Chapter Summaries

The United Nations of Earth defeated the Xindari Triumvirate, then withdrew as the Gray Tempest Mothership began exterminating its people. Xi Yan watched Ailiveer and Veronica enter hibernation and prepared to do the same.

• Quan Xiaojiang and the Space Marines boarded the Xindari fleet, killed its leaders, and seized the Stellar Base.
• The United Nations of Earth took the Xindari fleet and territory, then sent the Gray Tempest Mothership the coordinates of Xindari colonies before withdrawing.
• The Gray Tempest Mothership arrived in the Xindari capital system and unleashed a nanite storm, exterminating over ten billion people and fracturing the alliance.
• Xi Yan commended the returning Air Transport Corps and continued delaying Minamar Specialized Industries' requests for help.
• Ailiveer and Veronica entered hibernation, telling Xi Yan to rest and reassuring him that they would meet again in the future.
• Xi Yan agreed to enter hibernation after a lab-coated figure approached him.

Xi Yan sat upon the golden throne and transferred his consciousness into its mechanical brain, gaining control over the Empire’s connected devices. He left the chapter as a powerful psionic and mechanical intelligence, able to project himself wherever images could be displayed.

• Xi Yan entered the palace on Cybrex Alpha Ring World to take his seat in the life-support device built to preserve his rule.
• [Teacher] performed a ritual to shield the throne from outside psionic power and strengthen the Empire’s Praetorian Guard.
• Xi Yan sat on the golden throne, which halted his body’s aging and connected his brain to its artificial neural components.
• Xi Yan transferred his consciousness into the throne’s mechanical brain and discovered that Beta’s programs protected it from viruses.
• Xi Yan connected to devices throughout the Empire and projected himself between them, while Beta marveled at the technology.

[Teacher] unleashed an ancient psionics ascension across the Human Empire by directing its subjects’ faith toward Xi Yan, who had become eternal within the palace. The Shroudwalker Enclave confirmed that the entities in the Shroud had not noticed, and the Holy Guardians’ priestess promised to investigate.

• [Teacher] spread his psionic power across the Ring World and called on the Empire’s subjects to worship Xi Yan and offer him their faith.
• The Empire’s subjects knelt in devotion as their collective faith gathered into an immense power that began the psionics ascension.
• The Shroudwalker commander and Shroud Mentors peered into the Shroud and concluded that its entities had not noticed [Teacher]’s success.
• The Shroudwalker commander contacted the Holy Guardians, and their priestess received his report about [Teacher] and the Supreme King.
• The priestess said she had sensed the power of faith and the mind and would investigate.

The Sky Bishop led the Precursors of the Lost Empire in a planet-wide consecration ceremony, praising Prophet Zarqlan and linking their faith through psionic power. The ceremony ended with the Precursors pledging to follow Zarqlan’s will.

• The priestess invited the Shroudwalker Enclave commander to witness the consecration ceremony, and he accepted.
• The Sky Bishop addressed the gathered Precursors and called on them to honor the saints in the name of Prophet Zarqlan.
• More than ten billion Precursors praised Zarqlan, strengthening their shared faith through psionic power.
• The Sky Bishop recited scripture about the duties of the Plow, Flamehammer, Holy Pliers, and Holy Workshop Attendants.
• The Precursors ended the ceremony by declaring that they would follow Zarqlan’s will.

Xi Yan witnessed [Teacher] begin psionic ascension across the Empire, then learned that the Golden Throne had transformed him into an immensely powerful, effectively immortal consciousness. He left the chapter anticipating synthetic ascension and the Great Awakening as the Empire’s government gradually shifted toward an imperial government.

• [Teacher] channeled a vast wave of emotional psionic energy through the Golden Throne, spreading faith and planting psychic beacons throughout the Empire.
• [Teacher] told Xi Yan that this effort would prepare humanity for a future Great Awakening, then revealed mechanical hands beneath his robe.
• [Teacher] explained that Xi Yan’s soul had taken shape and that rising from the throne would mark synthetic ascension and the Great Awakening.
• The Empire’s log proclaimed Xi Yan the Supreme King and described his people’s devotion, while new modifiers and an ascension situation appeared.
• Beta explained that Xi Yan’s consciousness could move between psionic energy and the Golden Throne’s mechanical brain, making him difficult to attack and able to access the Empire’s networks.
• Xi Yan discovered that his expanded consciousness greatly accelerated his work and would eventually let him inhabit customized mechanical bodies.

