Chapter Summaries

After antibiotics stopped working against the Gale Crater bacteria, Lü Yongchang proposed using Medical Nano-Robots to attack them inside the infected pilots. The robots were injected into Bai Yixuan, and Zero confirmed they had activated.

• Ding Xueming learned that the six pilots' conditions had worsened as the bacteria developed resistance to the first effective antibiotic.
• Lü Yongchang realized that Medical Nano-Robots could hunt down and eliminate the bacteria, despite Mao Zhengzhi's concerns about the technology's risks.
• After Zero reported that the pilots were doing poorly on the weaker second antibiotic, Mao Zhengzhi ordered the Medical Nano-Robots delivered and production started.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the robots injected into Bai Yixuan, who volunteered to test them for his five teammates.
• Zero announced that the Medical Nano-Robots had activated.

Lü Yongchang used Medical Nano-Robots to eliminate the Gale Bacteria infecting Bai Yixuan, proving the treatment effective with minimal cell damage. Bai woke in a sterile room and learned that his teammates were also out of danger.

• Zero directed the Medical Nano-Robots through Bai Yixuan's body to attack the Gale Bacteria after Lü Yongchang ordered them to begin.
• The Nano-Robots overwhelmed the bacteria, and Mao Zhengzhi celebrated as the battle turned in their favor.
• Zero reported that all Gale Bacteria had been eliminated and that only 1,295 of Bai Yixuan's cells had died during treatment.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to move Bai Yixuan to a sterile room and extract as many Nano-Robots as possible.
• Bai Yixuan woke in the sterile room, remembered losing consciousness after sending a distress call, and asked about his teammates.
• Lü Yongchang told Bai Yixuan that he and his teammates were out of danger.

Bai Yixuan accepted the nano-robots as his duty as captain, while Number 12 Marus learned that the Proxima Centauri people’s primary star was about to go out and that the rulers planned to escape without most of them. Number 2 Marus proposed spreading the news as a possible way to survive.

• Bai Yixuan asked Lü Yongchang what he meant, then agreed that accepting the nano-robots was his responsibility as captain.
• Number 12 Marus returned late to the hatchery workers’ dormitory, where Number 2 and Number 7 discussed the growing workload and rumors about Atoka’s execution.
• Number 12 recalled overhearing Lord Rex say that the primary star was about to go out and that the rulers planned to build Starships and escape.
• Number 12 told the other Marus what he had heard, and the group realized that most of the Proxima Centauri people might be abandoned.
• Number 2 asked whether Number 12 was sure, then suggested that spreading the news might give them a chance to survive.

After Medical Pods were completed, Lü Yongchang and Mo Zeyang tried to treat the hibernating Lin Hongsheng’s widespread cancer. Zero eliminated the cancer cells, but warned that Lin Hongsheng might be too weak to survive awakening, leaving Lü Yongchang to consider delaying the procedure.

• Mao Zhengzhi reported that Medical Pods could treat most diseases and greatly increase humanity’s average life expectancy.
• Lü Yongchang summoned Mo Zeyang to bring Lin Hongsheng to the laboratory and prepare to wake him.
• Mao Zhengzhi transferred Lin Hongsheng into the Medical Pod, where Zero found late-stage cancer throughout his body and warned that his weakened condition made awakening uncertain.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to remove Lin Hongsheng’s cancer cells, a process that took four to five hours.
• After Zero confirmed that all cancer cells had been eliminated, Lü Yongchang asked Mo Zeyang whether they should postpone the awakening procedure until better technology became available.

Mo Zeyang’s attempt to awaken Lin Hongsheng succeeds, and a month later Lü Yongchang prepares a meeting on space mining as Mars’s mineral reserves run low. On Proxima b, Marus No. 12 goes out to buy supplies while the Marus consider Marus No. 2’s plan to spread news of their oppression.

• Mo Zeyang orders the risky awakening procedure, and Lin Hongsheng wakes when Mo tells him there is a problem with the quantum computer architecture.
• Lü Yongchang explains that Lin is on Mars and that his architecture works, after which Lin closes his eyes to rest.
• A month later, Lü Yongchang sees warnings that Mars’s mineral reserves are critically low and asks Zero to arrange a meeting on space mining technology.
• Marus No. 12 walks through the heat of Proxima b to buy daily necessities for the hatching center’s superiors.
• Marus No. 2 proposes using supply-buying trips to spread news, despite Marus No. 7’s fear that they will be executed like Atoka.

