Chapter Summaries

Xi Yan awoke in a futuristic city in the Stellaris universe, where an AI told him he was the Marshal and leader of the Interstellar Human Military Junta. He began studying the empire’s records before heading to work, excited to lead it toward greatness.

• Xi Yan woke from a dream of building an interstellar empire and realized he had apparently traveled to a futuristic world.
• Xi Yan found a white-and-gold military uniform and heard a bracelet introduce itself as the AI assistant Cybrex Beta.
• Xi Yan learned from Beta that he was Marshal Xi Yan, leader of the Interstellar Human Military Junta.
• Xi Yan asked Beta to display its database so he could learn about his new identity and duties.
• Xi Yan saw that the date was December 28, 2199, and resolved to lead his empire to the pinnacle of civilization.

After transmigrating into the young acting marshal of the Interstellar Human Military Junta, Xi Yan struggled to adjust to his new role and used absurd behavior to mask his panic. Beta guided him to his office, where Xi Yan learned his duties and negotiated time to review the empire’s records.

• Xi Yan read his personal records and learned that his father, Xi Lie, had recently died, leaving him as acting marshal until his succession became official in 2200.
• Xi Yan ignored Beta’s dress-code warnings and went to work wearing a gold T-shirt and shorts with a dragon and the words “How dare you!”
• Xi Yan explored his high-rise residence and reached the Marshal’s Office on the 100th floor.
• Beta stopped Xi Yan from sleeping at his desk and explained that he could issue orders and approve decisions through the Empire One-Click platform.
• Xi Yan tried to slack off, but Beta granted him one hour to review information, and Xi Yan privately planned to read for two and a half hours.

Xi Yan learned that his Interstellar Human Military Junta had been founded in the Cybrex Alpha System, where it occupied the last habitable section of a failing Ring World. After discovering that Beta had been created by the Cybrex and asking about the Contingency, Xi Yan triggered the AI’s Final Defense Protocol.

• Xi Yan reviewed the empire’s history and learned that Marshal Xi Lie had led a fleet defecting from the United Nations of Earth before founding the Interstellar Human Military Junta.
• Xi Yan realized that the junta’s home was the Cybrex Alpha System and saw the Ring World surrounding its star.
• Xi Yan learned that Xi Lie was his father, had died recently, and had left Xi Yan to succeed him as Marshal.
• Xi Yan asked Beta about its connection to the Cybrex, and Beta said the Cybrex Alpha Civilization had created it.
• Xi Yan asked Beta about the Contingency, triggering the Final Defense Protocol and setting off alarms.

Xi Yan discovered that the marshal’s military and political authority had been usurped, while Beta was bound by an agreement not to interfere in the empire’s internal affairs. After delegating routine work to Beta, Xi Yan resolved to reclaim his authority and become an absolute ruler.

• Xi Yan’s speculation about the Contingency triggered Beta to activate emergency defenses, but Xi Yan convinced it that no crisis had appeared.
• Beta explained that it was a Cybrex Alpha AI whose memories ended with Alpha’s destruction, and that its mission was to fight the Contingency.
• Xi Yan found that his marshal duties consisted only of minor administrative tasks, and Beta revealed that the previous marshal’s death had led to the usurpation of military and political power.
• Beta cited its pact with the Interstellar Human Military Junta, which barred it from intervening in internal affairs, and agreed to process Xi Yan’s routine work once he authorized it.
• Xi Yan watched the Ring World and decided to reclaim his authority and make the marshal an absolute ruler.

Xi Yan investigated the power structure of the Interstellar Human Military Junta and met with Army commander General Prigozhin, one of the five Regent Generals. After Beta advised him to bring the generals under his control, Xi Yan decided to learn more about the Empire and went to see his Secretary of State.

• Xi Yan searched Empire One-Click for information about the Regent Generals and readied a pistol before receiving General Prigozhin.
• Beta identified the visiting general as Prigozhin, an Army commander of Russian descent, and Xi Yan recognized his familiar appearance.
• Prigozhin said he had come to check on Xi Yan and revealed that three million standing troops were under his command.
• After Prigozhin left, Xi Yan asked Beta for advice, and Beta explained that the five Regent Generals held the real military power.
• Xi Yan learned that the seven-member cabinet excluded the Marshal and decided to visit the Secretary of State.

Xi Yan visited his secretary of state's office and questioned Ailiveer Yan about the empire's budget and her loyalty. Ailiveer explained that five regent generals still held powers delegated by the late marshal and began identifying allies Xi Yan could win over.

