Chapter Summaries

Arno realized the human fleet had been buying time for the Blue Radiance Republic and four other civilizations to evacuate, so he redirected the Moy Union fleet toward them. With the enemy due to arrive in eight hours, Lavoisier ordered evacuation ships to leave before they could rescue everyone, and the chapter ended as a hyperspace window formed near a civilian vessel.

• Arno learned that the Blue Radiance Republic and four other civilizations had begun evacuating, and realized the humans had used their maneuvers to buy time.
• Arno ordered the Moy Union fleet to abandon pursuit and attack the evacuating civilizations.
• Lavoisier told Aierfei that less than twenty percent of the Blue Radiance Republic's population had been evacuated, though its elites were already safe.
• Aierfei revealed that the Moy Union fleet was heading for the Blue Radiance Republic and would reach its outer perimeter in about eight hours.
• Lavoisier ordered all ships to stop boarding civilians and jump to designated coordinates, and a civilian captain prepared to obey despite having taken aboard only seventeen percent of the planned passengers.
• The civilian ship detected a hyperspace window as the captain was about to repeat his departure order.

The Moy Union’s scout ships and Arno’s main fleet attacked the Blue Radiance Republic, destroying ships and purging inhabited planets. As the other four civilizations gathered at the Ariston Star System’s Cosmic Current, Arno sent most of his fleet after them.

• A Moy Union scout ship destroyed twenty-seven civilian ships near Hava Star and attacked the planet’s surface, while three ships escaped.
• Arno’s main fleet arrived hours later and attacked the remaining planets, ordering that no civilians be left alive.
• Aierfei learned that the ships assembling at the Ariston Star System would need at least three days to pass through the Cosmic Current and said they would use the last Doomsday Bomb approved by the Marshal.
• Arno learned that the other four civilizations had departed toward the Ariston Star System and ordered most of his fleet to pursue them, leaving ten attack groups to continue the purge.

The Federal Fleet prepared a vast Hyperspace Interference labyrinth around the Ariston Star System to funnel Arno’s fleet toward the Doomsday Bomb. Arno’s fleet entered the labyrinth, and repeated interference forced it out of hyperspace again.

• Aierfei oversaw the evacuation and the near-completion of the labyrinth deployment, built with interference devices from humanity’s allies.
• The Federal Fleet detected Arno’s approaching fleet and ordered the remaining deployment ships to withdraw.
• Arno’s fleet emerged from hyperspace 120,000 light-years from its target, and Arno ordered his crew to crack the interference parameters.
• Aierfei learned that Arno had entered through sector C17-52, which would guide his fleet toward the Doomsday Bomb without further intervention.
• After two hours, Arno’s fleet cracked the interference and resumed its journey, but it was immediately forced out of hyperspace again.

Arno’s fleet repeatedly encountered humanity’s hyperspace interference zones while pursuing the humans toward the Ariston Star System. By cracking the zones’ parameters and choosing the longest routes, Arno brought his fleet within 30,000 light-years of the system and ordered another major advance.

• Arno learned that the fleet had been forced out of hyperspace after traveling only thirty light-years because the interference parameters had changed.
• Arno realized humanity and its five allied civilizations had divided the interference field into many zones with different parameters, and ordered simultaneous decryption and reconnaissance in every direction.
• Reconnaissance ships found a route permitting more than 9,800 light-years of travel, so Arno redirected the fleet and advanced over 6,000 light-years closer to the Ariston Star System.
• Arno used the same method over the following day to bring his fleet within 30,000 light-years of the Ariston Star System.
• Arno learned that one of two promising routes would bring the fleet 8,700 light-years closer, and ordered it to advance that way.

Aierfei’s Doomsday Bomb devastated Arno’s fleet inside the maze, costing it billions of warships and leaving many more as Ghost Ships. Arno retreated, only to find energy signatures surrounding his fleet in a sphere that left it nowhere to go.

• Aierfei monitored the evacuation and ordered the Current’s transit route kept clear while Arno’s fleet advanced into the maze.
• The Doomsday Bomb detonated near Arno’s fleet, killing twelve billion warships and turning nearly twenty billion more into Ghost Ships as they retreated.
• Arno halted his advance, wary that the humans had planted more Doomsday Bombs in the maze.
• Aierfei ordered all energy simulation devices detonated, creating matching energy signatures around Arno’s fleet.
• Arno saw the signatures form a sphere ten thousand light-years away and realized his fleet could only stay put.

Arno realized the humans had trapped his fleet with simulated energy signatures, then led it through the interference zones to the empty Ariston Star System. Finding that the humans and allied fleets had fled through the Current, he called for a Moy Union Supreme General Conference.

