Chapter Summaries

Wang Hai’s fleet disguised itself as Bolte and used a joint Dark Energy Shield to break through Aliya’s insect swarm and enter the Cosmic Current toward the Kebiniah Supercluster. At Federal Fleet Headquarters, Lin Fan reviewed the reports on Enles and Chers and approved Wang Hai’s promotion.

• Wang Hai’s fleet approached the Chers Current Entrance under a Spatial Illusion System and activated its joint shield within five million kilometers of the insect swarm.
• Aliya detected the shielded Bolte but could not sense the fleet inside, and she mistook it for a biological creature.
• Bolte smashed through the insect swarm, leaving wreckage behind, and entered the Cosmic Current.
• Lin Fan read the top-secret battle reports on Enles and Chers and signed Wang Hai’s promotion application.

Lin Fan briefed Federation leaders on the Zerg’s retreat and the rise of a powerful biological faction in the Viers Supercluster, while Wei isolated Bolt at a secret research institute to keep Aliya from detecting the investigation. Ed reacted with unusual anger when Lin Fan refused to reveal the military’s observation technology, leaving Lin Fan suspecting that something was wrong with him.

• Lin Fan ordered Wei to isolate Bolt and Research Institute No. 17 from the Zerg mental network so Aliya would not notice the investigation.
• Ed muttered to Queen Aliya while working, then attended an emergency meeting called by Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan told the Federation leaders that a new biological faction led by the supposedly destroyed Planet Devourer was challenging the Zerg in the Viers Supercluster.
• Ed demanded to know how the military had observed the distant supercluster, and Lin Fan refused to reveal the technology.
• Ed angrily slammed the meeting table, surprising the attendees and making Lin Fan suspect that Ed was not acting like himself.

Lin Fan warned the Federation that the force invading the Viers Supercluster might be only a vanguard and proposed temporarily helping the Zerg and allying with Aliya to keep the threat at bay. Mew struggled to accept cooperation with the Zerg, while Ed suggested keeping any alliance secret from the public.

• Lin Zhen upheld Lin Fan's use of the Seventh Special Ordinance to keep a technology secret from the gathered officials.
• Lin Fan explained that the unknown force invading the Viers Supercluster might have far greater strength beyond the forces currently fighting the Zerg.
• Lin Fan proposed using the Zerg as a buffer and, if necessary, helping Aliya through a temporary alliance.
• Mew recognized the proposal as strategically sound but struggled with the idea of allying with the Zerg, which had slaughtered most of his people.
• Ed urged Mew to support the temporary alliance and suggested concealing it from the Three-Eyed Race's public.

Lin Fan established a secret company of newly produced Bio-humans to investigate parasites inside the Federation while delaying Aliya’s attempts to bring humanity into the war. A year later, Wei told Lin Fan that the researchers had developed a device that could pinpoint parasites, giving them a way to address the crisis.

• Lin Fan asked Lin Zhen for an independent Central Guard Corps company staffed by newly produced Bio-humans, and Lin Zhen approved it.
• The Presidential Palace created the classified company under Lin Zhen’s direct command, while Ed failed to learn its purpose.
• In Federation Year 153, Hypnos’s return and Ao’s ability to detect Void Predators let the Purgatory Second Legion inflict heavy losses on Aliya’s Zerg.
• Aliya tried to push the Federation into joining the war, but Lin Fan repeatedly blocked the proposal as opposition to him grew.
• Wei told Lin Fan that the Seventeenth Research Institute had built a scanner that could precisely locate parasites within one kilometer, then hinted at another surprise.

After Wei confirmed that parasite-controlled hosts could be saved, Lin Fan oversaw mass screenings that uncovered thousands of infected people across the fleets. He then ordered the Dark Energy Legion to pose as rebels and seize the Presidential Palace to contain the remaining parasite threat, naming the mission Operation Defiance.

• Wei told Lin Fan that parasite-invaded hosts were still alive and could be rescued.
• Lin Fan screened Interstellar Fleet Headquarters and the fleets, uncovering nearly two thousand infected people, including over eight hundred from the Dauntless Fleet.
• At an emergency meeting, Lin Fan revealed that Vice President Ed and most of the Central Guard Corps' senior command were compromised by parasites.
• Lin Fan explained that he would disguise an assault on the Presidential Palace as a rebellion to prevent the parasites from taking officials hostage or choosing mutual destruction.
• Lin Fan ordered Lin Yu to lead the Dark Energy Legion in surrounding Earth and subduing the Central Guard Corps, and formally named the operation Operation Defiance.

Lin Yu’s fleet began an operation to expose and capture parasites in the Federation, while the Dark Energy Alliance staged a fake rebellion to draw out those controlling Earth’s leadership. The chapter ended with Lin Zhen and other officials heading into Eternal Fortress as the Central Guard Corps prepared to face the encircling fleet.

