Recaps

After an exploration ship was destroyed near HD112410, Chen Mengchuan feared that an unknown alien civilization far surpassed humanity. He ordered Toni back to Mars and began arranging the first wave of humanity’s evacuation from the Solar System.

• A continuous alarm warned the Martian base of an enormous threat, and Chen Mengchuan relived the final hours of human civilization from his dream.
• A-Chen told Chen Mengchuan that an exploration ship had been destroyed near HD112410, 407 light-years from the Solar System.
• Chen Mengchuan examined Musca and HD112410’s information, then reviewed the ship’s final transmission: a dark frame followed by a white one.
• Chen Mengchuan concluded that the ship had been destroyed by an instantaneous attack beyond humanity’s capabilities and feared the unknown civilization would find the Solar System.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered A-Chen to summon Toni to Mars and begin evacuating the first wave of humans.

Chen Mengchuan told Earth Federation officials that an unknown, technologically superior civilization had destroyed one of humanity’s spacecraft and might trace its route to the Solar System. He declared that all humanity must evacuate, leaving the officials in uproar as Zhao Wanyu stood to respond.

• Chen Mengchuan addressed the assembled Earth Federation officials as the chief person in charge of its Technology Department.
• Chen Mengchuan announced that humanity faced its most dangerous war and that the Solar System had been exposed.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that an unknown civilization had destroyed a spacecraft near the HD112410 yellow giant star, 407 light-years away.
• Chen Mengchuan called for the immediate evacuation of all humanity, provoking a chaotic reaction from the officials.
• Zhao Wanyu rose from her seat as the officials looked to her.

After an alien civilization destroyed an Earth Federation exploration spacecraft near HD112410, Chen Mengchuan warned the Martian conference that humanity might have only months to escape. The Earth Federation began planning a three-wave evacuation of the Solar System.

• Toni realized that the alien civilization near HD112410 could be far more advanced than humanity and feared the consequences.
• At the Martian base, Zhao Wanyu calmed the meeting and opened the floor for questions.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that the spacecraft's destruction could not have been caused by a celestial disturbance and said the alien civilization might reach the Solar System in months or years.
• Chen Mengchuan directed the meeting to focus on evacuation, and the Earth Federation approved a three-wave plan to move humanity away.
• The Earth Federation prepared to send 700 medium-sized spacecraft carrying 3.36 million people within three days, followed by larger evacuations one month and three months later.

The Earth Federation launched humanity’s first evacuation fleet as leaders defended the decision to send people into space despite public opposition. On Mars, Chen Mengchuan discovered that spacecraft production and Rainbow Star development were far behind schedule, and he demanded faster progress from Toni.

• The Earth Federation announced that an alien civilization might reach the Solar System within half a year to three years, and selected 3.36 million people for the first evacuation.
• Zhao Wanyu, Chen Mengchuan, and former national leaders defended the evacuation and exploration missions, arguing that humanity needed to look outward to survive the cosmic jungle.
• Three days later, the Federation sent 3.36 million people aboard 700 spacecraft into the Solar System despite ongoing protests.
• Xu Shuwei told Chen Mengchuan that spacecraft construction could reach only 60% of its target, while Achen reported that Rainbow Star development was projected at just 30 to 40%.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered resources redirected toward supplies and demanded a solution from Toni, warning that someone else would take over if Toni could not speed up development.

Toni ordered Rainbow Star's intelligent civilizations to evacuate the mineral resource zones before humanity purged those areas and extracted their resources. After mining surpassed its target, he discussed the cost of the decision with Xu Shuwei while Chen Mengchuan continued organizing humanity's evacuation.

• After wrestling with Chen Mengchuan's demand, Toni ordered the intelligent civilizations in the resource zones to evacuate before the first fiery sun set.
• A-Chen relayed Toni's decision, and humans used gravity equipment, spacecraft, and Gravity Multi-Arm Crabs to expel the civilizations, suppressing resistance.
• More than thirty hours later, Toni ordered resource extraction and repurposed ships and equipment to boost mining, which exceeded its target by fifty percent.
• Xu Shuwei called Toni, discussed Chen Mengchuan's pressure and Earth's evacuation, and heard Toni describe the life and civilizations of Rainbow Star.
• Toni told Xu Shuwei why destroying the planet's civilizations had weighed on him, and Xu Shuwei acknowledged the consequences as Chen Mengchuan continued the evacuation plan.

Humanity completed its second mass migration, sending 276 million people away from Earth as the planet grew subdued. On Rainbow Star, Chen Mengchuan oversaw preparations for the final migration, including construction of thirty thousand giant spaceships.

