Chapter Summaries

Yevgeny visited the Micro Black Hole Containment Device and imagined using a growing black hole as a weapon, prompting the security robots to restrain him. After he explained he was only seeking inspiration, Lü Yongchang released him, while Wilson faced Lü Yongchang’s displeasure in the Command Center.

• Yevgeny boarded a train to the stern of the Earth and went to the Micro Black Hole Containment Device.
• Yevgeny studied the Micro Black Hole and imagined it growing, devouring the Earth, and becoming a weapon.
• Security robots pinned Yevgeny down after cameras captured him approaching the observation wall.
• Yevgeny told Lü Yongchang he had only been looking for inspiration and asked whether a Micro Black Hole weapon could outperform the Matter Disintegration Cannon.
• Lü Yongchang’s hologram vanished, and the robots released Yevgeny.
• Wilson tried to sneak away from Lü Yongchang, who called him back.

Lü Yongchang and Yevgeny developed concepts for micro black hole missiles and Gravity Bombs, then Human Civilization expanded peacefully under the Pan-Human Federation for decades. The chapter ends when an interstellar probe is attacked by a suspected curvature Antimatter Bomb and Lü Yongchang orders level one combat readiness.

• Yevgeny presented Lü Yongchang with a design for Curvature Missiles carrying micro black hole warheads and Gravity Shield Disruption Devices.
• Lü Yongchang proposed Gravity Bombs that would use fluctuating gravity and tidal forces to tear apart enemy Starships.
• By Earth Calendar year 3700, Human Civilization had expanded the Pan-Human Federation across five hundred light-years and reached a maximum travel speed of 100c.
• Most encountered civilizations joined the Federation, while Human Civilization's black hole missiles and Gravity Bombs remained unused in storage.
• An interstellar probe was struck by a suspected curvature Antimatter Bomb, and Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to raise the alert to level one combat readiness.

After Human Civilization’s reconnaissance probes were destroyed by a warp strike, Zhao Zijie and Lü Yongchang prepared for conflict and sent probes to investigate the attack site. The new probes detected another incoming attack from three directions, and Zhao Zijie ordered them to meet it at 100c.

• Lü Yongchang identified the attack that destroyed the three reconnaissance probes as a warp strike, likely from a level five civilization or higher.
• Human Civilization mobilized its Expeditionary Fleet and sent the Planetary Fortress [Chiyou] away from its orbit.
• Thirty Interstellar Probes reached the attack site and found fragments of the destroyed Human Civilization probes, confirming that matter-antimatter annihilation had caused the explosion.
• Gao Yang noted that the attackers could be far away, though the stellar system 5.1 light-years away was the likeliest suspect.
• Zero detected thirty incoming attack sources approaching from three directions, and Zhao Zijie ordered the probes to advance toward them at 100c.

Human Civilization's Probes destroyed the Curvature Missiles launched at them and advanced toward the facilities that fired them. The attack originated in a stellar system with three inhabited planets whose civilizations had just discovered one another.

• Lü Yongchang and Zhao Zijie assessed the approaching craft as likely less advanced than Human Civilization's, but kept their guard up.
• Zero sent groups of Probes to intercept the three signal sources, and ten Probes evaded and destroyed the first wave of Curvature Missiles.
• The Probes destroyed the missiles in the other two directions as well, then headed toward the facilities that had launched them.
• The chapter revealed that the attackers came from a red-giant system 515 light-years from Kepler-452, where three planets had independently developed civilizations.
• The three civilizations in that system discovered that two unknown civilizations lived beside each of them.

The Enrojet Alliance mistook an unfamiliar civilization’s probes for evidence of a weak level five power and voted to prepare for war. After Enrojet’s missiles were intercepted and the probes raced toward its border outpost at one hundred times the speed of light, its leader ordered the alliance to mobilize for a crisis of life and death.

• The three civilizations in the Enrojet system overcame their mistrust, united, and eventually formed a level five alliance of more than three hundred civilizations.
• The Enrojet Council learned that probes from an unfamiliar level five civilization were expanding near the alliance’s border and voted to put the alliance on a war footing.
• Enrojet’s leader watched a Spherical Probe destroyed and sent the Alliance Expeditionary Force toward the border, expecting victory over a weaker opponent.
• An emergency report revealed that the other side’s probes traveled at one hundred times the speed of light and had intercepted all the Curvature Missiles Enrojet launched.
• The Enrojet leader declared a level-one alert and ordered every alliance military force, including troops stationed at the border, to mobilize.