• Lin Yu confirmed that Wang Hai would lead the staged rebel force, and Wang Hai agreed to carry out the mission without casualties.
• Liang Sen told Lin Zhen that a rebel fleet would appear over Earth and explained the plan to escort officials into Eternal Fortress.
• A million unmarked Nether Class Warships encircled Earth as its orbital defenses went offline and its garrison fleet remained away on exercises.
• The Dark Energy Alliance broadcast an ultimatum demanding the Federation’s leaders surrender, shocking Durant and the Central Guard Corps.
• Lin Zhen ordered the Special Operations Squadron to escort him and more than thirty officials, including Ed, toward Eternal Fortress.

Lin Zhen secured the President and senior officials inside the Eternal Fortress after Special Squadron members revealed that parasites had controlled them. Meanwhile, Wang Hai launched a no-fatalities assault on the Central Guard Corps, and the orbital forces cleared its defenses before the ground troops began descending.

• Liang Sen’s Special Squadron restrained and injected the officials inside the Eternal Fortress, then reported to Lin Zhen that all targets were secured.
• Lin Zhen gave the department heads files showing that parasites had controlled officials and military personnel, including Ed, and told them to prepare to repair the damage caused by Lin Fan’s operation.
• Wang Hai ordered the Dark Energy Mech Corps and Dark Energy Assault Corps to descend on the Central Guard Corps, insisting that no one be killed, and personally headed to the front lines.
• After learning that Lin Zhen and the officials were safe, Wang Hai ordered the mechs to clear the target area’s air defenses before the assault troops landed.
• The mechs’ Dark Energy Barriers withstood the ground’s anti-air fire, and they cleared the defenses around the Central Guard Corps garrison and Presidential Palace in ten minutes.
• Orbital Drop Ships carrying assault troops began descending to storm and suppress the Central Guard Corps garrison.

Durant realized that the invaders were regular forces from Interstellar Fleet Headquarters, not rebels, and ordered the Dark Energy Squadron to stop them at any cost. Zhang Sai’s 201st Squadron engaged an assault squad in Sector D-021, where the enemy surrounded them but held back instead of attacking.

• Durant learned that the invaders were restraining Central Guard Corps personnel without killing them and concluded that they were the Nether Fleet.
• Durant ordered the Dark Energy Squadron to deploy at all costs, prompting Zhang Sai to give the 201st Squadron one minute to withdraw; no one left.
• In Sector D-021, a Dark Energy assault squad subdued the remaining Central Guard Corps defenders and advanced toward the next sector.
• Zhang Sai recognized the invaders’ military coordination and suspected they belonged to the Nether Fleet’s Dark Energy Assault Corps.
• The 201st Squadron was surrounded at the intersection as reinforcements arrived, while the invaders maintained a defensive posture.
• Zhang Sai handed command to Lance and prepared to find an escape route for the squadron.

Zhang Sai nearly sacrificed himself to break the Dark Energy Squadron through the enemy formation, but Wang Hai stopped his uncontrolled Dark Energy and revealed that he led the force. At the Central Guard Corps command center, Lin Yu arrived and identified the captured Brandt as a parasitic Zerg war insect.

• Zhang Sai ordered Lance to take command and charged the enemy formation while his squad deployed a joint Dark Energy Barrier.
• The defenders halted their attacks, and Wang Hai appeared before Zhang Sai, stabilized his Dark Energy, and revealed he was the rebel force's leader and a B-Class Dark Energy Manipulator.
• Wang Hai told Zhang Sai to stop resisting and took him to the command center after learning that Brandt had been captured and Lin Yu was heading to Earth.
• At headquarters, Zhang Sai was stunned by Wang Hai's Major General rank, and Lin Yu recalled that Brandt had taken Zhang Sai from the Nether Fleet after his academy graduation.
• Lin Yu approached the restrained Brandt and identified him as a parasitic Zerg war insect, shocking Wang Hai and Zhang Sai.

Lin Yu’s forces captured the Zerg parasites infiltrating the Central Guard Corps and secured the Presidential Palace. Lin Zhen then asked Ed to contact Queen Aliya and tell her that it was time for a proper talk.

• Lin Yu explained that tiny Zerg parasites could control hosts and access their memories, and revealed that his forces had captured every infiltrator in the Central Guard Corps.
• Lin Yu assured Zhang Sai that Durant could be freed from the parasite without being harmed, and Zhang Sai urged the soldiers not to injure Durant while restraining him.
• Lin Yu reported that the Presidential Palace and Central Guard Corps garrison had been secured, while Lin Zhen warned him about the panic and political fallout caused by the operation.
• Lin Zhen had Ed’s Zerg Mental Network block removed and asked him to contact Queen Aliya with a message: it was time they had a proper talk.

