Chapter Summaries

Li Qingsong learned that a technologically overwhelming Machina Calamity fleet was heading for the Solar System and might already be on its way to the Altair System. He considered fleeing but realized that running from a fleet more than ten times faster would only delay his capture.

• Li Qingsong’s Solar System clone reconnected and sent him observations of a previously unseen fleet’s exhaust plume.
• Li Qingsong calculated that the fleet was traveling at about 73.3% of light speed, decelerating at 0.8 meters per second squared, and would reach the Solar System in about 8.8 years according to the observations.
• Li Qingsong recognized the approaching fleet as almost certainly the Machina Calamity and concluded that the Lantu Ke Civilization’s disguise had only delayed its pursuit.
• Li Qingsong realized the clone’s information was already 16.8 years old, so the Machina Calamity might have reached the Solar System and begun traveling toward Altair.
• Li Qingsong weighed immediate flight against staying, then concluded that fleeing from a fleet more than ten times faster would only postpone his capture and waste his life on the road.

Li Qingsong realized that he might survive the Machina Calamity by developing technology while fleeing through interstellar space, but doing so required a much larger fleet than he could build in time. He decided to streamline the fleet and improve its efficiency while spending five years developing quantum computers, hoping to finish construction within twenty-five years.

• Li Qingsong concluded that drifting through interstellar space while conducting large-scale experiments could hide him from the Machina Calamity and give him a chance to reach level-three Strong Nuclear Civilization.
• Li Qingsong calculated that carrying more than 1,500 Large Scientific Devices and enough supplies would require a fleet thirty times its previous size and three hundred years to build.
• Li Qingsong chose to abandon ninety percent of his Unmanned Warships and streamline the rest of the fleet, reducing the construction target to twenty times its previous size and the schedule to about two hundred years.
• Li Qingsong decided to improve fleet efficiency using knowledge gained during Interstellar Voyage and spend five years overcoming quantum computer technology, aiming to build the fleet within twenty-five years.

With the Machina Calamity hunting him, Li Qingsong committed his industrial strength to developing practical quantum computers within five years, hoping to build a much larger fleet. He also sent Heavy Transport Ships carrying clones, equipment, and his technological data to distant Star Systems as a contingency in case Altair fell.

• Li Qingsong concluded that quantum computers were his best chance of survival and resolved to devote himself to developing them.
• He built a massive Quantum Laboratory and assigned more than seven million clones to frontline research, supported by the brainpower of one hundred million more.
• Li Qingsong also continued work on spacecraft performance and built several dozen Heavy Transport Ships, each carrying ten thousand hibernating clones, industrial equipment, and technological data.
• Under Jade Emperor AI's control, the transport ships departed Altair for different Star Systems so Li Qingsong could rebuild elsewhere if the Machina Calamity destroyed his main fleet.

Li Qingsong devoted his resources and enormous workforce to developing a practical Quantum Supercomputer, overcoming challenges involving qubit stability, error correction, refrigeration, and laser control. After four and a half years, he completed the key breakthroughs and built the machine before the five-year deadline.

• Li Qingsong mobilized 1.02 billion consciousness connections, vast industrial production, and his research teams to pursue technological development.
• Li Qingsong tackled qubit decoherence by developing new superconducting materials and researching quantum error correction through basic physics experiments.
• Li Qingsong advanced cryogenic refrigeration and precise laser manipulation technologies needed to operate and control a large quantum computer.
• Li Qingsong kept solving successive research problems as four and a half years passed.
• Li Qingsong completed the key breakthroughs and built a practical Quantum Supercomputer that consumed 100,000 kilowatts of power.

Li Qingsong completed his quantum computer technology and deployed ten thousand Quantum-Electronic Combined Supercomputers across the Altair System, transforming Divine Craftsman AI and massively boosting his industrial strength. He ordered construction of an interstellar Migration Fleet twenty times larger than the previous one, to be completed within twenty-five years before fleeing with supplies and Large Scientific Devices while continuing technological research.

• Li Qingsong began building ten thousand Quantum-Electronic Combined Supercomputers across the planets of the Altair System.
• Li Qingsong reconstructed Divine Craftsman AI's codebase with the Quantum Development Language and gave it access to the new computers.
• Divine Craftsman AI began managing factories and complex operations with far less need for clone supervision, greatly increasing Li Qingsong's industrial strength.
• Li Qingsong ordered construction of an interstellar Migration Fleet twenty times the size of the previous fleet, with a twenty-five-year deadline.
• Li Qingsong planned to flee with enough supplies and all Large Scientific Devices while continuing to research technology.

