Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Nie Yun leaves Catherine to manage the fleet and heads to his quarters with two bodyguards. A crowd of curious crew members—especially Winged Race women—turns the short walk into a series of “chance encounters.”
• Their attention prompts Nie Yun to reflect on the Winged Race’s population and history: women outnumber men, and women hold prominent military and social roles.
• The Winged Race’s resemblance to mythical angels, and the Kara People’s resemblance to elves, renew Nie Yun’s doubts that humanoid species appearing so close together is mere coincidence.
• He considers the Gemini Civilization’s “pan-human civilization sphere” hypothesis: some unexplained factor may account for the concentration of humanoid life in nearby star systems.
• Nie Yun is especially interested in the “Cosmic Wonder” theory, since the Water of Life is itself an energy-radiating Cosmic Wonder that can affect genetic evolution.
• He reviews three versions of the common-ancestry theory: aliens seeded planets with genetic material, cultivators deliberately spread intelligent life to harvest its advances, or a defeated civilization fled into the Orion Arm and scattered its genes.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun remains cautious in enemy territory, but his thoughts are also shaped by curiosity and irreverent humor. He jokes to himself that shared ancestry could be useful if he ever needs to appeal to a powerful alien civilization.
• The Winged Race crew’s admiration of Nie Yun highlights his celebrity-like appeal aboard the ship.
• Though Catherine is not present, Nie Yun’s decision to leave her with fleet affairs shows his trust in her competence.

Significant themes

• Origins and common ancestry: The chapter asks why so many nearby species resemble humans and explores competing explanations.
• Science versus speculation: The theories are intriguing but unproven, and even the Gemini Civilization lacks clear knowledge of Cosmic Wonders.
• Evolution and influence: The Water of Life suggests that external forces could shape life’s development.
• Humor amid cosmic mystery: Nie Yun’s playful reactions temper the chapter’s large-scale questions about alien civilizations.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Yun uses top-level access, digital interference, and Mechanical Insects to overwhelm the Fallen Angel’s AI Core. He disables its defenses, blocks its distress call, and leaves most of its systems apparently functioning while secretly compromised.
• He then sends Mechanical Insects to infiltrate the other ships in the Third Fleet. Mecha units and their machines, distributed across the fleet under the pretense of mentoring recruits, serve as concealed entry points.
• While Nie Yun concentrates on the covert operation, Catherine takes over as acting commander of the Fallen Angel. She quickly proves effective at managing logistics and fleet affairs.
• When Mecha Pilots protest Nie Yun’s decision to keep the Sea Storm-class Mech unavailable, Catherine confronts them. She defeats more than a dozen and insists that only the commander can decide who may pilot it.

Character developments

• Nie Yun shows his technical ingenuity and ruthlessness, treating the AI Core as an obstacle to be subdued while carrying out a larger, carefully concealed infiltration.
• Catherine emerges as highly capable, disciplined, and fiercely loyal. The Water of Life has enhanced her stamina and abilities, but its effects force her to hide physical changes and carefully manage her public presence.
• Emilia increasingly respects Catherine’s competence. She initially worries that the Mecha Pilots’ dispute could undermine Catherine’s authority, then is stunned by Catherine’s strength and decisiveness.
• The Mecha Pilots are shown to be ambitious and unruly, but their challenge collapses once Catherine defeats them.

Significant themes

• Covert control and deception: The fleet appears normal even as its AI systems and ships are quietly being compromised.
• Competence and authority: Catherine earns respect through both administrative skill and physical force, while reinforcing that command decisions must be obeyed.
• Hidden transformation: Catherine’s growing power brings benefits but also abnormalities she must conceal.
• Humor through contrast: The narration playfully contrasts Nie Yun’s brutal “assault” on a computer with Catherine’s unexpectedly overwhelming performance.

Character interactions

• Nie Yun overpowers the AI Core while it issues helpless warnings and attempts to call for help.
• Catherine wins the fleet’s confidence through hard work, then defends Nie Yun’s authority against the Mecha Pilots.
• Emilia rushes to intervene but arrives after Catherine has already settled the dispute, leaving her impressed and astonished.

Key plot points and events

• Two days after Twin Stars’ Z13 Base falls to a massive Hunter attack, Queen Rose surveys the crater left by Twin Stars’ retreating bombardment and vows to reclaim Kara Star for her people.
• Over the previous month, the Sea Race has been driven from Kara Star’s jungles and lost base after base. Twin Stars adapts by improving defenses, deploying more orbital weapons, and mass-producing drones and aerial Hunters, allowing it to win some local battles.
• Those tactical successes cannot compensate for the Sea Race’s loss of territory. Cut off from the planet’s resources, its bases burn through supplies and energy, while orbital fire support becomes less reliable.
• The Kara Civilization regains the jungles and uses their resources to expand Hunter production. Its forces eventually reach tens of millions.
• Twin Stars’ attempts to counter the Hunters fail: a genetic virus cannot penetrate Kara Bio-Armor, and cloned Hunters prove costly, defective, and ineffective.
• With its ground forces overwhelmed, the Sea Race retreats from the surface. The Kara People reclaim all lost territory—but a larger, unexplained crisis is approaching, linked to actions by the distant Wulf Civilization.

Character developments and interactions

• Rose’s private vow to her late father shows her determination and emotional investment in liberating Kara Star. The Escort Captain watches her and sees the late king’s resolve reflected in her.
• The Sea Race’s command structure is weakened after its army commander is removed amid a spy scandal. Gustav’s fruitless purge deepens anxiety and disrupts military responsiveness, indirectly giving the Kara Civilization time to grow stronger.
• Rose and the Kara leadership demonstrate adaptability by developing aerial Hunters, while the Sea Race responds with increasingly desperate countermeasures.

