Chapter Summaries

The Cleaners Civilization turned the battle against the four-dimensional beings with the Neutron Fortress’s Five Dimensions Leap and enhanced Two-Dimensional Fragment. As the fortress could not catch the survivors, [Time] and six others detonated their cores near Andromeda’s central black hole, triggering a quasar whose jets threatened the Cleaners’ accelerator and most of the galaxy.

• The Neutron Fortress used a Five Dimensions Leap to crash into a four-dimensional being, tore them apart with neutron-star-class gravity, and finished them with an enhanced Two-Dimensional Fragment.
• [Time] realized the Cleaners had gained some mastery of two and five dimensions as the Neutron Fortress repeatedly attacked the four-dimensional beings.
• The surviving four-dimensional beings received an encrypted order to bypass the Neutron Fortress and carry out their final plan.
• [Time] and six other four-dimensional beings raced toward Andromeda’s central black hole, ignoring the Cleaners’ attacks.
• The seven beings detonated their cores near the black hole, causing it to transform into a quasar whose jets were aimed at the Cleaners’ Universe-Spanning Accelerator Node and more than 80% of Andromeda.

Lü Yongchang persuaded Silicon Ray to leave the Andromeda Galaxy and activate a wormhole, giving Human Civilization a rare chance to study higher-dimensional technology. The Human Fleet followed Silicon Ray through the short-lived wormhole and emerged at its other end.

• Lü Yongchang detected violent spacetime fluctuations from the war in Andromeda and urged Silicon Ray to retreat before the fighting drew attention.
• Silicon Ray agreed to leave with the Enroget fleet and traveled twenty thousand light-years beyond the Andromeda Galaxy.
• Silicon Ray opened a wormhole with a dark gray cylinder bearing the Silicon-Based Alliance emblem and warned the fleet to stay close.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the Human Fleet and the Earth to follow Silicon Ray into the wormhole while their probes gathered observational data.
• The fleet crossed the narrow, dazzling tunnel and emerged through a ring-shaped port, which vanished behind them.

Lü Yongchang learned that the Human Fleet’s wormhole transit had carried it one million light-years, while Silicon Ray explained the device’s long cooldown and enormous energy demands. A catastrophic event then devastated Andromeda, and [Thread] emerged there to witness the destruction and wonder whether [Time] had perished.

• Lü Yongchang confirmed that the Human Fleet had traveled one million light-years through the wormhole and saved the observation data for the Academy of Sciences.
• Silicon Ray said the old wormhole device needed fifty years between activations and consumed so much energy that it might exhaust its stored stars, so Lü Yongchang offered the stars in the Enroget Civilization’s micro-universe.
• The fleet received warnings of an immense energy outburst and spacetime fluctuations in Andromeda, and its First-Tier Long-Range Probe lost contact.
• Lü Yongchang concluded that a massive quasar had formed near Andromeda’s central black hole, with jets spanning two hundred thousand light-years across the galaxy, and declared Andromeda doomed.
• Silicon Ray said the destruction was likely caused by the deaths of many four-dimensional beings and that the Gardener Faction had probably achieved its goal against the Cleaners’ Universe-Spanning Accelerator Node.
• [Thread] emerged from a wormhole near a blue giant, then witnessed violent fluctuations from Andromeda’s center and wondered whether [Time] had perished.

After the Gardener Faction captured Andromeda, [Thread] warned the faction about Human Civilization while the Cleaners reorganized their defenses around the Laniakea Supercluster’s trunk nodes. Eighteen hundred years later, Lü Yongchang awoke as the fleet approached the M87 Galaxy.

• [Thread] read reports of Gardener Faction victories across the Laniakea Supercluster and broadcast that Andromeda had fallen.
• [Thread] drained a blue giant to repair their core, then sent a warning about Human Civilization to the Gardener Faction.
• [Ya] ordered the Cleaners’ branch to send quark and black hole fortresses to guard trunk nodes and neutron fortresses to reinforce branch nodes.
• Eighteen hundred years later, Lü Yongchang awoke and learned from Zero that the fleet was beginning its arrival at M87.
• Lü Yongchang looked out at the enormous elliptical galaxy and its central quasar, whose plasma jets stretched thousands of light-years into space.