With quantum supercomputers and intelligent robots, Li Qingsong rapidly expanded industrial construction and his spacecraft fleet across the Altair System while hiding emissions to avoid detection. As time passed, more warships gathered in space, and the star in images from the Solar System grew brighter.

• Li Qingsong used quantum supercomputers and humanoid general-purpose robots to automate construction and move clones away from dangerous frontline work.
• Li Qingsong expanded factories across Altair b and other worlds, increasing cargo transport and building a fleet many times larger, including hollow ships for camouflage.
• Li Qingsong collected industrial waste gases and buried or disposed of them to keep observers from detecting changes in the Altair System.
• Li Qingsong confirmed through observations from backup spacecraft that the system still appeared quiet from one light-year away despite its industrial activity.
• More warships gathered in space, while images sent by clones from the Solar System showed the star growing brighter.

Li Qingsong observed a massive Machina Calamity fleet arrive in the Jupiter System and discovered its advanced weapons, Energy Shields, and likely Super Distance Communication. He feared the technology could expose his location and let the fleet attack his Star System directly.

• Li Qingsong estimated that the fleet held at least eight hundred Aerospace Carriers and fifty million ships, powered by the captured minds of more than one hundred billion intelligent beings.
• The fleet decelerated and docked in the Jupiter System, then sent mineral collection ships down to nearby planets.
• Li Qingsong watched a small warship destroy an asteroid with one projectile and saw Energy Shields deflect the debris from nearby spacecraft.
• Li Qingsong realized the fleet's coordinated maneuvers across hundreds of millions of kilometers suggested it possessed Super Distance Communication.
• Li Qingsong feared the fleet could use that technology to identify his Star System without bringing its main force there, then strike him directly.

Li Qingsong realized that Super Distance Communication likely had a range limit and concluded that he needed to become a Strong Nuclear Civilization to oppose the Machina Calamity. As the fleet moved toward Earth, his hidden clones revealed that the invaders were using the planet as a hunting ground for strange creatures.

• Li Qingsong inferred that Super Distance Communication failed over excessive distances and resolved to break through to a Strong Nuclear Civilization.
• Li Qingsong saw a Machina Calamity fleet leave the Jupiter System and head toward Earth, and he activated the hidden clones he had placed there.
• Li Qingsong received images of mechanical spiders chasing Earth's animals across a grassland for strange, fat creatures in aircraft.
• The creatures fired on the fleeing animals while unmanned aircraft steered the herds toward them.
• When the animals escaped into a forest, the mechanical spiders cut down the trees so the hunt could continue.

Li Qingsong watched the Machina Calamity’s pleasure-seeking lifeforms devastate Earth while its AI-driven industry outmatched his own. He considered the civilization’s tradeoff between AI power and lost potential, then vowed to destroy the Machina Calamity for hunting him and ravaging his home.

• Li Qingsong witnessed Machina Calamity creatures use machines and aircraft to unleash floods, kill animals, and trigger volcanic eruptions for entertainment.
• After more than a decade of visitors, Earth’s ecology deteriorated again, and Li Qingsong focused on building his fleet while monitoring the Machina Calamity.
• Li Qingsong saw the Machina Calamity’s automated industry surpass his own, convincing Momo Lansi and the Blueprint Humans that fleeing its pursuit would have been impossible.
• Li Qingsong concluded that the Machina Calamity’s powerful AI and industry came at the cost of its inhabitants’ ability to develop technology, while ordinary civilizations faced a choice between potential and strength.
• Li Qingsong declared that intelligent programs would remain tools in his civilization and vowed to make the Machina Calamity pay for hunting him and damaging Earth.

Li Qingsong watched the Machina Calamity fleet trace his six fleets’ routes and set out to search their destination systems, then devised a thousand-year voyage through interstellar space to evade pursuit. With the Machina Calamity headed for Wang Liang Three and Altair estimated to be fifth on its route, Li Qingsong’s fleet construction in the Altair System neared completion, leaving only the relocation of more than fifteen hundred Large Scientific Devices.

• Li Qingsong observed the Machina Calamity fleet survey the departure routes of his six fleets and realized it had determined their courses.
• The Machina Calamity fleet set out for Wang Liang Three, and Li Qingsong calculated that it would reach Altair in roughly three hundred years.
• Li Qingsong planned to keep his enormous fleet hidden in interstellar space on a thousand-year voyage without stopping at any Star System.
• Li Qingsong completed construction and resource gathering for six identical fleets in the Altair System, leaving the relocation of more than fifteen hundred Large Scientific Devices as the final task.