Significant themes

• Strategy versus tactics: Twin Stars can win individual engagements, but control of territory and resources determines the larger war.
• Adaptation and escalation: Both sides modify weapons and tactics, but the Kara Civilization’s ability to exploit its environment gives it the decisive advantage.
• The cost of war: The conflict consumes immense quantities of lives, equipment, energy, and supplies.
• Unseen consequences: Political interference far from Kara Star is quietly shaping the war, foreshadowing that the apparent Kara victory may not last.

Plot points and events

• Nie Yun arrives among the Kara Civilization’s survivors, appearing in the same armor as the Mithril Knights. Their respectful greeting reveals that he is their leader.
• He praises the two Knights for helping rescue Rose and explains that they have been acting as Earth’s first cultural envoys, observing Kara society as part of a broader study of the civilization.
• Rose recognizes Nie Yun as the Winged Race officer who gave her the Demon Sword. He demonstrates control over the sword, impressing the survivors and confirming his identity.
• Nie Yun challenges Rose’s confidence that Kara can eventually defeat the Twin Stars. Even victory on the ground may not protect Kara Star from destruction, a danger Rose has already feared.
• When Rose asks what he knows about the Twin Stars’ intentions, Nie Yun turns the conversation into a high-stakes negotiation. He demands Kara’s technologies—Shared Senses, life hormone, and Human Biomechanical Augmentation—in exchange for information.
• He raises the stakes further by mentioning the secret linking the Royal Family Treasure and “Kara.” Rose reacts with shock, suggesting he has touched on a deeply important truth.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun is revealed as the Mithril Knights’ boss: charming, calculating, and willing to use fear and enticing hints to drive a hard bargain. He also views understanding potential allies as strategically important.
• Rose remains determined to reclaim her civilization’s future, but Nie Yun forces her to confront how vulnerable Kara Star is. Her concern for her people eventually outweighs her reluctance to bargain, though she resents his demands.
• The Mithril Knights show loyalty to Nie Yun and have earned the Kara guards’ trust through their role in Rose’s rescue.
• Rose’s guards remain cautious but do not treat Nie Yun as an enemy, especially after learning of his connection to the Demon Sword.

Significant themes

• Strategic vulnerability: Winning battles on the ground cannot guarantee a civilization’s survival when its homeworld remains exposed.
• Trust, diplomacy, and intelligence: The Knights’ cultural exchange reflects Earth’s effort to understand Kara as a possible ally—and a potential future threat.
• Power and unequal bargaining: Nie Yun exploits the Kara People’s desperate need for information to negotiate for their most valuable assets.
• Hope versus manipulation: Rose’s hopes for liberation are tested by hard realities, while Nie Yun uses those hopes and fears as leverage.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Yun tells Rose that the Twin Stars’ Joint Council has authorized a “Planetary Ecosystem Destruction Permit” for Kara Star, suggesting the enemy may no longer avoid weapons that could devastate the planet.
• He points to the Sea Race’s unusually swift, low-cost withdrawal as possible evidence that the Twin Stars are clearing the battlefield for a larger attack. Rose and the other Kara leaders grow alarmed.
• The threat is real, but Nie Yun admits internally that his theory about the Sea Race’s withdrawal is speculation. He has exaggerated the evidence to encourage the Kara Civilization to take the danger seriously.
• Rose asks whether the All Things Unity Society can save them. Nie Yun says it cannot defeat the Twin Stars or evacuate Kara’s entire population, though suitable defenses might preserve some survivors and allow civilization to recover.
• Rose reveals that Kara has an Ultimate Refuge, but it is not fully equipped and needs assistance. Before discussing help, Nie Yun demands payment for his intelligence—and frames his desire to preserve Kara’s technology as honoring “the lost teachings of past sages.”

Character developments

• Rose shifts from shock and skepticism to fear and reluctant acceptance of Kara’s vulnerability. She then regains some hope by revealing the refuge, while remaining dependent on outside help.
• Nie Yun presents himself as a powerful, benevolent ally, but his caution is mixed with self-interest: he wants to safeguard Kara’s technologies and negotiate payment. He knowingly uses an uncertain interpretation of events to pressure Rose.
• The Kara leaders move from confidence in their recent victories to suspicion that those victories may have been engineered or misleading.
• Lao Da and his companion silently recognize—and judge—Nie Yun’s shameless attempt to dress exploitation up as noble scholarship.

Significant themes

• Survival versus self-interest: Nie Yun offers useful warning and potential aid, but also seeks profit and access to Kara’s technology.
• Deception and uncertainty: The danger of planetary destruction is genuine, yet the evidence for an imminent attack is incomplete; fear grows partly through Nie Yun’s persuasive framing.
• Civilizational preservation: The chapter emphasizes the fragility of a war-damaged society and the importance of protecting its people, knowledge, and technology.
• Power imbalance and dependence: Kara cannot face the Twin Stars alone and must rely on a stronger, opaque organization.

Character interactions

• Nie Yun uses pointed questions and selective intelligence to persuade Rose that Kara’s recent victories may have been a trap.
• Rose challenges his claims, then turns to him for help once she accepts the possible scale of the threat.
• Their conversation becomes transactional when Nie Yun interrupts her request to demand an intelligence fee.
• The observers’ silent reactions contrast Nie Yun’s grand rhetoric with their view of his openly opportunistic motives.

