Chapter Summaries

Lü Yongchang devised a plan to weaken Proxima b’s ground-based laser weapons by creating an asteroid-dust smog and sending it toward the planet with hydrogen bombs. As the plan took shape, 250 [Glutton] supply reserve ships began moving toward Proxima b.

• Zero reported a substantive message from the Proxima Centauri Civilization, which proposed talks and made demands that Zhao Zijie condemned.
• Lü Yongchang rejected surrender and considered how to continue the war, then asked Zero to estimate the nearby asteroids’ total volume.
• After hearing that the asteroid dust would be difficult to propel directly into Proxima b, Lü Yongchang explained that he planned to create an interstellar smoke screen to diminish the ground-based lasers’ power.
• When Cao Liangcai pointed out the shortage of uranium-235, Lü Yongchang decided to use hydrogen bombs instead.
• The Hall Thrusters of 250 [Glutton] supply reserve ships ignited, and the ships headed toward Proxima b.

Humanity completed preparations for an assault on Proxima b by building Interstellar Smoke Bombs, then withdrew its warships to restore combat readiness. Augustus mistook the withdrawal for abandonment before learning the fleet had built a giant factory, leaving him stunned and skeptical.

• Augustus learned that the invaders had ignored 109 communication requests and remained blockaded around Proxima b for half a month.
• Lü Yongchang confirmed the deuterium-tritium collection and asteroid mining operations were complete, then ordered Fang Xu to manufacture Interstellar Smoke Bombs for an assault in one week.
• Humanity built spherical smoke bombs combining hydrogen-bomb cores with fine asteroid dust designed to spread through the atmosphere and block ground-based lasers.
• Lü Yongchang ordered all Golden Crow battleships to withdraw, replenish, and prepare for the all-out assault.
• A Lair told Augustus that the invaders' warships had withdrawn and their flagship and supply ships had dispersed; Augustus assumed they had abandoned the attack until he heard they had built a giant factory.

The human fleet used asteroid-dust smoke shells to blunt Proxima Centauri’s ground-based laser weapons and advanced through the collapsing defenses toward Proxima b. The Golden Crow battleships began raining smoke shells into the planet’s atmosphere.

• Augustus saw the human space factory and learned that the invaders’ warships were approaching.
• The 120 Golden Crow battleships destroyed the Circumplanetary Defense Network with electromagnetic cannon fire.
• Augustus ordered the Ground-Based Laser Weapons to attack once the fleet came within 20,000 kilometers.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the Golden Crow battleships to launch smoke shells that created layers of asteroid-dust barriers.
• The Proxima Centauri lasers weakened against the smoke, and the Golden Crow battleships advanced toward Proxima b.
• The Golden Crow battleships launched smoke shells into Proxima b’s atmosphere.

Lü Yongchang’s forces drove the Proxima Centauri Civilization to offer surrender, but he refused to respond while the Golden Crow fleet blockaded Proxima b. He then revealed that Human Civilization had decoded the aliens’ genome and designed a weapon that could secure victory without a direct battle.

• Hydrogen bomb smoke bombs spread through Proxima b’s atmosphere, turning its sky yellow and raising its temperature as the ice melted.
• Augustus concluded that the Proxima Centauri Civilization had lost and ordered Nartes to send a surrender request.
• Lü Yongchang ignored the surrender request and ordered the Golden Crow battleships to maintain a complete blockade of Proxima b.
• Lü Yongchang told Earth’s command center that the enemy still had more than six hundred ships and that Human Civilization needed to proceed cautiously.
• Lü Yongchang revealed that he had decoded the Proxima Centauri people’s genetic information and designed a weapon to achieve victory without firing a shot.

The Black Lady Two surveyed Proxima b and discovered two sealed underground cities built by the Proxima Centauri people. A week later, modified Nano-Robots entered both elevator buildings to carry the genetic weapon into the cities.

• Zero piloted a Black Lady Two through Proxima b’s atmosphere and deployed drones to survey the planet.
• Lü Yongchang learned that the atmosphere was toxic and that no Proxima Centauri people had been found on the surface.
• Zero detected an underground city with no ventilation openings and an elevator sealed inside a building that had survived the nuclear bombardment.
• Lü Yongchang rejected cutting open the elevator building, saying the Proxima Centauri people could seal the passage and that he would find another way to deliver the genetic weapon.
• Zero found a second underground structure that closely resembled the first.
• A week later, modified Nano-Robots entered both elevator buildings and headed down the shafts toward the underground cities.