Li Qingsong designed specialized spaceships to transport his most difficult scientific instruments while keeping them operational during the voyage. With the fleet nearly ready to depart, he prepared one last surprise.

• Li Qingsong designed enormous spherical cargo ships to shield and operate the sixteen Neutrino Telescopes in space.
• Li Qingsong built long Bamboo Pole Spaceships to house linear Particle Colliders and tested their thrusters to keep the fragile ships from snapping.
• Li Qingsong solved the transport problem for Gravitational Wave Detectors by mounting their perpendicular vacuum pipelines along the legs of right-triangular ships.
• Li Qingsong loaded the remaining Large Scientific Devices onto customized ships as the fleet finished its preparations to set sail.
• Li Qingsong issued another command, planning to give a little surprise before leaving.

Li Qingsong prepared the Altair System for the Machina Calamity by hiding hydrogen-bomb mines among its asteroids and leaving automated bases behind. After destroying his factories and bases in a farewell display, he sent six fleets in different directions on a thousand-year flight, uncertain whether they could escape pursuit.

• Li Qingsong ordered factories to produce deuterium-fueled hydrogen bombs and passive detectors, then hid the devices inside asteroids throughout the Altair System.
• Li Qingsong left automated bases and hibernating clones in concealed locations so they could respond to outside signals and reconnect with his consciousness.
• Li Qingsong watched as high-yield hydrogen bombs destroyed his factories and bases across the planets he had visited.
• Li Qingsong commanded six fleets to depart in different directions, beginning a thousand-year journey to flee the Machina Calamity.

Li Qingsong accelerated his fleet through the Altair System to 8% of light speed, then protected its ships from interstellar dust with replaceable plastic sheeting. When he recycled the worn sheeting, he discovered that it had accumulated numerous elements, including enough gold to make a small bar.

• Li Qingsong observed unusual asteroids being flung outward and considered how Altair might eventually form a Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.
• Over more than a decade, Li Qingsong accelerated the fleet to 8% of light speed, then shut down its engines and began inertial flight.
• Li Qingsong had robots and clones cover the ships with radiation-resistant plastic sheeting to absorb damage from interstellar dust.
• After five years, Li Qingsong replaced the degraded sheeting and melted down the old batch for reuse.
• Li Qingsong discovered that recycling hundreds of thousands of tons of sheeting had yielded dozens of elements and a 150-gram gold bar.

As Li Qingsong’s fleet traveled at 8% of the speed of light, he discovered that interstellar radiation was transforming their plastic sheeting into trace amounts of gold and other elements, while the fleet’s speed altered starlight and revealed previously inaccessible signals. He corrected the resulting time-dilation errors in the fleet’s positioning and observation systems, and the large scientific devices were finally ready to begin operating.

• Li Qingsong discovered that high-energy particles transformed the fleet’s plastic sheeting into other elements, including about thirty grams of gold per year, and sent the materials to the factories for industrial use.
• Li Qingsong observed that stars ahead looked bluer and those behind looked redder, and he calculated the fleet’s relativistic blueshift and redshift.
• Li Qingsong realized that the shifts brought previously unobservable electromagnetic signals into range, opening what he considered a new field of high-speed astronomy.
• Li Qingsong calculated that time inside the fleet ran about 0.32% slower than outside and corrected the fleet’s positioning and observation data with relativity formulas.
• The fleet continued speeding forward, and its large scientific devices were finally ready to operate.

Li Qingsong brought particle colliders, telescope arrays, and gravitational wave detectors online to investigate fundamental physics and the universe’s history. The chapter left the fleet gathering data from particle collisions and distant cosmic events.

• Li Qingsong powered up the particle collider and used proton collisions to record short-lived particles and study Quark-Gluon Plasma.
• Li Qingsong conducted experiments with heavy ions, neutrons, positrons, and electrons using several collision methods.
• Li Qingsong deployed tens of thousands of telescopes to observe distant celestial bodies and study earlier stages of the universe.
• Li Qingsong activated the fleet’s gravitational wave detectors to collect signals from deep space and identify events for further observation.

Li Qingsong used extreme heating and cooling experiments to study matter and light, while his fleet’s scientific instruments consumed vast resources. When neutrino detectors reported an apparently identical burst from the same distant location as one detected six months earlier, Li Qingsong and the Blueprint Scientists eagerly prepared to investigate a phenomenon that defied their theories.