Plot points and events

• Nie Yun and Rose emerge from a perilous half-hour descent through a volcanic tunnel into a cavern deep beneath Kara Star. Their journey is part of an agreement: Nie Yun will help the Kara Civilization avert extinction, and Rose has already provided half the technologies he requested as an advance.
• Rose leads Nie Yun to a lava river and throws a seed-like object into it. The seed dissolves and releases a pheromone, summoning an enormous, python-shaped being from the magma.
• Rose addresses the creature as the “Elder” and identifies herself as a descendant of the 236th generation of the Kara Royal Family. The Elder’s powerful biological field suggests extraordinary vitality.
• The Elder speaks directly into Nie Yun’s mind, explaining that it senses souls rather than relying on ordinary communication signals. Nie Yun is astonished and treats this mental communication as an advanced form of technology.
• When the Elder casually calls him “my child,” Nie Yun objects and jokingly invents a claim that he is five thousand years old. He settles on having the Elder call him “Big Brother.”

Character developments

• Nie Yun remains irreverent and inquisitive, even when facing a formidable ancient being. His curiosity about the Elder’s biology is mixed with a comic impulse to study—and possibly sample—it. His reaction to soul-based communication also hints at his growing awareness of his own expanding consciousness.
• Rose acts as guide and mediator, but is startled to discover that Nie Yun can communicate with the Elder. She recognizes this as a rare ability associated with the Kara ancestors.
• The Elder comes across as ancient, powerful, and perceptive, yet patient enough to humor Nie Yun’s joking demands.

Character interactions

• Rose shows the Elder formal respect, while Nie Yun immediately questions its identity, abilities, and age.
• The Elder senses Nie Yun’s unusual soul and initiates direct mental contact. Their exchange turns into playful banter over forms of address and seniority.
• Rose watches in disbelief, interpreting Nie Yun’s unexpected connection with the Elder as evidence of a legendary ability.

Significant themes

• Technology and the unexplained: Nie Yun tries to understand soul communication through a technological framework, while the Elder presents the soul as a force beyond ordinary signals.
• Hidden power and survival: The Kara civilization’s refuge and its ancient protector are concealed deep underground, reflecting the desperate measures taken against extinction.
• Humor amid danger: Nie Yun’s irreverence and the age-related teasing lighten a scene involving a potentially world-saving alliance and a being of immense power.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Yun and Rose travel inside a strange, root-like creature through the planet’s magma and emerge in a vast lava lake.
• They discover the Tree of Longevity: a colossal, conscious tree whose roots stretch hundreds of kilometers beneath Kara Star.
• Rose explains that the tree shaped Kara history. It helped her people develop intelligence and, through cuttings from its branches, gave rise to the mobile plant-creatures called Kara Luo.
• Nie Yun questions why the tree is absent from public history. The tree itself answers that it went into hiding because its growth and enormous needs damaged the surface environment. It now prefers to be called the Sleeper.

Character developments

• Nie Yun remains curious and irreverent, reacting to the revelation with jokes and scientific speculation. His earlier familiarity with the tree’s “big brother” roots makes the immense true body all the more surprising.
• Rose speaks with deep reverence about her people’s sacred origin, but regains some confidence as their guide when explaining the tree’s identity and history.
• The Sleeper emerges as a thoughtful, self-restrained being: after once helping the Kara People, it withdrew underground to avoid harming the world.

Significant themes

• Civilization and hidden origins: Kara society owes its development to the Sleeper, though that history is known only to the royal line.
• Power and responsibility: The tree’s growth made it dangerous to the surface, so it chose isolation rather than continue causing ecological harm.
• Faith, memory, and secrecy: The Sleeper’s story survives through private, spoken tradition instead of official records.
• Nature and progress: The Kara People’s rise depended on a living force whose benefits also came with environmental costs.

Character interactions

• Nie Yun and Rose share the discovery, with Nie Yun’s skepticism and humor contrasting with Rose’s reverence.
• Rose recounts her people’s history and answers Nie Yun’s questions about the tree’s role.
• The Sleeper interrupts Rose to explain its own disappearance, revealing its friendship with the Kara ancestor Tata and the reason its descendants kept its existence secret.

Key plot points and events

• Rose reveals that the Kara Civilization has begun a secret evacuation into the Long-Lived One, hoping to preserve at least part of its population from the Twin Stars.
• The Long-Lived One’s body is extraordinarily durable and regenerative, but moving it and defending its inhabitants requires an immense power source—roughly a hundred times the energy in Nie Yun’s Mithril Knight.
• Rose explains that the Water of Life is concentrated essence produced by the Long-Lived One, not an independent cosmic phenomenon. He offers Nie Yun ten portions in thanks and promises more if Nie Yun supplies a suitable power core.
• The Long-Lived One says he originated as a seedling near a meteorite crater and pledged to help the Kara people because of his friendship with their ancestor, Tata.
• Nie Yun tells Rose and the Long-Lived One a story modeled on The Little Prince: baobabs represent the destructive instincts of greed and expansion. He applies the lesson to the Long-Lived One, accusing him of draining the planet, ignoring its inhabitants’ suffering, and offering rewards only when threatened himself.
• The Long-Lived One’s expression turns openly murderous, while Rose realizes the refuge may not be the selfless sanctuary she believed it to be.

Character developments

• Nie Yun shifts from curious observer to perceptive accuser. He connects the Long-Lived One’s energy needs and Water of Life to a potentially exploitative nature, then uses the fairy tale to expose his suspicion.
• Rose begins grateful and guilt-ridden, convinced the Long-Lived One is sacrificing himself for her people. Nie Yun’s argument leaves her shocked and despairing.
• The Long-Lived One initially presents himself as benevolent and willing to sacrifice his vitality for the Kara people. His hostile reaction suggests a darker motive or temperament beneath that charitable image.

