Chapter Summaries

Archbishop Piris’s force confronted Wang Hai’s squad, and Piris sent Jimenez away with two hundred Purple-robed Bishops while he held off the enemy. The Azure Dragon Alliance wiped out the remaining Crusader force, then Lin Fan ordered the fleet to intercept another Crusader group before it could join the central army.

• Piris led three hundred Purple-robed Bishops into battle against Wang Hai’s one hundred fighters and realized his side was outmatched.
• Piris ordered Jimenez to retreat with two hundred Purple-robed Bishops while he stayed behind with the other hundred to delay Wang Hai.
• Wang Hai chose not to pursue Jimenez’s retreating force, expecting other squads to deal with them later and aiming to avoid casualties.
• After ten hours, the Azure Dragon Alliance wiped out three Crusader Army legions and three hundred Purple-robed Bishops; Jimenez was the only one to escape.
• Lin Fan declined to send Wang Hai after Jimenez and ordered the fleet to assemble and intercept the other route.
• A Crusader force of three legions changed course to join the central army, but the Federal Fleet was positioned to intercept it before it could rendezvous.

Elishael investigated the defeat of Pierce’s Crusader Army and feared the Heretics’ Black Hole Engines could let them destroy his forces before they rendezvoused. Three months later, the army commanded by Bels was wiped out, while Lin Fan reviewed the Azure Dragon Alliance’s costly victory and prepared for the next battle.

• Elishael ordered Sand to seal the news of Pierce’s defeat and eliminate or reeducate those who knew about it.
• Elishael studied Pierce’s battle report and suspected the Heretics had concealed Black Hole Engine speeds far beyond what the Crusaders expected.
• Three months later, Elishael learned that Bels’s Crusader Army had been ambushed, surrounded, and wiped out.
• Elishael assessed that his remaining army had no clear advantage over the Heretics despite having more main fleets.
• Lin Fan received the battle results: the Azure Dragon Alliance had lost many warships and soldiers but destroyed vast enemy forces and a miniature Starry Sky Continent.

Lin Fan devised a way to avoid a costly head-on battle by sending unmanned Transport Ships to destroy a Fault Channel behind Elishael’s army. The channel began to collapse, and Elishael realized the Federation had launched Dark Judgment against him.

• Elishael halted his four-legion Crusader Army and prepared to defend against Lin Fan’s forces.
• Lin Fan ordered one trillion Transport Ships converted for basic unmanned navigation and asked Luo Li to calculate how to destroy a Fault Channel.
• Luo Li warned that destroying Fault Channels was dangerous, but agreed after Lin Fan explained that it could prevent the loss of tens of trillions of warships.
• Lin Fan sent 50 billion Transport Ships carrying Black Hole Cavity Particle storage modules through a Fault Channel behind Elishael’s army.
• Elishael and Sand discussed why the enemy had not appeared, then ordered their forces to remain alert and monitor Black Hole Cavity Space.
• An alarm reported an anomaly in the Fault Channel behind Elishael, and the central control room identified it as Dark Judgment.

Elishael escaped the annihilation of the central-route Crusader Army after a Black Judgment destroyed it, and Lin Fan pursued him to capture him for intelligence. As Lin Fan and Galon approached, Elishael detected them and launched an attack.

• Elishael refused to abandon his fleet at first, but Sand persuaded him to flee so his survival could protect the Black Church from a devastating loss of faith.
• A year later, the Black Judgment annihilated the central-route Crusader Army, while Elishael remained on the run as Target No. 2.
• Lin Fan ordered Liang Xue to pursue and capture Elishael, then set out with Galon aboard a single vessel.
• Elishael sensed the pursuing vessel, stopped to face it, and fired a pitch-black beam of Black Hole Energy.

Lin Fan captured Elishael and began expanding the Federation’s control across the Kosa Empire and Nar Republic. As Montero launched a major offensive against the Black Mang Empire, its First Imperial Guard Legion stalled his advance by refusing to leave the Task Universe.

• Lin Fan and Galon subdued Elishael, and Lin Fan drained his Black Hole Cavity Particles before taking him prisoner.
• Elishael’s capture completed the annihilation of the Continental Crusader Army.
• By Federation Year 380, the Federation controlled the five universes formerly held by the Tri-Union Civilization, and Lin Fan later sent forces to take over the Kosa Empire and Nar Republic.
• By Federation Year 398, Montero had assembled four and a half Main Legions and deployed them in the Task Universe to advance against the Black Mang Empire.
• The Black Mang Empire’s First Imperial Guard Legion entrenched itself in the Task Universe and refused to come out, stalling Montero’s offensive.

Montero bypassed the Task Universe and captured the Black Mang Empire’s imperial capital in the Black Radiance Universe in just ten days, while Sharet escaped or vanished among decoy ships. Montero ordered Carmen to search the palace records for the Black Mang Empire’s Fault Channel destruction technology as the Tailo Empire prepared to seize territory.