• A young man aboard a spaceship arranged to eat and attend training with Xiao Yaping as their vessel traveled toward a distant star system.
• More than five thousand spaceships arrived from Rainbow Star, and humanity began its second great migration from Earth.
• A-Chen, intelligent machines, and people across Earth coordinated the loading of 276 million people onto twenty-five thousand ships, which departed without ceremony.
• Chen Mengchuan turned his attention to the final migration after the first two stages were completed.
• Humanity relocated its metal smelting plants to Rainbow Star and mined its resources to build the frameworks of thirty thousand giant spaceships.
• Scientists and biological experts gathered on Rainbow Star and identified more of its usable biological and plant resources.

Rainbow Star supplied abundant plants, livestock, and marine life for humanity’s evacuation fleet, while the Earth Federation continued its migration preparations. As the final half month began, loaded spacecraft appeared above Earth, bringing humanity closer to leaving its homeworld.

• Rainbow Star’s resources were tested and gathered, including fast-growing Rainbow Melons, superior livestock, and giant Rainbow Shrimp.
• Within two months, Rainbow Star prepared enough biological supplies to sustain thirty thousand spacecraft for a hundred years.
• The Earth Federation’s third migration phase continued under Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu, while officials managed public information to preserve confidence.
• In the final half month, spacecraft that had completed loading tore through the void and appeared above Earth, startling and inspiring humanity.

A boy aboard a human spaceship wondered whether their artificial refuge could still be called civilization after they fled Earth. Elsewhere, Xu Shuwei reassured Toni that the scattered fleet and Chen Mengchuan’s plans gave humanity a chance to survive and eventually return to the Solar System.

• Ayang argued with other teenagers about whether their spaceship was better than Earth and whether Achen, the AI who rescued them, was responsible for the disaster.
• After the teenagers parted, Ayang sat alone, feeling trapped in a metal cage and questioning what civilization meant after abandoning their homeland.
• Toni told Xu Shuwei that there had been no news from Mengchuan and that the ship’s crew were struggling emotionally.
• Xu Shuwei explained that the fleet had scattered to avoid being wiped out and urged Toni to focus on what they could do while trusting Chen Mengchuan.
• Toni reflected on his past arguments with Chen Mengchuan and tried to imagine what Chen would do next.

On the sixty-ninth day of humanity’s migration, Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed growing despair and unrest aboard the ships, while Chen Mengchuan waited to learn whether humanity’s contingency plan in the Solar System could stop the Musca aliens. The chapter ended with the Solar System’s defenses standing ready for the unknown alien civilization.

• Zhao Wanyu chased Chen Zhihui over a paint-stained dress, and Chen Mengchuan intervened but was struck with a clothes hanger.
• At dinner, Chen Bingzhou raised troubling signs aboard the ship, and Zhao Wanyu and Chen Mengchuan said negative emotions were spreading across the fleet.
• Zhao Wanyu revealed that six people had died by suicide aboard their ship and that others had attempted sabotage, prompting Achen to secure restricted areas with armed humanoid robots.
• Chen Mengchuan waited for the contingency plan left in the Solar System to strike the Musca alien civilization.
• Across the Solar System, planetary-scale weapons and the particle-light early-warning defense system remained ready for the aliens’ arrival.

A year into the voyage, an artificial snowfall brought renewed cheer to the people aboard Chen Mengchuan’s spaceship, though he remained anxious about the missing evacuation ships and the Fly Civilization. At a council meeting, Chen Mengchuan agreed that the spaceship could settle on a nearby habitable planet, while warning that it might not yet be far enough from the Solar System to be safe.

• Chen Mengchuan watched his daughter Chen Zhihui play in the artificial snow, which lifted the spirits of the spaceship’s inhabitants.
• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that she missed her parents, who were aboard another evacuation ship that had not reestablished contact.
• Zhao Wanyu called a council meeting and raised the possibility of finding a habitable planet where the spaceship could settle.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that habitable planets were plentiful but that he had delayed settlement because the spaceship was not yet at a safe distance from the Solar System.
• Chen Mengchuan offered to stop the spaceship at a suitable nearby planet if the people wanted a home, moving many council members to tears.

Toni managed resource requests on humanity’s new planet while wondering whether Chen Mengchuan and the others had found a home. A final message from the Solar System showed Chen Mengchuan that human weapons had damaged the six alien ships, revealing that humanity could fight the Musca civilization.

