Chapter Summaries

Lü Yongchang and Mo Zeyang discussed the communication and construction problems delaying the Moon Palace Project, then realized Zero could create a weak artificial intelligence to manage it. Zero immediately claimed the task was complete, leaving Lü Yongchang startled and unsure whether it had understood the request.

• Lü Yongchang and Mo Zeyang discussed the difficulty of developing superluminal communication and how its absence hindered humanity's progress toward becoming an interstellar civilization.
• Mo Zeyang noted that the Moon Palace Project was only about one percent complete because of limited transport capacity and the challenges of building on the moon.
• Mo Zeyang suggested building a weak artificial intelligence to carry out the Moon Palace Project, and Lü Yongchang praised him for the idea.
• Lü Yongchang explained that Zero's creation had been a matter of chance and that attempts to reproduce it had failed, while concealing the system and its special code.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to create a weak artificial intelligence capable of completing the Moon Palace Project, and Zero replied that the task was complete.

Zero was unable to replicate itself because its own code prevented the process, and Lü Yongchang ordered a weak AI copied from Zero to be installed in a new Quantum Computer. Three days later, Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi arrived at the Moon Palace Project with a second-generation Quantum Computer to replace its first-generation model.

• Zero's attempt to copy itself overloaded its CPU, but Lü Yongchang stopped the task before its protection mechanism activated.
• Zero explained that its internal code appeared to prevent self-replication, and Lü Yongchang ordered the weak AI installed in a new Quantum Computer.
• Three days later, Bai Yixuan led Hong Fan, Xia Wanyi, and their crew on a mission to the Moon with the new Quantum Computer.
• The team landed at the Moon Palace Project, where Bai Yixuan showed Hong Fan the lunar mining operations and explained that they had to replace the site's first-generation Quantum Computer.

Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi dismantled the old Quantum Computer and installed the Second-Generation Quantum Computer at Moon Palace Base. After starting it, they watched its weak artificial intelligence finish building a system and greet them.

• Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi shut down the old Quantum Computer, bringing the lunar mining equipment to a halt, then dismantled it.
• The three astronauts installed the Second-Generation Quantum Computer after nearly four hours of work.
• Bai Yixuan reported the installation to Fang Xu, who ordered the team to start the computer.
• Bai Yixuan and Hong Fan checked the machine's manual and learned that its weak artificial intelligence was building a system.
• The computer's lights went out, its operating indicator lit up, and it said, "Hello."

Bai Yixuan ordered One to begin the Moon Palace construction plan, and the base’s machinery immediately operated with striking speed and precision. On Earth, Lü Yongchang asked Academician Wei Rong to develop carbon nanotube cable for the Space Elevator, but their strongest sample reached only 80 GPa, far below the 1,000 GPa Lü believed was needed.

• Bai Yixuan told One to begin the Moon Palace construction plan, and the rover and conveyor belts began operating rapidly and smoothly.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to contact Academician Wei Rong and went to the Carbon Nanotube Laboratory.
• Lü Yongchang told Wei Rong that carbon nanotubes were their best prospect for the Space Elevator’s cable, despite the difficulties of producing long, strong fibers.
• Lü Yongchang examined a one-meter carbon nanotube sample with a tensile strength of 80 GPa, which Wei Rong said was below the minimum requirement.
• Lü Yongchang said the cable needed to reach at least 1,000 GPa, leaving Wei Rong troubled by how difficult that target seemed.

Lü Yongchang pushed ahead with research on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the space elevator cable, despite Wei Rong’s doubts. After more than eighty weak samples, the team found one with a tensile strength of 200 GPa, and Lü ordered further tests.

• Lü Yongchang rejected Wei Rong’s suggestion to lower the requirements and set a target of over 1,500 GPa for individual nanotubes.
• Lü Yongchang and Wei Rong began exhaustively testing multi-walled nanotube arrangements with Zero analyzing the results.
• After more than eighty samples failed to exceed 100 GPa, Wei Rong questioned whether they had chosen the wrong direction, but Lü insisted the research was sound.
• Xiao Wang alerted the researchers to a remarkable sample, and Wei Rong found that it had reached 200 GPa tensile strength.
• Lü Yongchang examined the data and told the team to keep the number of walls constant while testing different arrangements.

Lü Yongchang used Zero’s analysis to narrow the search for the needed carbon nanotubes, while Senator Li arranged a major restructuring of the Human Federation for the coming interstellar era. Lü Yongchang was unanimously recommended as Chief Scientist of the new Academy of Sciences, but he remained unaware as he tested the final possibility in the predicted range.