Significant themes

• Greed and unchecked growth: Evolution and expansion may become destructive when they consume a planet’s resources without limit.
• Selflessness versus self-preservation: Apparent generosity may conceal an effort to protect oneself.
• Civilization’s vulnerability: The Kara people’s desperate need for refuge makes them dependent on a powerful being whose intentions they may not fully understand.
• Interpretation and suspicion: Nie Yun challenges the comforting story of a benevolent protector by reading the Long-Lived One’s actions as evidence of exploitation.

Character interactions

• Rose speaks reverently of the Long-Lived One and feels indebted to him; he responds with affection toward the Kara people and offers help.
• Nie Yun questions both Rose and the Long-Lived One about the refuge, the Water of Life, and the tree’s origins, gradually uncovering its limitations and possible costs.
• Nie Yun’s fairy tale turns the conversation into a confrontation: Rose hears an unsettling reinterpretation of her protector, while the Long-Lived One reacts with barely concealed aggression.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Yun reveals that he saw through the Long-Lived One’s innocent elder persona and suspects him of manipulating Rose and the Kara royals.
• He compares the Long-Lived One to both the Baobab Tree and the Little Prince, arguing that both ultimately act to protect their own survival. The Long-Lived One accepts the comparison.
• The Long-Lived One confirms that his rapid evolution demands enormous energy. He summoned Nie Yun in hopes of obtaining a powerful energy source, especially after the Twin Stars’ arrival and the Kara resistance threatened his plans.
• He reveals he is an alien seed that arrived on Kara Star and grew there. He initially aided the Kara people because their development supplied him with nutrients and protection.
• The Long-Lived One says Tata, the Kara ancestor, tried to restrict his growth to protect his people. He claims this betrayal drove him to act against Tata.
• He reveals Tata is still alive, fused into his body as a wooden, crucified figure—an “eternal life” created through biological synthesis technology. Rose is horrified, while Nie Yun is fascinated by the technique.

Character developments

• Nie Yun demonstrates his analytical, suspicious nature and reframes the conflict as a struggle between species with competing survival needs. Rather than recoil from the horror, he becomes interested in the Long-Lived One’s biology and technology.
• The Long-Lived One drops his benevolent disguise, openly admitting his selfish motives, energy needs, alien origin, and history with the Kara people. His laughter and coldness reveal a ruthless, self-justifying perspective.
• Rose loses faith in the being she regarded as a spiritual refuge. Learning that he is an alien who exploited her people—and discovering Tata’s fate—leaves her devastated and confused.
• Tata is revealed as a former friend and the Kara ancestor who recognized the danger of the Long-Lived One’s growth and tried to contain it.

Significant themes

• Survival and conflict: The chapter treats the struggle between the Long-Lived One and the Kara people as a clash of competing needs, rather than a simple contest between good and evil.
• Benevolence as self-interest: The Long-Lived One’s apparent care for the Kara people was tied to their usefulness to him.
• Betrayal and perspective: Both Tata and the Long-Lived One claim to have acted for survival, complicating the question of who betrayed whom.
• Faith and disillusionment: Rose’s revered protector is exposed as a manipulator, shattering her beliefs.
• Evolution and its cost: The Long-Lived One’s extraordinary potential depends on consuming immense energy and drives him toward increasingly desperate choices.

Character interactions

• Nie Yun confronts the Long-Lived One and challenges his carefully cultivated persona; the two recognize a shared ability to understand the harsh logic of survival.
• The Long-Lived One explains his motives to Nie Yun and Rose, while Rose repeatedly questions how he could have deceived and exploited her people.
• The revelation of Tata’s preserved body turns the discussion from abstract questions of betrayal into a personal shock for Rose—and a scientific opportunity in Nie Yun’s eyes.

Plot points and events

• Furious at the Long-Lived One for turning her ancestor Tata’s remains to wood, Rose attacks, but its rapidly healing thorn-vines overwhelm her.
• Nie Yun intervenes, cutting the vines and refusing the Long-Lived One’s offers of alliance, Kara biotechnology, Water of Life, and Rose herself. He says the Kara people’s hatred of the Twin Stars makes them more trustworthy allies.
• Nie Yun reveals he had summoned Eight Stripes, a giant silver octopus, and had been stalling the Long-Lived One until it arrived. Eight Stripes blasts the creature’s eye and peppers its face with electromagnetic projectiles, but its immense size, tough skin, and regeneration make the damage largely ineffective.
• The Long-Lived One retaliates by raising huge roots from the lava lake. Nie Yun abandons Eight Stripes, claiming he’ll return with a fleet, and tries to escape through the hole in the ceiling.
• The Long-Lived One’s crown-like branches seal the opening. An unseen force suddenly slows Nie Yun, trapping him, Rose, and Eight Stripes inside. Nie Yun suspects it may be telekinesis or another power of consciousness.

Character developments and interactions

• Rose shifts from grief and rage to dependence on Nie Yun’s help. She worries he may betray her for a better deal, then is left stunned by his sudden retreat and comic lack of commitment.
• Nie Yun shows tactical foresight by arranging for Eight Stripes to follow, but his practical, self-serving humor remains prominent. Though he chooses the Kara alliance, he is also quick to abandon his companion when the fight turns dangerous.
• The Long-Lived One proves both manipulative and formidable, attempting to recruit Nie Yun before revealing its control over the roots and its mysterious ability to impede him.
• Eight Stripes attacks on command but is badly outmatched; its bewildered reaction to Nie Yun’s escape attempt adds to the scene’s comedy.

