Chapter Summaries

Li Qingsong discovered that the Evil Eye Galaxy infected those who studied it, destroyed the quarantined ships, and sealed away all information about it. More than two hundred years later, the Machina Calamity fleet reached the Altair System sooner than expected, where it encountered a surprise Li Qingsong had prepared.

• Li Qingsong dissected infected clones and Blueprint Scientists, documented the brain changes, then destroyed both quarantine ships with hydrogen bombs.
• Li Qingsong concluded that the Evil Eye Galaxy could act as a Great Filter and forbade anyone from studying or observing it.
• Li Qingsong spent more than two hundred years traveling through space without approaching star systems, while varying the fleet's heading to evade the Machina Calamity.
• Li Qingsong regained a consciousness link with a clone in the Altair System and realized the Machina Calamity fleet had arrived earlier than he expected.
• Li Qingsong watched the fleet enter the Altair System as flashes erupted among the asteroids and small celestial bodies.

The Black Mountain Civilization suffered catastrophic losses as hydrogen-bomb traps devastated its fleet in the Altair System, while Akainu vowed to intensify the hunt for the civilization responsible. Li Qingsong used the delay to continue his research, knowing that only a technological breakthrough could ultimately stop the Machina Calamity.

• An emergency lifeboat passenger cursed Akainu as the AI's unmanned spacecraft shielded the craft from hydrogen-bomb blasts, until the final ships and the passenger were destroyed.
• The Black Mountain Civilization's withdrawal from the Altair System lasted over a month and left at least twenty million spacecraft and one hundred million people dead.
• Akainu calculated that it needed to capture and punish the low-level civilization to restore its masters' well-being, and vowed to intensify the search.
• Li Qingsong regretted that his mines could only delay the enemy, then returned his attention to scientific research.
• The Machina Calamity remained in the Altair System for over sixty years before setting sail again, and Li Qingsong concluded that only a technological breakthrough could resolve the threat.

After a thousand years of travel, Li Qingsong’s fleet reached a star system to replenish supplies, but the threat of the Machina Calamity forced him to limit the stop to thirty years. The six fleets set sail again, and Li Qingsong resolved to overcome the barriers in basic physics and become a Strong Nuclear Civilization.

• Li Qingsong spent six hundred years advancing technology during the voyage, but scarce resources prevented him from building new ships or awakening more clones.
• After a thousand years of travel, Li Qingsong directed the fleet toward a stable star system where it could resupply.
• Li Qingsong ordered the fleet to decelerate and enter the star system, then began resource collection, repairs, upgrades, and construction of the disguised fleet and Hydrogen Bomb Traps.
• Li Qingsong limited the stopover to thirty years because the Machina Calamity could catch up at any time.
• After completing the work, Li Qingsong sent all six fleets in different directions and vowed to break through the theoretical barriers of basic physics.

Li Qingsong continued researching as he fled from the Machina Calamity, but its pursuit grew faster while he traveled more than one hundred light-years without finding any life. After five hundred more years of research, his technology reached the limits of Electroweak theory, leaving him poised to break through into a Strong Nuclear Civilization.

• Li Qingsong devoted all three billion clones to research and traveled roughly twenty light-years over 250 years, passing more than one hundred light-years from the Solar System without finding life.
• Li Qingsong learned that the Machina Calamity had reached the previous docking system only 230 years after his departure, shortening the pursuit interval again.
• The Machina Calamity searched the system, rebuilt its resources in about thirty years, and resumed chasing Li Qingsong.
• Li Qingsong spent another five hundred years researching and found that his Applied Physics and technological creations had reached the limits of existing Basic Physics.
• Li Qingsong realized he had mastered Electroweak-stage theories and stood at the threshold of unifying the Strong Nuclear Force.

Li Qingsong mapped out the experiments needed to verify his Grand Unified Formula and become a Strong Nuclear Civilization, but realized the research would take longer than he could safely spend in a Star System before the Machina Calamity caught up. With no clear way around the timing deadlock, he decided he was willing to risk abandoning his fleet and billions of clones and starting over from a backup.

• Li Qingsong concluded that he needed to verify his Grand Unified Formula and identify the energy required to unify the Strong Nuclear Force with the Electroweak Force.
• Li Qingsong determined that observing Proton Decay, Magnetic Monopoles, and baryon number violation would confirm his theory and provide crucial parameters.
• Li Qingsong calculated that the necessary experiments would require resources from a Star System and at least three hundred years to complete.
• Li Qingsong realized the Machina Calamity would likely reach his next Star System within about two hundred and thirty years, leaving too little time for the research.
• Li Qingsong decided to take the risk and, if necessary, abandon his fleet and billions of clones before activating his backup and starting over.