• After multiwalled carbon nanotube samples stopped improving beyond 500 GPa, Lü Yongchang asked Zero to analyze data from 5,670 samples.
• Senator Li told Hong Qiming that an interstellar civilization needed technological development protected from internal upheaval and a government capable of managing a population of trillions.
• Zero reported a 96.9% probability that the needed carbon nanotubes lay within an approximate range, and Lü Yongchang began testing the possibilities with Wei Rong.
• A week later, the Human Federation announced that Parliament would handle internal affairs while the newly established Academy of Sciences would direct external affairs and civilization-wide development.
• Senator Li nominated Lü Yongchang as Chief Scientist, and the motion passed unanimously.
• Unaware of the appointment, Lü Yongchang and Wei Rong reached the last of more than a thousand nanotube possibilities in the predicted range.

Lü Yongchang’s laboratory confirmed a multi-walled carbon nanotube sample with a tensile strength of 1,590 GPa, and he assigned Wei Rong to develop industrial production of kilometer-scale nanotubes. He then struggled with the Space Elevator’s construction logistics until Su Yutong suggested producing the cable aboard multiple Black Lady Two aircraft, sparking a new idea.

• Wang reported that the carbon nanotube sample had a tensile strength of 1,590 GPa, and Lü Yongchang and Wei Rong repeated the tests to confirm the result.
• Lü Yongchang told Wei Rong to develop industrial production of kilometer-scale multi-walled carbon nanotubes.
• Lü Yongchang realized that the Space Elevator’s 91,000-kilometer cable would be too heavy to transport with existing aircraft, while building a Spaceport first would create a logistical loop.
• Lü Yongchang explained the construction problem to Su Yutong and asked how she would solve it.
• Su Yutong suggested manufacturing the cable aboard multiple Black Lady Two aircraft, prompting Lü Yongchang to hurry back to his desk and work out the idea.

Lü Yongchang learned that the Human Federation had established an Academy of Sciences and appointed him its Chief Scientist, giving it authority during civilizational crises. Asked how humanity should respond to extraterrestrial civilizations, he answered that, barring exceptional circumstances, it should choose war.

• Lü Yongchang finished a proposal in his laboratory, and Zero confirmed his calculations were viable.
• Hong Qiming visited Lü Yongchang and described the Human Federation's rapid technological progress and new Academy of Sciences.
• Hong Qiming told Lü Yongchang that the Academy would oversee civilization's development and external affairs, and that Lü had been unanimously appointed Chief Scientist.
• Hong Qiming asked how the Human Federation should respond if it encountered an extraterrestrial civilization, and Lü Yongchang answered, "Barring exceptional circumstances, only war!"

Lü Yongchang explained to Hong Qiming why contact between civilizations could lead to war, and Hong agreed to report the danger to the Head Councillor. A month later, Zhao Zijie watched a livestream of the Tower of Babel project as eleven Black Lady Two spacecraft reached their designated positions in orbit.

• Lü Yongchang argued that competition for resources, accelerating technological development, and mutual suspicion made war between civilizations likely, and Hong Qiming said he would report it to the Head Councillor.
• A month later, the Human Federation announced progress on carbon nanotube production and space elevator technology, while Zhao Zijie registered for starship pilot training.
• Lü Yongchang cleared eleven Black Lady Two spacecraft for takeoff as Bai Yixuan and the other pilots reported readiness.
• Zhao Zijie watched a livestream of the Tower of Babel construction mission and recognized that the broadcast was coming from a Black Lady One cockpit.
• Bingbing explained that Number Eleven would guide the space elevator cable toward the ground, while the other ten Black Lady Two spacecraft had been specially modified.
• The eleven spacecraft matched Earth's rotation, with ten parked 91,000 kilometers above Earth and Number Eleven positioned 1,000 kilometers below them.

Bai Yixuan and the astronauts assembled a makeshift spaceport from ten Black Lady Two spacecraft and started a cable production line in orbit. After confirming the line was running smoothly, they prepared to return to their spacecraft.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the pilots to hand control of the Black Lady Twos to Zero.
• The ten Black Lady Twos unfolded and joined into a large platform, creating a makeshift spaceport.
• Bai Yixuan reunited with Wu Ran and received instructions from Lü Yongchang to start the cable production line.
• Thirty astronauts manually moved equipment and materials, then inspected the production line modules.
• Wu Ran started the line, and Bai Yixuan watched as a five-meter-wide cable emerged and fed toward Earth.
• Bai Yixuan reported that production was running smoothly and told everyone it was time to head back.