• Li Qingsong heated a five-gram Zinc Sheet to one trillion Celsius, observed macroscopic Gluon Plasma, and studied changes in the Strong Nuclear Force.
• Li Qingsong cooled a medium close to absolute zero and watched light move through it more slowly than a walking clone.
• More than twenty thousand Quantum Supercomputers processed data from the fleet’s scientific devices, while over two billion clones and the fleet’s equipment consumed enormous resources.
• Dozens of Neutrino Detectors reported a high-energy neutrino burst from near the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, approximately sixteen thousand light-years away.
• Li Qingsong discovered that the burst matched one detected six months earlier in type, intensity, and coordinates, and he and the Blueprint Scientists became excited by the unexplained anomaly.

Li Qingsong investigated an unusual neutrino burst and identified it as coming from a Type II supernova, but it had no optical counterpart and emitted far fewer neutrinos than expected. The chapter left him questioning how such a powerful explosion could appear dim and release so little energy through neutrinos.

• Li Qingsong assigned Blueprint Scientists and part of his mental capacity to investigate the strange neutrino phenomenon.
• Li Qingsong used the neutrino data to determine the source's direction and coordinates, then aimed telescopes there, but found no optical counterpart.
• Li Qingsong identified the neutrinos as originating from a Type II supernova and reviewed how core-collapse and Type Ia supernovae occurred.
• Li Qingsong compared the event with the earlier explosion at the same location and found that both lacked visible light.
• Li Qingsong determined that the neutrino count was far below the normal level for a supernova and wondered whether only a small portion of its energy had been released as neutrinos.

Li Qingsong concluded that two anomalous supernova explosions might have been controlled weapons used by a super civilization, and he feared the scale of the power involved. Later, he observed a distant spiral galaxy whose stars and clouds resembled an eye and named it the Evil Eye Galaxy.

• After ten years of research failed to explain the repeated explosions, a Blueprint Scientist suggested they might be weapons made by a super civilization.
• Li Qingsong realized the explosions’ unusual energy patterns could have been deliberately engineered to maximize destruction and feared that powerful civilizations were fighting nearby.
• Li Qingsong continued observing the coordinates, hoping to gather information that might help him hide if he encountered such beings.
• Li Qingsong detected a spiral galaxy about five hundred million light-years away whose stellar populations and movements seemed to contradict his theories of galactic evolution.
• After half a year of observations, Li Qingsong saw that the galaxy’s lights, gas, and dust resembled a brilliant eye and named it the Evil Eye Galaxy.

Li Qingsong discovered that images of the Evil Eye Galaxy made him and the Blueprint Humans obsessively want to keep looking, while triggering unexplained changes in their bodies and genes. After isolating the affected subjects, he lost his link to a clone that appeared to have gained its own consciousness, and the words “Parasitic Calamity” surfaced in his mind.

• Li Qingsong and a Blueprint Astronomer became absorbed in the Evil Eye Galaxy's star map, prompting him to suspect its beauty had an abnormal influence.
• Li Qingsong transferred his consciousness to an unexposed clone and found that the clone he had left behind had developed a desire to keep viewing the star map.
• Li Qingsong suspended the observation mission, isolated the involved clones and Blueprint Scientists, and ordered detailed examinations.
• The isolated subjects showed hormonal and genetic changes despite no visible differences, so Li Qingsong moved their Residential Spaceships far from the fleet and surrounded them with hydrogen bombs.
• Li Qingsong lost his consciousness link with the affected clone, which seemed to have gained consciousness of its own, and he thought of the words “Parasitic Calamity.”

Li Qingsong used his clones aboard the isolation ship to investigate how the Demon Eye Civilization spread its parasitism. After confirming that viewing images of the Evil Eye Galaxy infected minds, he ended the experiment and brought the infected clones to the laboratory.

• Li Qingsong made the clones simulate an ordinary society while he secretly monitored a parasitized clone.
• Days later, a parasite showed clones a projected image of the Evil Eye Galaxy, and Li Qingsong sensed abnormal desires arise in them.
• Li Qingsong concluded that viewing the galaxy's image created a self-replicating structure in the brain that could eventually possess its host.
• Li Qingsong suspected the Evil Eye Galaxy had been engineered to spread parasites as a means of preserving or advancing the Demon Eye Civilization.
• Li Qingsong ended the experiment, and his clones restrained the fully parasitized ones and gathered the partially infected clones in the laboratory.