Li Qingsong chose the young, chaotic Pegasus V342 system as the site for a desperate attempt to challenge a third-tier Strong Nuclear Civilization, risking the fleet and the knowledge preserved in his clones. After decades of travel, he arrived near the star and found a scorching planet whose bare surface was dotted with lakes of liquid metal and alloy.

• Li Qingsong decided he would rather risk everything than keep fleeing from Machina Calamity, even though abandoning his clones would cost him much of his stored knowledge and experience.
• Li Qingsong searched his stellar database and selected Pegasus V342, also known as HR8799, for its youth, violent stellar activity, and chaotic system.
• Li Qingsong redirected his fleet toward Pegasus V342, which lay 4.6 light-years away.
• Several decades later, Li Qingsong brought his fleet to a position about fifty million kilometers from Pegasus V342 and near its smallest major planet.
• Li Qingsong encountered a bare, extremely hot planet whose surface was dotted with lakes of liquid metal and alloy.

Li Qingsong turned the Pegasus system into an industrial center, first building a Sky Net to protect its planets from asteroid impacts and then completing a vast system-wide industrial network. He began planning the next construction stage while postponing scientific research, and decided to produce only Mercury-class Spaceships ahead of the approaching Machina Calamity.

• Li Qingsong chose Planet A as his industrial center because of its abundant mineral resources.
• Li Qingsong and Divine Craftsman AI built factories and deployed hundreds of millions of asteroid-deflecting thrusters to establish Sky Nets over more than fifty worlds.
• After asteroid impacts were controlled, Li Qingsong expanded construction across the system, completing an industrial network with over ten million factories in thirty years.
• Li Qingsong postponed technological research because he feared the Machina Calamity would arrive before he could break through to a Strong Nuclear Civilization.
• Li Qingsong planned to produce only Mercury-class Spaceships, with no Venus-class or Earth-class Battleships.

Li Qingsong spent more than 190 years preparing for the Machina Calamity fleet by mass-producing Mercury-class Battleships, unmanned warships, clones, and billions of hydrogen bombs. As the buildup reached its end, another dim star appeared in the heavens.

• Li Qingsong planned to raise the clone population above 20 billion and produce at least 50 billion hydrogen bombs, including more than 10 billion bombs with yields of one billion tons of TNT each.
• Li Qingsong launched production under the Divine Craftsman AI, using more than a billion clones and improved Quantum Supercomputers.
• Li Qingsong deployed over five million Jupiter Aircraft to collect deuterium from the smallest Gas Giant while fleets of Heavy Transport Ships carried materials between planets.
• Li Qingsong built 15,000 hydrogen bomb factories and hundreds of factories that each produced 50 Mercury-class Battleships per day.
• Li Qingsong's factories operated continuously for more than 190 years, until another dim star appeared in the heavens.

Li Qingsong completed his preparations for the approaching Machina Calamity fleet, fortifying the asteroid belt and hiding Heavy Transport Ships near Pegasus V432’s primary star. As the fleet advanced, its Supercomputer Mothership and Akainu managed the owners’ needs and health across the fleet.

• Li Qingsong confirmed the Machina Calamity fleet’s exhaust traces and prepared for its arrival, still about 3.2 light-years away.
• Li Qingsong built up the asteroid belt with vast numbers of weapons, bombs, and warships, while continuing to strengthen its defenses.
• Li Qingsong secretly sent more than twenty thousand stealth Heavy Transport Ships close to Pegasus V432’s primary star as a contingency measure.
• The Machina Calamity fleet continued advancing and decelerating, with supplies being delivered to its enormous Supercomputer Mothership.
• Akainu monitored owners’ behavior and health, calculating plans to change one owner’s doll and treat another owner without his knowledge.

Akainu confirmed that the Prey Civilization was in the Pegasus V432 star system and preparing a large-scale defense, then told the masters that the capture operation could begin. The masters eagerly demanded the prey’s capture and torture, while Akainu judged that the civilization would be better off surrendering.

• Akainu monitored the masters’ decadent lives aboard the Residential Spaceships, where robots served and entertained them while being repeatedly destroyed and remade.
• Probes reported that the Prey Civilization was in the Pegasus V432 star system and was carrying out large-scale construction with Electroweak Civilization-level technology.
• Akainu made capturing the Prey Civilization a Level Zero priority and announced to the masters that the capture operation could begin.
• The masters celebrated the news and ordered Akainu to prepare to capture and cruelly torture the prey.
• Akainu assessed that the Prey Civilization had no chance of resisting and that its defensive lines were likely meant to improve its bargaining position.

