Chapter Summaries

Chen Mengchuan reorganized human civilization’s weapons research to prepare for war with the Musca Civilization, while Achen revealed that biological R&D projects across human settlements had made surprising progress. The chapter left Chen Mengchuan shaken as he read reports on experiments involving living organisms and human biology.

• Chen Mengchuan, Toni, and Xu Shuwei discussed stalled weapons projects, and Chen agreed to consolidate existing research and develop new weapons for the war.
• Chen Mengchuan reflected on humanity’s scattered settlements, its loss of Earth, and his unease about the Musca Civilization’s strength.
• Achen urged Chen Mengchuan to rest and explained that its administrative work had made its speech more technical.
• Achen told Chen Mengchuan that regional biological R&D departments were researching biological forms and DNA editing, then showed him several project reports.
• Chen Mengchuan read reports on primate cell recombination, increasing human bone density, and DNA editing, and trembled in surprise.

Chen Mengchuan struggled with the promise and dangers of DNA-based bodily reconstruction, while Toni and Xu Shuwei debated biological research, human evolution, and extending lifespan. The chapter ended with Toni refusing to become a test subject until the technology was mature.

• Chen Mengchuan reviewed reports showing that DNA technology could reshape human bodies and potentially improve physical abilities by up to 475 percent, but he worried about the unknown risks and Xu Shuwei’s question of whether reconstructed humans would still be human.
• Toni and Xu Shuwei discussed biological experiments and the long-lived Orc, whose lifespan remained unexplained.
• Toni said life and consciousness were too complex for science to fully understand and warned that rapid, technology-driven evolution could bring unforeseen problems.
• Xu Shuwei asked whether Toni would use DNA technology to extend his lifespan, and Toni said he would consider it only after it became mature, not as a lab rat.

Elder Jiang used a chess game with Su Peiyuan to dissuade him from trying to regain political power, arguing that humanity’s unity mattered more as it faced the Musca Civilization. On Cuihai Star, Chen Mengchuan rejected Guo Deyu’s call to send more warships into battle, but approved his plan to deploy Sea Urchin Warships as static interstellar traps around the Solar System.

• Elder Jiang defeated Su Peiyuan at Huaxia Chess after sacrificing several pieces to set up a winning cannon attack.
• Elder Jiang told Su Peiyuan that humanity’s unified government made political maneuvering meaningless and that the Musca Civilization was humanity’s true enemy.
• Su Peiyuan conceded defeat and left, while Elder Jiang went with Elder Ge and the others to check the battle situation.
• Chen Mengchuan judged that the stalemate against the Musca Civilization made further direct clashes too risky and rejected Guo Deyu’s proposal to send more warships.
• Guo Deyu proposed scattering Sea Urchin Warships equipped with a small number of nuclear bombs to lay static interstellar traps beyond the Solar System, and Chen Mengchuan approved the plan.

Chen Mengchuan reviewed the progress of the White Vine antimatter beam weapon and the plasma pulse weapon as humanity struggled to hold back the Musca Civilization. He then turned to the biology department’s gene-editing research, studying its technologies and feasibility reports while weighing their potential benefits and risks.

• Marshall reported that White Vine had passed cosmic battlefield stability testing and was ready for large-scale production, while Thomson said the plasma pulse weapon still needed parameter tests to address its sustained attack time.
• Thomson promised to resolve the plasma weapon’s remaining issue within a week, and Chen Mengchuan ordered Achen to coordinate White Vine’s mass production with Marshall.
• Chen Mengchuan discussed how Musca modified warships were disrupting source-point-ring formations and weakening humanity’s nuclear strikes, while Guo Deyu adjusted deployments by withdrawing Sea Urchin Warships from affected regions.
• Achen asked whether the biology department’s DNA gene-editing technology could harm humanity, and Chen Mengchuan requested the department’s technical overview and feasibility reports.
• Chen Mengchuan reviewed the biology department’s compiled technologies, hoping to find ways to extend human lifespans and preserve the older generation of scientific workers.

Chen Mengchuan and the researchers began humanity’s first human trial of a DNA gene-editing life-extension plan, with ninety-two-year-old Elder Xing as the volunteer. The operation started in a sterile laboratory, aiming to give Elder Xing a lifespan comparable to the long-lived intelligent species of Qinglan ST Planet.

• Chen Mengchuan reassured Ding Xiancheng before Elder Xing arrived at the research institute.
• Chen Mengchuan introduced Elder Xing to Ding Xiancheng, who promised to perform the operation carefully.
• Elder Xing entered the sterile laboratory for the four-and-a-half-hour procedure while Chen Mengchuan and the staff watched from the observation section.
• Chen Mengchuan reflected on humanity’s short lifespan and the discovery that the intelligent primates of Qinglan ST Planet could live for centuries.
• Human civilization’s research had uncovered the secret of the planet’s long-lived species, and the trial aimed to give Elder Xing the same lifespan limit.

Chen Mengchuan explained the life-extension procedure to Zhao Wanyu as surgeons began testing Qinglan ST bone marrow and blood fusion on Elder Xing. The experiment started with a volunteer Qinglan ST person, while the procedure on Elder Xing had not yet begun.

