Chapter Summaries

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.

After humanity’s first interstellar battle, Chen Mengchuan supported a plan to build disposable Sea Urchin Warships and waited until the fleet was ready to counterattack the Musca Civilization. Three months later, with 1.2 billion Sea Urchin Warships and upgraded defenses and technology, he ordered the campaign to reclaim the Solar System and Earth.

• Chen Mengchuan reassured Zhao Wanyu that humanity could defeat the Musca Civilization, and they discussed their future and family.
• Humanity developed Sea Urchin No. 1, a disposable warship designed to attack Musca fleets with space-jumping nuclear weapons, and Chen Mengchuan backed delaying the counterattack until enough were built.
• At the sixth high-level council meeting three months later, Achen reported that 1.2 billion Sea Urchin Warships were ready for deployment.
• Guo Deyu reported twenty-one completed war plans, Xu Shuwei confirmed the upgraded early-warning defense system, and Toni reported that space-jump speed had reached 1,200 times the speed of light.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered Guo Deyu to begin the campaign to reclaim the Solar System and Earth and destroy the Musca Civilization.

Chen Mengchuan learned that an exploration ship had found the Seven Sons Star System, which contained seven habitable planets with developing intelligent civilizations. He ordered further exploration and preparations for settlement, then asked Toni to investigate the system before humanity considered moving there.

• Achen told Chen Mengchuan that the Seven Sons Star System contained seven life-bearing planets with conditions suitable for human habitation.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered one million exploration spacecraft to survey the system and its surroundings, and directed giant spacecraft to begin basic construction on the planets.
• Chen Mengchuan chose not to classify the discovery as highly confidential and arranged for the other planetary regions of human civilization to receive the information.
• Toni examined the system's data and noted the similar intelligent civilizations, their metalworking, maritime technologies, and frequent wars.
• Toni agreed to organize a team to investigate the Seven Sons Star System, and Chen Mengchuan told him to take Brother Xu along.

Humanity’s Sea Urchin Fleet fought the Musca Civilization sooner and more fiercely than expected, suffering heavy losses from concealed enemy ships. Guo Deyu adapted the fleet’s tactics and reduced casualties, while Chen Mengchuan and Toni concluded that the war would likely continue because neither side trusted the other.

• Achen told Chen Mengchuan that the fleet had encountered the Musca Civilization, destroying over a million enemy ships while losing more than ninety thousand.
• Chen Mengchuan learned from Guo Deyu that Musca ships were disguised as asteroid clusters and ambushing human fleets during the seven-second interval after spatial jumps.
• Guo Deyu accelerated the advance toward the Solar System instead of slowing down, then reorganized the fleet to improve battlefield scanning and reduce losses.
• Toni reviewed the battle reports and asked Chen Mengchuan whether humanity could negotiate peace with the Musca Civilization.
• Chen Mengchuan said the Sun was probably the Musca Civilization’s target and that neither civilization trusted the other enough to negotiate.

Human civilization’s war against the Musca Civilization intensified as Sea Urchin Warships suffered heavy losses despite inflicting far greater casualties. The chapter ended with Chen Mengchuan realizing that the Musca Civilization’s large warships had developed a particle force field that could curb human civilization’s Space-time Traversal strikes.

• Guo Deyu directed human fleets through the sprawling battle as Toni and Xu Shuwei watched the changing casualty figures, which initially favored human civilization.
• Chen Mengchuan assessed the losses: six billion of the original twelve billion Sea Urchin Warships had been destroyed, while human forces had eliminated nineteen billion Musca spacecraft.
• Achen warned Chen Mengchuan that large Musca warships were intercepting the first battle line across 792 regions, and Guo Deyu reported that their particle force fields interfered with Spatial Source Point Circles.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered Achen to calculate the force field’s effective range and parameters, then recognized that the Musca Civilization had begun finding ways to curb human civilization’s Space-time Traversal strikes.

Marshall reported that the White Vine antimatter beam weapon had been completed, and Chen Mengchuan ordered new warships designed to carry it. Meanwhile, Guo Deyu intensified the Solar System battle as human forces tried to destroy Musca warships before they equipped their defenses.

• Marshall showed Chen Mengchuan White Vine and explained how its beam annihilated targets, including a spacecraft protected by a gravity barrier.
• After watching the test footage, Chen Mengchuan ordered Achen to have warship designers integrate White Vine into new ships with Marshall's team's help.
• Guo Deyu pulled back frontline assault warships and ordered Sea Urchin Warships to encircle Musca forces along the battlefield's outskirts.
• Guo Deyu coordinated reserve commanders and fleets as losses mounted, urging his forces to destroy Musca ships before their defenses were fully equipped.