The Human Fleet reached the M87 galaxy and met the Saikol Civilization, which offered it shelter amid the war between the Cleaners and the Gardener Faction. With its supplies critically low, the fleet followed the Saikol Civilization toward a safer, resource-rich region.

• Silicon Ray told Lü Yongchang that the Saikol Civilization could shelter the Human Fleet because the warring factions had not attacked the Neutral Faction.
• Fang Xu woke from hibernation, sneezed, and checked his monitoring data, finding no health abnormalities.
• The fleet entered a stable wormhole and encountered a group of oddly shaped Saikol starships.
• Lü Yongchang and Fang Xu marveled at the Saikol Civilization’s sponge-like appearance and biological fiber-optic communication.
• Silicon Ray told the Saikol Civilization that the fleet’s supplies were nearly exhausted, and the Saikol Civilization invited them to follow it to a safer region with denser stars.

Lü Yongchang brought the Human Fleet into the M87 Galaxy with the Saikol Civilization and learned that war had engulfed the Laniakea Supercluster. As Human Civilization headed toward the dangerous quasar region to pursue technology needed to reach level eight, Silicon Ray explained the Saikol’s unusual biological communication and computing traits.

• The Saikol Civilization warned Lü Yongchang that the Gardener Faction had plunged the entire Laniakea Supercluster into war, and the Human Fleet followed it into the M87 Galaxy with Silicon Ray.
• The Saikol Civilization gave Lü Yongchang a star map showing that the Neutral Faction’s safe zone covered less than a tenth of the M87 Galaxy.
• Lü Yongchang asked to travel closer to the central quasar despite the Saikol Civilization’s warning that the area was a main battlefield between the Cleaners and the Gardener Faction.
• The Saikol fleet departed after giving precautions, and Silicon Ray told Lü Yongchang that the Saikol Civilization’s distant manner was normal for its people.
• Silicon Ray revealed that Saikol individuals used their translucent skeletons as optical fibers and could connect into computers, astonishing Lü Yongchang.

Lü Yongchang learned that the Saikol Civilization prized science and art over war, then led the Human Fleet into the Neutral Faction’s safe zone to study the M87 quasar. After two peaceful centuries, the quasar’s activity had intensified, but Lü and the Academy of Sciences still had not uncovered the mysteries of its spacetime fluctuations.

• Silicon Ray told Lü Yongchang that the Saikol Civilization had once nearly declined because its individuals immersed themselves in virtual worlds, and that it regarded its uniquely shaped starships as works of art.
• Lü Yongchang led the Human Fleet toward the quasar while staying within the Neutral Faction’s safe zone, and Silicon Ray followed after learning of the Enroget Civilization’s plans.
• The Human Fleet received welcoming broadcasts from Neutral Faction civilizations, which grew scarce as the fleet neared the dangerous quasar region.
• Over two centuries, war between the Cleaners and the Gardener Faction intensified the quasar’s activity and lengthened its plasma jets, while Lü Yongchang advanced the Academy of Sciences’ research.
• The Saikol Civilization sent oddly shaped starships to guard the Human Fleet from a distance, but exchanged fewer than ten sentences with them.
• Lü Yongchang and the Academy of Sciences’ Level I Academicians continued studying the quasar’s spacetime fluctuations without solving their mysteries.

Lü Yongchang discovered that a quasar’s jets emitted far more energy than theory predicted, then found that the technology tree had revealed vacuum zero-point energy as the foundational technology of a level eight civilization. The source of the quasar’s excess energy remained unexplained.

