Chapter Summaries

Wang Hai and Jiang Feng coordinated with Jiang Sen and the Zerg to hide a five-million-warship Decapitation Fleet and maneuver it behind the Purgatory Legion. The main fleet began attacking as the concealed force reached its position, setting up the final stage of the operation.

• Wang Hai proposed using Zerg swarms as cover while scattered warships entered stealth, and Jiang Feng agreed to coordinate with Jiang Sen.
• Wang Hai formed a five-million-warship Decapitation Fleet from ships scattered throughout the Nether Fleet.
• Jiang Sen sent more than a thousand Zerg swarms to cover the fleet as the Decapitation Fleet vanished into stealth.
• Wang Hai ordered the main fleet to retreat while the concealed warships moved behind the Purgatory Legion.
• After the Decapitation Fleet reached its position, Wang Hai ordered a full attack, and the Nether Fleet's first salvo killed 1,815 clan-level creatures and severely wounded 31,279.

Wang Hai rotated Nether Fleet ships through a punishing close-range battle to draw the Purgatory Legion deeper into range for a larger attack. He began the operation’s final phase while the recovering Seventh Order Leader-class creatures remained behind the Legion, and Ola sensed something approaching.

• Wang Hai replaced warships whose Dark Energy Shields had weakened, despite his adjutant’s concern that the reserve fleet was running low.
• Wang Hai explained that the fleet’s close-range fighting was a deliberate tactic to draw the Purgatory Legion into firing range for a greater victory.
• Wang Hai ordered the Decapitation Fleet to begin the fourth phase and retreat after one minute, regardless of the outcome.
• A bear-like Seventh Order Leader-class creature and Tara criticized Ola for keeping Monba and the other recovered creatures in reserve.
• Ola abruptly sensed something and turned toward its source.

Ola’s five million Nether Class Warships concentrated fire on the exhausted Seventh Order Leader-class creatures at the rear, badly wounding Ola despite his Defense Barrier. Wang Hai confirmed the Decapitation Fleet’s results and ordered its next attack to focus on Ola, while the main fleet pursued the retreating enemy from beyond firing range.

• Ola realized the human fleet had retreated more than 2 AU away and could not be attacked before it struck first.
• The human fleet focused five million attacks on the twenty-four Seventh Order Leader-class creatures, piercing the clan-level creatures’ defensive wall.
• The exhausted Leader-class creatures suffered minor injuries, but Ola’s Defense Barrier was destroyed and he was severely wounded.
• Wang Hai examined the attack results and suspected the badly wounded Ola was the enemy’s auxiliary sensory creature.
• Wang Hai ordered the Decapitation Fleet to concentrate its next wave of attacks on Ola.

Wang Hai’s fleet killed Ao La, the Second Legion’s vital sensory support creature, despite Tara’s efforts to protect it. With the enemy now rushing to defend itself and the Decapitation Fleet at risk, Wang Hai ordered his forces to keep attacking from behind instead of striking again from close range.

• Tara and the Purgatory Creatures rushed to shield Ao La as the Kin Class creatures formed a thicker wall of flesh around it.
• Wang Hai ordered five million Nether Class Warships to fire a second volley at Ao La, piercing the wall and destroying its life core.
• Wang Hai confirmed Ao La’s death and ordered the fleet to continue attacking from a safe distance.
• Jiang Feng proposed striking the weakened leader-class creatures again, but Wang Hai explained that they could bring the Decapitation Fleet into range and instead ordered attacks on their disordered main force.

After Wang Hai and Jiang Feng killed a Purgatory perception-type creature, Aliya prepared to use the Void Predators again while the remaining Purgatory leaders struggled to decide what to do. Galon ordered Picto to evacuate the surviving leaders and protect the wounded Hypnos, revealing that Heg would return within ten days.

• Lin Fan learned that Wang Hai and Jiang Feng had killed a likely perception-type Seventh Order Leader-class creature and praised their success.
• Aliya suspected the creature had enabled the Purgatory army to counter her Void Predators, so she sent two Void Predators to test a new plan.
• After Ola's death, the Purgatory leaders pressed Tala to decide whether to fight or flee, but he hesitated.
• Picto contacted Galon and reported Ola's death and the Second Legion's predicament.
• Galon ordered Picto to evacuate Tala and the other surviving leaders, abandon as many clan-level creatures as necessary, and protect Hypnos until Heg returned within ten days.

