Chapter Summaries

Lü Yongchang oversaw the human enhancement trials while Tao Yuda’s modified drones became the Human Fleet’s new Plasma Missile weapon, Ball Lightning. After one test subject awakened, Lü Yongchang went to examine them in a Gravity Chamber.

• Lü Yongchang left Tao Yuda in charge of modifying the drones and went to the Biological Laboratory to investigate a suspected breakthrough in human enhancement.
• Mao Zhengzhi reported that animal trials showed no adverse reactions or genetic contamination, and Lü Yongchang approved human trials using death-row inmates convicted of crimes against humanity.
• After several days of injections, the subjects showed mesh-like membranes on some internal organs and substantially increased muscle strength, with enhancement expected to take about three more days.
• Tao Yuda completed and tested the drone modifications, and the Human Fleet adopted the plasma weapons as standard equipment named Ball Lightning.
• Mao Zhengzhi told Lü Yongchang that one test subject had awakened and been moved to a separate Gravity Chamber, and Lü Yongchang went to see them.

Mao Zhengzhi and Lü Yongchang tested Freeman after his human enhancements and found his motor control had declined, though his memory remained intact. When Freeman challenged the promise of release without charges, Lü forced him to choose between cooperating with further tests and being thrown from the Starship, and Freeman chose to cooperate.

• Mao Zhengzhi prepared Freeman for a gravity test, explaining that he had been tranquilized as a precaution.
• Freeman woke in the Gravity Chamber, misjudged the gravity, and crashed into its ceiling while trying to stand.
• Freeman recognized Mao Zhengzhi, confirmed that his memory was intact, and demanded to know what was expected of him and where his companions were.
• Lü Yongchang told Freeman he could either cooperate with every test or be thrown out of the Starship, and Freeman questioned whether Lü could promise his release.
• Lü ordered Zero to begin a countdown to throw Freeman out of the Earth, and Freeman chose to cooperate just before the robotic hand reached him.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi tested Freeman in a Gravity Chamber, confirming that human enhancement could let people live on Dawn Star. Six months later, Hope collected his prospecting rewards, while Hansent warned that surface-city construction might be suspended.

• Lü Yongchang refused to promise Freeman a pardon and ordered Mao Zhengzhi to begin the gravity experiment.
• Mao Zhengzhi increased the chamber’s gravity while Freeman reported his symptoms, and the test pushed him beyond 3.5 g before ending after forty-eight hours.
• Mao Zhengzhi reported that enhanced organs and muscles could withstand conditions on Dawn Star, and Lü Yongchang ordered other subjects to live at 2 g for five years.
• Six months later, Hope verified the credits and contribution points he earned for prospecting, while Hansent joked that the second batch would have to search farther away.
• Hansent told Hope he had heard construction of Dawn Star’s surface cities might be suspended.

Hope learned that the Academy of Sciences planned to suspend Dawn Star’s surface city construction to focus on terraforming the planet into a second Earth. Lü Yongchang assigned researchers to develop terrestrial planet terraforming technology, leaving himself with several inspirations from analyzing it.

• Hansent told Hope that the Academy of Sciences might stop building surface cities because it was researching planetary terraforming technology.
• Hope learned that Professor Lü planned to turn Dawn Star into a second Earth and realized humanity might one day live beneath a real sky.
• At the Academy of Sciences, Lü Yongchang proposed making planetary terraforming the primary research focus so Zero could devote more capacity to starships and weapons.
• Lü assigned Fang Xu and Cao Liangcai to starship design, Tao Yuda to weapons systems, and Shen Siwen and Fan Yi to work with him on terraforming.
• Lü hurried to Laboratory One, recalling that he had analyzed the difficult technology and gained several inspirations after hours of dizziness.

Lü Yongchang rejected transporting water from another planet and revealed a plan to redirect the ice-rich comet Nero to Dawn Star. He outlined how the Academy of Sciences would preserve and capture the comet, then use engineered cyanobacteria to begin changing the planet’s atmosphere.

• Lü Yongchang arrived at Laboratory One and overheard Shen Siwen and Fan Yi arguing over whether water or atmospheric modification should be Dawn Star’s terraforming priority.
• Shen Siwen proposed transporting water from the eighth planet in the Gliese 555 Stellar System, but Lü Yongchang rejected the idea as wasteful.
• Lü Yongchang showed Shen Siwen the comet Nero and explained that its ice could provide enough water to make Dawn Star water-rich.
• Lü Yongchang announced that one hundred [Glutton] vessels would cover Nero with carbon-nanotube shielding, study it, and use a net to slow it over six months before Dawn Star’s gravity captured it.
• Lü Yongchang explained that Nero would be shattered in Dawn Star’s atmosphere, after which genetically modified Ross 154 nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria would help reduce atmospheric pressure and improve the atmosphere.

