Chapter Summaries

The Human Fleet used smoke and flares to break through the Little Gray Men’s encirclement, while Lü Yongchang identified the enemy as a space pirate civilization with 147 starship designs. Zhao Zijie ordered the First Fleet to attack and break through, but the enemy’s armor and laser countermeasures blunted the opening barrage.

• The Little Gray Men commander realized the Human Fleet was attempting a breakout and ordered the ships to retreat, widen the encirclement, and launch giant flares.
• The Human Fleet emerged from the yellow smoke as its ships’ armor scorch marks slowly faded, and the Little Gray Men commander ordered shields raised.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to classify the enemy ships and learned that the fleet contained 147 designs, including 113 small-ship designs.
• Lü Yongchang told Zhao Zijie that the enemy was a space pirate civilization, and Zhao Zijie ordered the First Fleet to attack and the Third Fleet to prepare to relieve it.
• The First Fleet’s Golden Crow battleships fired on the enemy’s larger ships, but white smoke from their damaged armor weakened the laser beams.

Lü Yongchang analyzed the Little Gray Men's defenses and discovered that their medium and large starships used shields that weakened under concentrated attacks. Zhao Zijie redirected the fleet’s weapons, helping the humans punch a weak point in the encirclement, but no enemy medium or large starships had been destroyed yet.

• Lü Yongchang identified the enemy’s defensive white smoke as nitrogen and fine dust that cooled damaged armor and weakened laser attacks.
• The Little Gray Men’s shields deflected the Human Fleet’s electromagnetic and plasma attacks, prompting Lü Yongchang to examine the impacts in slow motion.
• Lü Yongchang found that the shield generators glowed more brightly under stronger attacks, revealing that the shields had limits.
• Zhao Zijie ordered electromagnetic and plasma weapons to target small starships while lasers pinned down medium and large ships.
• The Human Fleet destroyed more than half the enemy’s small starships in one volley, thinning the encirclement as Golden Crow battleships pressed the breakout.
• Zero directed precise laser strikes at enemy shield generators, but no medium or large enemy starships had been destroyed.

Zhao Zijie ordered the Human Fleet to target the enemy’s medium and large warships, but their plasma barrage inflicted heavy losses. The Little Gray Man commander suspected a trap, then concentrated fire on the vulnerable human ships while Lü Yongchang considered deploying the Two-Dimensional Fragment.

• Zhao Zijie ordered the First, Third, and Fifth Fleets to attack enemy medium and large warships with plasma weapons and target their shield generators with lasers.
• Zero guided the Human Fleet through evasive maneuvers, but the Little Gray Men’s plasma barrage penetrated the ships’ armor and destroyed several warships.
• The Little Gray Man commander noticed the enemy’s trajectory predictions and poor maneuverability, suspected a trap, and ordered warships 17413 through 17437 to attack at full force while the rest held position.
• The Little Gray Men intensified their plasma fire, causing Human Fleet losses to skyrocket, and Zhao Zijie asked Lü Yongchang whether they should deploy the Two-Dimensional Fragment.

Lü Yongchang withheld the Two-Dimensional Fragments while the Human Fleet tested its [Golden Crow] battleships against the enemy. With Zero analyzing battle data in real time, the fleet broke through the encirclement, but the Little Gray Men Commander recognized the deception and ordered an attack as his flagship prepared to enter Curvature Navigation.

• Lü Yongchang refused to use the Two-Dimensional Fragments and hoped the [Golden Crow] battleships could fight the damaged enemy ships.
• Ten [Golden Crow] battleships destroyed a medium enemy warship, though five of the human ships were lost.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to analyze the battle, and Zero refined a model that improved the Human Fleet’s attacks and reduced its losses.
• The Human Fleet destroyed the remaining medium and large warships and broke through the encirclement.
• The Little Gray Men Commander saw the Human Fleet as the yellow smoke dispersed, realized it was an ordinary Level Two Civilization, and ordered his ships to attack while the flagship prepared for Curvature Navigation.

The Human Fleet regrouped under Zhao Zijie and used drones and smoke to counter the Little Gray Men’s renewed assault. Alarmed by the humans’ ability to anticipate their tactics, the Little Gray Men commander ordered the fleet to herd them toward a target position while preparing to send in the flagship.