The Purgatory Legion’s leader-class creatures escaped the Sasar Starfield, leaving more than two billion clan-class creatures behind as the human fleet attacked them. Lin Fan arranged reinforcements and concluded that the fleeing Purgatory Creatures were likely headed for the Zerg small world in the Boötes Void, where Lin Yu had left a trap.

• Tara recovered enough strength to open a Space Teleportation Channel while Brock’s group directed the clan-class creatures’ retreat.
• Wang Hai ordered the fleet to keep its distance and destroy as many Purgatory Creatures as possible while the leader-class creatures protected Tara.
• Tara opened a channel, and the remaining leader-class creatures escaped with Aura’s corpse; Brock then ordered the others to retreat.
• Wang Hai reported that 2.03 billion clan-class creatures remained, and requested firepower support to destroy as many as possible before they evacuated.
• Lin Fan told Wang Hai that reinforcements could be dispatched in two hours and reasoned that the Purgatory Creatures were likely heading for the Zerg small world in the Boötes Void.

After the battle in the Sasar Starfield, Lin Fan reviewed the Federation’s losses and ordered the conventional fleet to take a reduced role until investigators determined why Purgatory Creatures had countered its Spatial Shields so effectively. In the Boötes Void, the wounded Hypnos learned Aura was dead and was struck by a surprise attack from two parasitized creatures, but the others subdued them and freed them from the Void Predators.

• Liang Xue reported that the Federation had killed one Seventh Order Leader-class creature and 957 million clan-level creatures, while the conventional fleet lost seventeen warships and suffered severe damage to another 127.
• Lin Fan ordered the Nether Fleet and Dauntless Fleet to handle pacification operations while the conventional fleet provided fire support, and he decided to accelerate the Phase Shield refit.
• Hypnos woke in the Boötes Void and learned from Tara that Aura was dead.
• Two Void Predator-controlled Leader-class creatures attacked the severely wounded Hypnos, sending him flying in Aliya’s killing blow.
• Tara recognized that the attackers were parasitized, and nearly thirty Leader-class creatures restrained them and struck their bodies until both regained control.

Aliya’s ambush left Hypnos near death, and the Purgatory Legion regrouped in panic while waiting for reinforcements. Two days later, Heg learned what had happened, and Galon revealed that the Kirin Clan could use Black Hole Channels to reach Hypnos in seven to eight days.

• Two hours earlier, Aliya followed Brock through the Space Teleportation Channel, targeting the already wounded Hypnos instead of attacking the other leader-class creatures.
• At the Boötes Void regrouping point, Brock and the other leaders rescued Hypnos and drove the Void Predators out of two possessed creatures, but Hypnos was left in suspended death.
• The Purgatory leaders feared Galon’s anger and resolved to prevent further disasters while awaiting Heg and the First Legion’s reinforcements, which would take ten days.
• Two days later, Heg rushed to Galon’s palace and learned that humans and the insect race had severely wounded Hypnos.
• Heg offered to take the First Legion to attack, but Galon explained that the Kirin Clan could open Black Hole Channels and travel to Hypnos in seven to eight days.

As Lin Fan prepared for a prolonged war against Purgatory, Galon opened a Black Hole Channel for Heg's First Legion to enter the universe. The legion emerged near the Boötes Void, where Lin Fan's forces detected its arrival.

• Lin Fan established the Sasar Starfield as the Federal Expeditionary Force's base because he feared Purgatory had more forces than the one already encountered.
• Galon opened a Black Hole Channel and warned Heg that the passage would last no more than ten days and that the legion must follow the universe wall.
• Heg led Purgatory's First Legion through the black hole and followed a faint Cosmic Light along the universe wall for seven days.
• Heg found a breach into the universe and led the legion through it before Galon's passage weakened further.
• Lin Fan received an alarm about an enormous energy source appearing near the Boötes Void and ordered a full scan and reconnaissance deployment.

Hege crossed the Black Hole Channel with the Purgatory First Legion and had Tanos heal Hypnos, who woke and learned that Galon had paid a price to send help. Hege then questioned Tal about the Zerg, humans, and recent events, while Lin Fan sent a Strategic Reconnaissance Ship toward the target location.

• Tal and the Second Legion stayed to guard the Black Hole Channel after receiving Galon's order.
• Hege emerged from the channel, found Hypnos, and ordered Tanos to heal him.
• Tanos restored part of Hypnos's injuries, and Hypnos woke to find Hege beside him.
• Hege told Hypnos that Galon had risked much to send him, then ordered Tal to report on the Zerg, humans, and recent events.
• Liang Xue reported that a Strategic Reconnaissance Ship had gone through a Stargate to a point thirty AU from its target, unaware that the distance might not protect it from a Ninth Order creature.