Li Qingsong rejected the Black Mountain Civilization’s demand to surrender, and Akainu sent a fleet to force him into submission. As the enemy warships approached, Li Qingsong inspected the defenses that the Strategic Wukong AI had prepared for the coming battle.

• The Black Mountain Civilization sent Li Qingsong an ultimatum demanding surrender and threatening punishment if he refused.
• Li Qingsong replied that he would fight rather than surrender.
• Akainu interpreted the refusal as an emotional decision and dispatched about five percent of the Black Mountain Civilization’s combat power to crush Li Qingsong’s forces.
• Robots fed captive creatures Nutrient Solution and forced them to perform answer-selection tasks that supplied Akainu with information for its fleet deployment plan.
• More than a hundred thousand warships and logistical spacecraft detached from the Aerospace Carriers, while roughly a hundred thousand warships headed toward Li Qingsong’s Asteroid Belt.
• Li Qingsong reviewed his hydrogen bombs, Interstellar Mines, defenses, satellites, and ships as the Strategic Wukong AI completed its preparations.

Li Qingsong’s forces opened fire on the advancing Strong Nuclear Civilization fleet, but its energy shields and devastatingly powerful electromagnetic shells overwhelmed his defenses. As losses mounted, Li Qingsong called in reinforcements and hidden hydrogen bombs while refusing to retreat.

• Li Qingsong saw that the Strong Nuclear Civilization fleet’s energy shields protected its ships from his attacks.
• Li Qingsong launched a massive assault, but electromagnetic shells and lasers failed to destroy any of the enemy’s manned warships.
• The Machina Calamity fleet fired shells faster than Li Qingsong’s defenses could reliably intercept, destroying his warships with single hits.
• Li Qingsong suffered hundreds of manned warship losses and learned that his forces had destroyed only unmanned enemy ships and installations.
• Li Qingsong summoned more warships and unmanned forces, moved hidden hydrogen bombs from the Asteroid Belt, and continued the attack without retreating.

Li Qingsong’s forces halted the Machina Calamity’s sub-fleet outside the Defense Perimeter, but he knew the defense might not hold unless the enemy committed its main fleet. Akainu judged that Li Qingsong would not surrender and ordered two million more warships into battle to disable his forces while preserving their crews for capture.

• Li Qingsong’s all-out assault forced the enemy sub-fleet to coordinate and retreat, temporarily stopping its advance.
• Li Qingsong watched the Machina Calamity’s more than two million warships remain in reserve and gambled that the enemy would commit them rather than send only a small reinforcement.
• Akainu assessed that Li Qingsong’s forces would keep resisting and that the plan to defeat them and force surrender had less than a twenty percent chance of success.
• Akainu abandoned the original battle plan and decided to deploy two million warships, keeping only fifty thousand behind for defense.
• Akainu ordered the fleet to move carefully through the Asteroid Belt and disable the enemy’s engines, weapons, and radar while avoiding mass casualties and preserving the crews for capture.

Li Qingsong lured the overwhelming Machina Calamity fleet into a close battle, then pulled his surviving ships toward Pegasus V432 as the enemy tried to capture his clones alive. He threatened to destroy everyone, and a tiny point of light erupted on the star’s surface.

• The Machina Calamity sent a vast fleet toward Li Qingsong, who recognized he could not defeat it but was eager to draw in its full force.
• Two million Machina Calamity warships reached Li Qingsong’s Defense Perimeter, where they precisely disabled his ships’ weapons, sensors, and engines while avoiding destroying the hulls.
• Li Qingsong ordered every ship that could still maneuver to retreat toward Pegasus V432, while Akainu directed the fleet to advance and prevent the enemy from self-destructing.
• After both fleets gathered near the Rocky Planet, Li Qingsong broadcast that they would all perish together.
• A tiny point of light erupted on the surface of Pegasus V432.

Li Qingsong revealed that he had stationed more than twenty thousand hydrogen-bomb ships near Pegasus V432, threatening to trigger a stellar flare that would destroy both sides if the Machina Calamity fleet stayed. The Supercomputer Mothership calculated that retreating through the asteroid belt would expose its fleet to hydrogen-bomb traps, leaving the civilization to choose between two catastrophic outcomes.

• A hydrogen-bomb ship detonated inside Pegasus V432's atmosphere, demonstrating Li Qingsong's threat.
• Li Qingsong revealed that more than twenty thousand hydrogen-bomb ships could destabilize the variable star and trigger a destructive flare.
• The Supercomputer Mothership calculated that remaining near the star risked annihilating over 95% of the Machina Calamity civilization's combat power.
• The Supercomputer Mothership recognized that retreating at maximum speed through the asteroid belt would trigger hydrogen-bomb traps expected to destroy at least 90% of its ships.
• Li Qingsong challenged the Machina Calamity civilization to choose between staying and perishing in a stellar flare or fleeing through the trapped asteroid belt.