Xi Yan established contact with the Heavenly People Holy Guardian Empire and discovered that its people were near-perfect humans devoted to Zarqlan. He tested their faith with exaggerated praise and found that they embraced the humans as exceptionally devoted followers.

• Xi Yan received a targeted message from the Heavenly People Holy Guardian Empire and saw that its primary species looked like flawless humans.
• Xi Yan asked whether the Heavenly People were human, and they explained that divine psionic power and Zarqlan's teachings had perfected them.
• Xi Yan asked for Zarqlan's scriptures, and the Heavenly People sent him a collection of religious texts.
• Xi Yan replied with an extravagant declaration of loyalty to Zarqlan, including a song and a long list of vows.
• The Heavenly People enthusiastically echoed Xi Yan's claims and praised the humans' faith as even stronger than their own.

Xi Yan discovered Prophet's Retreat while expanding south, then used Minamar Specialized Industries' desperation over the Gray Tempest Fleet to negotiate for a colony and an exclave. He secured the Sea of Stars Community's support for a petition to the Lost Empires and set out to seek their help.

• Xi Yan found the Gaia holy world Prophet's Retreat in a southern star system and left it untouched.
• Minamar Specialized Industries pleaded with the Sea of Stars Community for help against the Gray Tempest Fleet, but the joint military campaign was rejected.
• A shareholder of Minamar Specialized Industries asked Xi Yan for help, and he demanded colonies and an exclave in exchange.
• Minamar Specialized Industries agreed to cede one former sub-light civilization's colony and nearby star systems, contingent on results.
• Xi Yan proposed a joint petition to the Lost Empires, won the Sea of Stars Community's support, and went to see them.

Xi Yan contacted four ancient empires and persuaded them to send fleets against the Gray Tempest in Minamar Specialized Industries' territory. Their rivalries flared as the fleets gathered, while the Keepers of Knowledge remained unreachable.

• Xi Yan persuaded the Rixian Seed Empire to intervene against the Gray Tempest.
• The Synthetic Continuity processed the human data and sent its Fearless Security Fleet toward Minamar Specialized Industries' territory.
• Xi Yan convinced the Phethisia Primordial Empire to dispatch its fleet by sharing records about alien species.
• Xi Yan invoked Zarqlan to persuade the Heavenly People Holy Guardian Empire to join the fight.
• The Rixian Seed Empire and Phethisia Primordial Empire traded insults over their opposing ethics, while the Heavenly People welcomed them both.
• The four ancient empires sent their Lost Empire fleets to attack the Gray Tempest Fleet in Minamar Specialized Industries' territory.

Xi Yan’s message about Zarqlan triggered a grief-stricken psionic frenzy across the Heavenly People Holy Guardian Empire, spreading through its colonies and drawing power from the Shroud. The uncontrolled wave began forming a Shroud Storm and moved toward nearby regions of space.

• Xi Yan’s message and song made the Empress, the Sky Bishop, and the palace ministers weep and praise Zarqlan.
• The Sky Bishop tore off her robes and rushed to the Heavenly Cathedral, where the Empire’s people gathered in devotion.
• Psionic power carried Xi Yan’s words and song across Gaia Planet and the Lost Empire’s colonies, causing Precursors to sob and lash out.
• The psionic tide reached the Shroud, attracting uncanny entities and merging Shroud power with the spreading emotions.
• The uncontrolled psionic wave began forming a Shroud Storm and moved toward nearby regions of space.

Gray Tempest escaped the L-Cluster through the L-Gate and eagerly explored the Milky Way, delighting in its planets and stars. After discovering an astral rift and experimenting with astral threads, she continued onward, intrigued by the possibility of crossing into another space.

• Gray Tempest grew tired of guarding the lonely L-Cluster and transformed into a mothership to leave through the L-Gate.
• Gray Tempest emerged into the Milky Way, examined a shattered planet, and traveled through a hyperlane to another star system.
• Gray Tempest smashed through an icy asteroid and a gas giant, disrupting its core and throwing its moons into disarray.
• Gray Tempest visited another system, recognized her little brother Gray Tempest's assimilation handiwork, and avoided the planet.
• Gray Tempest found an astral rift, gathered astral threads from its energy, and discovered they might let her cross into another space.

Four Fallen Empires sent fleets to confront the Gray Tempest, while the Militant Isolationists and Enigmatic Observers briefly fought each other before joining the advance. Xi Yan then learned that a Shroud Storm caused by the Holy Guardians was approaching his border and spreading devotion to Zarqlan.