• Toni negotiated over Gravity Multi-Arm Crabs for Zone F7, then transferred 400 despite telling Faker he could spare only 350.
• Toni asked Xu Shuwei whether Chen Mengchuan and the others had settled on a planet, and Xu Shuwei guessed their ship had traveled farther because Chen Mengchuan would not settle quickly.
• Toni left the control office and looked across the primitive blue-green planet where humanity had built a home.
• Chen Mengchuan prepared to assign exploration tasks when Achen received the Solar System’s final consolidated message.
• Chen Mengchuan watched recordings of six alien ships attacking the Solar System and saw human weapons damage them before the aliens destroyed the remaining installations.
• Chen Mengchuan recognized the white silhouette from the Musca exploration ship’s final transmission and realized humanity could fight the alien civilization.

After studying footage of the Solar System battlefield, Chen Mengchuan recognized weaknesses in the alien civilization and learned that its six damaged starships would take at least seven months to repair. He emerged ready to prepare humanity for a major construction effort, while Zhao Wanyu learned that news had come from the Solar System.

• Chen Mengchuan watched the Solar System battlefield footage repeatedly as Achen reconstructed the six alien starships and simulated their repairs.
• Chen Mengchuan concluded that human speed technology surpassed the aliens' and that their defenses could not effectively stop humanity's close-range weapons.
• Achen estimated that repairing all six starships would take at least seven months, and Chen Mengchuan laughed and wept with relief and satisfaction.
• Zhao Wanyu waited anxiously outside Chen Mengchuan's room, unable to access the classified matter or make decisions about the search for a habitable planet.
• Chen Mengchuan found Zhao Wanyu at the administrative center, embraced her, and ordered a meeting to find a nearby planet for a base and begin a massive construction project.

Toni and Xu Shuwei began organizing resources and building up defenses on the Blue-Green Planet, while Su Ruifeng struggled to coordinate construction on a planet over three hundred light-years from the Solar System. Tang Lingling urged him to use his authority to requisition regional resources, and Su Ruifeng agreed to issue an order.

• Toni and Xu Shuwei discussed surveying and developing the Blue-Green Planet and surrounding space, building defenses, and forming a fleet.
• Large-scale resource recovery and surveys began on the Blue-Green Planet, while nearly a thousand metal smelters and asteroid-mining operations got underway.
• Su Ruifeng told Tang Lingling that regional leaders were resisting resource reallocations and that construction was progressing slowly.
• Tang Lingling advised Su Ruifeng to forcibly requisition regional resources instead of waiting for cooperation.
• Su Ruifeng agreed to have Achen issue a forced requisition order, giving regions two days to revise their plans before taking 70 percent of their resources.

Chen Mengchuan led the decision to settle humanity on a lush planet while developing two other worlds and preparing for a possible confrontation with the Musca Civilization. After more than forty hours of spatial travel, the spaceship arrived, and more than three million people quickly began building six settlements.

• Chen Mengchuan told the senior leadership about three habitable planets, and they chose the one with an Iron Age civilization as humanity's new home.
• Chen Mengchuan admitted to Zhao Wanyu that he planned to settle the spaceship's people quickly, develop the other planets, build warships, and eventually face the Musca Civilization.
• Humanity received notice of the move, and the spaceship traveled 4.79 light-years to the green planet.
• More than three million people disembarked, and Gravity Multi-Arm Crabs helped raise six cities in a day as construction began on schools, hospitals, and other institutions.
• Chen Mengchuan remembered that he needed to build Zhao Wanyu a wall and mobilized over 90% of the multifunctional Gravity Multi-Arm Crab resources.

Humanity rapidly built six cities on Cuihai Star, where it encountered a powerful indigenous civilization and prepared to defend itself. Chen Mengchuan left to expand industrial production across space, driven by his hope of returning to the Solar System and reclaiming Earth from the Musca civilization.

• Humans used Gravity Multi-Arm Crabs to build thousands of wooden homes and establish cities across Cuihai Star.
• Chen Mengchuan took most of the Multi-Arm Crabs to a nearby planet, leaving three hundred in each city.
• The indigenous civilization watched the human cities from beyond an invisible gravitational barrier, while humans learned that the natives were physically powerful and could live nearly five hundred years.
• Federal administrators requested more defenses for the six cities, but Chen Mengchuan said the spacecraft had departed and promised to provide weapon systems.
• Chen Mengchuan monitored asteroid-capture missions and rapid industrial construction, hoping to build a fleet and eventually reclaim Earth from the Musca civilization.

Chen Mengchuan reflected on human civilization’s limits and approved research into the Cuihai Star people’s longevity, hoping it could extend human lifespans. He awaited a second message from the Solar System that would confirm whether the Musca Civilization could decipher humanity’s communication technology and allow him to prepare a counterattack to retake Earth.