• Montero proposed leaving two legions to contain the Task Universe while leading two and a half legions around it to attack the Black Radiance Universe, and Carmen warned that its defenses and Fault Channels made the plan dangerous.
• Montero persuaded Carmen to go along with his plan, and Montero captured the Black Mang Empire’s imperial capital in the Black Radiance Universe within ten days.
• Sharet fled with Cui Wa, using a thousand identical warships in different directions, and Montero’s forces could not determine which ship carried him.
• Montero told Carmen to secure the conquered territory and seize more land before the Black Mang Empire’s other fronts collapsed.
• Montero assigned Carmen to search for technical records about destroying Fault Channels, which he considered vital to the Tailo Empire’s future.

By Federation Year 485, the Azure Dragon Alliance had strengthened its forces and welcomed two new God-tier Civilizations, while the Black Mang Empire forced its attackers to abandon their advance by collapsing the space around its remaining territory. Sharet then provoked a conflict among the victorious civilizations by claiming the Tailo Empire had obtained technology for destroying Fault Channels.

• The Federation built eight inferior legions and completed the fourth Main Legion, bringing the Azure Dragon Alliance's forces to four Main Legions and eight inferior legions.
• The Federation spent decades consolidating its newly acquired universes, and the Divine Radiance Civilization and Gem Empire advanced to become God-tier Civilizations.
• Sharet abandoned more than ten universes and collapsed the Fault Channels around the Black Mang Empire's remaining territory, leaving only two heavily defended passages.
• The Tailo Empire, Hiltek Empire, and Teli Empire proposed dividing the abandoned universes among themselves and compensating other civilizations with resources or technology, but the other civilizations rejected the proposal.
• Sharet spread the claim that the Tailo Empire had obtained technology for destroying Fault Channels, stirring other civilizations to consider attacking it and furthering his plan to provoke them into fighting.

Valeri received an ultimatum from nineteen civilizations demanding technology the Tailo Empire did not possess, and Montero proposed a surprise strike against their forces. Valeri appointed Montero Imperial Duke and approved a plan to deceive the enemy while seeking an alliance with the Human Federation.

• Valeri learned that Sharet had destroyed the Tailo Empire's core database, leaving no trace of the technology the coalition demanded.
• Duke Carterman explained that the coalition wanted an excuse to destroy and divide the Tailo Empire.
• Montero proposed wiping out twenty-four legions from eight allied civilizations before they could prepare, then holding off the Teli Empire and the other civilizations.
• Carterman urged Valeri to gamble on Montero's plan, and Valeri made Montero Imperial Duke with command over every imperial legion.
• Montero asked Valeri to feign submission and repeatedly plead with the coalition to lower its guard, and Valeri agreed.
• Montero asked Valeri to contact the Human Federation of the Azure Dragon Universe and form an offensive and defensive alliance.

Montero persuaded Valeri to ally with the Human Federation, offering it territory as a strategic buffer against the Tailo Empire’s enemies. In the Azure Dragon Universe, Lin Fan and the Alliance leaders gathered to consider the Tailo Empire’s proposal for an alliance.

• Montero told Valeri that the Human Federation had advanced technology and elite forces capable of helping defeat the Teli Empire’s allied forces.
• Montero urged Valeri to give the Human Federation the territory from the Dorando region to the former Black Mang Empire capital, and Valeri agreed after hearing his strategy.
• Luo Li developed a Ninth Generation Black Hole Engine that reduced travel from the Azure Dragon Universe to the Kado Universe from about three years to just over three months.
• Lin Zhen, Galon, Lin Aotian, Altra, Holm, Karoyev, and Lin Fan assembled for an emergency Azure Dragon Alliance meeting about the Tailo Empire’s proposal to form an alliance.

Lin Fan evaluated the Tailo Empire’s offer of nine universes and proposed accepting them while demanding control of five Tailo legions as both hostages and cannon fodder. The Azure Dragon Alliance approved his plan and prepared to send forces against the Teli Empire, the Hiltek Empire, and other civilizations.

• Lin Zhen told the Alliance that Tailo Emperor Valeri had offered nine universes as bargaining chips for their help.
• Lin Fan explained that occupying the universes would shield the Tailo Empire’s flank and potentially let it expand, leaving the Alliance to face the strongest empires.
• Lin Fan proposed taking the nine universes and requiring five Tailo legions to remain under his command, alongside four Alliance Main Legions and ten secondary legions.
• Lin Fan argued the five legions would deter Tailo from betraying the Alliance, serve as cannon fodder in battle, and weaken Tailo’s ability to annex other civilizations.
• Lin Zhen and the other leaders approved the proposal, and Galon added that the Biological Civilization would deploy its own legion for practice.