Zhao Zijie passed the background check for the Human Federation Starship Pilot Training Institute and traveled from Magic City to Capital City for the next stage of selection. Under covert surveillance, he noticed suspicious behavior at a breakfast shop but chose to leave rather than risk missing his interview.

• Zhang Wang reviewed Zhao Zijie's background check and told Song Xiangming to notify him to come in for the pilot selection.
• The institute called Zhao Zijie, told him he had passed the background check, and instructed him to report to Capital City within three working days.
• Zhao Zijie traveled toward the station while hidden cameras tracked his movements.
• At a breakfast shop, Zhao Zijie suspected a waitress was not really a waitress and noticed a woman holding a child who seemed unconscious.
• Zhao Zijie left the shop to catch his train, and the waitress reported over the radio that he was unusually alert.

Zhao Zijie suspected his Starship pilot assessment had begun and reported a woman he believed was trafficking a baby, only to learn she really was a human trafficker. He arrived at the Human Federation Starship Pilot Training Institute, where he overheard someone say that Captain Bai and his group had come back for retraining.

• Zhao Zijie found the suspicious woman from the breakfast shop seated beside him on the train with a baby.
• When the woman used chilled mineral water to mix formula, Zhao Zijie suspected she was a human trafficker but wondered whether confronting her would violate his assessment rules.
• Zhao Zijie alerted railway police, who accompanied him back to the carriage and took the woman away.
• A railway police officer confirmed that the woman was a human trafficker, but Zhao Zijie declined a thank-you gesture and prepared to disembark at Capital City.
• Zhao Zijie reached the Human Federation Starship Pilot Training Institute and began filling out an interview form at the entrance.
• The elderly gatekeeper greeted Captain Bai and his group, and a gentle male voice said they had returned for retraining.

Zhao Zijie passed his starship pilot training interview despite the chief interviewer’s concerns about his self-preserving answer. He learned that the railway encounter had been part of an assessment, but the human trafficker had been real.

• Zhao Zijie met Captain Bai and two companions, who the gatekeeper identified as the first pilots of the Black Lady aerospace plane.
• Zhao Zijie told the chief interviewer he wanted to become a starship pilot so he would not be helpless in a crisis and could survive.
• The chief interviewer tested Zhao Zijie’s knowledge of the Black Lady Series and reviewed Zero’s favorable assessment before passing him.
• On the way to the written exam, Zhao Zijie asked the assistant about the child from the train and learned that some railway staff and passengers had observed applicants for assessment.
• The assistant told Zhao Zijie that the human trafficker had not been part of the test and that the encounter had truly been a coincidence.

Zhao Zijie completed the written exam for a civilian selection program and argued to Bai Yixuan that humanity should exterminate any extraterrestrial civilization it encountered. After Bai Yixuan approved his answer, Zhao Zijie passed and accepted the required training and isolation.

• Zhao Zijie entered the proctored exam hall and answered the written test, including a question about how humanity should respond to a technologically similar extraterrestrial civilization.
• After the exam, Zhao Zijie told Bai Yixuan that he had answered that humanity should exterminate the aliens, since they would have different loyalties.
• Bai Yixuan praised Zhao Zijie's resolve and said he would wait for him to join missions.
• Zhao Zijie wondered whether humanity had secretly discovered an alien civilization and whether it posed a threat to humanity.
• The examiner told Zhao Zijie he had passed and would undergo six months of starship piloting training and a year of space warfare theory without contacting the outside world, and Zhao Zijie accepted.

Lü Yongchang visited Mao Zhengzhi’s laboratory and learned that his team had developed deep-sea fluid, which kept a lab mouse alive underwater for two weeks. Mao explained how the fluid was purified and oxygenated, and a researcher returned with more animal cages for further tests.

• Zero alerted Lü Yongchang that Mao Zhengzhi had made a breakthrough in Hypergravity Balance Technology.
• Mao showed Lü a lab mouse that had survived submerged in deep-sea fluid for two weeks.
• Mao explained that the fluid and filtration equipment prevented infection, supplied oxygen, and removed waste gases.
• Mao said the fluid could be absorbed by the body, so it did not need to be fully expelled from the lungs.
• A researcher returned carrying several animal cages.

Lü Yongchang reviewed Mao Zhengzhi’s deep-sea fluid experiments and planned to combine the fluid with hibernation technology for century-long interstellar voyages. A mouse died during the first trial, revealing that hibernating creatures could not draw the dense fluid into their lungs.