Shangguan Youlan led a Strategic Reconnaissance Ship to observe Heg’s forces from thirty AU away, but Heg detected the ship and prepared an attack. The chapter ended as his beam raced toward the ship faster than it could evade.

• Shangguan Youlan’s reconnaissance ship emerged in the Boötes Void and cloaked itself while scanning the enemy forces.
• Shangguan Youlan identified unfamiliar high-energy targets and ordered her crew to record their data and prepare a Stargate for escape.
• Heg sensed the surveillance and ordered Douglas to locate the ship.
• Douglas found the ship thirty AU away, and Heg began gathering energy for an attack.
• Shangguan Youlan ordered the ship to accelerate, evade, and deploy its Stargate after the attack, but Heg fired a beam across the distance.
• The ship tried to evade the incoming beam, but its speed was far too slow.

After Hege's attack crippled Shangguan Youlan's warship and killed or injured more than half the crew, Shangguan ordered the ship stripped down and pushed toward the star gate. The mechs began moving the remaining sections, giving the survivors a slim chance to escape.

• Hege's attack overwhelmed Shangguan Youlan's barriers and destroyed the ship's stern engine module.
• The crew reported more than a hundred dead, dozens severely injured, offline life support, and a malfunctioning escape system.
• Shangguan ordered the crew to gather in the forward section, the modules to be jettisoned, and the mechs to push the remaining ship toward the star gate.
• The crew completed the preparations and detached all modules except the bridge and A21 through A27.
• Dozens of mechs pushed the remaining sections, and the warship began moving toward the star gate.

Shangguan Youlan’s damaged warship escaped Heg’s attack and raced toward the Sasar Starfield while Heg’s forces pursued it on foot after failing to open a spatial channel. At the chapter’s end, Lin Fan’s forces prepared for an unidentified arrival through a spatial channel.

• Heg ordered five leader-class Purgatory Creatures and their forces to pursue the warship after its spatial channels could not be opened.
• Shangguan Youlan’s crew discarded most of the warship, used mechs to accelerate the remaining modules, and prepared Combat Suits to survive the loss of air.
• Shangguan Youlan told Rantels to ignore more than ten thousand approaching enemies, reasoning that Heg could not repeat its powerful attack in quick succession.
• Shangguan Youlan’s crew activated the stargate sequence for the Sasar Starfield after nearly two hours of travel.
• Lin Fan ordered a Level One combat alert when a spatial channel appeared near the Federation Expeditionary Force base, but no signal arrived before something began emerging from it.

After Shangguan Youlan returned from the Feihu’s disastrous mission, Lin Fan learned that the Biological Civilization included a suspected ninth-order creature capable of attacking from thirty AU away. He warned Aliya that humanity could not confidently face it, then hinted that there might be another way forward.

• The Feihu emerged from a spatial passage as wreckage, and Lin Fan ordered a rescue for its fewer than 400 survivors.
• Shangguan Youlan reported that the Feihu had encountered numerous new races, dozens of seventh-order creatures, and a suspected ninth-order individual that attacked from thirty AU away.
• Lin Fan concluded that confronting the suspected ninth-order creature could cripple the Federation and said a previously delayed plan could no longer wait.
• Lin Fan showed Aliya the Feihu’s records, and she realized that the insect race’s reclaimed territory and possible retreat routes might not keep them safe.
• When Aliya saw no path that did not lead to disaster, Lin Fan told her there might still be a way.

Lin Fan persuaded Aliya to let his son Lin Yu enter the Zerg Minor Universe in the Boötes Void, where time flowed faster, so he could break through sooner. Aliya agreed, leaving Lin Yu’s accelerated breakthrough as the allies’ hope against Heige and the Purgatory Legion.

• Lin Fan told Aliya he wanted to borrow the Zerg Minor Universe, and she questioned how he knew it existed.
• Lin Fan invoked the Federation’s Seventh Special Ordinance to explain how he could conceal technology capable of locating the Minor Universe.
• Lin Fan said he wanted to send Lin Yu inside so he could use its time compression to break through after reaching the Critical Point in his battle with Hypnos.
• Lin Fan warned that if Aliya refused, humanity could retreat to the Virgo Supercluster and leave the Zerg facing the Purgatory Legion while Lin Yu gained time to advance.
• Aliya agreed to let Lin Yu enter the Minor Universe.