• Arno ordered scout ships to probe the weapons surrounding his fleet and search the sites of previous energy bursts.
• A scout ship found a Simulated Energy Signature Device, and Arno concluded the humans had used the decoy because they had few Superweapons.
• Arno ordered his fleet to resume its advance toward the Ariston Star System, cracking five interference sectors along the way.
• Arno entered the Ariston Star System and found it empty, realizing the human and allied fleets had escaped through the Current.
• Arno ordered a message sent to the other nine supreme generals to convene the Twelfth Supreme General Conference of the Moy Union.

Arno convened the Moy Union’s twelfth Supreme Commander Conference after Humanity’s superweapon devastated Yeripok’s fleet in Holtair. He revealed that the weapon had a lethal range of ten thousand light-years and had reduced the fleet from five hundred billion warships to three billion.

• Arno summoned the other Supreme Commanders to a conference, but refused their attempts to contact him beforehand.
• The ten Supreme Commanders gathered, and Antonio demanded that Arno justify calling a conference during what seemed like a minor military loss.
• Arno showed footage of Yeripok’s fleet fighting Humanity, and Ansen recognized that Humanity’s ships used fixed Dark Energy cannons, marking them as a Ninth Order Civilization.
• The Supreme Commanders questioned why the footage showed only three billion of Yeripok’s five hundred billion warships.
• Arno explained that Humanity’s superweapon had a lethal range of ten thousand light-years and had reduced Yeripok’s fleet to the three billion surviving warships.

Arno revealed that humanity’s Doomsday Bomb could kill life across more than ten thousand light-years, prompting Nina to warn that attacking humanity through the Renos current would be disastrous. The Supreme Commanders realized a full-scale offensive could be annihilated at the current exit, leaving the war seemingly impossible to fight.

• Arno explained the Doomsday Bomb’s effects, limits, and known delivery methods to the Supreme Commanders.
• Nina considered how the Moy Union’s ability to pass down skills might help it recover from crew losses, but recognized that the weapon made attacking humanity’s territory extremely dangerous.
• Nina asked Arno whether his enmity with humanity could be reconciled, and Arno reacted with disbelief.
• Belterlun asked Nina to explain why she had raised reconciliation, and Nina asked what would happen if humanity detonated the weapon at the Renos current exit during an offensive.
• The Supreme Commanders realized that fleets entering the Renos current could be destroyed in vast numbers, and concluded that a full-scale attack could not be fought.

At the Supreme Commander Conference, Nina persuaded the Moy Union to avoid war with humanity and explore an alliance against the White Tiger Empire. Meanwhile, Lombard’s forces detected a lone object entering the Cosmic Current at the Liss Supercluster and prepared for battle.

• Nina reminded the conference that the Moy Union lacked a way to counter humanity’s Doomsday Bomb and would soon face the White Tiger Empire when their armistice expired.
• The commanders agreed to seek contact with humanity and possibly recruit it as an ally, while Nina offered to handle negotiations herself.
• At the Liss Supercluster, Lombard’s adjutant worried that General Larnass’s attendance at the Supreme Commander Conference could signal an impending war.
• A monitoring soldier reported abnormal energy fluctuations in the Cosmic Current and detected a single target roughly the size of an Assault Ship.
• Lombard ordered the defensive fleet to ready its weapons, called rear forces back from leave, and sent an emergency transmission to Larnass.

Lumbard’s defensive line lost the ability to fight after a strange iron ball disabled the Moy Union’s weapons, while a massive White Tiger Empire fleet approached through the Current Mouth. Unable to destroy the object, Lumbard ordered the fleet to retreat and yield the passage, leaving the Moy Union facing an unfavorable encounter battle.

• An unknown iron ball emerged from the Current Mouth, and Lumbard ordered the defensive fleets to attack it.
• The iron ball disabled the weapons systems of hundreds of billions of Moy Union warships as reports warned that at least a hundred billion enemy-sized objects were approaching.
• Lumbard ordered several warships to ram the iron ball, but the first collision at 0.22 times the speed of light left it intact.
• With the enemy fleet due to arrive in less than three minutes, Lumbard ordered the Moy Union fleet to retreat and abandon the defensive line.
• Lumbard ordered the danger reported to General Larnass as the Moy Union prepared for an unfavorable encounter battle.

The White Tiger Empire seized the Current Mouth with an unknown device that disabled the Moy Union fleet’s weapons, leaving Liss vulnerable to invasion. Larnass and the Supreme Commanders agreed to abandon Liss and retreat to Milse, but their attempt to contact the Aurora Civilization failed.