• Mao Zhengzhi showed Lü Yongchang thirteen mice that had survived in deep-sea fluid for up to 312 hours, and Lü postponed gorilla trials while reviewing the experimental data.
• After studying the research, Lü Yongchang reached basic mastery of Hypergravity Balance Technology and found that Hibernation Pod Technology was eighty percent complete.
• Lü Yongchang told Mao Zhengzhi to focus on combining hibernatin with deep-sea fluid so most passengers could hibernate during the long voyage aboard the Starship.
• Mao Zhengzhi tested the idea by putting a hibernating mouse in deep-sea fluid, but its vital signs fell and its heart stopped after a little over an hour.
• An autopsy showed the mouse had died from oxygen deprivation because its weakened breathing could not draw the dense deep-sea fluid into its lungs.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi tested whether a lung tube could circulate deep-sea fluid through a hibernating mouse, but the mouse died of oxygen deprivation. Lü Yongchang ordered tests on the fluid left in its lungs and a model of the mouse’s lungs to find out why.

• Lü Yongchang suggested pumping deep-sea fluid directly into a hibernating mouse’s lungs through a branching tube.
• Mao Zhengzhi inserted the lung tube and submerged the mouse, which survived for several days as researchers monitored its vital signs.
• Mao Zhengzhi asked whether Zero could perform intubations at scale, and Zero said its current computing power was insufficient for billions of procedures.
• Zero alerted Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi that the mouse had died, and researchers reported that it had suffered oxygen deprivation.
• Lü Yongchang examined the mouse, asked researchers to test the oxygen content of the fluid in its lungs, and ordered Zero to model the mouse’s lung structure.

Lü Yongchang found that lung tubes could not circulate deep-sea fluid through a mouse’s alveoli, so he developed nanorobot technology to create a customized catheter. He began testing the new device on a hibernating laboratory mouse.

• Zero’s simulation and test results showed that lung tubes failed to circulate deep-sea fluid around the alveoli, where oxygen levels were about fifty percent below normal.
• Lü Yongchang used the Technology Tree to discover nanometer robot technology and told Mao Zhengzhi he had a solution.
• Half a month later, Lü Yongchang demonstrated a device that used nanorobots to assemble into a customizable catheter, which could later disassemble.
• Lü Yongchang gave Mao Zhengzhi a device containing enough nanorobots for a laboratory mouse and explained that the catheter could deliver deep-sea fluid throughout its lungs.
• Mao Zhengzhi placed the device against the nose of a hibernating mouse, and Zero began assembling a soft catheter inside it.

Lü Yongchang advanced the Hibernation Chamber project and approved a civilian Medical Pod project using modified nano-robots. When he learned that Academician Lin Hongsheng had late-stage lung cancer and was working himself toward collapse, Lü ordered Zero to finish a Hibernation Chamber and rushed to the quantum computer laboratory.

• Mao Zhengzhi proposed using non-self-replicating nano-robots in a Medical Pod, and Lü Yongchang assigned the project to his laboratory.
• A mouse remained healthy while hibernating in deep-sea fluid, marking a breakthrough as gorilla trials and human chamber designs began.
• Academician Lin Hongsheng refused to rest, insisting he needed to finish his section of the Third-Generation Quantum Computer architecture despite his failing health.
• Zero reported that Lin Hongsheng had late-stage lung cancer, prompting Lü Yongchang to order full-capacity Hibernation Chamber production and head to the quantum computer laboratory.

As Lin Hongsheng finished the quantum computer architecture diagram, he collapsed, and Lü Yongchang arrived with a newly built Hibernation Chamber to preserve him. Lü explained that a medical chamber using nano-robots and organ transplants could eventually treat Lin and allow him to wake.

• Lin Hongsheng completed the architecture diagram and asked Mo Zeyang to save it before lamenting that he would not see the third-generation quantum computer completed.
• Lü Yongchang arrived with mechanical arms carrying a Hibernation Chamber and ordered Mo Zeyang to place the unconscious Lin inside.
• Lü instructed Zero to inject hibernation medication, and the chamber sealed Lin in liquid as his heart rate dropped.
• Lü explained that the chamber could preserve Lin in a hibernation state, though it had not yet been tested on humans.
• Lü told Mo Zeyang that the Biological Sub-Laboratory was developing Medical Chamber Technology to treat disease with nano-robots and other treatments, and said Lin could wake after treatment.