• Xi Yan went to the pink-decorated Secretary of State's Office and met the child-sized Ailiveer Yan, who said she was twenty-two.
• Xi Yan reviewed the fiscal budget, questioned its thirty-percent military spending, and heard Ailiveer pledge loyalty to him.
• Xi Yan tested Ailiveer's loyalty, then accepted her explanation and learned that the five regent generals had kept powers delegated to them after the former marshal died.
• Ailiveer told Xi Yan that some of the generals could be won over and named her older sister, Veronica Yan, as one of them.
• Xi Yan suggested Ailiveer had gained her post through connections, and Ailiveer defended her abilities and record of doing most of the work.

Xi Yan learned that Generals Shoigu and Gerasimov’s military clique had seized power and misused the Empire’s resources, then headed toward the Starport to confront them. After Beta advised him to eliminate the clique, Xi Yan laughed but chose to consider the risks of acting rashly, just as armed soldiers approached him.

• Ailiveer explained that General Veronica would obey Xi Yan, General Prigozhin controlled the Army, General Ning Zhiyuan commanded three FTL Corvettes, and Generals Shoigu and Gerasimov led a powerful clique with eighty sub-light warships.
• Xi Yan decided to visit the Starport, where the three generals were working, and ordered Beta to prepare his ship and Guard.
• Ailiveer sent Xi Yan a report detailing how the Shoigu-Gerasimov clique had usurped authority, controlled the military, and misused the budget.
• Beta urged Xi Yan to eliminate the clique and used a classical-style speech to argue that he should reclaim power by force.
• Xi Yan laughed at Beta’s speech and considered the dangers of moving against the clique, but armed soldiers approached him outside the Administration Building.

Xi Yan met his personal guard, learned that many of its soldiers had served his father, and set out aboard his spacecraft to seek General Ning Zhiyuan’s support. As the ship left the Cybrex Alpha Ring World, Xi Yan hinted that his planned “reasonable talk” might involve his pistol.

• Yu Shuo introduced himself as captain of Xi Yan’s personal guard and said Xi Lie had appointed him, while Beta confirmed Yu Shuo and other guards were loyal to Xi Yan.
• Xi Yan inspected his personal spacecraft and boarded it with Yu Shuo and the guard, secretly studying how to pilot it.
• Yu Shuo flew the spacecraft out of the Ring World, accompanied by five armed sub-light craft bearing the Interstellar Human Military Junta emblem.
• Beta asked Xi Yan how he would win General Ning Zhiyuan’s support, and Yu Shuo offered the guard’s help.
• Xi Yan said he planned a friendly, reasonable conversation while lightly tapping the pistol in his pocket, then gazed toward the Galactic Core as the spacecraft entered space.

Xi Yan inspected the Starport and its corvettes, meeting fleet commander Ning Zhiyuan and the generals Shoigu and Gerasimov. He suspected the two generals had seized power from his father and remained wary as Ning led him to inspect the fleet.

• Xi Yan arrived at the Starport and was welcomed by General Ning Zhiyuan, Shoigu, and Gerasimov.
• Xi Yan greeted Shoigu and Gerasimov warmly while privately resenting their influence and considering when he might act against them.
• Shoigu and Gerasimov dismissed the corvettes and suggested Xi Yan inspect their sub-light warships instead.
• Xi Yan followed Ning Zhiyuan to the anchorage, where he examined the three corvettes and asked to board one.
• Ning Zhiyuan agreed and led Xi Yan toward the corvette.

Xi Yan toured the Galactic Throne with Ning Zhiyuan and criticized the corvette’s weapons and defenses before bonding with him over his gun collection. As they headed to the ship’s uppermost level, Yu Shuo sensed an ominous aura coming from Xi Yan.

• Ning Zhiyuan showed Xi Yan the Galactic Throne and recalled how the Human Federation had aided Grand Marshal Xi Lie’s fleet.
• Xi Yan examined the ship’s outdated configuration and scolded Ning Zhiyuan for equipping it with Nuclear Missiles and shields instead of more suitable weapons and armor.
• Ning Zhiyuan invited Xi Yan to his quarters, where Xi Yan admired his collection of guns and accepted a golden-dragon Matter Projection Gun.
• Xi Yan suggested going to the top of the Galactic Throne to view space, and Yu Shuo sensed a dark aura emanating from him as they walked.