• The White Tiger Empire assembled its fleets beyond the Moy Union fleet’s firing range after taking the Current Mouth.
• Larnass told the Supreme Commanders that Lombard’s report described an iron sphere whose energy wave had disabled the weapons of fifty billion warships.
• Nina proposed activating the Abandon Child Plan and withdrawing from Liss before the White Tiger Empire assembled a larger force.
• The Supreme Commanders supported Nina’s proposal, and Larnass ordered Lombard to retreat to Milse while contacting the Aurora Civilization.
• Larnass and the other Supreme Commanders waited several minutes but could not get through to the Aurora Civilization.

Unable to contact the Aurora Civilization, Nina concluded that it had suffered a disaster and urged the Moy Union to seek humanity’s help against the White Tiger Empire. Meanwhile, Lin Aotian and the Supreme Council watched the Aurora Civilization’s devastated territory as a councilor questioned their refusal to intervene.

• Nivia asked Nina what she thought had happened, and Nina said the White Tiger Empire’s defiance and the failed attempts to contact the Aurora Civilization confirmed that it was in trouble.
• Amos warned that the Moy Union lacked the population and fleet strength to hold off the White Tiger Empire, even if it retreated under the Abandon Child Plan.
• Nina declared that the Moy Union needed an ally and chose humanity, citing its transcendent attributes and ultimate weapon.
• Far away, Lin Aotian and the Supreme Council watched warships devastate the Aurora Civilization’s Starry Sky Continent without intervening.
• A councilor asked Lin Aotian whether it was right to stand by while the Aurora Civilization, a member of the Azure Dragon Universe, was destroyed.

Lin Aotian backed the Fario Civilization’s chance to replace Aurora and refused to let the other Super Civilizations intervene, believing the Azure Dragon Universe needed stronger civilizations to face the Black Mang Empire. Meanwhile, White Tiger Empire forces secured the Liss Cosmic Current and prepared to bypass the Moy Union’s defenses once their reinforcements arrived.

• Lin Aotian treated the Fario Civilization as the strongest God-Making Plan contender after humanity and supported its chance to replace Aurora.
• Lin Aotian stopped the other Super Civilizations from aiding Aurora, arguing that the Azure Dragon Universe needed capable civilizations to rise against the Black Mang Empire.
• Bonifacio learned that the White Tiger Empire had cleared the Moy Union’s defenses within ten light-years of the Liss Cosmic Current.
• Bonifacio rebuked his adjutant for complaining about receiving only one dark energy disruptor from the Fario Civilization.
• Bonifacio ordered the fleet to rest in rotations and, after the Third Expeditionary Corps arrived in six days, bypass the Moy Union’s defensive chains using Hyperspace Navigation.

Aierfei struggled to hold the Cosmic Current Defense Line with an exhausted fleet while waiting for reinforcements, but the Moy Union unexpectedly sent a diplomatic fleet. The chapter ended as Aierfei and the Moy envoy saw each other for the first time and were struck by their mutual beauty.

• Aierfei used a Doomsday Bomb to prepare to seal the Current system if her insufficient defenses failed, and planned to hold out until Zi Ling and Wang Hai arrived.
• Aierfei learned that her crews were exhausted but refused to let them rest while the defense line remained vulnerable.
• Aierfei detected fewer than one hundred ships emerging from the Current and ordered her fleet to keep its weapons charged without firing.
• The Moy Union broadcast that its diplomatic fleet was arriving, and Aierfei transferred Doomsday Bomb detonation authority to her terminal.
• Nina led the Moy fleet out with its propulsion and weapons shut down, and Aierfei agreed to open communications.
• Aierfei and the Moy envoy saw each other for the first time and were surprised by the Moy people's beast ears, tails, and attractive appearance.

Nina, a Supreme Commander of the Moy Union, met with Aierfei and sought peace talks with the Human Federation. After hearing that the Moy people resembled humanity’s branch races despite Lin Aotian’s claim that no other branches existed beyond the Laniakea Supercluster, Lin Fan arranged to meet Nina.

• Nina introduced herself as one of the Moy Union’s ten Supreme Commanders, while Aierfei identified herself as commander of the Angel Fleet and a former queen of the angel race.
• Nina explained that she had come to resolve the hostility caused by Arno’s encounter with humanity at Holtair and requested peace talks.
• Aierfei agreed to contact the Human Federation’s Supreme Commander, and after their communication ended, she reported Nina’s visit to Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan recalled Lin Aotian’s claim that humanity had no branch races outside the Laniakea Supercluster and wondered why the Moy people resembled humans.
• Lin Fan instructed Aierfei to arrange a virtual meeting with Nina through the Dark Energy Network.