Marus No. 12 went to a shop to buy supplies for the Hatching Center, expecting the Proxima Centauri people to treat him with contempt. Instead, the shopkeeper welcomed him and apologized after her father insulted Marus, leaving him uncertain how to respond to her kindness.

• Marus No. 12 followed his wristwatch’s directions to a shop, fearing he would be executed if he failed to buy the required supplies by evening.
• A female Proxima Centauri shopkeeper smiled at Marus No. 12, invited him inside, and asked him to send her the supply list.
• After receiving the list, the shopkeeper went to the storeroom to prepare the order while Marus No. 12 waited anxiously without daring to sit.
• Marus No. 12 overheard the shopkeeper’s father say Marus were the lowest of the low and order her to watch him closely.
• The shopkeeper returned and apologized to Marus No. 12 for her father’s words.

Marus No. 12 warned Aquitas and her father about Lord Rex’s coming disaster, hoping to repay their kindness. Aquitas’s father decided to spread the warning among the Proxima Centauri people, and Aquitas prepared to take No. 12 back near the Hatching Center.

• Aquitas apologized to Marus No. 12, then her father gave him the supplies and a pushcart to carry them.
• Marus No. 12 returned to the shop and told Aquitas and her father what he had heard at the Hatching Center about Lord Rex’s warning.
• Aquitas’s father questioned No. 12’s evidence, then concluded that telling only the Marus would not be enough and promised to warn the Proxima Centauri people.
• Aquitas’s father told Aquitas to take No. 12 back without bringing him directly to the Hatching Center entrance.

At a conference in Mars City, Lü Yongchang and the assembled experts discussed how to mine asteroids without creating dangerous debris or wasting resources. Tao Yuda proposed using mining Nano-Robots to consume asteroid ore and release it for smelting.

• Professor Leonard warned that small asteroids had weak gravity and that drilling or explosives could create serious mining hazards.
• Kong Xingbang said reliable anchoring systems should be technically manageable, but the experts remained concerned about debris from mining.
• Fang Xu suggested towing asteroids into Mars orbit, but Lü Yongchang rejected the idea as too costly.
• Tao Yuda proposed developing mining Nano-Robots that could extract mineral veins from asteroids and release the ore for smelting.

Tao Yuda proposed using Nano-Robots for mining, and Lü Yongchang agreed to investigate its feasibility while the others pursued conventional methods. On Lunar New Year's Eve, Lü learned that the evacuation fleet had safely reached the Kuiper Belt, then joined the Head Councillor outside Mars City to clear his head as he struggled with a dead end in his research.

• Tao Yuda described his Nano-Robot mining idea, and Lü Yongchang praised the new direction and assigned himself to investigate its feasibility.
• Zero told Lü Yongchang that all 380 Luan Bird Type I starships had reached the Kuiper Belt without malfunctioning and were in standby mode.
• Lü Yongchang went to tell the Head Councillor the fleet had arrived, but the Head Councillor asked whether he had made progress on Nano-Robot mining.
• Lü Yongchang admitted he was stuck, so the Head Councillor insisted on taking him outside for a change of pace.
• Lü Yongchang put on a spacesuit and followed the Head Councillor through the airlock as crimson Martian dust drifted inside.

The Head Councillor took Lü Yongchang outside Mars City to show him a newly formed lake and a revived Martian fungus. Seeing life reawakening on Mars helped Lü Yongchang find an idea for his problem, and the two headed back.

• The Head Councillor led Lü Yongchang across the Martian landscape to a small crater lake formed by melting underground ice.
• Lü Yongchang asked whether the lake posed any biological hazards, and the Head Councillor said Zero and Mars City's safety measures were monitoring it.
• Lü Yongchang spotted a large purplish-red fungus beside the lake and learned it was the hibernatin fungus, which had revived.
• The Head Councillor said fungi had appeared near the Martian equator and that melting ice could make Mars resemble Earth, though the helium flash would eventually threaten its life-forms.
• Lü Yongchang said the fungus's fate was a shame, then found his thoughts stirring and told the Head Councillor he had an idea.
• The Head Councillor encouraged Lü Yongchang not to overburden himself and led him back toward Mars City.