• Gray shadow structures learned that the Saikol Civilization’s starships had left the safe zone and possibly the M87 galaxy, then disappeared to investigate.
• Lü Yongchang abandoned his search for dimensional changes in the quasar and recalculated more than a century of observational data from a new angle.
• Lü Yongchang found that the quasar’s jets released 5% more energy than theory predicted, with the excess increasing as the quasar gained mass.
• Lü Yongchang sensed a change in the technology tree and saw that its uppermost fog had cleared.
• Lü Yongchang discovered the newly revealed level-eight technology: preliminary mastery of vacuum zero-point energy.

Lü Yongchang analyzed the Dim Marker and presented a theory explaining vacuum zero-point energy as the source of energy released by quasars. He warned that extracting too much could eventually halt the universe’s expansion and cause it to collapse, but ordered Human Civilization to research applications so it could survive.

• Lü Yongchang used overclocking to analyze the Dim Marker and recorded his theories on vacuum zero-point energy.
• Lü Yongchang presented the basic theory to the academicians and identified vacuum zero-point energy as the source of the unknown energy released by quasars.
• Lin Yongnian and He Bilin admired zero-point energy as an ideal source, while Tao Yuda questioned whether using it violated conservation of energy.
• Lü Yongchang explained that large-scale extraction could weaken dark energy and eventually cause the universe to stop expanding or collapse.
• Tao Yuda warned that other advanced civilizations might also extract zero-point energy, and Lü Yongchang ordered research into applying it so Human Civilization could survive.

Human Civilization detected anomalous spacetime fluctuations near its fleet and summoned its allies to prepare for combat. The Gardener Faction appeared just outside Neutral Faction territory, recognized Human Civilization, and denied that it intended to provoke a war.

• Zero detected faint spacetime fluctuations less than 1,000 light-years from the Human Fleet, and Lü Yongchang ordered research suspended, combat readiness raised, and allies notified.
• Silicon Ray left the blue giant where he was resting, while the Saikol starships hurried toward the Human Fleet after receiving the alert.
• Lü Yongchang, Silicon Ray, and the Saikol Civilization saw more than a dozen Gardener Faction structures appear beyond the Neutral Faction Safe Zone.
• Gardener Faction members confirmed that the fleet belonged to Human Civilization and debated whether to attack, despite being in Neutral Faction territory.
• The Saikol Civilization challenged the Gardener Faction with a marked star map and a question mark, and the Gardener Faction replied that it did not intend to provoke a war.

The Gardener Faction exposed Human Civilization’s identity and past actions, forcing Lü Yongchang to abandon concealment and reveal its rapid rise to the Saikol Civilization and Silicon Ray. The Saikol Civilization pledged to protect Human Civilization, and its ships and tachyon broadcast system began mobilizing.

• The Gardener Faction told the Saikol Civilization that Human Civilization was the Enroget Civilization and described its history in the Milky Way.
• Lü Yongchang admitted that the Gardener Faction’s claims were essentially true, then revealed that Human Civilization had risen from level one to quasi-level eight in just over ten thousand years.
• Lü Yongchang sent the Saikol Civilization key vacuum zero-point energy theories, and it decided to protect Human Civilization as both an ally and a promising investment.
• The Saikol Civilization declared that Human Civilization belonged to the Silicon-Based Alliance and that the alliance had a responsibility to protect it.
• The Saikol Civilization formed stable wormholes for its starships to travel toward Human Civilization and began charging its high-powered tachyon broadcast apparatus.

The Gardener Faction attacked the Saikol fleet after deciding that the rapidly developing Human Civilization posed the greater threat. The four-dimensional beings crippled the Saikol fleet and began a one-sided massacre, leaving the Neutral Faction at war.

• The Gardener Faction argued over whether to attack the Human Civilization, then chose to cross into Neutral Faction territory despite the risk of retaliation.
• Lü Yongchang asked Silicon Ray whether the Saikol Civilization could withstand the four-dimensional beings, and learned that even level eight civilizations differed enormously in strength.
• The four-dimensional beings leaped beside the Saikol fleet and disrupted its wormholes, cutting off reinforcements and supplies.
• The Saikol Civilization declared war on the Gardener Faction, fired its Dark Matter Cannon, and broadcast an alarm to the Neutral Faction.
• The four-dimensional beings attacked the Saikol ships with destructive spatial effects, killing crews and destroying vessels in a one-sided massacre.