Significant themes

• Trust and self-interest: The Long-Lived One offers power and rewards, but Nie Yun values the Kara people’s enduring opposition to the Twin Stars as a more reliable basis for alliance.
• Power and scale: Even powerful weapons struggle against an enormous enemy with exceptional defenses and rapid regeneration.
• Comic irreverence amid danger: Nie Yun’s jokes, exaggerated claims, and abrupt retreat contrast with Rose’s grief and the escalating threat, ending on a gag about his interpretation of telekinesis.

Key plot points and events

• The Immortal offers to teach Nie Yun telekinesis in exchange for powerful energy cores, promising to make him the most powerful being in the world.
• Nie Yun mocks the ability’s apparent strength and challenges the Immortal to use it on Eight Stripes. The Immortal seizes control of the octopus and attacks it with massive roots.
• Eight Stripes turns itself into a resilient ball, using the roots’ blows to rebound closer to the Immortal. When the Immortal switches to thorny vines, Eight Stripes cuts through them with eight energy blades.
• The Immortal then immobilizes Eight Stripes with telekinesis, but the octopus breaks free through sheer strength before getting trapped in the vines.
• Nie Yun analyzes the ability, concluding that it may have a cooldown, weakens when applied to larger targets, and is more effective for stopping movement than causing damage.
• At Nie Yun’s command, Eight Stripes electrifies the vine cage and destroys it. Rose asks why it waits for Nie Yun to announce each attack; he insists that attacking without calling out a move would be a “sneak attack.”

Character development and interactions

• Nie Yun treats the encounter as both a fight and a scientific test, deliberately provoking the Immortal so he can gather data. His playful, theatrical confidence contrasts with his careful analysis.
• The Immortal tries to recruit Nie Yun and demonstrates its power, but becomes surprised by Eight Stripes’s unusual resilience and adaptability.
• Eight Stripes shows impressive durability, agility, and teamwork with Nie Yun, though its obedient reliance on announced commands prompts Rose’s question.
• Rose watches the battle with growing astonishment and provides a practical counterpoint to Nie Yun’s exaggerated trainer persona.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: The Immortal’s telekinesis is formidable but constrained by apparent cooldowns and reduced effectiveness against larger targets.
• Observation and adaptation: Nie Yun turns combat into an experiment, studying the ability and using the findings to assess its threat.
• Technology and the uncanny: Eight Stripes’s mechanical construction and living-creature-like behavior puzzle even the Immortal.
• Humor and convention: The chapter’s closing joke pokes fun at Pokémon battle theatrics, with Nie Yun treating move announcements as an ethical necessity.

Plot points

• The giant octopus battles the Immortal with remarkable agility, using tractor beams to dodge and light-blades to cut through vines. Its gunfire barely harms the Immortal, while roots steadily restrict its room to move.
• The Immortal traps the octopus in a vast spherical cage of durable roots, intending to crush it and then assimilate its body. When negotiation for Nie Yun’s energy core fails, the Immortal’s backup plan is to fuse with Nie Yun instead.
• Rose prepares to attack with a super bomb, willing to die rather than let the Kara Civilization lose its last refuge. Nie Yun stops her, saying he has not yet used his ultimate move.
• Nie Yun makes the octopus explode inside the cage. The blast itself does little damage, but the octopus’s fragments—actually the Mechanical Insect bullets Nie Yun had fired earlier—disappear into the Immortal’s body.
• Nie Yun activates the insects, which begin invading and consuming the Immortal from within. He admits, with mock apology, that he forgot to warn it and suggests they call it a “sneak attack.”

Character developments and interactions

• Rose shifts from anxious observer to someone ready to sacrifice herself for her people, but Nie Yun’s confidence makes her pause.
• Nie Yun reveals that his seemingly ineffective gunfire was part of a concealed plan. His calm, teasing manner contrasts with the danger of the situation.
• The Immortal, initially triumphant and confident in its plan to capture and assimilate Nie Yun, is caught off guard when the hidden threat inside its body is exposed.
• The giant octopus’s apparent defeat becomes the means of delivering Nie Yun’s real attack.

Themes

• Deception and misdirection: The Immortal mistakes the octopus’s gunfire for harmless taunting, while Nie Yun hides a purpose behind it.
• Size versus strategy: The Immortal’s overwhelming scale and strength create vulnerabilities that clever tactics can exploit.
• Sacrifice and survival: Rose is prepared to risk her life to protect the Kara Civilization’s future.
• Overconfidence: The Immortal’s certainty that the cage has secured victory leaves it unprepared for an attack already planted within it.

Plot and key events

• Nie Yun reveals that the “Life-and-Death Talisman” is not a conventional weapon but a swarm of Mechanical Insects he has sent inside the Long-Lived One. They burrow through its tissues while searching for its central control point.
• During their earlier fight, Nie Yun directed much of the swarm toward the Long-Lived One’s face, roots, and crown—the likeliest places to find its vital core. He must locate that core quickly: a prolonged battle could kill Rose, attract the Twin Stars’ attention, or destroy the valuable research subject.
• The Long-Lived One tries to expel the insects by contracting its tissues and using telekinetic force. The insects resist, regenerate, and reach its nutrient-fluid circulation system, making it increasingly difficult to remove them.
• Realizing the danger, the Long-Lived One abandons restraint and launches its fiercest attack, filling the cavern with roots and venomous spikes in an attempt to kill Nie Yun.
• Nie Yun shields Rose with a newly miniaturized Force Field Shield. It withstands the barrage and blocks the poisonous mist, but its power steadily drains. As the shield approaches failure, Nie Yun senses something unusual near the Long-Lived One’s suspected vital point and reacts with delight.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun shows strategic patience and confidence, relying on the Mechanical Insects’ precision rather than direct force. He also takes responsibility for Rose’s safety, placing himself between her and the attack while concealing his concern behind a composed manner.
• Rose is initially bewildered by the “Life-and-Death Talisman” and then frightened by the Long-Lived One’s overwhelming assault. Nie Yun’s intervention underscores her vulnerability and his protective role.
• The Long-Lived One shifts from controlled resistance to desperation once it realizes the insects have reached its internal circulation system. Its attempts to expel them fail, prompting it to risk attracting the Twin Stars by attacking with everything it has.