Two months after Lü Yongchang’s nighttime excursion on Mars, the Mining Nano-Robot project reached a major breakthrough. Bart and his crew landed their Hummingbird Starships on Psyche and began extracting its mineral resources with the robots.

• Under Lü Yongchang’s leadership, the Mining Nano-Robot project achieved a breakthrough in one month.
• Bart, Huggins, and Jason prepared their three Hummingbird Starships to mine Psyche.
• Bart’s crew arrived at Psyche and secured their Starships to its surface.
• Bart ordered One to begin mining, and the Starships drilled into Psyche.
• One deployed Mining Nano-Robots, which identified and extracted minerals including iron, nickel, and gold.

Bart reported that the Hummingbird mining operation on Psyche was working normally, easing the Human Federation’s mineral shortage. Lü Yongchang also identified a gap in the Technology Tree and said weapons research should take priority as preparations for interstellar travel continued.

• Bart watched mining Nano-Robots gather pure heavy metals in a Hummingbird Starship’s cargo hold, then answered Professor Chris’s radio call and confirmed the robots were operating normally.
• Professor Chris waited anxiously in Mars City Two’s command center as senior leaders watched the Hummingbird trial, while Lü Yongchang remained calm.
• Lü Yongchang entered the Technology Tree space and noticed a gap beneath the Level Two civilization’s Energy Weapons technology.
• Lü Yongchang urged Professor Chris to contact the pilots and reassured the Head Councillor that Zero would prevent serious problems.
• The Head Councillor asked about preparing an interstellar Starship, and Lü Yongchang said propulsion could come later because researching weapons was his priority.
• Bart reported that the mining Nano-Robots were operating normally, and Lü Yongchang welcomed the prospect of the Federation’s mineral shortage being resolved.

Levi and Aquitas led Proxima Centauri people in an assault on the Hatching Center, hoping to gain leverage over the leaders planning to abandon them. The attack breached the facility’s defenses, and a panicked Rex called for help from the Academy of Sciences and the royal family.

• Marus No. 12 and the other Marus heard alarms and explosions erupt inside the Hatching Center.
• Levi explained that taking the Hatching Center would give the rebels negotiating leverage and help them protect Marus No. 12 and his companions.
• Levi gave the signal, and the Proxima Centauri people charged the Hatching Center.
• The attackers forced their way through the main doors, endured explosive charges, and fought back with primitive firearms.
• A Rex watched the rebels overrun positions and ordered staff to contact the Academy of Sciences and the royal family.

Levi led the Proxima Centauri people in a revolt through the Hatching Center, fighting their way toward the Main Control Room as Norris called for reinforcements. After reaching the control room doors, Levi prepared to force them open.

• Norris contacted Lair and reported that Proxima Centauri people had rebelled and seized the Hatching Center's first floor.
• Lair ordered Norris to enable the live surveillance feed and promised reinforcements from the Royal Family and the Academy of Sciences.
• Levi rallied the rebels and led another charge against the defenders at the junction between the first and second floors.
• On their third charge, Levi and the rebels overran the second-floor checkpoint, suffering heavy casualties.
• Levi and the remaining rebels reached the Main Control Room doors, which resisted his kick.

The rebels opened the Main Control Room and Aquitas found Number 12 Marus alive, honoring him for risking his life to bring them information. After Levi learned from Rex that something had happened to the primary star, he broadcast a call for the Marus to rise up and fight for survival.

• A Proxima Centauri man used his terminal to open the Main Control Room door, revealing Rex.
• Aquitas searched the corpses in the Hatching Center for Number 12 Marus until she heard his voice and found him alive.
• Aquitas embraced Number 12 Marus and explained that he had risked his life to bring the rebels information, prompting the Proxima Centauri people to salute him.
• In the Main Control Room, Levi questioned Rex about the primary star and threatened him until Rex agreed to talk.
• Levi used the high-powered communications equipment to call on his fellow citizens and the Marus to rise up and fight for survival.

Levi’s speech sparked a mass protest on Proxima Centauri, with the people and Marus marching on the Academy of Sciences and the imperial palace. Augustus agreed to let the rebels take over starship manufacturing, believing they would eventually adopt the rulers’ priorities and create an opening for him to act.