• Chen Mengchuan visited the stone steles on Cuihai Star and pondered how humanity could overcome its scientific bottleneck through greater knowledge and exchange.
• After researchers found that the Cuihai Star people’s DNA resembled humanity’s, Chen Mengchuan approved a project to study their longevity and had Achen assist.
• Chen Mengchuan monitored reconstruction work and waited for the Solar System’s second message to learn whether the Musca Civilization could decipher humanity’s communication technology.
• Chen Mengchuan planned to contact surviving human spacecraft and prepare to retake Earth once the message arrived.
• Chen Mengchuan hoped Toni, Xu Shuwei, Su Ruifeng, Tang Lingling, Sun Zhongyong, Chen Xiaoyun, and the other survivors had built up enough spacecraft and resources for a large-scale counterattack.

On the blue planet settled by Chen Xiaoyun and her crew, Chen Xiaoyun and Lü Jianglan discussed their absent leaders, their feelings for them, and conflicts among their colleagues. Chen Xiaoyun continued directing the planet’s development, resolving to support the person she missed as she watched a fleet of more than two thousand combat spaceships.

• Lü Jianglan complained to Chen Xiaoyun about being overworked and wondered whether their former leaders had found a planet and begun rebuilding there.
• Chen Xiaoyun admitted that she missed the leaders, and Lü Jianglan reassured her that they would have settled successfully and advanced their plans.
• Lü Jianglan criticized Fang Yu for pursuing hookups while staying within the rules, and Chen Xiaoyun learned of his behavior from the ship’s monitoring system.
• Lü Jianglan asked whether Chen Xiaoyun still liked Brother Chuan, and Chen Xiaoyun acknowledged that she did.
• Lü Jianglan left to investigate new requisition requests from Zone Z, while Chen Xiaoyun considered how her policies could help the person she missed.
• Chen Xiaoyun saw more than two thousand combat spaceships on the gravity screen and reaffirmed her resolve.

Chen Mengchuan gathered the scattered human spacecraft and learned that humanity had assembled more than ten million warships, then ordered the fleets to prepare to reclaim the Solar System and attack Musca. Zhao Wanyu questioned whether humanity could win, leaving Chen Mengchuan to confront the possibility that Musca’s forces were far greater.

• Achen connected Chen Mengchuan with every human spacecraft in the nearby star systems, and they confirmed that all ships had survived.
• Chen Mengchuan learned that human fleets had assembled more than ten million warships, with Chen Xiaoyun and Lü Jianglan commanding the largest force on Earth 2.0.
• Chen Mengchuan called on humanity to reclaim the Solar System and destroy Musca, and the fleets set course for the Solar System.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that Achen controlled the unmanned warships, but Zhao Wanyu questioned whether humanity could defeat Musca’s forces.
• Zhao Wanyu wondered how many fleets Musca possessed, and Chen Mengchuan fell silent as he considered the possibility of losing.

After three months of waiting, Chen Mengchuan discovered the Musca Civilization had more than 23 billion spacecraft in the Solar System and was building a Dyson Sphere around the Sun. The scan also showed one of its six giant spacecraft had landed on Earth, leaving Chen Mengchuan facing the scale of the threat.

• Chen Mengchuan remained preoccupied with the possibility that he had underestimated the Musca Civilization, while Zhao Wanyu believed humanity’s spread across the universe was already enough.
• Three months later, Achen scanned the Solar System and reported more than 23 billion Musca spacecraft alongside six giant spacecraft.
• Chen Mengchuan learned the Musca Civilization was installing a Dyson Sphere around the Sun and ordered a more intensive scan.
• Achen modeled the alien warships, revealing each had a 23.33-kilometer-wide energy reception device and that the fleet was closing in around the Sun.
• Chen Mengchuan asked about Earth and learned one giant spacecraft had landed there while the other five orbited above it.

Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu that the Musca Civilization had overrun the Solar System, captured Earth, and enclosed the Sun in a Dyson Sphere. He left her with the grim conclusion that humanity could not return and might have to survive by settling other star systems.

• Zhao Wanyu brought fruit to Chen Mengchuan and urged him to share what was troubling him.
• Chen Mengchuan remembered the more than 23 billion Musca spacecraft surrounding the Sun and the Dyson Sphere plunging the Solar System into darkness.
• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu that the Solar System had fallen and that humanity might never return to Earth.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that millions of Musca spacecraft kept arriving every hour and that one of their six super spacecraft had landed on Earth.
• Chen Mengchuan said humanity had no way to defeat the Musca Civilization and would likely have to settle other star systems.
• Chen Mengchuan revealed that the Musca Civilization had built a complete Dyson Sphere around the Sun to harvest its energy.