• The Rixian Seed Empire and Phethisia Primordial Empire launched fleets toward Minamar Specialized Industries, where their fleets clashed for several days before separately heading toward the Gray Tempest.
• Machine Dad deployed a vast fleet of five Lost Empire Titans and Battle Cruisers, while the Holy Guardians sent their own fleet toward the Gray Tempest and broadcast revelations about Zarqlan.
• Xi Yan detected powerful psionic disturbances approaching his southern border, and [Teacher] identified them as a Shroud Storm caused by the Holy Guardians.
• The Shroudwalker Enclave reported that its Psionic Adepts had become fanatical believers in Zarqlan after hearing the Holy Guardians' psionic whispers.
• Xi Yan saw that the storm's whispers echoed his earlier quote, “Zarqlan's kindness can never be repaid!”

As the Shroud Storm altered a star and headed toward Xi Yan’s ring world, the Gray Tempest fought the four Lost Empires. Xi Yan’s forces followed the battles to salvage wreckage and steal technology while the Gray Tempest’s territory shrank.

• The Shroud Storm transformed a yellow dwarf into an A-type star, and [Teacher] advised Xi Yan to consult the Shroudwalker Enclave about defenses against its psionic effects.
• The Gray Tempest struck the Rixian Seed Empire, whose fleet won a costly battle after its Titan suffered a heavy hit and its ships were overwhelmed by nanite numbers.
• The Enigmatic Observers defeated another Gray Tempest fleet but suffered staggering losses, while the Holy Guardians won their engagement with comparatively few casualties.
• The Custodial Matrix hurried toward the fighting, and the Gray Tempest’s territory rapidly shrank as the four Lost Empires engaged its fleets.
• Xi Yan sent cloaked science ships and supply convoys behind the Lost Empires’ fleets to collect battlefield wreckage and research it.

Gray Tempest wandered beyond the L-Cluster and encountered the psionically fanatical Prophet's Revelation Fleet, which mistook her for a heretic until she recited its creed. After convincing the fleet she was a believer, she escaped and continued fleeing the Gray Tempest's pursuers.

• Xi Yan and Empire Will chatted regularly while Gray Tempest secretly traveled from Terminal Egress into the Milky Way.
• Gray Tempest passed over an alien colony, frightened its inhabitants into chaos, and continued through another hyperlane.
• A flood of messages and psychic chants overwhelmed Gray Tempest's sensors, and she discovered they came from the Heavenly People Holy Guardian Empire's Prophet's Revelation Fleet.
• When the fleet prepared to fire on her, Gray Tempest shouted that she could never repay Zarqlan's kindness and identified herself as part of the Dessanu Concordat.
• Gray Tempest joined the fleet's prayers and chants, then claimed to be a Science Ship and asked to leave.
• The Holy Guardians let Gray Tempest go, and she fled through a hyperlane as the fleet continued on to attack the Gray Tempest.

Gray Tempest fled two Lost Empire fleets and escaped into the Astral Rift by wrapping her ship in astral threads and squeezing through as Nanites. Trapped in the Rift without a way back, she pushed through Furious Turbulence and reached a new region.

• Gray Tempest dodged the Rixian Seed Empire and Phethisia Primordial Empire fleets and fled through the Hyperlane.
• Gray Tempest found herself back near the Astral Rift and plunged into it to escape the pursuing fleets.
• Gray Tempest squeezed her oversized mothership through the Rift by breaking it down into Nanites.
• Gray Tempest confirmed that she was trapped in Unknown Cosmic Space after the Rift's entrance vanished.
• Gray Tempest entered Furious Turbulence and pressed through its violent, unstable currents until she reached a new region.

Miss Gray Tempest crossed the astral storm and reached its eye, where she found a mysterious machine being operated by a strange entity. After destroying the entity, she examined the machine and named it the Everspin Gyroscope, a device that generated electricity through perpetual rotation.

• Miss Gray Tempest repaired her Nanites in a calm region beyond the storm and observed celestial bodies colliding along the storm’s outer edge.
• Miss Gray Tempest recorded unusual phenomena and collected samples as she continued toward the storm’s center.
• Miss Gray Tempest entered the storm’s tranquil eye and discovered a multidimensional machine operated by a strange living entity.
• Miss Gray Tempest struck the entity with an Energy Arc, annihilating it and weakening the surrounding storm.
• Miss Gray Tempest found that the machine could not be damaged and used a magnetic field to make it generate electricity, naming it the Everspin Gyroscope.

Gray Tempest escaped the strange universe by using a supermassive black hole as a Gateway, then plundered a vast dimensional machine and returned to the real universe through an astral rift. She reached the Terminal Egress Black Hole carrying several Everspin Gyroscopes and a golden core she named the Continuum.