Lin Fan learned that Lin Zhen had blamed him for the injuries caused by the live exercise, while Aliya’s war against the Purgatory Legion deteriorated after Hypnos recovered and grew stronger. After the Federation captured the Void Predators working with her, Aliya agreed to speak with Lin Zhen the next day, hoping to draw the Federation into the conflict.

• Lin Fan watched news reports in which Lin Zhen blamed him for the exercise injuries, and Lin Fan decided future exercises should target the Federation President without warning.
• Hypnos returned to the battlefield stronger, and his Purgatory Legion tore through Aliya’s Zerg forces despite her numerical advantage.
• Aliya lost nearly twenty percent of her royal Zerg and was left with only three star regions in the Vilsert Supercluster, leaving Chers at risk.
• The Void Predator controlling Ed told Aliya that the Federation had captured all its kin and had captured him as well.
• Aliya learned that Lin Zhen had deliberately opened the Zerg Mental Network so the Void Predator could pass along his request for a proper talk.
• Aliya agreed to connect with Lin Zhen the next day, hoping to bring the Federation into her war.

Lin Fan and Lin Zhen confronted Queen Aliya over the insect race’s actions and used its worsening war against the Purgatory Creatures to press for terms. Aliya acknowledged that her race needed Federation aid, but negotiations ended before the Federation stated what it wanted.

• Lin Zhen accused Aliya of plunging the Federation into chaos through the insect race’s actions.
• Lin Fan told Aliya that the insect race was close to losing the Viers Supercluster and warned that the Kebiniah Supercluster would be exposed if it fell.
• Aliya argued that the Federation also needed the insect race as a buffer against the Purgatory Creatures.
• Lin Fan countered that the Federation could destroy the Kebiniah Supercluster with a weapon like the one that had created the Boötes Void, then demanded to know what price the insect race would pay for help.
• Aliya asked the Federation to name its terms, and Lin Fan began to state what it wanted.

Lin Fan secured Aliya’s agreement to cede the Kebiniah Supercluster to the Federation in exchange for military aid, with thirty galaxy groups transferred immediately and the rest due after the Zerg retook the Viers Supercluster. After assembling an 85-billion-warship fleet in Kebiniah, Lin Fan ordered it toward the Vilsert Supercluster to join the war.

• Lin Fan offered Aliya a deal requiring the Zerg to transfer thirty galaxy groups in Kebiniah immediately and the rest after retaking the Viers Supercluster.
• Aliya accepted the agreement, believing the exchange would help secure Federation aid without costing her much.
• By Federation Year 153, Aliya had transferred thirty galaxy groups to the Federation without delay.
• The Federation assembled eighty-five billion warships in the Kebiniah Supercluster, and Lin Fan took command from the new Gonggong battle star.
• Lin Fan ordered the fleet to depart for the Cosmic Current node in the Vilsert Supercluster.

Lin Fan questioned Aliya’s deployment of Zerg forces after learning that Hypnos had vanished from the Sasar Starfield, raising the risk of an attack on Chers just before the Federal Fleet arrived. He prepared Lin Yu to lead the fleet’s first echelon into a possible battle with Hypnos, and Lin Yu revealed he might be close to becoming an S-Class Dark Energy Manipulator.

• Aliya reported that the Purgatory Legion would be held in Sasar for at least a month, but Lin Fan worried that her concentration of Zerg forces there had left Chers vulnerable.
• Hypnos suddenly vanished from the Sasar Starfield, and Lin Fan warned that it might be heading for Chers while the Federal Fleet was still in the Cosmic Current.
• Lin Fan contacted Lin Yu and explained that Hypnos could reach Chers before the fleet arrived, leaving the city in chaos under attack.
• Lin Yu said he would face the danger as part of the first echelon, while Liang Xue urged him to be careful.
• Lin Yu revealed that he was near advancement from an A-Class to an S-Class Dark Energy Manipulator, shocking the command center.

Aliya realized Hypnos had vanished from the battlefield and had left Chers dangerously underdefended by sending nearly all her forces to Sasar. Hypnos and his kin-level Void Dragons attacked, forcing Aliya to sacrifice Queen Bugs to block his beam before escaping through a Bug Nest Channel, while Lin Yu learned of the assault and remained unconcerned.

• Aliya noticed Hypnos was missing and realized his disappearance had left Chers exposed.
• Hypnos emerged from a spatial passage with kin-level Void Dragons, and Aliya recognized that she had too few forces at Chers to stop him.
• Hypnos fired at Aliya, who controlled thirty-two Tier 1 Queen Bugs to form a defensive line; twenty-four Queen Bugs were destroyed or damaged before one finally blocked the beam.
• Aliya opened a Bug Nest Channel to a point 5 AU away and escaped with the surviving Queen Bugs, leaving the swarms at Chers to face Hypnos and his kin.
• Lin Yu received Bai Xuan's battle report about Hypnos's surprise attack on Chers and said it was not a major problem as long as Hypnos had not sealed the Cosmic Current exit.