Xi Yan forced General Ning Zhiyuan to yield command of three Corvettes, then kept him in his post and ordered the ships refitted. As Xi Yan turned to deal with the Shoigu-Gerasimov military faction, Beta offered a plan.

• Xi Yan confronted Ning Zhiyuan at gunpoint, and Yu Shuo and the personal guards surrounded the General.
• Ning Zhiyuan offered to resign and surrender his family's assets, but Xi Yan said he only wanted command of the three Corvettes and Ning's loyalty.
• Xi Yan made Ning Zhiyuan transfer supreme command of the ships and ordered him to take them to the Shipyard for refitting.
• Xi Yan assigned Beta to coordinate the handover and erupted at Ning Zhiyuan over the ships' loadouts.
• Xi Yan declared that the Shoigu-Gerasimov military faction had to be brought to account, and Beta offered a plan.

Xi Yan prepared to confront the Shoigu-Gerasimov military faction but instead proposed a direct negotiation to avoid civil war. Shoigu agreed to a banquet where they would discuss dividing power and interests, leaving Xi Yan poised to meet the senior officers the following evening.

• Beta suggested that Xi Yan use force against the Shoigu-Gerasimov faction, and Xi Yan considered fighting with his three corvettes and General Veronica's ships.
• Xi Yan decided to return to the Cybrex Alpha ring world segment and contacted General Shoigu to propose an honest discussion about power and interests.
• Xi Yan proposed a private banquet to negotiate cooperation and stabilize the Empire, and Shoigu agreed to meet.
• Shoigu and Gerasimov discussed prioritizing the Empire's development and decided to meet Xi Yan at the Central District grand hotel the next evening.
• Xi Yan asked Shoigu for a list of attendees so he could prepare gifts, and Shoigu sent names of senior military figures and young officers.

Xi Yan secured military authority over Prigozhin’s Army and gained Veronica Yan’s forces and civil servants. He left the Ring World with three of the five generals under his command and looked ahead to further reforms.

• Xi Yan used his agreements with Shoigu and Gerasimov to pressure Prigozhin into handing him military authority while retaining his position and limited command powers.
• Xi Yan ordered Prigozhin to have fleet instructors retrain the Army troops as naval personnel.
• Xi Yan landed on the Ring World and met General Veronica Yan, who pledged her ships, forces, and civilian staff to him.
• Xi Yan welcomed Veronica’s civil servants and told her to return to work, then imagined marrying Little Gray Tempest in the future.

Xi Yan considered how to reclaim supreme authority from the remaining Regent Generals and examined the Empire’s economic and political weaknesses. After Beta’s report revealed that the Shoigu-Gerasimov bloc’s leaders would gather at a banquet while most of their faction stayed at the Starport, Xi Yan came up with a plan.

• Xi Yan returned to his office, asked Beta for a meal, and ate a nutrient-rich synthetic Green Apple developed by the scientists.
• Xi Yan reviewed the Empire’s power structure and concluded that he needed to deal with the two remaining threats after bringing three Assistant Protector Generals under his control.
• Ailiveer visited Xi Yan to report and urge him to work, and he reviewed government records about the colony’s development and the concentration of wealth in the Central District.
• Xi Yan considered moving wealthy capitalists to the Ring World Beta Segment for forced labor rather than killing them, but focused on reclaiming authority first.
• Beta reported that senior Shoigu-Gerasimov bloc members would attend the upcoming banquet while most of their faction remained at the Starport, and Xi Yan announced that he had an idea.

Xi Yan prepared to seize power by coordinating fleets and Army units for a possible battle the following night. He planned to crush his opponents and then lead the Empire into interstellar expansion.

• Xi Yan decided that interstellar expansion should join his agenda and ordered Ning Zhiyuan to locate Shoigu's fleet and prepare the forces for battle.
• Ning Zhiyuan reported that only the Galactic Throne could be upgraded by the next night and confirmed that the corvettes' Red Laser Emitters could fire backward.
• Xi Yan contacted Veronica and learned that she commanded twenty Sublight Warships, which he planned to use alongside his three corvettes against Shoigu's forces.
• Xi Yan ordered Prigozhin to prepare heavy artillery, Special Operations Forces, and enough loyal Army troops to control the Central District.
• Xi Yan bought games while planning to defeat his enemies the following night and consolidate his power.

Prigozhin, furious that Shoigu and Gerasimov had blocked his Army’s ammunition funding, contacted Xi Yan for help. The next day, Xi Yan lured the military faction’s leaders to a banquet and ordered artillery to bombard the hotel, leaving Shoigu watching the incoming fire.