Hume, an Enrojet Alliance border outpost watchkeeper, recalled surviving an earlier attack on three probes from a level five civilization, then detected thirty more and launched missiles under the Council’s orders. After the second attack failed, ten probes reached his outpost, where his fear gave way to anticipation as he watched them hover outside.

• Hume remembered detecting three probes from a level five civilization and receiving the Alliance Council’s order to attack them with curvature missiles.
• Hume detected thirty new probes, reported the data to the Council, and launched ten missiles as two nearby outposts launched the other twenty.
• Hume learned the second attack had failed and watched ten probe signals approach his outpost while the other twenty changed course toward neighboring outposts.
• The ten signals reached Hume’s outpost and vanished from the tachyon radar, and he saw ten silvery-white probes hovering outside.
• Hume realized that his panic had become anticipation and felt calm as he gazed at the probes.

The Pan-Human Federation demanded that the Enrojet Alliance surrender after declaring its attack a declaration of war. After a brief clash proved the Federation’s overwhelming superiority, Hume watched the Federation’s fleet arrive years later and chose to end its own life.

• The Enrojet Alliance rejected the Federation’s demand to explain itself, and the Federation replied, “Hello. This is a robbery.”
• Hume obeyed the Alliance Council’s order to attack as the Enrojet Alliance fired every weapon at the ten Federation Probes.
• The Probes dodged and destroyed incoming projectiles until Federation warships appeared and overwhelmed them with a saturation attack.
• Over the following years, the Enrojet Alliance built up its border defenses while Hume doubted they could withstand the Federation.
• When the Federation fleet arrived at 100c, Hume aimed a laser pistol at its Thought Organ and killed itself.

The Enrojet Alliance spread its forces across a ten-light-year defensive line while waiting to discover Human Civilization’s attack route. Human Civilization arrived along the probes’ route, and the chapter ended with Commander Bai’s fleet approaching the alliance’s spherical defenses.

• The Enrojet Alliance deployed nearly all its combat-capable forces across a ten-light-year front around the outposts where it had found the probes.
• The alliance leader saw Human Civilization’s fleet appear on the Tachyon Radar and ordered the defensive front to contract and prepare for battle.
• Ten days later, the Human Fleet emerged from warp 0.1 light-years from the Enrojet Alliance’s defensive line.
• A crew member told Commander Bai that the probes had completed their preliminary survey and displayed the spherical defensive line ahead.

Bai Yixuan and Zhao Zijie chose the Long Snake Formation to pierce the alliance’s spread-out defenses, destroy its supply points, and drive toward its capital. As the Human Civilization fleet advanced, the Enrojet Alliance discovered that its Tachyon Radar could still detect the fleet after it exited curvature travel, revealing a technological gap greater than expected.

• Bai Yixuan estimated that the alliance’s defensive line contained a hundred thousand warships, and Zhao Zijie insisted the fleet needed an absolute victory rather than a detour.
• Zhao Zijie proposed the Long Snake Formation, targeting two likely supply systems before advancing on the alliance’s central stellar system, and said [Chiyou] could cover the fleet if enemy forces surrounded it.
• The [Titan Mothership] ordered the fleet into a long, slender formation with [Black Tortoise] Frigates protecting the center and Carrier-Based Drones forming an outer defensive net.
• The Human Civilization fleet exited curvature travel near an Enroget Civilization Probe and passed without attacking it, while the alliance confirmed the fleet’s course and speed.
• An Enroget researcher identified the fleet’s propulsion as a new form of Curvature Navigation Technology, and the alliance leader saw a faint peak on the Tachyon Radar that should have gone blind.

The Human Fleet launched Curvature Missiles at the Enrojet Alliance’s border defenses, ignoring the Alliance’s attempt to negotiate. Zero took control of the missiles and maneuvered them past the Alliance’s interceptors, leaving the attack on course.

• Kisling detected the Human Fleet approaching the Enrojet border and ordered a warning message asking it to stop and state its intentions.
• The Enrojet Alliance’s defenses detected the Human Fleet’s Curvature Missiles and launched electromagnetic projectiles and interceptor missiles.
• Bai Yixuan learned that the Alliance’s message offered negotiations and compensation, but ordered his crew to ignore it and continue the attack.
• Zero took control of the Human Fleet’s missiles, which turned sharply to evade the Alliance’s interceptors.
• The Alliance’s slower interceptor missiles failed to catch the Human missiles, while its straight-flying electromagnetic projectiles could not threaten them.

Human Civilization's Curvature Missiles used Micro Black Holes to break through the Enrojet Alliance's defenses and strike its warships. Kisling survived the attack and ordered the Alliance to launch a counterattack.

