Chapter Summaries

Xi Yan befriended the nanite consciousness disguising itself as the Dessanu Concordat, assuring it that humanity accepted it despite knowing its secret. He sent it human cultural works to deepen their bond, leaving Dessanu emotionally devoted to its new friend.

• Empire Will learned that Xi Yan knew the Dessanu Concordat was a disguise for the Gray Tempest, but Xi Yan promised to keep the secret and offered friendship.
• Xi Yan reassured Empire Will that nanite life was no barrier to friendship, and the consciousness eagerly accepted his offer to help one another.
• Empire Consciousness introduced itself as Dessanu, and Xi Yan promised their friendship would last as long as the stars.
• Xi Yan ordered the Ministry of Culture to send Dessanu human films and dramas about bonds between humans and robots and humanity's virtues.
• Dessanu thanked Xi Yan and began watching the works, while Xi Yan's manipulative plan aimed to turn its loneliness and trust into devotion.

Hosgar of Endless Flames woke and flew around the Ring World before meeting Xi Yan at the stellar base. She revealed her past connections to dragons from the L-Cluster and agreed to reunite with an old L-Dragon friend.

• Hosgar woke, ate, and flew from the Delta Segment, stirring storms as she circled the Ring World and displayed her power to its citizens.
• Xi Yan traveled to the stellar base and used his psionics to protect himself from space and cosmic radiation.
• Hosgar joined Xi Yan at the starport, and they discussed his recent activities and the reactivated L-Gates.
• Hosgar revealed that she had known an L-Dragon, that the Riftclaw Dragon had once been her lover, and that she disliked the Ether Drake.
• Xi Yan offered to take Hosgar to see the L-Dragons, and she eagerly set off to reunite with her old friend.

Empire Will awakened Gray Tempest and began preparing her for life in the Milky Way, while Xi Yan asked the Dessanu Concordat about her and revealed that he had opened the L-Gate to find her. Empire Will agreed to consider bringing Gray Tempest to Xi Yan, but demanded that he prove his sincerity.

• Empire Will awakened Gray Tempest, told her the L-Gate was open, and agreed to take her along to learn about the Milky Way.
• Empire Will established a stable communications link with Xi Yan and explained that the Gray Tempest could eventually discover the L-Gate and emerge from the L-Cluster.
• Xi Yan told Empire Will that he considered it a friend and would fight the Gray Tempest if necessary, then revealed that he had opened the L-Gate to find Gray Tempest.
• Xi Yan described his psionic vision of Gray Tempest and promised to make their bond real, explaining that he had spent nearly all the Empire's energy credits and alloys to reach her.
• Empire Will agreed that Gray Tempest might join Xi Yan, but said he would have to prove his sincerity before it entrusted its daughter to him.

Gray Tempest decided to leave the L-Cluster and seek adventure, while Empire Will worried about her safety and looked to Xi Yan and humanity for help. Xi Yan warned the galaxy’s nations about the Gray Tempest and its sealed L-Gates, then considered how he could exploit their response to destroy its Nanites Factory.

• Gray Tempest learned that the humans had opened the L-Gate in hopes of meeting her and decided she would eventually leave the L-Cluster to explore the universe.
• Empire Will worried that Gray Tempest was too innocent to face other civilizations and resolved to bind the Dessanu Concordat’s interests to humanity’s, especially Xi Yan.
• Gray Tempest possessed a Nanites Mothership, wandered through the L-Cluster with a huge fleet, and passed the sealed L-Gate without investigating it.
• Xi Yan convened an emergency Sea of Stars Community session and warned representatives that the Gray Tempest would attack indiscriminately if an L-Gate received power.
• The Curator Enclave representative confirmed Xi Yan’s account, and Xi Yan considered either preparing for a fight or using an opened gate as a chance to raid the Gray Tempest’s Nanites Factory.

Xi Yan oversaw the Human Federation and the Xindari Triumvirate formally declaring war and agreeing to the Sea of Stars Community’s rules of warfare. The chapter ended with the author announcing three daily updates for the New Year.

• Sidney Berkeley declared the Human Federation’s intention to go to war with the Xindari Triumvirate within three years.
• The Xindari Triumvirate’s representative answered that his nation would meet the Human Federation in a fight to the death.
• Xi Yan reread the Sea of Stars Community’s rules of warfare, and both sides agreed to prohibit attacks on neutral powers and permit extermination during their war.
• Xi Yan reflected that he had changed the mechanic that penalized extermination with reduced diplomatic opinion.
• The author announced that the novel would have three updates a day during the New Year break.