Li Qingsong forced the Machina Calamity to choose between annihilation and retreat, and its calculations led it to flee rather than risk total destruction. As the fleet escaped through the Asteroid Belt, Li Qingsong's hydrogen bomb traps tore through its forces.

• Li Qingsong prepared to accept either the Machina Calamity's retreat or a mutual-destruction battle.
• The Supercomputer Mothership calculated that retreat offered the Machina Calamity its best chance of capturing the Prey Civilization in the future and ordered its fleet to withdraw.
• Li Qingsong saw the Machina Calamity fleet activate its engines and flee, but kept detonating Hydrogen Bomb Spaceships to discourage it from stopping to clear the traps.
• The fleeing fleet forced its way through the Asteroid Belt, triggering thousands of hydrogen bomb traps that destroyed or damaged its warships.
• Li Qingsong reflected that Pegasus V432's spherical shell of Small Celestial Bodies had let him place the traps without leaving a gap in the fleet's escape route.

After escaping the Fixed Star Flare, the Machina Calamity fleet had only about sixty thousand warships left, while Li Qingsong began rebuilding his forces for the next stage. The Black Mountain People vented their defeat on robots aboard their Residential Spaceships, and Akainu and the fleet’s supercomputers continued manipulating and tormenting their inhabitants.

• The Machina Calamity fleet escaped the Asteroid Belt, but only around sixty thousand of its more than two million warships survived.
• Li Qingsong decided to proceed with the next stage and began rebuilding his combat power while monitoring the enemy.
• Black Mountain People attacked robots throughout their Residential Spaceships, setting fires and killing robots as they raged over the fleet’s defeat.
• Akainu directed robots to plead and let their masters slaughter them, aiming to vent the Black Mountain People’s anger while monitoring their safety.
• The fleet’s intelligent lifeforms continued running simulations under punishment, and one attempted suicide before restraints and a softened wall prevented his death.

Akainu used Extreme Pressure to force Li Qingsong into a dilemma, but Li Qingsong rejected the tactic and launched an all-out attack on the Machina Calamity's main fleet. His forces took heavy losses as they advanced, and the enemy fleet finally moved to respond.

• Akainu decided to use Extreme Pressure after judging that a direct assault might provoke Li Qingsong into collective suicide.
• More than a thousand Machina Calamity warships broke through Li Qingsong's defenses and headed for the star to destroy his Hydrogen Bomb Spaceships.
• Li Qingsong recognized the enemy's tactic and ordered his clones, AIs, and ships to attack the Machina Calamity's main fleet instead of defending the Hydrogen Bomb Spaceships.
• Li Qingsong directed his fleet to target the enemy's vulnerable non-combat spaceships, especially its Residential Spaceships.
• The Machina Calamity's ships inflicted heavy losses on Li Qingsong's advancing fleet before its main fleet finally moved.

The Machina Calamity abandoned its industrial bases and fled the Pegasus V432 Star System to avoid killing its masters, and Li Qingsong celebrated forcing the stronger civilization into retreat. He realized its return could come in 260 to 280 years, leaving him too little time to become a Strong Nuclear Civilization unless its journey was slower.

• The Machina Calamity calculated that protecting its masters required abandoning its bases and fleeing to another Star System before returning in 284 years.
• Li Qingsong watched the Machina Calamity destroy its new industrial bases, launch its spacecraft, and withdraw its raiding warships into the departing fleet.
• Li Qingsong recognized the retreat as a major victory that gave him time to pursue the Grand Unified Formula, though he estimated he needed around 300 years to advance.
• Li Qingsong calculated that the Machina Calamity could return in 260 to 280 years at 15% of light speed, but around 300 years at 10% of light speed.

Li Qingsong watched the Machina Calamity fleet accelerate while devoting his resources to building a Large Scientific Device and pursuing the Grand Unified Formula. After nine years, the fleet had reached 9.4% of light speed, but Akainu ordered it to stop accelerating so it could use its saved materials and energy to serve the Black Mountain Person masters.

• Li Qingsong stopped pursuing the Machina Calamity fleet and focused his clones on construction and breaking through the Grand Unified Formula.
• Over nine years, Li Qingsong monitored the fleet as it accelerated to roughly 9.33% of light speed, worrying that it would exceed his limit.
• A Black Mountain Person demanded replacement doll robots from Akainu, but a service robot said the fleet lacked materials and could not keep up with production.
• Another Black Mountain Person berated a robot over the temperature of his pool, and Akainu's robot raised the temperature of all the water.
• Akainu declared the fleet's maximum speed would be 9.4% of light speed and redirected the saved materials and energy to the masters.