Lin Fan and Nina discussed resolving the Federation’s dispute with the Moy Union after their fleets clashed at Holter. Nina agreed to consider relinquishing the Holter Supercluster, but Lin Fan then raised the Moy fleet’s massacre of the Federation’s subordinate civilizations.

• Nina questioned Lin Fan about the humans’ resemblance to the Moy people, and Lin Fan said they were the fourth similar race he had encountered.
• Nina explained that the Moy Union wanted talks to settle the Holter dispute and prevent the conflict from escalating.
• Lin Fan agreed that peace talks would benefit the Federation but said several issues had to be resolved first.
• Lin Fan established that the Federation fleet had reached Holter before Arno’s fleet, and Nina said the Moy Union could discuss giving up control of the supercluster.
• Lin Fan raised the massacre of civilizations led by the Blue Radiance Republic, prompting Nina to become solemn.

Lin Fan insisted that the Federation let the Blue Radiance Republic decide whether the Moy Union’s compensation was sufficient, reaffirming the Federation’s duty to protect its subordinate civilizations. Nina accepted and learned that Aierfei’s Angel Fleet was only a third-tier Federation fleet, leaving Lin Fan wondering why the Moy Union had agreed so readily to his demands.

• Nina offered to protect survivors from the Blue Radiance Republic and four other civilizations and provide compensation to help them rebuild.
• Lin Fan told Nina that the Blue Radiance Republic had to decide whether the compensation was acceptable under the Federation’s Subordinate Civilization Agreement.
• Nina asked Lin Fan to arrange a meeting with the Blue Radiance Republic’s leader, and he agreed.
• Nina asked whether Aierfei’s Angel Fleet was really only a third-rate Federation fleet, and Lin Fan confirmed it was a standard main-force fleet.
• Lin Fan and Nina ended their conversation, and Lin Fan wondered why the Moy Union had accepted all his terms so easily.

Nina secured the Moy Union’s agreement to abandon its dispute with the Blue Radiance Republic and cede Holtair, then revealed that it wanted a military alliance with the Federation against the White Tiger Empire. After hearing why the war had resumed and how the Aurora Civilization had vanished, Lin Fan weighed the risks and benefits of getting involved.

• Nina announced that the Moy Union had settled its conflict with the Blue Radiance Republic and would hand Holtair over to the Federation.
• Nina proposed a military alliance, explaining that Ninth Order civilizations were targets of the Tenth Order civilizations that dominated the universe’s resources.
• Lin Fan said the Federation could not decide on an alliance until its next high-level meeting, which would not take place for three years.
• When Lin Fan asked what the Moy Union stood to gain from Federation assistance, Nina explained its history with the White Tiger Empire, the Aurora Civilization’s loss of contact, and the Empire’s renewed attack.
• Nina warned that the White Tiger Empire could target humanity next, and Lin Fan considered whether joining the war would be worth the danger.

Nina offered Lin Fan knowledge about Dark Energy Springs and the Moy Union’s Dark Energy Crystals in exchange for the Federation’s intervention in the war. Lin Fan agreed to discuss the offer with Federation leaders within three days and asked Nina to take a genetic test to investigate a possible connection between the Moy people and humans.

• Nina explained that Dark Energy Springs produced Dark Energy Crystals, which civilizations needed to become Super Civilizations.
• Nina revealed that the Moy Union possessed a small quantity of Dark Energy Crystals, giving Lin Fan a strong reason to consider helping it against the White Tiger Empire.
• Lin Fan told Nina he would consult the Federation’s senior officials and give her an answer within three days.
• Lin Fan described the human-like races he knew, including angels, elves, and the Three-Eyed Race, and asked Nina to undergo a genetic test.
• Nina agreed to the test to learn whether the Moy people shared a bloodline connection with humans.

Lin Fan and Nina learned that the Moy people’s genes had been altered, giving them their knowledge-inheritance ability while weakening their blood ties to humanity. Nina’s investigation linked the change to a figure named Farn, and the story left the Moy Supreme Commanders facing this revelation.

• Nina underwent genetic testing on Thersus, and the results showed that the Moy people shared an ancient bloodline with humanity but had genetically altered genes and very low fertility with humans.
• Lin Fan reviewed the report and called a Federation top-level conference for one hour later.
• Nina received the report, recalled that Moy records first mentioned inheritance ability about fifty thousand years earlier, and summoned the other nine Supreme Commanders.
• Nina presented the findings to the Moy Supreme Commanders and said the genetic changes likely dated to around fifty thousand years ago.
• Nina identified a figure recorded as a god in Moy history whose earliest known name was Farn.