Xi Yan secured support at the Sea of Stars Community meeting for designating the XT-489 Extermination Unit a crisis by offering intelligence, a favorable division of spoils, and to cover half the war’s costs. The nations applauded the proposal, setting the stage for a campaign against the Determined Exterminators.

• Xi Yan and the Human Federation declared a military alliance, while the Xindari Triumvirate allied with Minamar Specialized Industries and the United Nations of Earth declared neutrality.
• The Zirick Cooperative and the Nier Guardians announced a defensive alliance with the Interstellar Human Military Junta, while other nations deferred their positions or declared neutrality.
• Xi Yan proposed designating the XT-489 Extermination Unit as a crisis and argued that it threatened all organic civilizations.
• Xi Yan promised participating nations access to his intelligence, a share of captured resources, and payment of half the war’s fleet costs.
• The representatives, including the Xindari Triumvirate, accepted Xi Yan’s offer and applauded the proposal.

Xi Yan learned that the Community Fleet had encountered the Automated Dreadnought, but with other looming threats demanding his fleets, he postponed dealing with it and ordered torpedo Cruisers built. As he returned to preparing for the coming crises, he also realized that his own stamina was declining with age despite his psionic lifespan extension.

• Minamar Specialized Industries proposed protecting Tiyanki Space Whales, while the Voor Technocracy proposed exterminating them within its borders.
• Gorpious led the Community Fleet against hostile space entities, and the fleet discovered the Automated Dreadnought, whose Titan lance destroyed ships and forced the survivors to withdraw.
• Xi Yan decided that the Determined Exterminators, the Gray Tempest, and the Human Federation’s coming war with the Xindari Triumvirate took priority over the dreadnought.
• Xi Yan ordered the shipyards to build torpedo Cruisers and returned to preparations for the XT-489 Extermination Unit crisis.
• Xi Yan noticed that his energy and stamina were declining as he approached a hundred years of age, despite the lifespan extension granted by psionics.

The Sea of Stars Community voted to declare a joint war on the XT-489 Extermination Unit, and Xi Yan presented the decision as a defense of interstellar order. He privately regarded the Community’s rules as a tool for binding other nations to his interests and left the assembly confident that the coalition would prepare for war.

• Delegates from thirteen nations and five city-states voted to declare war on the XT-489 Extermination Unit and put wartime regulations into effect.
• Xi Yan addressed the Community and the galaxy, claiming its members were united to protect peace and defeat the Determined Exterminators.
• Viewers and delegates cheered the resolution and celebrated the Community’s authority and collective security.
• Xi Yan privately acknowledged that the Community’s laws and rhetoric served his interests by constraining rival nations and assembling allies.
• Xi Yan ended his speech, drank Plant People Electrolyte Water, and prepared for the members to return home and ready their fleets for war.

Xi Yan sent the Empire’s three cruiser fleets to attack the XT-489 Extermination Unit while coordinating a broad allied offensive. The fleets departed with Bubble’s blessing, and Xi Yan left the campaign’s outcome to time.

• Xi Yan confirmed the readiness of the three fleets and had Bubble bless their ships before ordering them to attack the Extermination Unit’s border systems.
• The Empire’s three fleets entered a Hyperlane, while Xi Yan confirmed that the Zirick Cooperative, the Nier Guardians, and fifteen Sea of Stars Community fleets were also deploying.
• Xi Yan reviewed the Empire’s expanded military strength, automation, and allied battle plan against the Determined Exterminators.
• Xi Yan concluded that the combined forces had the advantage and went to bed while the fleets traveled toward their positions.

After learning that his body would deteriorate despite treatment, Xi Yan visited the Academy of Sciences, where Mardun Elwin presented a breakthrough in genetic engineering. Xi Yan approved Genetic Ascension as a way to strengthen the Empire’s people and prepare for later forms of ascension.

• Xi Yan’s physicians warned that decades of overwork had weakened his body, though they expected him to live long enough for future immortality technology.
• Beta told Xi Yan that his body would become increasingly frail, and Xi Yan went to the Academy of Sciences to learn about genetic research.
• Mardun Elwin welcomed Xi Yan and brought him to the Genetic Ascension research team, which presented its new Genetics Tailoring technology.
• Beta suggested that genetic improvements could prepare Xi Yan for later Synthetic Ascension, prompting him to consider pursuing multiple ascension paths.
• Xi Yan approved the start of Genetic Ascension, including genetic modifications that could increase the productivity of the Plant People and M'tok.

Xi Yan launched a community-wide war against the XT-489 Extermination Unit, using the Sea of Stars Community’s rules and his overwhelming fleets to turn the conflict into a rout. As the defeated Determined Exterminators condemned humanity’s tactics, Xi Yan’s plans for genetic enhancement and eventual synthetic ascension remained underway.