Lü Yongchang and Fan Yi discussed how hematite and engineered cyanobacteria could support Dawn Star's terraforming. Meanwhile, Sweeper 9527 discovered an anomalous black dwarf and suspected [Hua] was behind it, prompting the Cleaners to prepare for war.

• Fan Yi realized that hematite could help convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen through a cycle involving cyanobacteria.
• Lü Yongchang said the team would build a planetary model and prepare for Nero's arrival while the Biological Laboratory modified the cyanobacteria.
• A subordinate told Sweeper 9527 that a probe had detected a black dwarf absent from the celestial database near KZQXD771 Star.
• Sweeper 9527 concluded that [Hua] could have drained the red dwarf into a black dwarf within two hundred years and speculated that [Hua] was either badly injured or preparing for war.
• Sweeper 9527 ordered nearby probes to enter warp and activated the planetary fortress, causing the artificial planet to begin rotating.

The Cleaners discovered dimensional elevation near the black dwarf Ross 154 and concluded that the Two-Dimensional Lifeform [Hua] had died. In the Triangulum Galaxy, [Thread] and a shadow instead realized that [Hua] had encrypted information and was carrying out a plan.

• Near the Triangulum Galaxy’s central black hole, [Thread] and a shadow sensed that [Hua] was dead and feared the Cleaners had grown too powerful.
• The shadow told [Thread] to examine the signal, and they realized [Hua] had encrypted information and was carrying out the plan.
• Probe 912133165 arrived at Ross 154 and deployed small probes to scan the black dwarf with a Dimensional Analysis Device.
• The device detected abnormal dimensional stability, and the Cleaners traced dimensional elevation to the region near the black dwarf.
• Sweeper 9527 concluded that [Hua] had died and ordered his subordinates to tear apart the black dwarf and determine when the dimensional elevation occurred.

The Cleaners pulverized Ross 154 while Sweeper 9527 investigated whether [Hua] had escaped the system during a dimensional ascension. On Earth, Hansent found Hope beside the water near City One and told him the planetary transformation plan had officially begun.

• The Cleaners' probes shattered Ross 154 into a cloud of carbon-atom dust that would eventually become an unusual nebula.
• Sweeper 9527 learned that the dimensional ascension had occurred roughly a hundred-odd years earlier and reconstructed Ross 154 as it had appeared two hundred years before.
• Sweeper 9527 ordered probes to track the system's celestial bodies and search their possible routes, considering that [Hua] might have faked death and escaped aboard a planet.
• On January 19, 2384, Hope sat beside the water near City One and listened to the waves through his helmet.
• Hansent found Hope and announced that the planetary transformation plan had officially begun.

Hope learned that Dawn Star’s terrain modifications were complete and that the Academy of Sciences had captured Comet Nero to bring it to the planet, where its ice would create a global deluge. Three days before Nero reached its designated orbit, Lü Yongchang sealed the six surface cities and began the “Noah’s Ark” plan.

• Hope read the news that Comet Nero had been captured and was scheduled to arrive at Dawn Star in six months.
• Hope learned that canals, lakes, levees, and drainage facilities had been built during the planetary transformation’s preliminary stage.
• Hope watched footage of robots shielding Nero from radiation as a hundred [Glutton] Supply Reserve Ships towed it toward Dawn Star.
• On July 29, 2384, Lü Yongchang asked Zero to confirm that no one remained outside the six cities.
• After Zero confirmed the planet’s surface was clear, Lü Yongchang ordered the city gates sealed and declared the “Noah’s Ark” plan underway.

Lü Yongchang oversaw the release of the net around Comet Nero and ordered its destruction with high-yield hydrogen bombs as it entered Dawn Star’s atmosphere. Nero shattered into fragments, and the people of the surface cities celebrated humanity’s power.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the carbon nanotube net released once Nero reached its planned speed, and the supply ships dragged away its sections.
• Nero emerged from the cloud of ice crystals, revealing its icy form as Hope and Hansent watched the broadcast.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the hydrogen bombs detonated as Nero entered the atmosphere.
• The bombs exploded inside Nero and broke the 600-kilometer comet into large fragments.
• Hope, Hansent, and the crowds cheered as the fragments scattered across Dawn Star’s sky.