• Zhao Wanyu arrived and asked Chen Mengchuan whether the operation could extend Elder Xing's lifespan.
• Chen Mengchuan described how Qinglan ST bone marrow and blood would be fused with Elder Xing's through a series of treatments and injections.
• Chen Mengchuan said the procedure could improve strength and slow metabolism, though he was unsure whether the changes would benefit humanity overall.
• An assistant announced that the experiment had begun, and a Qinglan ST person over 2.5 meters tall was brought into the laboratory.
• Doctors anesthetized the volunteer and used mechanical arms to extract small amounts of his bone marrow into the fusion solution.
• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu that the volunteer had agreed to the procedure in exchange for the right for himself and his descendants to live within human civilization.

After Elder Xing underwent the bone marrow experiment, Chen Mengchuan learned about He Shi’s role in his tribe and accepted him as a bodyguard. Chen Mengchuan then reviewed the war’s progress and placed hope in the new White Vine warships as a way to reclaim Earth and the Solar System.

• After the experiment, Ding Xiancheng told Chen Mengchuan that Elder Xing needed forty-eight hours to adapt to and integrate the new bone marrow and blood.
• Chen Mengchuan spoke with the Qinglan ST person, learned that he was a Reserve Civilization Progenitor named Hesh, and gave him the Huaxia name He Shi.
• When He Shi offered to become Chen Mengchuan’s guardian, Chen Mengchuan accepted after learning that refusal would require He Shi to cut out his heart.
• The next day, Chen Mengchuan accepted He Shi as his bodyguard and went to the command center to discuss the war with Guo Deyu.
• Chen Mengchuan learned that White Vine antimatter beam weapons had entered preliminary mass production and that the first spiral-shaped warships carrying them were heading to the front lines.

Elder Xing awoke after the rejuvenation operation and regained remarkable vitality, prompting amazement and envy among Cuihai Star’s researchers and officials. As Chen Mengchuan considered the operation’s wider consequences, he realized the technology might one day allow humans to attain eternal life.

• Elder Xing awoke feeling vigorous and clear-minded, and Chen Mengchuan told him to undergo examinations and rest while he adapted.
• Laboratory staff found that Elder Xing had grown from 1.67 meters to 1.74 meters and gained 14 kilograms, with major changes to his skeleton and neural activity.
• Elder Xing’s old friends and Cuihai Star’s officials visited, marveling at his transformation and regretting that they had declined to volunteer.
• Elder Xing ate fresh meat soup before staff limited his portions and took him for further examinations during his observation period.
• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu about Elder Xing’s condition and reflected that the technology might eventually let humans attain eternal life.

Chen Mengchuan rejected immediate large-scale use of Qinglan ST people for longevity and backed an open, regulated system built on peaceful cooperation. The “Newborn” plan and medical advances spread through human civilization, while mutual-aid agreements helped Qinglan ST people’s population grow.

• Chen Mengchuan rejected proposals to expand the longevity operation immediately, and the meeting instead discussed rules, population growth, and cloning research.
• Human civilization approved an open biological research project on Qinglan ST Planet, negotiated mutual aid with Qinglan ST representatives, and planned medical and childbirth support.
• Human civilization established the “Newborn” plan, using age, contribution, and knowledge to rank applicants, and Achen compiled priority lists headed by elderly scientific workers and their spouses.
• Human civilization publicized the plan and deployed biomedical treatments that made more than 99% of known cases of many illnesses curable.
• Qinglan ST nations, tribes, and clans accepted peaceful mutual-aid agreements, and human assistance improved their healthcare and resources.
• Qinglan ST leaders and human childbirth support encouraged a surge in pregnancies as the two civilizations began integrating peacefully.

Humanity debated how to respond after the Musca Civilization signaled for peace and began withdrawing, while Chen Mengchuan urged caution despite believing humanity held the advantage. A human vanguard later found the Solar System empty of Musca warships, leaving humanity back at its home system as the war appeared to pause.

• Chen Mengchuan told Elder Jiang and other leaders that humanity could pursue peace but should remain wary of the Musca Civilization and maintain a safe distance.
• Chen Mengchuan and Guo Deyu suspected that the Musca Civilization had internal factions, and Elder Jiang urged that it withdraw from the Solar System, where Earth remained under its control.
• Over the following days, Guo Deyu reported that Musca forces were retreating quickly, and the human peace faction grew louder.
• After 27 days of fast travel, the human vanguard reached the Solar System and found no Musca warships there.
• Humanity returned to its home system as the Sun, Earth, and other planets remained intact and the fighting appeared to have stopped.

After the Musca Civilization retreated, Chen Mengchuan and humanity chose to secure peace rather than pursue an endless war. Humanity expanded its defenses and influence across nearby star systems, and seventeen years later Chen Mengchuan retired as humanity and the Musca Civilization continued living in peace.

• Exploration ships confirmed that Earth and the Solar System had suffered little lasting damage, and Xu Shuwei, Toni, and Chen Mengchuan discussed why the Musca Civilization had withdrawn.
• Toni argued against pursuing the Musca Civilization, and Chen Mengchuan agreed that humanity could not ensure its destruction and should prepare for possible future conflict.
• Humanity launched the twenty-year Sky Shield Plan, built space-defense outposts, and distributed its population among Earth, the Seven Sons Star System, and the Refugee planet.
• Humanity welcomed more nonhuman races, established diplomatic relations with other civilizations, and helped them enter the space age.
• Seventeen years later, Chen Mengchuan retired as Director-General of the Human Civilization Ministry of Science and Technology after gaining a lifespan of nearly a thousand years, while humanity and the Musca Civilization remained at peace.