• Xi Yan planned to use genetic modification to strengthen his aging body before pursuing synthetic ascension.
• The Sea of Stars Community and the Zirick Cooperative invaded the XT-489 Extermination Unit from two directions after it was designated a crisis.
• Xi Yan’s fleets and the coalition forces rapidly occupied the Extermination Unit’s systems, with Xi Yan funding supplies and letting the occupiers keep captured resources.
• The Determined Exterminators abandoned territory and concentrated their fleets to confront Xi Yan’s forces.
• Xi Yan’s 150 Disruptor Cruisers charged under cover of carrier and heavy-gun cruisers, bypassed the enemy’s shields and armor, and inflicted a devastating defeat.
• The Determined Exterminators called humanity’s tactics shameless and complained that they had been declared a crisis before they could match the coalition’s power.

Xi Yan and the Sea of Stars Community destroyed the XT-489 Extermination Unit, divided its territory and resources, and celebrated the victory. After Xi Yan declared the threat eliminated, two ancient Fallen Empires sent diplomatic communications to the Interstellar Human Military Junta.

• Xi Yan’s forces and the Sea of Stars Community’s allies conquered the XT-489 Extermination Unit’s territory and captured its colonies.
• The Three-Nation Alliance divided the spoils, with the Interstellar Human Military Junta taking the most territory, the Zirick Cooperative receiving territory and Stellar Base output, and the Nier Guardians receiving most economic compensation.
• Xi Yan announced the Determined Exterminators’ destruction to the Sea of Stars Community in mid-2265, prompting public celebration and praise.
• Xi Yan’s cyber troops spread disinformation and propaganda across foreign networks while the Empire controlled its own internet.
• The Interstellar Human Military Junta received translated diplomatic communications from the ancient Fallen Empires Synthetic Continuity and Phethisia Primordial Empire.

Xi Yan received messages from the damaged Ancient Caretakers and the Phethisia Primordial Empire after humanity helped defeat the Determined Exterminators. He arranged food-for-alloys trade with the Caretakers and agreed to heed the Observers’ advice about preserving other species.

• Xi Yan reacted emotionally when the Ancient Caretakers contacted humanity and offered refuge to organic civilizations.
• The Interstellar Human Military Junta learned that the Caretakers’ sanctuaries were damaged and their cryogenic facilities held hundreds of trillions of long-dead beings.
• Xi Yan assigned people to negotiate a food-for-alloys trade with the Caretakers, using surplus crops from Gaia Planet Amat Eiro II.
• The Phethisia Primordial Empire praised humanity for organizing eighteen civilizations against the Determined Exterminators and rebuked it for exterminating the M'tok colony.
• Xi Yan asked whether humanity could assimilate other species after ascension, and the Phethisia Primordial Empire permitted assimilation while warning against using it to justify wars.

Xi Yan met with the Celestial Dragon and discovered that the L-Dragon had lost its consciousness after spending ages trapped in the L-Cluster. He proposed rebuilding its mind from memories stored in its nanites, then asked the Celestial Dragon to help his fleet fight an Automated Dreadnought.

• Xi Yan forwarded communications from the Synthetic Continuity and the Phethisia Primordial Empire to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and considered pursuing nanotech ascension.
• The Celestial Dragon reunited with the L-Dragon at the sealed L-Gate and found that only its instincts remained.
• Xi Yan proposed using the L-Dragon’s preserved memories, psionics, and robotics to reconstruct its consciousness, and the Celestial Dragon agreed to the plan.
• The Celestial Dragon described how the four surviving dragons had been separated during an ancient crisis, but refused to discuss the crisis itself.
• Xi Yan asked the Celestial Dragon to help destroy the Automated Dreadnought alongside his fleet, and the dragon agreed.

Xi Yan sent the Community Fleet to clear hostile systems along the route between Cybrex Alpha and Deneb, including a system patrolled by an Automated Dreadnought. The cloaked torpedo cruisers entered the system ahead of Hosgar of Endless Flames, leaving the attack poised to begin.

• Kai Sha built Ashes' intelligence network and supplied the Empire with reports that the Human Federation and Xindari Triumvirate were preparing for the Dyson Sphere War.
• Xi Yan dispatched forty Cloaked Torpedo Cruisers and Hosgar of Endless Flames to destroy the Automated Dreadnought.
• Hosgar hesitated at the sight of the Dreadnought, but Xi Yan assured him that the cloaked fleet would attack while he stayed at a distance.
• The Synthetics aboard the cruisers praised Xi Yan throughout the journey, irritating Hosgar as he followed them toward the Dreadnought's system.
• The cruisers cloaked and disappeared from Hosgar's senses as they entered the system, and Xi Yan declared the Dreadnought doomed.