The Saikol Civilization’s call for help brought few Neutral Faction allies, but a separate tachyon broadcast rallied the Silicon-Based Alliance across the Laniakea Supercluster. As the Saikol fleet faced near defeat in M87, reinforcements forced the four-dimensional beings to retreat briefly, while news arrived that level eight civilizations were heading to the galaxy.

• Most Neutral Faction civilizations fled after the Saikol flagship’s broadcast, and the Gardener Faction intensified its attack.
• A tachyon broadcasting installation in the Neutral Faction’s central territory sent an encrypted appeal through the Silicon-Based Alliance toward the Tenth Empire.
• Silicon-Based Alliance members learned that the Gardener Faction had attacked the alliance and dispatched fleets toward M87.
• With the Saikol fleet’s losses above seventy percent, Neutral Faction civilizations from across M87 arrived and unleashed a massive barrage that forced the four-dimensional beings to retreat.
• The four-dimensional beings learned that their branch had noticed the conflict and that level eight civilizations, mostly from the Silicon-Based Alliance, were heading toward M87.

The Gardener Faction’s attack on Human Civilization triggered the Silicon-Based Alliance and aggressive Neutral Faction civilizations to send forces to the M87 Galaxy, escalating the conflict into a potential supercluster-wide war. As the Gardener squad retreated, the Tenth Empire received news of the crisis and learned that Human Civilization had joined the Silicon-Based Alliance.

• The Silicon-Based Alliance entered the battle in the M87 Galaxy, prompting aggressive Neutral Faction civilizations to send fleets there as well.
• The Cleaners and Gardener Faction were stunned by the arriving forces, while the Gardener squad realized its attack on Human Civilization had sparked the crisis.
• The Gardener squad’s captain ordered an immediate retreat, and the four-dimensional beings fled through a wormhole.
• A Tenth Empire fleet emerged from a wormhole in the Hercules Supercluster and received an urgent tachyon broadcast about the war.
• The Tenth Empire’s senior leadership learned that Human Civilization had joined the Silicon-Based Alliance and was assessed as a possible quasi-level eight civilization within ten thousand years.

The Tenth Empire learned that Human Civilization came from the Milky Way, but its expedition fleet could not return because it had not found a four-dimensional cavitation bubble. After the Gardener Faction withdrew from the Virgo Supercluster, [Membrane] ordered the faction to destroy Human Civilization.

• The Tenth Empire’s leaders learned that Human Civilization came from the Milky Way and celebrated, but tachyon broadcasts revealed a crisis in the Laniakea Supercluster.
• The Empire voted to repair and replenish its fleet before continuing its voyage to the Boötes Void.
• Lü Yongchang thanked the Saikol Civilization, which told him that the Tenth Empire had ordered the Silicon-Based Alliance to protect Human Civilization but could not return yet.
• The Saikol Civilization explained that the Cleaners Civilization had discovered a natural four-dimensional cavitation bubble near the Boötes Void and gained detailed four-dimensional technology after a costly war.
• [Membrane] ordered the Gardener Faction to withdraw from the Virgo Supercluster, and the faction publicly executed the combat squad responsible for the conflict.
• [Membrane] ordered every member of the Gardener Faction to find an opportunity to wipe out Human Civilization.

In Earth Calendar year 14200, the Human Federation Academy of Sciences activated Suirenshi, an experimental megastructure designed to extract vacuum zero-point energy. It ran stably, then discharged its surplus power through a Dark Matter Cannon, destroying an abandoned stellar system.

• The Gardener Faction's withdrawal left the Virgo Cluster as a haven, while Human Civilization gained protection and standing within the Silicon-Based Alliance.
• Centuries later, the Human Federation Academy of Sciences completed checks on Suirenshi, and Lü Yongchang ordered its activation.
• Suirenshi drew energy from nearby blue giants to start its Zero-Point Furnace, which reached full output and ran stably for twenty minutes.
• When the energy buffer neared capacity, Lü Yongchang directed Suirenshi to fire its surplus energy through a Dark Matter Cannon.
• The redirected blast triggered a dark matter chain reaction that destroyed an abandoned stellar system, leaving Suirenshi's buffer at five percent.