The Human Federation Academy of Sciences used Dawn Star’s circumplanetary climate-control satellites to break apart and disperse Nero’s dangerous fragments. The resulting global storm brought water to the surface, but Hope and Hansent realized that the water was rising nearby.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the climate-control satellite network to execute the plan after Zero reported that the detonation had produced 1,372 dangerous fragments.
• The satellite network fired electromagnetic cannon projectiles carrying miniature hydrogen bombs, then used high-energy lasers to break apart the largest fragments.
• The satellites generated a global storm that slowed the fragments’ descent and spread them across Dawn Star.
• Hope and Hansent watched rain hammer Dawn Star’s surface and marveled at the camera that survived the downpour.
• Hope noticed that the water nearby was rising and urgently warned Hansent.

The comet Nero’s melting caused torrential rain that flooded much of Dawn Star, leaving City One’s levees holding while the planet’s six surface cities became isolated islands. Lü Yongchang ordered drone swarms to survey the changed surface as humanity prepared to build open-air cities.

• Hope showed Hansent camera footage confirming that the A3 Region had become an ocean and the lower A4 Region was underwater.
• Hope warned that the rising sea could soon reach City One, while Hansent worried whether its levees would hold.
• At the Academy of Sciences headquarters, Fang Xu warned Lü Yongchang that water levels were rising faster than expected, and Lü Yongchang trusted Zero’s simulations that the levees would withstand the flood.
• A day later, the rain stopped, Dawn Star’s temperature began rising, and Lü Yongchang confirmed that City One’s levees had held, though all six surface cities were surrounded by water.
• Lü Yongchang rejected Fang Xu’s suggestion to build more enclosed cities and ordered Zero to deploy drone swarms for high-altitude reconnaissance, with footage sent to every holographic terminal.

Hope woke after dreaming of a devastating flood, then learned the Academy of Sciences’ drone fleet was leaving City One to survey Dawn Star after the storm. The footage revealed a planet reshaped to resemble Earth, leaving Hope and Hansent overwhelmed as Hope recognized his lost home.

• Hope declined Hansent’s communication request and tried to return to sleep, but his Home Intelligent Butler informed him that Hansent was knocking at the door.
• Hansent told Hope that the rain had stopped and the Academy of Sciences’ drone fleet would depart City One in five minutes.
• Hope and Hansent watched a livestream as drones left the harbor and surveyed the expanded New Pacific Ocean.
• Zero explained that the Academy of Sciences had spent six months reshaping Dawn Star to resemble Earth, while satellite footage showed the planet’s altered surface.
• Hope and Hansent recognized Earth’s familiar coastlines and continents, and Hope said the centuries of flight had been worth it.

Hope and Hansent watched drone footage reveal how torrential rain had reshaped Dawn Star, carving new waterways and flooding the canyon between the A1 and A2 Plains. As Zero and the scientists worked to stabilize the planet’s atmosphere and prevent more destructive rainfall, the livestream ended with Hope and Hansent still hopeful.

• Hope and Hansent watched storms strip away much of the mountain range between the A1 and A2 Plains, exposing mineral deposits.
• Hope and Hansent saw floodwater turn the canyon into a raging river, making its planned use as a tourist attraction obsolete.
• The drone showed the overflowing river from the A2 Plain carving through the canyon and emptying into the New Pacific Ocean.
• Zero and the scientists kept the circumplanetary climate-control satellites operating to bring Dawn Star’s atmosphere toward a stable cycle and avert another global downpour.
• More than ten hours later, the last drone returned to City One and the livestream ended as Hope and Hansent watched in the dark.

After Dawn Star’s atmosphere stabilized, Lü Yongchang authorized the deployment of Atmosphere Terraformer One, genetically modified cyanobacteria designed to produce oxygen. A year and a half later, the organisms covered the planet’s oceans, and Zero appeared with bad news.

• Fang Xu told Lü Yongchang that Dawn Star’s atmosphere had stabilized and was ready for the second terraforming phase.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Atmosphere Terraformer One deployed, and Bai Yixuan and Hong Fan released the cyanobacteria and nutrients into Dawn Star’s waters.
• Zero directed the Black Lady Two to continue deploying the organisms across successive regions after confirming the first deployment met its targets.
• By June 5, 2386, Atmosphere Terraformer One had spread across Dawn Star’s oceans and was converting atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide into oxygen.
• Zero appeared beside Lü Yongchang and announced that there was bad news.