• The Little Gray Men ships abandoned their encirclement and charged the Human Fleet, prompting Zhao Zijie to recall the [Golden Crow] battleships that had broken through.
• Zero repositioned the [Golden Crow] battleships as the [Glutton] Supply Reserve Ships replenished ammunition and Nano-Robots.
• Zhao Zijie ordered the Human Fleet to deploy giant Smoke Bombs, enter radio silence, launch drones, and target the enemy’s small warships.
• The Human Fleet’s drones destroyed Little Gray Men ships and guarded the [Golden Crow] battleships, while the Little Gray Men commander realized the humans were anticipating their tactics.
• The Little Gray Men commander learned they would reach the target position in ten minutes and ordered the fleet to stop attacking, keep its distance, and herd the humans there for the flagship’s arrival.

Zhao Zijie realized the Opponent Civilization was herding the Human Fleet toward an ambush, and he chose to follow its route in hopes of using the Two-Dimensional Fragment against its flagship. The flagship appeared with faster-than-light technology, then the enemy fleet surrounded humanity and demanded supplies and technological data.

• Zhao Zijie told Lü Yongchang that the enemy was herding the Human Fleet toward a specific destination, and proposed luring out its flagship to destroy it with the Two-Dimensional Fragment.
• Lü Yongchang agreed, and the Human Fleet accelerated along the only open route.
• Lü Yongchang and Zhao Zijie watched a ten-thousand-meter enemy flagship suddenly appear ahead of the fleet.
• Zero calculated that the flagship was traveling at 1.1 times the speed of light, revealing the enemy's faster-than-light travel technology.
• Lü Yongchang accepted the enemy's transmission, which demanded 80% of humanity's supplies and all its technological data in exchange for safe passage.
• The enemy ships following the Human Fleet accelerated into the area and surrounded it.

The Little Gray Men commander dismissed Technician 1771’s warning and prepared to demonstrate the captured level-four warship’s curvature navigation. Aboard the Earth, Lü Yongchang recognized that the flagship’s growing distortion of starlight signaled a gravitational lensing effect, leaving the Humans facing an unknown enemy maneuver.

• The Little Gray Men commander ordered Technician 1771 and his team sentenced to death for supposedly giving false intelligence, despite their warning that the Humans could infiltrate computer systems.
• The commander rejected the technicians’ concerns, declared the Humans no match for a level-four warship, and ordered the flagship to prepare for curvature navigation in sixty seconds.
• Lü Yongchang learned that the enemy were space pirates who plundered civilizations’ resources and research data, and he refused Zhao Zijie’s proposal to use the Two-Dimensional Fragment immediately.
• Lü Yongchang decided to wait for an opportunity to strike the enemy with overwhelming force.
• Zero detected an anomaly at the enemy flagship and reported a gravitational lensing effect as its surrounding starlight distortion steadily increased.

Lü Yongchang recognized the Little Gray Men flagship’s gravity manipulation and suspected they had discovered Zero, then ordered humanity to attack. The first weapons failed against the flagship’s shields, but a Dimensional Strike Ship launched a Two-Dimensional Fragment as the enemy commander ordered it destroyed.

• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to model the gravity around the enemy ship, then realized its disappearance and return demonstrated Curvature Navigation.
• The Little Gray Men commander offered to spare humanity if it surrendered most of its supplies and research data, then ordered the fleet to shield itself and avoid attacking.
• Lü Yongchang told Zhao Zijie to attack, believing the Little Gray Men wanted to capture humanity and had let their guard down.
• The human fleet opened its formation, and Earth fired lasers, electromagnetic shells, and plasma rounds at the enemy flagship, but gravity and magnetic shields deflected them.
• A Dimensional Strike Ship slipped away and fired a Two-Dimensional Fragment, prompting the Little Gray Men commander to order its destruction.

The Human Fleet launched a Two-Dimensional Fragment toward the Little Gray Men flagship, which destroyed the Dimensional Strike Ship that had carried it. The fragment survived the flagship’s attacks and kept approaching, so the commander ordered a Gravity Bomb launched.

• Zero reported that the Two-Dimensional Fragment had launched, and the enemy flagship destroyed the Dimensional Strike Ship with a laser beam that passed through a brief gap in its Gravity Shield.
• Zero showed Lü Yongchang that the flagship had opened and closed a gap in its Gravity Shield for one thousandth of a second to fire.
• Lü Yongchang watched the Two-Dimensional Fragment approach the flagship and wondered whether it could pass through the ship’s shields.
• The Little Gray Men commander ordered the unidentified gray fragment destroyed after optical equipment detected it approaching the flagship.
• The fragment survived the flagship’s laser, plasma, and other attacks and continued toward the ship.
• The Little Gray Men commander ordered his forces to launch a Gravity Bomb.

The Little Gray Men’s Gravity Bomb failed to stop the Two-Dimensional Fragment, which flattened and destroyed their flagship. A second strike destroyed a secondary flagship, and the fleet broke into chaos as humanity prepared a third attack.