Xu Shuwei and Toni discussed the approaching Musca fleet, humanity’s chances, and the disturbing genetic experiments on Blue Green Star. On Cuihai Star, Zhao Wanyu urged Chen Mengchuan to share humanity’s crisis with others and face it collectively.

• Xu Shuwei argued that humanity’s millions of warships could overwhelm the Musca fleet, while Toni worried about the enemy’s strength and awaited news from the Solar System.
• Toni told Xu Shuwei that researchers had found human-like DNA in local anthropoid life forms, and Xu recalled the unsettling genetic engineering project.
• Toni recalled the Orcs’ attack on Rainbow Star, where they rode giant beasts, broke into warships with Metal Yu, and killed thousands of humans.
• Xu Shuwei questioned Toni’s comparison of the Musca ships to Multi-Arm Crabs, and Toni said low hopes did not mean they should stop acting.
• Zhao Wanyu urged Chen Mengchuan to contact Toni, Xu Shuwei, and humanity’s other leaders so everyone could learn about the crisis and offer suggestions.

Chen Mengchuan agreed to share the Fly Civilization threat with representatives from humanity’s fourteen core regional planets. At the meeting, the representatives debated whether humanity should flee, defend Earth, or fight, leaving the decision unresolved.

• Chen Mengchuan agreed with Zhao Wanyu to convene representatives from the other planetary regions and discuss humanity’s response to the Fly Civilization.
• Zhao Wanyu arranged a conference of representatives from the fourteen core regional planets, which met the next morning.
• Achen presented footage and data showing the Fly Civilization’s occupation of the Solar System, its overwhelming fleet, and its Dyson Sphere, stunning the representatives.
• The America region representative argued that humanity should avoid fighting and settle farther away from the Fly Civilization.
• The China region representative insisted that humanity could not abandon Earth, while the Russian region representative urged humanity to fight regardless of the odds.

Guo Deyu took command of humanity’s ten million space warships as the second phase of the war against the Musca Civilization began. He launched Operation Apple Peel, leaving the fleets initiating their first space jumps toward the Solar System.

• The Human Civilization Federation appointed Guo Deyu, the top performer in Achen’s space-war simulations, as overall commander.
• Guo Deyu divided the ten million warships into forty-eight fleets and ordered them to disperse and assemble according to Plan A.
• Chen Mengchuan and other leaders watched as the fleets formed up and prepared to attack the Musca Civilization with space-jumping nuclear bombs.
• Guo Deyu announced Operation Apple Peel and asked Achen to begin the countdown.
• After Achen counted down, the fleets activated their space jumps.

Humanity launched repeated nuclear strikes against the Musca Civilization’s fleets as the alien ships entered the Solar System, destroying nearly a billion warships before the Musca forces began to counterattack. Guo Deyu ordered the human fleets to flee while continuing their attack, but the fifth wave was destroyed and human warship losses were detected.

• Achen completed its countdown, and forty-eight human fleets began Space-time Traversal toward the Solar System.
• Guo Deyu ordered the first nuclear strike, and the missiles destroyed millions of Musca Civilization spacecraft across forty-eight zones.
• Guo Deyu ordered a second strike, and four consecutive waves destroyed nearly one billion Musca warships.
• The Musca Civilization launched its counterattack, and Guo Deyu ordered the human fleets to scatter, retreat, and keep attacking.
• Achen reported that the fifth wave of nuclear missiles had been destroyed, then detected human warship losses.

Chen Mengchuan and Guo Deyu watched human civilization battle the Musca Civilization, whose ships wielded devastating white-light weapons. After sacrificing ships to gather data and launch a counterattack, Guo Deyu sent nuclear missiles into enemy fleets, and he declared victory as the attack struck.

• Chen Mengchuan learned that enemy warships had intercepted the fleeing human fleets, and Guo Deyu ordered a rear guard to sacrifice itself so the survivors could escape.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered Achen to analyze the Musca Civilization’s weapons as Guo Deyu sent small fleets back toward the Solar System to test enemy defenses.
• Achen reported that human ships had destroyed millions of enemy spacecraft, while most of the returning human ships were lost after recording images of the Musca Civilization’s humanoid life forms.
• Guo Deyu regrouped the surviving ships into dispersed cone formations and launched nuclear missiles that struck Musca fleets before they could detect the human spacecraft.
• Guo Deyu shouted that human civilization had won as the counterattack hit the enemy.