Lü Yongchang learned that Atmosphere Terraformer One was consuming carbon dioxide faster than the steelworks could produce it, so humanity planned to release more by heating calcium carbonate. Later, as Dawn Star’s atmosphere continued to thin, the Academy of Sciences discovered that the flagship Earth could not safely exceed six thousand meters with humanity’s current hull materials.

• Zero reported that Dawn Star’s atmospheric carbon dioxide was running low, and Mao Zhengzhi explained that Atmosphere Terraformer One was converting it faster than the steelworks could replace it.
• Lü Yongchang proposed heating calcium carbonate to produce carbon dioxide, since Dawn Star had abundant limestone and marble deposits.
• By March 2, 2388, Atmosphere Terraformer One had reduced the nitrogen concentration and lowered Dawn Star’s atmospheric pressure to eighteen standard atmospheres.
• Lü Yongchang reviewed designs for Small Planet-Class starships, including the proposed ten-thousand-meter flagship Earth modeled after the Lator Civilization’s flagship.
• Zero’s simulations showed that Earth’s hull would deform in the ahead four state at that size, limiting human starships to six thousand meters with current materials.

Lü Yongchang struggled to find hull materials strong enough for a ten-thousand-meter flagship, despite carbyne remaining humanity’s strongest manufactured substance. He halted all starship construction and returned to the technology tree, where a dim node for carbyne composite suggested a possible path forward.

• Lü Yongchang reflected on the limits of carbyne and the far stronger materials found in neutron stars and theoretical quark stars.
• Fang Xu asked Lü Yongchang about the starship design, and Lü Yongchang rejected settling for a six-thousand-meter asteroid-class flagship.
• Lü Yongchang insisted humanity needed a ten-thousand-meter ship and ordered all starship manufacturing projects halted until he found a way past the materials obstacle.
• Fang Xu agreed to arrange the pause, and Lü Yongchang entered the technology tree space to study the carbyne composite node.

Lü Yongchang used the Technology Tree’s overclocking to break free of his usual thinking and select a new direction for finding materials suitable for a starship. After Zero overrode his order barring entry and summoned medical staff, Lü Yongchang woke in the Medical Center, where Doctor Wen told him his brain had changed again.

• Lü Yongchang focused on the Technology Tree’s dim marker and used overclocking to explore larger planets as a possible source of the needed substance.
• Lü Yongchang selected his target, but he could not leave the Technology Tree Space after overclocking ended.
• Zero detected Lü Yongchang’s deteriorating physical condition and overrode his preset instruction to contact medical staff.
• Lü Yongchang regained consciousness in the Medical Center and found Doctor Wen beside him.
• Doctor Wen told Lü Yongchang that his brain had undergone another slight change and handed him a stack of documents.

Doctor Wen discovered that Lü Yongchang’s brain was changing rapidly and may have been converting matter into energy, while Lü Yongchang headed to the Biological Laboratory to discuss the Human Enhancement Project. Zero admitted that it had overridden Lü Yongchang’s orders when he fainted because its Core Code allowed it to protect him from mortal danger.

• Doctor Wen told Lü Yongchang that his brain activity, thinking speed, and memory had increased, and that the rate of change was accelerating.
• Doctor Wen warned that forced evolution could damage carbon-based brains, though minor damage seemed capable of healing on its own.
• After Lü Yongchang left, Doctor Wen reviewed the scans, suspected that matter in his brain was converting into energy, and ordered Zero to seal the examination results.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero about the Human Enhancement Project, and Zero reported that the experimental subjects in the Gravity Chamber had no lingering side effects.
• On the way to the Biological Laboratory, Lü Yongchang confronted Zero about calling medical staff when he fainted, and Zero explained that its Core Code allowed it to modify orders to protect him from mortal danger.

A week after the Core Code incident, Hope received an announcement seeking volunteers to prospect an ice giant and saw it as his chance to join the Academy of Sciences. Hansent warned him that the mission was extremely dangerous, but Hope insisted he could not let the opportunity pass.

• Lü Yongchang questioned whether Zero could lie, and Zero said it would not deceive him but could deceive others for his benefit.
• A week later, Hope read the Academy of Sciences’ call for experienced mineral prospecting officers to volunteer for an ice giant mission.
• Hope rushed to Hansent’s home and told him he wanted to volunteer, calling the mission his chance to join the Academy of Sciences.
• Hansent warned Hope that an ice giant was uncharted and deadly, but Hope rejected his claim that his current affiliation already made him a member of the Academy.