• The Little Gray Men commander launched a Gravity Bomb, but it failed to alter the fragment’s course, and the fragment passed through the flagship’s shields.
• The Two-Dimensional Fragment struck the flagship, reducing it to a two-dimensional image before it dissolved into interstellar dust.
• Zhao Zijie urged Lü Yongchang to launch another Two-Dimensional Fragment, and Lü approved the attack.
• The second fragment flattened a 5,500-meter secondary flagship, further destroying the Little Gray Men fleet’s morale.
• The Little Gray Men fleet panicked and fled in every direction when humanity dispatched a third Dimensional Strike Ship.

Lü Yongchang and Zhao Zijie ordered the Human Fleet to pursue the fleeing Little Gray Men and capture their Secondary Flagships for their shield technology. The barrage destroyed two ships, while the two that cooperated survived the initial assault, leaving the humans frustrated that they had lost potential prizes.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the Human Fleet to pursue the fleeing enemy ships and capture their medium and large warships.
• Zhao Zijie broadcast orders for every [Golden Crow] battleship to fire at the Secondary Flagships and stop them escaping.
• The Captain of Secondary Flagship One called for the other Secondary Flagships to cooperate, and the Captain of Secondary Flagship Three agreed and changed course to join it.
• Secondary Flagships One and Three coordinated to intercept incoming fire, while Secondary Flagships Two and Four continued fleeing separately.
• The Human Fleet's saturation attack overwhelmed the shields of Secondary Flagships Two and Four and destroyed them.
• Human Captains reprimanded their crews for continuing to fire Plasma Bombs after the two ships' shields had failed.

The Human Fleet trapped the remaining Lator Civilization flagships in an encirclement, then revealed that it still had forty-eight of the terrifying starships that destroyed the enemy flagship. Secondary flagship Three surrendered, and Captain One finally surrendered after watching another warship be destroyed.

• The captains of secondary flagships One and Three watched their fleet fall into a rout as the Human Fleet pressed its attack.
• Captain One rejected Captain Three’s suggestion to surrender and proposed using the trapped warships to break through the encirclement.
• Lü Yongchang asked the encircled Lator ships to surrender or perish, and Captain One defiantly demanded a breakout.
• The Human Fleet opened a gap in the encirclement and sent forty-eight small starships inside, terrifying the Little Gray Men.
• Secondary flagship Three submitted, and Captain One surrendered after a large warship was destroyed.

Lü Yongchang used the Two-Dimensional Fragment from [Hua] to make the Lator Civilization believe Earth was a higher-level threat and demanded control of its surrendered fleet. The Lator captains opened their network ports, but Lü learned they lacked the highest authority over the ships, while Captain One began to suspect Earth could not hack their systems quickly.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the Lator fleet to open all network ports and surrender control of every warship, threatening to destroy them if they refused.
• Captain One resisted, but Captain Three persuaded him that the fleet had no choice and revealed they lacked the highest control authority over their ships.
• Lü Yongchang learned from Zero that the Lator ships' ports were open, but that their captains did not hold full control authority.
• Captain One questioned a technician about why Earth had not taken control of the fleet, and the technician suggested Earth's computer technology might be too primitive.
• Captain One accepted the technician's explanation and began considering whether the delay could give the Lator fleet a chance to turn the situation around.

After Zero seized control of the Lator warships, Lü Yongchang called a meeting of the Academy of Sciences and Parliament to decide how to deal with the Lator Civilization. The chapter ended as he introduced the plan’s subject to the assembled officials.

• Zero cracked the highest-level controls of the Lator fleet, and Sovia Wen stopped trying to use the communication device after receiving a warning from Human Civilization.
• Zero reported to Lü Yongchang that all enemy warships were under its control and that the fleet had no strong artificial intelligence.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to summon the Academy of Sciences and wake the members of Parliament for a meeting.
• Hong Qiming arrived from the Hibernation Chamber and learned that the captured fleet included a flagship capable of faster-than-light travel.
• Lü Yongchang began the meeting by announcing that its main issue was the plan for dealing with the Lator Civilization.

Lü Yongchang convened a meeting to decide how humanity should handle the surrendered Latorians. After Fang Xu argued for genocide and a parliament member proposed making them a vassal civilization, Zhao Zijie objected, leaving the debate unresolved.