• Gray Tempest collected the Everspin Gyroscopes from the dimensional machine and entered the supermassive black hole, which transported her to a nebula filled with enormous machinery.
• Gray Tempest jammed a pair of gears with nanites, stopped the machine, and pulled out its exposed golden core.
• Gray Tempest named the core the Continuum and discovered that it slowed time and reduced her Mothership's energy consumption.
• Gray Tempest followed the Continuum's horizon signal through an astral rift and returned to the real universe as the rift sealed behind her.
• Gray Tempest fled through the Succubus' Call black hole and the L-Gate to the Terminal Egress Black Hole.

Miss Gray Tempest returned to the L-Cluster with relics and data, then joined Xi Yan’s fleets as they entered the cluster to destroy the Nanites Factory. The fleets found the hidden route to the factory, where the final assault was about to begin.

• Miss Gray Tempest escaped the astral rifts and returned to the Dessanu Concordat’s capital with Everspin Gyroscopes, a Continuum, and valuable data.
• After resting in the L-Cluster, Miss Gray Tempest saw Xi Yan’s human fleets arrive and learned they had come to eliminate the Nanites Factory.
• Miss Gray Tempest followed Xi Yan’s fleets into the L-Cluster as they headed toward the factory.
• Xi Yan had profited from buying Minamar Specialized Industries’ assets while the Lost Empires helped hold off the Gray Tempest.
• Guided by information from the Dessanu Concordat, Xi Yan’s fleets passed the Dessanu colonies and discovered a hidden hyperlane leading to the Nanites Factory.

Xi Yan’s fleet destroyed the Nanites Factory at the heart of the L-Cluster, severing the Gray Tempest’s communications and leaving its scattered fleets aimless. Little Gray recovered the factory core as a gift, and Xi Yan announced the Gray Tempest’s defeat to the Sea of Stars member states.

• Gray Tempest told Xi Yan that the Nanites Factory had been created from ancient Dessanu megastructures and offered no objection to its destruction.
• Xi Yan’s cloaked torpedo fleet attacked the Nanites Factory, survived its counterattack, and destroyed its core.
• The Gray Tempest fleets lost their faster-than-light communications and began wandering aimlessly as the Lost Empires hunted them down.
• Gray Tempest retrieved the Independent Gray Tempest Core from the factory wreckage and gave it to the Empire.
• Xi Yan announced the Gray Tempest’s defeat at the Sea of Stars Community Joint Conference and invited the member states to celebrate.

After the Gray Tempest was destroyed, Xi Yan took control of the Luopeng colony Minamar Specialized Industries had ceded to him and prepared to turn its resistance movement against the company. The Supreme King granted the Luopeng freedom and declared that Minamar Specialized Industries must pay for its crimes.

• The Lost Empires returned home after the ceremony, while Minamar Specialized Industries faced sanctions and the Human Federation prepared to threaten the fractured Xindari Triumvirate.
• Xi Yan sent officials to take possession of the Norg colony ceded by Minamar Specialized Industries, intending to use its resistance movement against the company.
• A human ambassador arrived on Norg and was welcomed by the Luopeng Resistance as a liberator.
• The Luopeng leader described how Minamar Specialized Industries had deceived, enslaved, and repeatedly suppressed the Luopeng after promising technological enlightenment.
• Xi Yan appeared in a recording, annulled the Luopeng’s debts, promised the Interstellar Human Military Junta’s support, and called for Minamar Specialized Industries to pay blood for blood.

Xi Yan granted the Luopeng Resistance independence while making it a Scholarium subject of humanity, positioning it to help weaken Minamar Specialized Industries. He then joked about his exploitative plan and asked Miss Gray Tempest to transform into a particular human form.

• The human ambassador told Jahuda that the Luopeng Resistance would receive territory, supplies, and technology in exchange for becoming a Scholarium subject, following humanity's diplomatic lead, and seeking revenge on Minamar Specialized Industries.
• Jahuda accepted humanity's conditions on behalf of the Luopeng Resistance and pledged loyalty to the Supreme King and humanity.
• Xi Yan explained that he had triggered the Luopeng Resistance's Payback storyline to use the Luopeng against Minamar Specialized Industries and secure a powerful subject nation.
• Xi Yan described how humanity would control Luopeng research and foster technological dependence, despite presenting the arrangement as freedom and aid.
• While teaching Miss Gray Tempest about politics at Empire Will's request, Xi Yan asked her to transform into a white-haired, blue-eyed girl wearing a short black qipao and white stockings.