperial Guard Legion, seized Jupiter and the outer planets, and secured the Solar System’s Star Path entrances. Aisa learned of Adams’s death and set out with the Fourth Imperial Guard Legion to reach the Solar System and avenge him.

• Liang Xingchen used Plan Three to lure the Third Imperial Guard Legion into a minefield and encircle it with Lin Fan’s fleet.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen annihilated the Third Imperial Guard Legion, declaring humanity victorious in the Third Asteroid Belt War.
• Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen advanced to Jupiter, where they found the base undefended because Adams had taken its troops with him.
• Lin Fan captured the outposts around Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, then moved to defend the Kuiper Belt Star Path entrances.
• Aisa learned that Adams had been killed and ordered the Fourth Imperial Guard Legion to travel to the Solar System to avenge him.

After completing the first phase of his assessment, Lin Fan received Battleship Piloting ability and a new mission to destroy the Oakes Empire within ten years. To keep the fleet occupied during its long deployment in the Kuiper Belt, he proposed a mecha tournament and agreed to face its eight strongest pilots.

• Lin Fan completed the first assessment phase, received B-rank Battleship Piloting, and was assigned a ten-year mission to destroy the Oakes Empire.
• Lin Fan reviewed his status and considered improving his command and piloting abilities while the fleet waited along the Star Path.
• Lin Fan summoned Liang Xue, Will, Emma, and the staff officers to plan activities for the fleet's ten-month deployment without a starport.
• Lin Fan proposed a mecha tournament in the Kuiper Belt, with new-model mechas from Bai Zixuan's production as prizes.
• Emma suggested that the tournament winner challenge Lin Fan, and Lin Fan offered to face the eight strongest pilots himself.

Lin Fan proposed broadcasting a Federal Fleet mecha tournament to attract new mecha pilots, and the Presidential Palace approved the plan. After a promotional video went viral, millions of civilians rushed to enlist, leaving Marshal Sanders struggling to handle the overwhelming number of applicants.

• Lin Fan explained that public broadcasts of mecha combat could address the Federal Fleet’s shortage of pilots, and he ordered Liang Xue to contact the Presidential Palace and Will to borrow one hundred Sky-class Aircraft Carriers.
• Lin Zhen, Ed, Marshal Sanders, and the presidential aides approved Lin Fan’s proposal, citing the severe shortage of mecha pilots.
• The Presidential Palace announced the tournament and released Lin Fan’s promotional video of a battle in the Kuiper Belt, sparking widespread excitement and enlistment interest.
• More than five million civilians registered for the mecha forces within three days, and Marshal Sanders worried that the number could eventually exceed thirty million.
• Sanders ordered the current round of pilot recruitment to end.

Lin Fan approved Will’s plan for a three-month mech competition and prepared to host pilots from the First and Fourth Fleets. As the event approached, the Federation publicized Lin Fan’s extraordinary record, making him famous across the Federation without his knowledge.

• Will told Lin Fan that Liang Xingchen would send ten thousand Fourth Fleet mech pilots to join the competition and presented the completed plan.
• Lin Fan approved the competition’s individual, squad, and legion events, along with its rewards and schedule.
• A week later, one hundred Sky-class Aircraft Carriers transported First and Fourth Fleet mech pilots and Earth media to the competition venue.
• The Federation released information identifying twenty-year-old Lin Fan as commander of the First Fleet and touting his command, scientific, and military achievements.
• Marshal Sanders and Liang Xingchen confirmed the Federation’s claims about Lin Fan, while Lin Fan remained unaware that his name had spread across the Federation.

The Federal Fleet’s first Mech Tournament began, drawing military and government leaders as well as elite pilots from across the Federation. Lin Fan praised the young prodigy Li Cangqiong, whose skill rivaled Zhang Hu’s, while revealing that Li could last several minutes against him in a mech duel.

• Saunders thanked Lin Fan for the gene enhancement serum, and Lin Fan declared that humanity would one day dominate the universe.
• The Federal Fleet’s first Mech Tournament began with individual, squad, and corps events involving hundreds of thousands of competitors.
• Liang Xingchen recognized Zhang Hu after he defeated an opponent in under ten seconds, and Lin Fan said Zhang had reached A+ skill through their daily sparring.
• Saunders and Li Fulai praised nineteen-year-old academy student Li Cangqiong, whom Lin Fan judged to be as skilled as Zhang Hu.
• Lin Fan said Li could last two or three minutes against him, surprising Li Fulai, who had not known Lin Fan was Humanity’s Strongest Mech Pilot.

As the Federal Fleet Mech Tournament reached its finals, public attention focused on the celebrity trio and the coming duel between Wang Hu and Li Cangqiong. Lin Fan assessed their strengths and predicted that Li Cangqiong would lose if he failed to defeat Wang Hu within ten minutes.

• The tournament’s preliminary rounds ended with thirty-two pilots advancing in the individual event, including academy cadets Li Cangqiong, Zhang Zhiwei, and Xia Tina.
• Lin Fan reviewed Earth’s detailed pilot assessments and asked Liang Xue to recruit the report’s compiler as a First Fleet staff officer.
• The final individual elimination match paired Wang Hu against Li Cangqiong, drawing Federal leaders to the Uranus to watch.
• At Arena 32, Old Marshal Sanders asked Lin Fan to assess the duel, and Lin Fan said Li Cangqiong would lose if he could not win within ten minutes.