Significant themes

• Strategy over brute strength: Nie Yun exploits the insects’ precision and his opponent’s biology instead of trying to overpower it directly.
• Escalation and desperation: The Long-Lived One’s failed defenses lead it to abandon caution, threatening everyone and the surrounding environment.
• Protection amid calculated risk: Nie Yun’s plan depends on keeping Rose alive and preventing the battle from drawing outside attention, even as the shield protecting her nears collapse.
• Control and vulnerability: The Long-Lived One appears immense and powerful, yet its inability to protect its own vital systems makes it vulnerable to a small, persistent invasion.

Key plot points and events

• Nie Yun’s Mechanical Insect termites break into the Long-Lived One’s core, finding a vast reservoir of concentrated Water of Life and a glowing sapling—the being’s vulnerable, consciousness-bearing heart.
• The sapling’s powerful telekinesis shields it, crushing the termites and repeatedly repelling them. But the insects keep reforming and swarm in from throughout the Long-Lived One’s body, forcing it to seal passages and expend its mental power.
• As the Psychic Shield weakens and the sapling dims, the Long-Lived One unleashes a mental blast that briefly disrupts Nie Yun’s control of nearby insects. He quickly regains control, and the termites resume their attack, apparently unharmed.
• With an insect reaching the sapling, the Long-Lived One panics and pleads with the “outsider” to reveal what he wants.
• Outside, Rose and Nie Yun are trapped by the Long-Lived One’s roots, and Rose fears she has failed her civilization. The roots suddenly stop moving. Nie Yun demands, “Submit… or perish?” After a tense pause, the roots withdraw, revealing the lava-lit way out.

Character developments

• Nie Yun gains a clearer sense of how the Long-Lived One’s telekinesis works and realizes that his connection to the Mechanical Insects has a mental component. He remains composed and turns his advantage into an ultimatum.
• The Long-Lived One shifts from confident defense to fear and desperation when its core is threatened and its mental attack proves ineffective.
• Rose moves from guarded hope to despair, then to astonished relief when the roots retreat.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and persistence: The Mechanical Insects’ ability to withstand both physical and mental attacks lets them overcome a formidable defense.
• Power and vulnerability: The Long-Lived One’s immense strength depends on a vulnerable core and finite mental energy.
• Submission versus survival: Nie Yun’s ultimatum frames the encounter as a choice between surrender and destruction.
• Hope amid despair: The opening path offers renewed hope for Rose and the Kara Civilization.

Character interactions

• The Long-Lived One communicates directly with Nie Yun, first through mental fluctuations and then by pleading with him.
• Nie Yun’s command over the Mechanical Insects becomes the leverage behind his demand for submission.
• Rose watches Nie Yun’s unexpected show of authority as the Long-Lived One’s roots release them.

Key plot points

• Gustav, commander of the Sea Race Fleet, receives a report of massive tremors on Kara Star. His staff suspects the Kara civilization is testing a powerful underground weapon, perhaps a new Shockwave Weapon.
• Gustav berates the General Staff’s recommendation to strike the suspected test site with three penetrating force-field bombs, then abruptly orders the attack anyway. He argues that destroying the site could prevent the enemy from collecting valuable test data.
• His anger is partly a performance. Secretly, Gustav has obtained approval for a Planetary Ecosystem Destruction Permit and plans to destroy Kara Star after evacuating his troops, wiping out the Kara forces and the suspected All Things Unity Society presence in one stroke.
• To prevent the plan from leaking, he trusts no one and uses harsh searches and misleading explanations to conceal his intentions.
• The Kara civilization broadcasts a threat: abandon any plan to destroy the planet—or they will detonate Kara Star’s core. They identify the recent tremors as merely a warning and explicitly mention the permit.
• Gustav realizes his supposedly secret plan has leaked and is left stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Gustav appears volatile and paranoid, but his outbursts are calculated cover for a ruthless, secret strategy. He distrusts even his closest allies and is driven by pressure to secure a quick victory and by hatred of the All Things Unity Society.
• The staff officer is intimidated by Gustav and follows orders despite being confused by his contradictory instructions. He returns with the Kara broadcast, delivering the news that shatters Gustav’s confidence.
• The General Staff is portrayed as competent but politically vulnerable: its commander was dismissed and confined as a suspected spy after disagreeing with Gustav. This helps explain why its remaining officers are afraid to challenge him.
• Gustav’s relationship with his staff is defined by fear and distrust; the Kara broadcast, meanwhile, demonstrates that his enemy may know more than he expects.

Significant themes

• Paranoia and secrecy: Gustav’s fear of spies isolates him and shapes every decision.
• The cost of authoritarian command: His intimidation silences competent advisers and undermines effective planning.
• Strategic overconfidence: Gustav believes he has engineered a flawless deception, only to discover his plan is already known.
• Escalation and mutual destruction: Both sides are prepared to threaten catastrophic damage, turning the conflict into a struggle where victory may mean destroying the planet itself.