• Lü Yongchang asked the meeting how humanity should handle the Latorian prisoners, but most attendees hesitated to speak.
• Lü Yongchang called on Fang Xu, who advocated using humanity’s past treatment of the Proxima Centauri Civilization as a precedent and killing all the Latorians.
• A member of Parliament opposed genocide and proposed keeping the Latorians alive as a vassal civilization for knowledge, exchange, resources, and military support.
• Lü Yongchang considered the potential benefits of vassal civilizations, especially reducing human military casualties.
• Zhao Zijie loudly rejected the proposal, and Lü Yongchang invited him to explain his opposition.

Lü Yongchang and the senators debated whether Human Civilization should accept the Lator Civilization as a vassal, while Lü reviewed records from the Latorians’ warships. After discovering that the Latorians had exterminated many civilizations they had plundered, Lü called for an extermination plan against them.

• Zhao Zijie argued that Human Civilization was too weak to control the more advanced Lator Civilization and warned that accepting it could create a wartime liability.
• Lü Yongchang rejected Hong Qiming’s suggestion to house the Latorians aboard the Home Ship because Human Civilization lacked the resources to support them.
• Zero provided records recovered from Latorian warships, and Lü discovered that the Latorians relied on technicians rather than scientists because they stole other civilizations’ technology.
• Lü and Hong Qiming learned that the Lator Civilization had plundered 174 interstellar civilizations and found records showing that many had been exterminated.
• Lü silenced the conference room and called for an extermination plan against the surrendered Lator Civilization.

Lü Yongchang presented evidence that the Lator Civilization had exterminated at least 174 civilizations, then held a vote on how to deal with its prisoners of war. Parliament overwhelmingly chose extermination, which Lü Yongchang ordered to begin in one hour, while Hong Qiming said a future alliance with like-minded civilizations could still be possible.

• Assemblyman Wan argued that Human Civilization should make the Lator Civilization its vassal and build an alliance, but Lü Yongchang maintained his opposition.
• Lü Yongchang revealed records from the Lator Civilization describing the extinction of at least 174 civilizations.
• Lü Yongchang held a vote on the prisoners of war, and the extermination plan won 98.1 percent of the votes.
• Lü Yongchang announced that extermination would commence in one hour.
• Hong Qiming reassured Parliament that Human Civilization might form an alliance with civilizations that shared its ideals once it was strong enough.

After Parliament approved the Extinction Plan, Lü Yongchang confirmed its execution as the countdown reached zero. Zero sealed the Latorian warships and shut down their life-support systems, leaving their crews to face suffocation.

• After the meeting, Hong Qiming reassured Lü Yongchang that Councillor Wan’s objections were understandable, and Lü said the Academy of Sciences would keep the Latorians under control regardless of the vote.
• As the countdown approached zero, Lü asked Zero to confirm that it could shut down life support on every enemy warship, and Zero confirmed the systems were ready.
• Sovia Wen demanded an explanation from Zero, which replied that Earth was discussing how to deal with the surrendered Latorians.
• When the countdown ended, Lü confirmed execution of the Extinction Plan, and Zero began sealing the ships.
• Sovia Wen and the other Little Gray Men were strapped into their seats as the doors locked, while the captain of Secondary Flagship Two realized the Latorians would suffocate.

Lü Yongchang ordered the second phase of the Extinction Plan, while the fleet prepared to leave for Gliese 555. On Proxima b, Zhang Zhengqing informed Ren Feng that Ross 154, where the Human Fleet had been, could no longer be found.

• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to begin the second phase of the Extinction Plan.
• Black Lady Two ships entered the Latorian warships, retrieved the Latorians' corpses, and cast them into space.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the fleet to clean up, head for Gliese 555 with its spoils, and put the awakened personnel into hibernation.
• Zero told Lü Yongchang that a message had arrived from Proxima Centauri.
• Zhang Zhengqing told Ren Feng that Ross 154 had vanished, and Ren Feng demanded to know why the Academy of Sciences had only observed it a week earlier.

Ren Feng learned that Proxima b had only recently regained the ability to observe Ross 154, where researchers could find no sign of the star. Zhang Zhengqing suspected the Human Fleet had been destroyed by a hostile level seven civilization, but Ren Feng decided they should risk contacting the fleet anyway.

• Zhang Zhengqing explained that Proxima b had only recently repaired an orbital telescope and that its radio telescope array remained under repair.
• Ren Feng visited the Academy of Sciences and learned that researchers had found no sign of Ross 154.
• Zhang Zhengqing showed Ren Feng a timeline of the Human Fleet’s arrival at Ross 154, its encounter with [Hua], and the twenty-seven-year communications blackout.
• Zhang Zhengqing warned that the Human Fleet might have been destroyed by a hostile level seven civilization capable of destroying a star.
• Ren Feng argued that Proxima b should contact the Human Fleet despite the danger, and Zhang Zhengqing agreed to make an attempt.