Lin Fan and Wei devised an Alpha Metal mecha to let Lin Yu use S-Class Dark Energy without waiting months for a full warship device. They planned to send it to the Kebiniah Supercluster while Lin Fan held the Viers defensive line long enough for the army to withdraw.

• Lin Fan realized the second-generation warship device could not support Lin Yu's S-Class Dark Energy, while the third-generation device would take too long to complete.
• Wei explained that Alpha Metal could support S-Class use but that there was not enough Ailuo Metal to build a full warship-version device quickly.
• Lin Fan suggested using Alpha Metal for a mecha-version Dark Energy Assisted Calculation Device, and Wei confirmed it would be powerful enough for Lin Yu.
• Wei said the mecha could be completed in two days, and Lin Fan ordered it sent to the Kebiniah Supercluster.
• Lin Fan planned to hold the Viers defensive line for a few days, then withdraw with the army through the Cosmic Current.

Lin Yu lived among the Tarak Tribe on Lancer, a primitive planet in the Zerg Minor Universe, hoping to gain the experience he needed to break through. After completing a warrior’s trial by killing a Taro Beast, he wondered how the fleet was doing.

• Aliya had allowed civilizations to develop inside the Minor Universe so she could study their strengths, while concealing its truth and eliminating those that approached Level 7.
• Lin Yu entered the Minor Universe after agreeing not to reveal its truth to its inhabitants.
• Lin Yu abandoned his technology and settled on Lancer, where he spent over two years integrating into the Tarak Tribe.
• Lin Yu and Tarak hunters pursued a giant Taro Beast through the jungle, and a Tarak woman told him to deliver the final blow.
• Lin Yu leaped onto the wounded Taro Beast and killed it with his machete, then wondered how the fleet was doing.

Lin Fan persuaded Aliya to withdraw to the Kebiniah Current Node while humanity prepared a device for Lin Yu, then assigned Wang Hai an important mission. On Planet Lancer, Lin Yu recognized that a massive Beast Tide was approaching the Tarak Tribe and urged a girl to warn the elders.

• Lin Fan convinced Aliya to agree to retreat to the Kebiniah Current Node while they waited for Lin Yu to leave the Minor Universe.
• Lin Fan contacted Wang Hai and told him he had an important mission for him.
• During the Tarak Tribe's celebration on Planet Lancer, Lin Yu felt tremors and realized they were caused by a charging Beast Tide.
• Lin Yu warned a Tarak Tribe girl that more than ten thousand beasts might be approaching and ordered her to alert the elders.
• The girl overcame her shock and ran to notify the elders.

Lin Yu warned the Tarak Tribe that a Beast Tide of more than ten thousand Taro Beasts was approaching, and the elders halted the celebration and organized the tribe's defenses. As the herd arrived, the stunned defenders saw a gigantic Taro Beast King at its head, and Lin Yu fired an arrow at it from three kilometers away.

• Lin Yu sensed the approaching Beast Tide, and the elders questioned his report of more than ten thousand Taro Beasts.
• The Great Elder trusted Lin Yu and ordered the celebration stopped so the tribe's warriors and hunters could assemble.
• The Tarak Tribe gathered at its wooden wall, which Lin Yu had helped strengthen, as the ground shook with the approaching herd.
• The defenders saw more than ten thousand Taro Beasts led by a colossal Taro Beast King and froze in shock.
• Lin Yu urged everyone to prepare for battle and shot an arrow toward the Taro Beast King from three kilometers away.

Lin Yu led the Tarak Tribe’s defense against a massive Taro Beast tide, but Dolke, the intelligent Taro Beast King, broke through the wall and attacked him. The chapter ended with Dolke’s stomp engulfing Lin Yu in dust, leaving his fate unknown.

• Lin Yu revealed his strength by striking Dolke from three kilometers away and ordered the Tarak warriors to fight the ordinary Taro Beasts while he targeted the king.
• Lin Yu fired nearly a hundred arrows at Dolke, while the Tarak Tribe’s first volley killed only two ordinary Taro Beasts.
• The charging Taro Beasts slammed into the wooden wall, which held against the impact.
• Dolke climbed over the wall, driven by fury over the death of his son, Selavi, and landed inside the settlement.
• Lin Yu faced Dolke alone, and the beast’s stomp blasted a huge crater into the ground as the Great Elder cried out for Lin Yu.