After the Tailo Empire surrendered territory to the two great empires, Montero used a surprise attack to destroy twenty-four allied Main Legions, but Lin Fan’s demand for five legions left the Empire with limited forces to exploit the victory. Five years later, Carmen learned that human fleets were approaching Black Radiance at astonishing speed and agreed to place his legions under humanity’s command.

• Valeri agreed to place five Main Legions under the Azure Dragon Alliance’s command and cede nine universes to Black Radiance in exchange for its support.
• Valeri surrendered nearly thirty universes to the two great empires, and they signed a cession agreement that appeared to end the war.
• Montero attacked the twenty-four Main Legions stationed outside the Black Radiance Universe and destroyed them in three days.
• Montero had fewer than five Imperial legions available to pursue and defeat the eight weakened civilizations because five legions had to remain behind.
• In Federation Year 490, Carmen learned that human fleets had arrived from Dorando in eleven months and seven days, traveling at 13,500 Standard Black Hole Units per year.
• Carmen ordered his five legions to obey humanity’s command, hoping they could hold the line while Montero dealt with the Eight-Civilization Allied Forces.

Lin Fan proposed using the Azure Dragon Alliance’s Ninth Generation Black Hole Engine advantage to isolate and destroy the Teli Empire’s forces before they could reinforce one another. Carmen accepted the plan, and the Tailo Empire’s five legions prepared to depart ahead of the main attack.

• Carmen warned Lin Fan that the Alliance’s smaller forces risked defeat if they attacked the Teli Empire coalition.
• Lin Fan showed Carmen the enemy’s formation and explained that the distance between its forces would let the faster Alliance defeat them separately.
• Lin Fan assigned Carmen’s five Tailo Empire legions to move between the Teli Empire’s central force and the Black Mang Empire.
• Lin Fan planned to attack the enemy vanguard and flanks in six years, then join Carmen’s forces in a pincer attack against the central force.
• Carmen approved the strategy and said he would assemble his forces and depart in ten days.

Montero worried that the Human Federation’s strength and speed could threaten the Tailo Empire’s plans, while Lin Fan waited to commit the Azure Dragon Alliance’s hidden forces. The Teli Empire’s vanguard began fighting Carmen’s Tailo legions, unaware that Federation and allied forces were rushing to join the battle.

• Montero returned to Tailo Empire territory and regretted inviting the Human Federation into the conflict, but hoped to defeat the eight civilizations before Lin Fan finished with the two great empires.
• Marquis misjudged the Tailo Empire’s strength and sent five allied vanguard legions to delay Carmen while his main force prepared to encircle them.
• Lin Fan ordered the fifteen hidden legions to wait until the fighting intensified before departing, and they moved out two hours later.
• Carmen’s five Tailo legions suppressed the allied vanguard, which suffered nearly twice their casualties, but Kilian expected his forces to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
• Kilian ordered his vanguard to maintain its course, then received word that unidentified forces were approaching at immense speed and would arrive in two hours.

Kilian learned that an unknown force of more than ten legions was racing toward his position and realized his five legions could not survive the coming battle. He sought surrender from Carmen, and Lin Fan learned the vanguard would help conceal the situation from the Teli Empire, allowing him to adjust the Azure Dragon Alliance's plans.

• Kilian received reports that an unknown force could cover nearly 60 Standard Black Hole Units a day, had more than ten legions, and was heading for his position.
• Kilian realized the Tailo Empire was also holding its forces in place, and concluded that both sides might be bait for the approaching army.
• Fearing the destruction of Ketis Kingdom's five Main Legions, Kilian ordered his adjutant to contact the Tailo Empire commander and request surrender.
• Carmen accepted the surrender request and agreed to help conceal the situation from the Teli Empire in the rear.
• Liang Xue informed Lin Fan of the agreement, and Lin Fan began considering how to adjust the battle plan.

Kilian staged the Ketis Kingdom and Tailo Empire fleets’ surrender while Commander Carmen secured King Kaila’s agreement to ally with the Azure Dragon Alliance and evacuate some of his people. When Marquis’s sixteen-legion central army arrived, the allies launched an ambush, but his forces quickly suppressed their ten legions.

• Kilian reported that the Tailo Empire’s five legions had surrendered, and Carmen told him to persuade King Kaila to accept the Azure Dragon Alliance’s protection.
• King Kaila agreed to the alliance and asked that some of his people be evacuated; Lin Fan approved the request.
• The Tailo Empire, Ketis Kingdom, and Azure Dragon Alliance assembled their twenty-five legions for a decisive battle, while Marquis delayed his advance and repeatedly scanned Kilian’s fleet.
• Marquis’s sixteen-legion central army arrived and was ambushed by the Ketis Kingdom and Tailo Empire fleets, which restarted their engines and opened fire.
• Marquis rallied his forces and counterattacked, suppressing the ten allied fleets despite their surprise attack.