• Levi’s broadcast roused Proxima Centauri people and Marus, who gathered with orange-red lamps and marched toward the Academy of Sciences and the imperial palace.
• Rical informed Augustus that the crowd had blockaded both sites and that a member of the imperial family had been captured at the Hatching Center.
• Augustus asked what the rebels wanted, and Rical reported that they demanded control of starship manufacturing and that everyone, including the Marus, be taken along when they fled.
• Rical warned that the regime’s high-energy laser and space-based weapons were ready, but that losing the sole Hatching Center would delay starship production.
• Augustus told Rical to let the rebels take over starship manufacturing, predicting they would become like the rulers and provide an opportunity to act; he also ordered him to protect the Hatching Center.

After the space mining project succeeded, Lü Yongchang directed the Human Federation's weapon-development effort toward laser and kinetic weapons for interstellar warfare. He assigned Wilson to lead laser research and chose an electromagnetic railgun as the first kinetic weapon to develop.

• Lü Yongchang stopped Professors Yevgeny and Wilson from fighting over whether kinetic or energy weapons were better.
• Lü Yongchang made laser and energy weapons a major research focus while retaining kinetic weapons for close-range combat.
• Wilson took the researchers experienced in laser weapons to develop new lasers, while Lü Yongchang and Yevgeny led the kinetic-weapons team to another laboratory.
• Lü Yongchang chose to begin kinetic-weapons research with an electromagnetic railgun and postponed work on missiles.

Lü Yongchang set an ambitious target for an electromagnetic gun aboard the Luan Bird starship and assigned Yevgeny’s team to complete its basic design. He left to develop his solution to the energy-storage problem, while Yevgeny learned the design was due in two weeks.

• Lü Yongchang asked Yevgeny about the strongest existing electromagnetic guns, and Yevgeny explained that they could only accelerate a 10 kg projectile to about Mach 10.
• Lü Yongchang set a target muzzle velocity of at least 5,000 km/s, and Zero simulated that the Luan Bird’s fusion reactor could propel a standard projectile at 20,000 km/s under ideal conditions.
• Yevgeny warned that humanity lacked an energy-storage device capable of powering such a shot, but Lü Yongchang said he had a solution and told Yevgeny to handle the gun’s basic design.
• Lü Yongchang gave Yevgeny’s team two weeks to produce results, leaving Yevgeny stunned as he hurried after him to question the deadline.
• A Xia Country researcher and the other researchers reassured Yevgeny that Lü Yongchang’s assignments were normal and that they would simply sleep less.

Lü Yongchang used Zero to design and simulate a superconducting magnetic energy storage device for the electromagnetic cannon. After Yevgeny brought the cannon’s basic design, they tested the device, which met its target discharge power despite drawing enough energy to dim the lights across Mars City.

• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to calculate the size of a superconducting magnetic energy storage device that could meet the electromagnetic cannon’s requirements.
• Half a month later, Yevgeny told Lü Yongchang that the electromagnetic cannon’s basic design was complete, and Lü Yongchang invited him to the testing grounds.
• Lü Yongchang explained to Yevgeny why room-temperature superconductivity made the device suitable for the cannon.
• Zero displayed the simulation results, and Lü Yongchang ordered the first charge-discharge test.
• The device’s charging briefly dimmed the lights throughout Mars City, and Zero reported that its discharge met the instantaneous power target.

Lü Yongchang and Yevgeny discovered that their Electromagnetic Railgun design failed because its projectile melted under the firing current and its rails would quickly erode. They decided to investigate an Electromagnetic Coilgun instead, despite its synchronization and consistency problems.

• Zero simulated the Electromagnetic Railgun firing and showed its barrel bursting apart.
• Lü Yongchang and Yevgeny realized that current passing through the projectile had melted it and ruptured the barrel.
• Zero's simulations showed that the railgun's acceleration rails would be nearly unusable after ten shots, even if the projectile survived.
• Lü Yongchang abandoned the railgun design and proposed trying an Electromagnetic Coilgun.
• Yevgeny considered how a coilgun could avoid projectile heating and rail erosion, but would be harder to synchronize and less consistent.