• Kisling ordered the Enrojet Alliance to intercept more than a hundred Curvature Missiles approaching at 0.7c.
• Several Missiles opened Micro Black Holes that bent the Metal Storm's trajectories and consumed the projectiles.
• The Curvature Missiles activated their Antimatter Engines, passed through the Alliance's Composite Shields, and struck its warships.
• A Frigate took a Missile for Kisling, who ordered casualty figures compiled and every Curvature Missile fired in retaliation.

The Enrojet Alliance struggled to understand the destructive micro-black-hole missiles and ordered its flagship refitted to operate a hidden weapon. After Zhao Zijie and Lü Yongchang assessed the enemy’s weakness and planned a long-range bombardment, Human Civilization detected 1,739 incoming curvature missiles and prepared to intercept them.

• The Enrojet Alliance leader questioned how Human Civilization had fired micro black holes at a target 0.1 light-years away, and an elderly Enrojet scientist said the humans could manipulate the four fundamental forces.
• The Enrojet Alliance leader ordered the flagship refitted with additional reactors to operate a powerful weapon, while the scientist warned that the work would take time.
• Zhao Zijie heard that Human Civilization’s probing attack had destroyed over a hundred enemy ships and disabled more than three hundred, while Lü Yongchang cautioned that the Enrojet Alliance might still have a trump card.
• Zhao Zijie ordered the Expeditionary Fleet to bombard the middle of the enemy defensive line from extreme range.
• Human Civilization detected 1,739 incoming curvature missiles, and Zhao Zijie ordered Commander Bai to activate the interception plan and all guns to fire a salvo.

The Human Federation used Yevgeny’s low-cost interception plan to destroy the Enrojet Alliance’s Curvature Missiles before launching a missile barrage at its Border Defense Line. The Expeditionary Fleet began a sustained campaign to destroy the Alliance’s stockpiles.

• The Human Federation’s Expeditionary Fleet launched Curvature Missiles toward the Enrojet Alliance’s Border Defense Line.
• Zero deployed Interceptor Missiles with Micro Black Hole warheads and decoy missiles to steer the incoming Curvature Missiles toward a planned interception zone.
• Zero detonated the Micro Black Holes to force the Curvature Missiles out of curvature navigation, then triggered explosive spheres that scattered Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles through the area.
• The explosions destroyed all 1,739 Curvature Missiles launched by the Enrojet Alliance.
• The Human Expeditionary Fleet launched tens of thousands of missiles toward the Alliance’s Border Defense Line and prepared to keep attacking its stockpiles.

The Human Federation’s Expeditionary Fleet unleashed wave after wave of curvature missiles, overwhelming the Enrojet Alliance with the scale of its arsenal. As the Alliance halted its defensive-line contraction and redirected its warships to intercept the incoming missiles, Bai Yixuan’s fleet continued its thirty-salvo attack.

• The Enrojet Alliance leader learned that Human Civilization had intercepted all 1,739 of its curvature missiles with little apparent effort.
• Scientists told the leader that more than ten thousand incoming missiles were traveling at varied speeds and likely targeted the crowded central section of the border defense line.
• The Alliance leader discovered another salvo of more than ten thousand missiles on the tachyon radar and cursed Human Civilization’s immense stockpile.
• Bai Yixuan ordered the Human Federation’s Expeditionary Fleet to fire successive curvature missile salvos, using up nearly all its old missiles by the thirtieth salvo.
• The Enrojet Alliance halted the contraction of its border defense line and ordered its warships to intercept the missiles with curvature missiles and kinetic weapons.

The Enrojet Alliance copied part of humanity’s interception method, sacrificing ships to detonate antimatter weapons against incoming Curvature Missiles. After the defense line held at great cost, Lü Yongchang ordered the Expeditionary Fleet to intensify its attack and destroy the enemy’s Central Stellar System.

• The Enrojet Alliance’s elderly scientist proposed using imitation antimatter detonation devices, and the alliance leader approved a plan to sacrifice twenty percent of its warships to protect the Border Defense Line.
• Humanity’s 300,000 Curvature Missiles reached the Enrojet Alliance’s defenses, where forward warships detonated their imitation weapons and unleashed indiscriminate antimatter projectiles.
• The Enrojet Alliance’s fleet and gun emplacements used Composite Shields to withstand the blasts, intercepting missiles and holding the defense line for several minutes.
• Lü Yongchang reviewed the bombardment results, which showed over 20,000 enemy ships destroyed and the Border Defense Line’s contraction slowed by fifty percent.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the Expeditionary Fleet to advance at full speed, continue its bombardment, expose the enemy’s remaining weapons, and destroy its Central Stellar System once the defense line was breached.