Augustus ordered the Underground City sealed after Proxima Centauri's surrender requests went unanswered, but Solar System forces soon found the hidden cities. Nano-Robots entered one through the destroyed elevator shaft, and Lü Yongchang ordered them to find a way past the debris blocking the door.

• Augustus ordered Nartes to destroy the elevator and seal every entrance to the Underground City, and Nartes reluctantly obeyed.
• After more than a week of relative calm, an Observer warned Augustus that enemy ships were heading toward both Underground Cities.
• Augustus learned that each approaching ship was a small vessel and guessed the invaders were only investigating.
• Aboard the Earth, researchers deployed Nano-Robots that passed through a door and descended the ruined elevator shaft.
• Lü Yongchang saw that debris blocked the door at the bottom of the shaft and ordered the Nano-Robots to disperse and find a way in.

Augustus collapsed and died after realizing the Solar System civilization might have targeted the Proxima Centauri civilization through its genetic information. A month later, Lü Yongchang sent robotic craft to Proxima b to begin reconnaissance, prepared to destroy the Underground City if the genetic data proved false.

• Nano-robots used Zero's computing power to find a passage to the gate and swarmed toward it.
• Augustus learned that the unexplained deaths had risen above one hundred, then collapsed after a Lair reported that victims had suffered extreme fatigue.
• Augustus awoke briefly and ordered Nartes to investigate at the genetic level, suspecting the Solar System civilization had acted on genomic information sent by Atoka.
• Augustus died, and Nartes ordered the investigation into the deaths to continue.
• A month later, Lü Yongchang sent over a hundred Black Lady Two craft carrying robots to Proxima b for reconnaissance.
• Lü Yongchang told Fang Xu that if Atoka's genetic data was fake, the Solar System civilization would have to destroy the Proxima Centauri forces by physical means.

Fang Xu and Lü Yongchang prepared to carry out the extermination plan as robots entered the Proxima Centauri Underground City. After finding an unexpectedly open doorway and clearing a path through the rubble, they sent one robot inside and saw a disturbing scene.

• Fang Xu acknowledged that humanity would have to exterminate the Proxima Centauri people by slower means if the genetic weapon failed.
• Black Lady Two landed at the underground elevator entrance, and armed robots used a laser to break through its door.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to prepare for a counterattack when they discovered the Underground City's power was still on.
• The robots built a makeshift elevator and descended to an open doorway blocked by rocks and metal, where Lü Yongchang ordered them to stop and watch for an ambush.
• After finding no movement, Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to clear a narrow path and send one robot inside to assess the situation.
• The robot reached the doorway, and Lü Yongchang and the others reacted with disgust to what they saw.

Lü Yongchang’s team explored the Proxima Centauri underground city, discovered the aliens’ insectlike bodies, and found evidence that a genetic weapon had not killed them as intended. Zero accessed the city’s Central Computer and uncovered information about photon computer technology.

• Zero found an intact Proxima Centauri corpse, revealing that the aliens had armored bodies, six legs, and three pairs of eyes.
• Lü Yongchang inferred that the genetic weapon had been less effective than expected because the Proxima Centauri people had struggled to escape.
• Zero’s robots found the Underground City’s core area, and Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to access its Central Computer through the functioning door system.
• Zero used tools made by a 3D printer to bypass the access control system and open the heavy doors.
• Zero revealed that the Proxima Centauri Civilization lacked artificial intelligence and displayed information about photon computer technology.

Lü Yongchang translated a Proxima Centauri document that revealed a prototype photon-computer design and a plan to postpone research for fifty years. Exploring Underground City Two, he noticed its inhabitants differed from those in Underground City One and suspected the civilization had two races, prompting him to redirect most of the robots to investigate.

• Zero translated a Proxima Centauri document, and Lü Yongchang identified it as a prototype for photon-computer technology.
• Lü Yongchang read that research on the project was scheduled to begin in fifty years, and he and Fang Xu concluded the Proxima Centauri Civilization had neglected the technology.
• Zero reported that robots had entered Underground City Two, where Lü Yongchang and Fang Xu saw wreckage and signs of a rigid class divide.
• Lü Yongchang noticed that the smaller bodies in Underground City Two differed from the younger-looking Proxima Centauri person found in Underground City One.
• Lü Yongchang suspected the Proxima Centauri Civilization consisted of two different races and ordered Zero to search Underground City One's Central Computer for information.
• Lü Yongchang left ten robots in Underground City Two and sent the rest to Underground City One.

Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to erase the Proxima Centauri Civilization’s cloning technology, rejecting Mao Zhengzhi’s pleas to study it. After the technology tree showed him a vision of humanity destroying itself in a clone uprising, Lü reaffirmed his decision and deleted the files.

• Zero found the Proxima Centauri Civilization’s cloning process and Hatching Center plans, but Lü Yongchang ordered the information erased.
• Mao Zhengzhi objected that the technology could enable life-saving organ cloning, but Lü forbade studying the cloning technology.
• Lü explained that cloning had created an oppressed class of deficient Marus clones and deepened class divisions in the Proxima Centauri Civilization.
• Lü allowed Mao Zhengzhi to study the civilization’s other biotechnology, including potential methods for extending human life.
• Lü entered the technology tree and saw a blood-red cloning technology branch, which showed him a civilization destroyed after clones revolted against humans.
• Lü returned to the command center and confirmed his order to delete the cloning files.

Lü Yongchang learned that the Head Councillor had less than a year to live and discussed the Human Federation’s succession and future plans with him. After promising to keep humanity moving toward a more habitable star system, Lü Yongchang summoned Mao Zhengzhi in secret, focused on the Proxima Centauri Civilization’s five-hundred-year lifespan.

• While examining Proxima Centauri records, Lü Yongchang received Zero’s warning that the Head Councillor’s health was in serious decline.
• Lü Yongchang visited the Head Councillor, who said the Medical Pod gave him less than a year to live.
• The Head Councillor chose Hong Qiming to gradually take over his work and said he would handle the other councillors’ opinions.
• Lü Yongchang said he would refit in the Proxima Centauri system before seeking a more habitable star system, and the Head Councillor entrusted humanity to him.
• After reviewing the Head Councillor’s examination report, Lü Yongchang secretly asked Zero to arrange a meeting with Mao Zhengzhi.

Lü Yongchang recruited Mao Zhengzhi to investigate extending the Head Councillor’s lifespan by addressing telomere shortening. They set out for Proxima b with Fang Xu to conduct biological experiments using samples from the Proxima Centauri people.

• Mao Zhengzhi told Lü Yongchang he had reconsidered human cloning and agreed its risks were too great.
• Lü Yongchang showed Mao Zhengzhi the Head Councillor’s medical report and explained that he hoped to extend the old man’s life using Proxima Centauri biotechnology.
• Mao Zhengzhi explained that telomere shortening limited human lifespan and said he had an idea for addressing the problem.
• Lü Yongchang, Mao Zhengzhi, and Fang Xu departed the starship Earth in a modified Black Lady Two bound for Proxima b.
• Mao Zhengzhi said they would dissect Proxima Centauri bodies for samples, while Lü Yongchang refused Fang Xu’s attempt to avoid the experiments.

Lü Yongchang and his team dissected preserved Proxima Centauri and Marus corpses, uncovering records of a successful reform that ultimately failed its leader. The chapter ended with Lü agreeing to add the civilization’s history to humanity’s textbooks as a warning.

• Lü Yongchang’s team began dissecting Augustus, a preserved former Chief Lair of the Proxima Centauri Academy of Sciences, while Fang Xu reluctantly practiced on the specimens.
• Fang Xu dissected a Marus corpse and observed that its organs were weaker than those of ordinary Proxima Centauri people.
• Zero revealed that ordinary Proxima Centauri people and the Marus had successfully pressured the Academy of Sciences and Royal Family for reform, but Levi was exploited until his death.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to gather Proxima Centauri historical records and discussed how humanity could use them.
• Mao Zhengzhi proposed including other civilizations’ histories in humanity’s textbooks, and Lü Yongchang agreed.

Lü Yongchang and his colleagues dissected Proxima Centauri people and discovered a mysterious organ that removed dead cancer cells from their bodies. They concluded it helped the species resist the high radiation on Proxima b, but they could not yet determine its effect on their maximum lifespan.

• Lü Yongchang, Fang Xu, and Mao Zhengzhi examined a stone-hard organ at the center of a Proxima Centauri person's body and cut it open with an electric saw.
• Lü Yongchang and Fang Xu suspected the organ was a blood filter, while Mao Zhengzhi found layers of mesh tissue containing fluffy material.
• Mao Zhengzhi used a microscope and Zero to identify the material as cellular debris originating from abnormal cells throughout the body.
• Mao Zhengzhi concluded the organ purified the body by removing dead cancer cells, helping Proxima Centauri people cope with the high-energy radiation on Proxima b.
• Lü Yongchang asked about their theoretical maximum lifespan, but Mao Zhengzhi said he needed chromosome tests and more equipment to find out.