Carmen and Kilian held their fleets on the defensive while waiting for Lin Fan’s main force, and Marquis believed the Teli Empire was winning. When unknown fleets approached from both flanks, Marquis realized Kilian’s report had been true and ordered his forces to hold until reinforcements arrived, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Carmen told Kilian to defend for a day until Lin Fan’s main force arrived, then the Azure Dragon Alliance would counterattack the Teli Empire’s central legions.
• Marquis reviewed the first day’s battle reports and believed his forces would soon crush Carmen and Kilian’s ten legions.
• A scan revealed unknown fleets closing from both flanks and due to make contact in three minutes.
• Marquis and his adjutant connected the approaching fleets to Kilian’s earlier report of a force traveling nearly sixty Standard Black Hole Units per day.
• Marquis ordered his fleets to defend both flanks and hold for two days until the Teli Empire’s flank armies arrived.

Marquis’s fleet was attacked by overwhelming enemy forces, including Galon’s biological civilization and thousands of Black Hole Lifeforms. The scans revealed more than three hundred Second Tier and five suspected Third Tier Black Hole Lifeforms, leaving the analyst convinced the battle could not be won.

• Carmen ordered the Tailo Empire fleet to abandon its defensive posture and attack once the Azure Dragon Alliance’s main force arrived.
• Marquis’s sixteen legions were caught in a three-sided pincer attack before their redeployment was complete.
• Marquis learned that enormous Transport Ships were releasing millions of peak Eleventh Order creatures and thousands of biological Black Hole Lifeforms.
• Bridge reports revealed more than three thousand enemy Black Hole Lifeforms on the flanks and roughly eight hundred on the front line.
• Marquis ordered his Black Hole Lifeforms into battle and requested scans of the enemy’s Second Tier strength.
• The scans showed more than three hundred Second Tier Black Hole Lifeforms and five suspected Third Tier beings, convincing the analyst that victory was impossible.

Lin Fan’s forces destroyed the Teli Empire’s thirty-seven-legion allied army in four days and made the Ketis Kingdom a puppet of the Azure Dragon Alliance. The victory shocked the Kunsa Realm.

• Marquess learned that the enemy had over three hundred Second Tier Black Hole Lifeforms and watched his flanks collapse, so he tried to negotiate a ceasefire.
• Lin Fan rejected the Teli Empire’s communication requests and ordered Carmen and Kilian to do the same, while Marquess failed to turn the battle around.
• Wang Hai killed Marquess, and Lin Fan sent the remaining Black Hole Lifeforms to help destroy the allied army’s central force and two flanks.
• The Azure Dragon Alliance annihilated all thirty-seven allied legions in four days, while the Ketis Kingdom survived as its puppet.

Lin Yu led five Azure Dragon Alliance legions to the Ketis Kingdom to garrison there and search for a rare material needed for the Black Hole Cavity Teleportation Device. After Kaila warned him that the Teli Empire and eight other civilizations had sent fleets against the kingdom, Lin Yu ordered Kaila to track their locations and promised to handle the threat.

• Montero received a report that Lin Fan had swiftly defeated the coalition at the edge of the Black Radiance Universe and worried that he had been wrong to advise Valeri to ally with humanity.
• In Federation Year 580, the Azure Dragon Alliance formed five Main Legions under Lin Yu and sent them to garrison the Ketis Kingdom, while Luo Li asked Lin Yu to search for a material needed for a teleportation device.
• After a year of travel, Lin Yu's five legions arrived in the Ketis Kingdom, where Kaila had emptied the Star Luo Universe for the troops to use while Lin Yu established his headquarters outside it.
• Kaila told Lin Yu that the Teli Empire and eight other civilizations had sent ten Main Legions against the Ketis Kingdom, whose forces were mostly away in the Black Radiance Universe.
• Lin Yu told Kaila to keep watch and identify the locations of all nine civilizations' fleets, then said he would handle the threat.

Lin Yu’s fleet hunted down the Teli Empire’s coalition forces after the civilizations invaded the Ketis Kingdom, destroying all but the Teli Empire’s two Main Legions. Lohalin’s remaining force faced Lin Yu’s approaching fleet, which was less than twenty minutes away.

• Dortel persuaded eight civilizations to join the Teli Empire in attacking the Ketis Kingdom, sending nine armies out separately.
• In Federation Year 583, Lin Yu set out with his fleet and annihilated one of the coalition civilizations’ forces.
• After learning of Lin Yu’s arrival, the Teli Empire and other civilizations ordered their legions to retreat toward home.
• Over the next five months, Lin Yu’s fleet destroyed the coalition forces one by one, leaving only the Teli Empire’s two Main Legions.
• Lohalin detected Lin Yu’s fleet approaching within one Standard Black Hole Unit, where it would arrive in just over twenty minutes.