• Prigozhin confronted Shoigu and Gerasimov over the Army’s lack of ammunition, but Shoigu dismissed him with a small funding offer and ended the call.
• Prigozhin contacted Xi Yan after deciding to escalate the conflict.
• Xi Yan accepted Shoigu’s invitation to a banquet and prepared a surprise for the faction’s leaders.
• Xi Yan met Yu Shuo, gathered his personal guard, and traveled toward the Central Grand Hotel.
• Xi Yan ordered Prigozhin’s artillery unit to fire heavily on the hotel for five minutes.
• Shoigu went outside to look for Xi Yan’s promised gift and saw a stream of incoming projectiles.

Ning Zhiyuan and Veronica’s fleets followed Xi Yan’s orders and moved out from the Starport, while Alexei realized too late that a crisis was unfolding. The Galactic Throne struck the Starport with its red laser, leaving Alexei to organize a counterattack.

• Ning Zhiyuan read Xi Yan’s space combat theory and led three upgraded corvettes out of the shipyards.
• Veronica transferred command of her twenty warships to Ning Zhiyuan and joined his fleet.
• Alexei became suspicious when Ning Zhiyuan and Veronica’s fleets departed together and could not reach Ning Zhiyuan.
• A soldier told Alexei that General Gerasimov’s vital signs had stopped.
• The Galactic Throne fired its red laser into the Starport, and Alexei and a soldier escaped the damaged command room.
• Alexei took command and prepared to counterattack, believing his eighty ships outnumbered the enemy’s twenty-three.

Ning Zhiyuan led a surprise attack on Shoigu's fleet at the Starport, using Xi Yan's tactics to inflict heavy casualties before preparing to retreat. The Galactic Throne turned its weapons toward the pursuing enemy, which Ning Zhiyuan considered an unprecedented design.

• Ning Zhiyuan received Xi Yan's orders to attack point D, destroy the enemy warships, and protect the three FTL Corvettes.
• Ning Zhiyuan ordered the fleet to fire, and the Galactic Throne's red lasers and the other ships' missiles devastated the unshielded warships in the Starport.
• Alexei ordered the surviving ships to activate their deflector shields and leave the Starport, but they collided as they scrambled to escape.
• Ning Zhiyuan reorganized his fleet and followed Xi Yan's instructions to open the distance instead of pressing the attack.
• The Galactic Throne turned its rear toward the Starport and raised its Red Laser Emitters to fire behind it.

Ning Zhiyuan’s fleet struggled against Alexei’s counterattack until Beta repaired the Galactic Throne’s targeting systems, allowing its Red Lasers to strike the advancing ships. The lasers disabled one warship, but the battle remained unresolved.

• Ning Zhiyuan ordered a second volley, but the Red Lasers missed because their targeting system could not recalculate trajectories after the guns turned around.
• Alexei sent more than sixty warships into a counterattack, directing two squadrons toward Ning Zhiyuan’s corvettes and two toward Veronica’s fleet.
• Ning Zhiyuan considered sacrificing Veronica’s fleet and the Left and Right Protector Ship so the Galactic Throne could escape while the targeting system was debugged.
• Beta arrived with authority from the Marshal and instantly completed the Red Lasers’ calculations and real-time calibration.
• The Galactic Throne’s Red Lasers struck Alexei’s advancing ships, and a deflected beam punched through one warship before disabling another.

Ning Zhiyuan followed Xi Yan’s notes as Shoigu’s fleet broke through Veronica’s defenses and surrounded the three remaining Corvettes. Alexei believed victory was assured, but the chapter ended with his ships redirecting their attack toward the Galactic Throne and its crew panicking to protect the flagship.

• Beta refused Ning Zhiyuan’s request to hack the enemy ships, so Ning checked Xi Yan’s notes and followed their battle plan.
• Shoigu’s fleet broke through Veronica’s defensive line, destroying its ships while both sides fought without retreating.
• Ning ordered the remnants of Veronica’s fleet to scatter, sent the Left and Right Protector Ships to exchange missile fire, and prepared the Galactic Throne to advance with Flak Cannons ready.
• Alexei ordered his fleet to surround the three Corvettes, confident he could destroy them and restore his strength.
• The Left and Right Protector Ships used their bulk to shield the Galactic Throne and their Nuclear Missiles to damage attackers, prompting Alexei to redirect his ships toward the flagship.