Key plot points and events

• Gustav learns that the Kara People know about the Twin Stars’ Planetary Ecosystem Destruction Permit, despite his having told no one in the fleet. He initially lashes out at a staff officer, then realizes the leak may have come from powerful figures outside the fleet.
• He suspects the All Things Unity Society is backed by influential people in Congress or the military, making it a much larger threat than he had assumed.
• The Kara People reveal that their Geological Weapon may be capable of detonating Kara Star’s core. Gustav recognizes that destroying the planet would be permanent, ruin the Proxima Centauri System’s value, and exceed the permit’s intended scope. Kara Star has effectively become a hostage in the conflict.
• Gustav’s original surprise attack is no longer viable: the Kara Civilization has raised the stakes and forced him to consider the risk to the planet. Ishar calls to ask about the permit, and Gustav explains the situation.
• Elsewhere, Nie Yun admits he sent the threatening message while impersonating the Kara Civilization. He did so to stop the Twin Stars from killing the Long-Lived One, whom he now considers more valuable than the Kara Civilization itself.
• Nie Yun knows the deception may make Gustav more suspicious and can only delay the enemy. He concludes that he must take the initiative and begins planning a rescue operation: “Save the Tree of the Long-Lived One.”

Character developments and interactions

• Gustav shifts from anger and confidence to frustration and caution. He realizes the threat may reach into the Twin Stars’ highest circles and that he can no longer risk a direct attack.
• Nie Yun reveals his priorities: the Long-Lived One’s extraordinary biological knowledge and abilities outweigh even the Kara Civilization’s survival. His rescue attempt shows both his resourcefulness and willingness to take risks.
• Gustav and the staff officer: Gustav’s panic leads him to seize and intimidate the officer, but he releases him once he recognizes the officer could not know about a plan kept entirely to himself.
• Gustav and Ishar: Ishar seeks an explanation of the permit and the Kara message; Gustav reluctantly tells her the full story.
• Nie Yun and Gustav are in an indirect contest: Nie Yun’s bluff has disrupted Gustav’s plans, but it may also alert him to hidden interference.

Significant themes

• Escalation and deterrence: The threat to destroy Kara Star turns the planet into leverage and sharply limits Gustav’s options.
• Secrets, leaks, and hidden power: The permit’s precise exposure suggests a deep information breach and possibly powerful conspirators.
• Value and sacrifice: Nie Yun’s choice to prioritize the Long-Lived One over the Kara Civilization highlights how scientific and strategic value shapes decisions.
• Taking the initiative: Nie Yun recognizes that bluffing can buy time, but only decisive action can change who controls the situation.

Key plot points and events

• Gustav tells Ishar that the plan to destroy Kara Star was leaked before it could be carried out, despite only he knowing about it. He suspects the leak came from higher up, raising concerns about a possible conspiracy.
• The commanders debate whether the Kara Civilization can truly detonate the planet’s core. The threat may be a bluff, but the planet-wide geological upheaval suggests the Kara people may be developing a related weapon.
• An unknown transmission contacts Ishar and Gustav. Its sender is the Black Steward, a mysterious representative of the All Things Unity Society.
• The Steward offers to mediate between the Kara Civilization and the Twin Stars forces. Gustav and Ishar reject the proposal, citing the Society’s outlaw status and their own military advantage.
• The Steward counters that the Twin Stars have suffered repeated defeats since the Society intervened. Ishar presses him about the Society’s motives and its costly occupation of the Solar System.
• The Steward claims the Society has gained more than they can imagine—and reveals that it is not a faction of the Twin Stars. Ishar and Gustav realize it may be an alien organization, possibly a foreign spy network.

Character developments and interactions

• Gustav is frustrated and distrustful, blaming the Society for his predicament. His certainty falters when the Steward points out the Twin Stars’ losses.
• Ishar remains composed and analytical. She challenges the Steward’s authority to mediate and probes for the Society’s true goals.
• Black Steward presents himself as a peace-seeking intermediary but speaks provocatively, using the commanders’ setbacks to undermine their confidence. His final revelation transforms him from a suspected domestic threat into a potentially alien one.
• Ishar restrains Gustav’s anger so she can question the Steward, while the two commanders share growing alarm as they reconsider the Society’s identity.

Significant themes

• Mistrust and hidden agendas: The leaked destruction plan and the Society’s unexplained actions suggest that apparent allies or internal factions may conceal deeper motives.
• Power and perception: The commanders’ military superiority is challenged by the Steward’s reminder that battlefield outcomes have not favored them.
• Uncertainty and escalation: Kara Star’s possible doomsday weapon and the Society’s suspected alien origin both raise the stakes beyond the immediate conflict.

Chapter summary

Key plot points

• The Black Steward reveals that the All Things Unity Society is not merely a secret faction within the Twin Stars civilization, but a transnational organization with members in several civilizations, including the Kara Civilization, Ante Empire, and Wulf Civilization.
• He describes it as an alliance based on mutual interests and peaceful exchange. Ishar and Gustav conclude that, in practice, it functions like an enormous interstellar smuggling network, trading technology, resources, and intelligence across borders.
• The Society’s leadership controls a powerful means of interstellar communication and transportation, contributed by a founding member from an advanced civilization. Its cost is far beyond Twin Stars’ means.
• The Society says it occupied the Solar System to keep Twin Stars separated from the Ante Empire. The Solar System is a buffer zone claimed by both civilizations, and the Society believes Twin Stars would be badly outmatched in a direct war.
• To prevent the Ante Empire from discovering Twin Stars, the Society’s local branch allegedly bribed an Ante Empire official and registered the Solar System as that official’s expansion territory.
• The Black Steward explains that the earlier ambush on Alsace involved both Society members and a small contingent of Ante Empire automated weapons. Their plan failed when Alsace grew suspicious and their planted operative was killed. Afterward, they backed the Kara Civilization’s resistance to delay Twin Stars’ advance.