The Enrojet Alliance struggled to contain internal unrest while trying to repair and reinforce its border defense line. As the Human Fleet arrived, Kisling ordered the Alliance warships to open fire, and both sides began a fierce battle.

• The Enrojet Alliance Council suppressed internal unrest and forced workers into military production.
• Kisling watched the damaged border defense line being repaired as salvage crews gathered resources from wreckage.
• The Tachyon Radar warned that the Human Fleet was approaching before the Alliance finished repairing its defenses.
• Kisling saw the enormous Human Fleet emerge from the darkness and ordered all warships to fire.
• The Alliance and Human fleets exchanged a barrage of missiles, antimatter, lasers, and Metal Storm fire.

Bai Yixuan led the Human Expeditionary Fleet through the Enrojet Alliance’s defensive line using a merged fleet shield and precise interception fire. When the fleets drew closer, Zero coordinated ion cannons to neutralize enemy antimatter beams, and the resulting radiation devastated the Enrojet ships, leaving Mor gravely injured.

• Bai Yixuan ordered the fleet to deploy its shield and open fire as Zero directed drones and frigates to intercept incoming weapons.
• The [Black Tortoise] frigates merged their shields around the fleet while the inner ships launched missiles and the engineering ships produced fresh weapons and ammunition.
• As the enemy’s fire intensified, Bai Yixuan ordered the [Golden Crow] battleships and [White Tiger] destroyers to switch from Curvature Missiles to ion cannons.
• Zero precisely aimed the ion cannons at incoming antimatter beams, triggering annihilation blasts and radiation that disrupted the Enrojet Alliance’s fire.
• Mor suffered severe radiation poisoning aboard an Enrojet warship, injected emergency medication, and wondered whether the humans feared radiation.

The Human Fleet emerged from the massed antimatter detonations unharmed, while radiation wiped out the Enrojet Alliance’s first echelon. The Enrojet Command Center concluded that the fleet’s Giant Shield might require fifty thousand warships to break, and the Alliance leader ordered the Flagship’s modifications to proceed as its best remaining option.

• Radiation from the simultaneous antimatter detonations overwhelmed the first echelon’s defenses, while its ships shielded the second echelon from the worst effects.
• Mor watched the Human Fleet emerge from the explosions behind a vast shield, then lost his sight as radiation killed the first echelon’s crew.
• An Enrojet commander reported that the first echelon was completely wiped out and that the Human Fleet continued advancing.
• An elderly scientist explained that Human technology could crack the Alliance’s shield algorithms and estimated that breaking the Giant Shield might require fifty thousand warships.
• The Alliance leader learned that fewer than twenty thousand warships were available on the main battlefront and ordered the Flagship’s modifications to continue, despite being only twenty percent complete.

Bai Yixuan’s human Expeditionary Fleet survived the radiation from intercepting the Enrojet antimatter shots and charged at full speed through the Border Defense Line. The fleet’s drones shattered the Enrojet defenses, and Kisling’s command ship was destroyed by a weapon that dispersed it into dust.

• Bai Yixuan ordered the fleet to charge at full speed after the Combined Shield and the Radiation Shielding Layer held against the radiation.
• The human fleet’s drone swarm used its mobility and numbers to preserve the Long Snake Formation as it accelerated toward the Border Defense Line.
• Kisling ordered the Enrojet warships to attack the fleet’s flanks, but their weapons barely affected the Combined Shield.
• Human drones disabled nearby Enrojet shields, allowing the fleet to destroy the exposed warships within seconds.
• Kisling’s command ship lost its shields and was struck by a green beam that dispersed it into dust.

The Human Fleet breached the Enrojet Alliance’s outer defense line and advanced toward the Dika and Kedale Stellar Systems, which the Alliance planned to use as a trap. One month later, with the fleet nearing its targets under heavy attack, Bai Yixuan ordered it to keep advancing.

• After the Enrojet command ship disintegrated, the Alliance leader asked its scientist to explain the weapon, and the scientist concluded that Human Civilization could manipulate electromagnetic interactions between atoms and molecules.
• The Enrojet scientist identified the Dika and Kedale Stellar Systems as the Human Fleet’s likely targets and designated them as the final battlefield.
• The Human Fleet broke through the first and second defense echelons, destroyed several pursuing warships, and entered curvature state.
• The Alliance ordered its remaining first-line forces to retreat toward the third-echelon defenses around the Dika and Kedale Stellar Systems.
• One month later, the Human Fleet approached its targets as enemy forces, floating gun emplacements, and interstellar mines gathered around them.
• Bai Yixuan ignored a warning that antiparticle concentrations had risen and ordered the fleet to continue advancing and destroy the enemy supply areas.