After the battlefield cleanup, Lü Yongchang learned that the Proxima Centauri people's genetic mechanisms gave them far shorter lifespans than humans, despite their cells resisting aging and cancer. The chapter ended with Mao Zhengzhi comparing these advantages to humanity's limitations.

• Lü Yongchang reviewed the Hall Thruster data and the Proxima Centauri Civilization's survey of the Ross 154 system, humanity's planned destination.
• Zero told Lü Yongchang that Mao Zhengzhi had completed his experiments, and Lü hurried to the biology laboratory.
• Mao Zhengzhi reported that the Proxima Centauri people's chromosomes had telomere-like sections that maintained chromosome integrity during cell division.
• Mao Zhengzhi told Lü that the Proxima Centauri people's maximum lifespan was about eighty years, and Lü reacted in disbelief.
• Mao Zhengzhi explained that a telomerase-like substance replenished their telomeres until aging began, usually after about a century.
• Mao Zhengzhi said a special organ devoured cancer cells, preventing mutations from making the Proxima Centauri people develop cancer.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi found the Proxima Centauri gene segment linked to a telomerase-like substance but could not use it with human biotechnology. Lü Yongchang decided to study the Proxima Centauri Civilization’s genetic methods and shut himself in his office to begin.

• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi discussed the difficulties of extracting useful telomerase-like substances from dead Proxima Centauri specimens.
• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi decoded the gene segment associated with the substance, but discovered it could not be applied directly to humans.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to display the Proxima Centauri Civilization’s biotechnology materials and filtered them for genetic research.
• Lü Yongchang told Mao Zhengzhi he would solve the problem using Proxima Centauri methods and promised to make progress within a week.
• Lü Yongchang returned to his office, told Su Yutong not to let anyone disturb him, and began studying the holographic materials.

Lü Yongchang found a way to map Proxima Centauri genes onto human genes, but the method produced over a hundred thousand possibilities. After months of experiments with Mao Zhengzhi, they narrowed the choices to one final sample and prepared to test it.

• Lü Yongchang left his office to tell Mao Zhengzhi he had solved the problem, after Su Yutong made him take his lunch.
• Lü Yongchang explained that the Proxima Centauri Civilization had advanced biotechnology and showed Mao Zhengzhi how he mapped its genes onto human genes.
• Lü Yongchang revealed that the mapping created more than a hundred thousand possible genetic sequences, and Mao Zhengzhi realized the testing would be difficult.
• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi tested the sequences in Escherichia coli, eliminating most options with Zero's help over more than two months.
• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi narrowed the choices to one sample, then prepared to begin the final test.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi successfully synthesized a longevity enzyme, but testing it on living organisms required breeding laboratory mice on Proxima b. As the mice neared readiness, the Head Councillor’s health deteriorated, leaving Parliament facing a leadership election in a month.

• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi detected the Earth-derived enzyme and named it the longevity enzyme.
• Mao Zhengzhi pointed out that they had no living organisms available for testing, so Lü Yongchang ordered laboratory mice revived and raised on Proxima b.
• In Earth Calendar Year 2148, Zero informed Lü Yongchang that the Head Councillor had been placed in a Medical Pod for emergency treatment.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to suppress news of the Head Councillor’s condition to prevent turmoil in Parliament.
• Hong Qiming told Lü Yongchang that the Head Councillor was unlikely to have much time left and that the election assembly for the second Head Councillor would begin in a month.

Lü Yongchang told the dying Head Councillor about the untested longevity enzyme, which might greatly extend human life. The Head Councillor ordered him to begin the experiment, hoping to survive long enough to see his successor take office.

• Hong Qiming asked Lü Yongchang whether anything could be done to keep the Head Councillor alive, and Lü explained the Academy of Sciences' theoretical longevity enzyme.
• Zero told Lü Yongchang and Hong Qiming that the Head Councillor had awakened, and they went to see him.
• The Head Councillor asked Lü Yongchang to help Hong Qiming manage Parliament after his death, but Lü refused and introduced the longevity enzyme.
• Lü Yongchang warned that the enzyme had not undergone animal testing, but the Head Councillor insisted that he begin the experiment for the Human Federation and humanity's future.