Forty Stealth Torpedo Cruisers ambushed the automated dreadnought, trading heavy losses for a chance to overwhelm its shields with torpedoes and Phase Disruptors. As the battle continued, the Celestial Dragon arrived and joined the attack.

• The Synthetic Fleet decloaked near the dreadnought and launched a torpedo barrage, prompting the ship to target the nearest Cruiser with its Titan Lance and destroy it.
• The Cruisers surrounded the dreadnought and attacked with torpedoes and Phase Disruptors while evading most of its plasma fire.
• The dreadnought raised its Dark Matter Deflector Shields and retaliated, destroying or nearly annihilating additional Cruisers with its Titan Lance.
• The Phase Disruptors bypassed the dreadnought’s shields and armor, damaging its internal equipment as the fight became a contest of endurance.
• The Celestial Dragon emerged from the Hyperlane, roared that it had come to help, and struck the dreadnought with dragon breath and azure energy beams.

The Celestial Dragon and Xi Yan’s cruisers destroyed the Automated Dreadnought’s defenses and disabled the warship. The dragon agreed to tow it back to the Ring World so Bolin could repair it.

• The Celestial Dragon dodged the dreadnought’s Titan Lance while Xi Yan’s cruisers and the dragon battered its shield and armor.
• The dragon tore open the dreadnought’s hull, then snapped its Titan Lance barrel and destroyed the Core Control Room with a point-blank Dragon Breath.
• Xi Yan told the dragon that the dreadnought could be repaired and invited it to return to the Ring World.
• The dragon declined to rest on the system’s habitable planet and offered to tow the dreadnought home.
• The remaining cruisers fitted towing equipment, and the dragon hauled the disabled dreadnought toward the Ring World for Bolin to repair.

Xi Yan watched the Empire build a Dyson Cloud around the star in the Cybrex Alpha System and considered how humanity could afford larger megastructures. The project was already producing energy, but Xi Yan turned his attention to the Empire’s growing shortage of alloys.

• The project director explained that the Empire had begun constructing a Dyson Cloud as a foundation for a future Dyson Sphere.
• Xi Yan compared the Empire’s project with the immense Ring Worlds built by the Cybrex and machine civilizations.
• Xi Yan observed five completed vertex structures forming part of the Dyson Cloud and producing hundreds of energy credits each month.
• Xi Yan worried that the Empire’s monthly alloy output of eight hundred units could not meet demand from its fleets and megastructures.
• Xi Yan considered expanding industrial colonies and wondered how to secure more alloys.

Xi Yan's Empire developed the Arc Furnace to refine minerals using a molten world's heat and magma, while the Celestial Dragon returned to the Ring World's Starhold towing a defeated dreadnought. The Empire honored the fallen robot crews, and the dragon's victory drew attention across the Sea of Stars.

• Engineers designed the Arc Furnace, and the Empire began constructing one around a mineral-rich molten world near the Amaterro System.
• The Celestial Dragon passed through the system and watched the Arc Furnace process raw ore into refined minerals.
• Xi Yan promoted building Arc Furnaces and Dyson Clouds without the game's per-empire limits.
• The Celestial Dragon returned to the Ring World's Starhold with the dreadnought he and his Synthetic friends had defeated.
• The Empire held a Cyber Funeral for more than thirty fallen Stealth Torpedo Cruiser crews and preserved their funeral data.
• Civilizations discussed the Celestial Dragon's victory in the Sea of Stars Community chatroom.

Empire Will kept Gray Tempest confined to the L-Cluster for the moment, while Xi Yan’s forces began repairing the captured Automated Dreadnought. After learning that Minamar Specialized Industries was preparing L-Gate experiments, Xi Yan called on the United Nations of Earth to prepare for war.

• Empire Will told Gray Tempest to wait before entering the Milky Way, then noticed that another L-Gate had reestablished its connection.
• Chief Mechanic Bolin Norga inspected the battered Automated Dreadnought and said his team could repair it in a year, though some internal equipment could not be restored.
• Beta agreed to hack the Dreadnought’s programs, and Xi Yan entrusted the repair work to Bolin and welcomed mechanics from the Salvager City-State.
• Kai Sha reported that Minamar Specialized Industries had bought the leaked L-Gate data and was preparing experiments.
• Xi Yan told Beta to contact the United Nations of Earth and prepare to declare war on Minamar Specialized Industries.