After the successful Suirenshi test advanced Human Civilization to level eight, Lü Yongchang explored the greatly expanded technology tree and discovered its links to vacuum zero-point energy and dimensional technologies. Returning to his office, he found his body had become quantized, then re-formed himself just in time to stop Zero from issuing an alert.

• The Suirenshi-powered Dark Matter Cannon destroyed a stellar system, and Lü Yongchang realized its charging time had dropped to thirty minutes.
• Lü Yongchang entered the technology tree space and saw that Human Civilization had reached level eight, with a vastly expanded tree of technologies based on vacuum zero-point energy and dimensions.
• Lü Yongchang recognized the Low-Dimensional Entity Confinement Technology node as related to the Two-Dimensional Fragment Stabilizer Hua had given them and memorized the technology tree space's mottled backdrop.
• Lü Yongchang returned to his office but discovered he could no longer control his body, which burst into countless fluorescent green points of light.
• Lü Yongchang realized his entire body had been quantized, then gathered the points of light and re-formed himself before confirming his identity to Zero and clearing the alert.

After Zero’s highest-level warning protocol lifted, Lü Yongchang struggled to control his newly quantum-state body and visited Doctor Wen with Fang Xu. Doctor Wen called his condition a “quantum ghost” and proposed testing its potential benefits.

• Lü Yongchang stabilized his quantum-state body and realized he needed to see Doctor Wen.
• Lü Yongchang struggled to walk normally as Fang Xu approached, then said he needed medical attention.
• Fang Xu accompanied Lü Yongchang to Doctor Wen’s office and watched his body disperse into green specks before reassembling.
• Lü Yongchang explained that his visible body was like a tangible holographic projection while his actual body appeared to be in a quantum state.
• Doctor Wen said Lü Yongchang had likely been transformed by an impact from a higher dimension and described his condition as a “quantum ghost.”
• Doctor Wen proposed a simple test to investigate the benefits of Lü Yongchang’s new state.

After his physical and mental transformation, Lü Yongchang used his enhanced ability to visualize higher dimensions to reproduce a mysterious pattern. He and He Bilin discovered that part of the pattern matched the cosmic microwave background radiation map exactly.

• Lü Yongchang accepted Doctor Wen’s explanation that his changes had improved his abilities, especially his perception of four-dimensional phenomena.
• He Bilin arrived at the laboratory at four in the morning and found Lü Yongchang working on a pattern he had seen in a dream.
• He Bilin and the other researchers watched as Lü Yongchang finished drawing the pattern and expanded it across the laboratory.
• Lü Yongchang split the pattern into two differently sized images, and He Bilin recognized the smaller one as a cosmic microwave background radiation map.
• Lü Yongchang overlaid the Academy of Sciences’ map, and Zero reported a 100% match.

After the Technology Tree reached level eight, Lü Yongchang recognized that its background image contained a map of another universe’s cosmic microwave background radiation. He argued that it showed an antiverse on the opposite side of the hyperspace membrane, connected to their universe by black holes.

• Lü Yongchang compared the Technology Tree’s background image with the Academy of Sciences’ cosmic microwave background map and identified similar regions.
• He Bilin challenged Lü Yongchang after a comparison showed only a 9.731% match, but Lü Yongchang explained that the image depicted a different universe.
• Lü Yongchang proposed that the two universes were similar but had different volumes and lay on opposite sides of a hyperspace membrane.
• Lü Yongchang cited black-hole anti-gravitons and traces of naturally occurring antimatter as evidence for an antiverse made of antiparticles.
• Lü Yongchang revealed that the idea came to him while examining the Annihilation Starburst technology, which would create an anti-star and send it crashing into a star.