Aliya struggled to hold Chers against Hypnos until Lin Yu arrived aboard the Melova with the Federal Fleet. Hypnos recognized the warship and unleashed a devastating attack as Lin Yu prepared its defenses.

• Hypnos overwhelmed Aliya's forces, while Aliya tried to buy time for the Federal Fleet by leading the Queen Bugs away and sending other bugs to fight.
• Aliya's forces suffered heavy losses as Hypnos and nearly a hundred million Void Dragons attacked Chers.
• Lin Yu ordered the Melova to leave the Cosmic Current and enter the battlefield.
• Hypnos recognized the Melova as the warship that had eluded him a year earlier and charged a powerful beam at it.
• Lin Yu received control of the Melova through the Warship-type DEAC and ordered layered Dark Energy Barriers constructed before impact.

Lin Yu used the Melohua’s Warship-type DEAC to repel Hypnos and wound him severely, but the attack also badly damaged the warship. With the follow-up fleet still three minutes away, the battle left both sides weakened.

• Hypnos’s strongest attack failed to break through the Melohua’s Dark Energy Barrier, which lost 15.7% integrity.
• Bai Xuan warned Lin Yu that Hypnos remained within striking range of the Federal Fleet, so Lin Yu ordered the warship to construct seven mirrors and fire a Dark Energy Particle Compression Stream.
• Hypnos’s defenses collapsed under the beam, and he used his wings and body to withstand it, leaving him badly wounded and bleeding purple blood.
• The Melohua suffered heavy damage from the attack, including a 9.5% DEAC damage rate, reduced Dark Energy supply, and an offline Near-light Speed Engine.

Lin Yu wounded Hypnos with the Mellova’s Dark Energy Particle Compression Stream, forcing the Purgatory forces to retreat from the Sasar Starfield. Galon ordered Heg and the First Legion to support them, while Lin Fan instructed Lin Yu to harass the retreat and collect materials for the Academy of Biological Sciences.

• Lin Yu’s attack severely wounded Hypnos and disabled the Mellova’s Near-light Speed Engine, but Hypnos escaped through a spatial passage with his Void Dragons.
• Aura learned that the humans had injured Hypnos and decided the Purgatory forces needed to withdraw and report the incident to Galon.
• Galon ordered Aura to protect Hypnos and said Heg would lead the First Legion to support them.
• The Federal Interstellar Fleet’s new Gonggong arrived at Current Node Chers, and Lin Fan learned that the Purgatory forces were evacuating Sasar.
• Lin Fan told Lin Yu to make the retreat difficult and bring back materials for the Academy of Biological Sciences.

After Hypnos escaped, the Purgatory Legion began evacuating the Sasar Starfield, and Lin Yu sent Federation forces to intercept them with help from the bug race. Ao La sensed the fleets approaching before his forces could finish withdrawing.

• Ao La oversaw the Purgatory Legion’s slow evacuation while more than twenty Seventh Order Leader-class creatures opened a passage to send Hypnos away.
• Lin Yu ordered Jiang Feng and Wang Hai’s legions to attack the retreating Purgatory Legion and requested temporary command authority over the local bug swarm.
• Aliya arranged for ten Tier 1 Queen Bugs to accompany the Federation fleets as command relays for the swarm.
• Federation engineering ships built a giant Stargate, and the Queen Bugs and fleets departed for the Sasar Starfield.
• Ao La learned that only ten percent of his forces had evacuated and that Tala and the others needed another hour to recover.
• Ao La sensed the arrival of fleets whose presence threatened the lives of Seventh Order Leader-class creatures.

Ao halted the Purgatory Legion’s retreat to hold off the human forces while its exhausted Seventh Order Leader-class creatures recovered. After Wang Hai identified those weakened creatures as the best targets, Jiang Feng agreed to attack them and inflict greater damage on the enemy.

• Ao decided to pause the retreat and use the Purgatory Legion’s remaining forces to hold the humans back while the exhausted creatures recovered.
• Jiang Feng and Wang Hai recognized that the Purgatory Legion had turned to fight rather than continue fleeing, making a direct attack risky for their two legions.
• Wang Hai pointed out that twenty-four Seventh Order Leader-class creatures had remained behind, and scans showed that twenty-three had dangerously low biological energy levels.
• Wang Hai concluded that the weakened creatures had exhausted themselves helping open the spatial passage that sent Hypnos away.
• Wang Hai proposed targeting the weakened Leader-class creatures instead of focusing on clan-level troops, and Jiang Feng agreed to launch a major attack.