Character developments and interactions

• Ishar remains skeptical and methodically probes the Society’s motives, technology, and claims. She quickly grasps why the Solar System matters as a strategic buffer, but does not simply accept the Black Steward’s account.
• Gustav reacts with anger and disbelief, especially when told Twin Stars cannot compete with the Ante Empire. He recognizes the strange battlefield robots as evidence that another civilization participated in the ambush.
• The Black Steward presents the Society’s actions as reluctant attempts to prevent a disaster, while also admitting to deception, bribery, smuggling, and military interference. His explanations leave the others uncertain and resentful rather than reassured.

Significant themes

• Profit and divided loyalties: The Society unites people across civilizations through shared commercial interests, while members still have incentives to protect their own home civilizations.
• Deception and trust: The Society claims to preserve peace but uses secrecy, manipulation, bribery, and force, leaving Ishar and Gustav unsure whether its warnings are genuine.
• Power imbalance and strategic survival: Twin Stars’ vulnerability to the Ante Empire makes the Solar System’s control—and the Society’s intervention—potentially decisive.
• Peace through coercion: The chapter questions whether a group can credibly prevent war by occupying territory and fighting those it claims to protect.

Key plot points and events

• Ishar and Gustav demand proof of Black Steward’s claims about the Ante Empire, but he refuses to let them enter the Solar System. Their agreement with the Ante Empire forbids intelligence gathering and treats opening the wormhole to traffic as an act of war.
• Black Steward reveals his main purpose: he wants the Pioneer Legion to halt its campaign on Kara Star and withdraw from the Proxima Centauri System.
• Though he admits his group cannot defeat the Legion militarily, he offers three bargaining chips:
  1. 112 captured Sea Race Mecha Pilots, whom he threatens to kill if Kara Star is destroyed.
  2. A promise of neutrality while the Legion is at war with the Wulf Civilization. He reveals that the Wulf front is nearing collapse, making a truce strategically valuable.
  3. A Cosmic Wonder, whose nature and value remain undisclosed. He produces a vial of luminous emerald liquid, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character developments and interactions

• Ishar begins skeptical and challenges Black Steward’s authority to dictate terms. She is angered by his use of prisoners as leverage, but recognizes that his intelligence network and the Wulf threat could make a truce attractive.
• Gustav reacts with fury and shame when he recognizes the Sea Race prisoners captured in his earlier defeat, including a former subordinate. He objects that Black Steward is violating the Prisoner Convention.
• Black Steward presents himself as a pragmatic, unapologetic negotiator. He openly admits to threatening the prisoners and rejects conventional moral limits, then shifts from coercion to strategic inducement and finally to an extraordinary offer.
• Ishar and Gustav are united in their distrust, but their reactions differ: Gustav is personally wounded by the captured soldiers, while Ishar weighs the broader military and political consequences.

Significant themes

• Power beyond military force: Black Steward concedes his side is weaker in battle but uses hostages, intelligence, and a rare treasure to gain leverage.
• Moral hypocrisy and retaliation: The chapter contrasts the Legion’s expectations for prisoner treatment with its own past treatment of Kara prisoners; Black Steward frames his threat as payback.
• Pragmatism versus principle: Ishar must consider a truce despite anger at the coercion, while Black Steward treats morality and treaties as optional when they conflict with his goals.
• Uncertainty and hidden power: The sealed wormhole, Black Steward’s far-reaching intelligence, and the mysterious Cosmic Wonder all suggest that the balance of power may be less straightforward than it appears.

Key plot points and events

• Black Steward reveals that the vial contains the Water of Life, a rare substance said to enhance bodies, extend lifespans, and gradually optimize genes across an entire species.
• He claims the Kara People’s unusual longevity, regenerative abilities, and powerful bodies—and the strength of their genetically enhanced Hounds—are linked to the Water of Life.
• Black Steward proposes dividing Kara Star’s production 30–70 in his organization’s favor. When Gustav objects, he says his superiors would accept no less than an even split, threatening to destroy Kara Star and withdraw if negotiations fail.
• Ishar agrees to take the proposal to the Joint Council but sets conditions: a sample for testing, the release of captured personnel, a ceasefire limited to current territorial lines, Twin Stars control of Kara Star’s orbit, and Twin Stars oversight of the substance’s transport and accounting. Black Steward accepts and promises a sample within three days.
• After the transmission ends, it is revealed that Nie Yun was impersonating Black Steward. His elaborate bluff is meant to buy time while he prepares to defend Kara Star and strengthen his forces.

Character developments and interactions

• Ishar remains wary and strategic. Though tempted by the Water of Life’s potential, she insists on verification and safeguards rather than trusting Black Steward’s claims.
• Gustav reacts with anger to the proposed division and privately recognizes Black Steward’s self-serving bargaining tactics.
• Black Steward/Nie Yun presents himself as a hard-nosed negotiator, using calculated claims and threats to make the deal seem credible. His private remarks reveal the deception and his determination to protect Kara Star.
• Ishar and Gustav exchange a knowing glance after the negotiation, suggesting they recognize the deal’s enormous stakes—and its uncertainties.

Significant themes

• Power and biological evolution: Longer lives and improved genes could reshape the balance between civilizations over time.
• Mistrust and negotiation: Both sides bargain under pressure, using threats, conditions, and incomplete information.
• Deception as survival: Nie Yun’s fabricated offer buys time for a weaker position, while his real priority remains preparing for a possible breakout.
• The cost of progress: A substance promising civilization-wide advancement becomes a prize that could determine who controls Kara Star—and who benefits from its people and resources.