Chapter Summaries

Han Niba and Qian Zhenhua discussed what Great Xia could offer the Kona Civilization in exchange for its technology and how to price the trade. Qian Zhenhua proposed mission-based payments as Great Xia’s strongest option, since Kona urgently needed its help against the Demon Clan.

• Han Niba asked Qian Zhenhua which Great Xia technologies would be valuable to Kona, and Qian Zhenhua named Demon Clan-derived substances and Energy Block technology, antimatter, and Terra’s materials.
• Qian Zhenhua explained that Great Xia could trade Terra’s magical products as finished goods but could not yet offer magic and runes as complete technological systems.
• Qian Zhenhua proposed gold as a trade unit, explaining that its rarity and industrial uses could make it valuable to Kona.
• Qian Zhenhua suggested computing power as another option but said Kona’s energy and quantum computing advantages made it unsuitable as the main unit of settlement.
• Qian Zhenhua proposed contracted missions paid for with technological data or industrial resources, and told Han Niba that Great Xia held a bargaining advantage because Kona needed its help on the battlefield.

Great Xia drafted its first formal trade and military cooperation proposal to the besieged Kona Civilization, setting strict security rules and offering mission-based exchanges alongside gold settlement. The proposal asked Kona to suggest a small trial mission and corresponding rewards.

• Qian Zhenhua advised Han Niba to remove computing-power settlement and let Great Xia choose missions according to their rewards and risks.
• Han Niba ordered a trade catalog and electronic proposal that listed only finished magic and rune products, with limits on Life Fruit and Holy Water.
• Qian Zhenhua explained that the proposal disclosed Terra's existence and retained the phrase “limited mutual trust.”
• Han Niba reviewed security rules barring direct network connections and restricting the transfer of autonomous programs and sensitive data.
• Great Xia proposed gold settlement for low-risk exchanges and mission-based payment for military operations, then requested specific technologies and a small trial mission from Kona.

Great Xia received the Kona Civilization’s reply, which accepted limited cooperation and task-based settlement but rejected gold. The Kona Civilization offered three dangerous military tasks in exchange for advanced technologies, leaving Han Niba weighing their value against the risks.

• Han Niba sent Great Xia’s cooperation proposal through Lin Mo’s Pangu node to the Kona Civilization.
• The Kona Civilization accepted a limited mutual-trust framework but rejected gold because it lacked strategic value and the civilization needed military aid and time.
• The Kona Civilization offered a task to destroy the wormholes on its satellite in exchange for a planetary-scale automated industrial system architecture.
• The Kona Civilization offered a second task to retake the Demon Clan-occupied satellite in exchange for Heavy Engineering Robot technology.
• The Kona Civilization listed a third task to retake its six occupied colony planets and their satellites, offering three specified technologies for each planet recovered.

Great Xia’s command staff reviewed Kona’s escalating missions and discovered that Kona had withheld its most valuable technologies, including strong artificial intelligence, as the reward for expelling the Demon Clan from the entire star system. The chapter ended with Han Niba and the others weighing the enormous risks and resources against the promise, unsure whether Great Xia could take on the missions.

• The hall reacted to Kona’s mission to recapture colonized planets, recognizing the scale of the Demon Clan occupation and the forces required.
• Qian Zhenhua noticed that Kona’s final mission offered strong artificial intelligence and other technologies missing from its earlier catalog.
• Han Niba and the staff concluded that Kona had deliberately offered limited rewards first to entice Great Xia toward liberating the entire star system.
• Qian Zhenhua explained that the final reward dwarfed the rewards for the first three missions and was designed to spur Great Xia to complete them all.
• Han Niba and the others considered the immense cost, duration, and uncertainty of fighting across six planets and their moons, and questioned whether Great Xia could afford to help Kona.

Qian Zhenhua explained why the Kona Civilization’s difficult tasks could yield an enormous payoff: its strong artificial intelligence could give Great Xia access to technology far beyond its current civilization level. He argued that the reward could accelerate Great Xia’s development by centuries, but Han Niba was startled when Qian estimated that reaching Type II would otherwise take at least a thousand years.

• Qian Zhenhua introduced the Kardashev Scale and assessed Great Xia as barely Type I and the Kona Civilization as roughly Type 1.8.
• Qian Zhenhua explained that Kona’s strong artificial intelligence, Watcher, had reached a level associated with Type III civilizations, making it the most valuable technology in Kona’s arsenal.
• Qian Zhenhua described the differences between weak, strong, and true artificial intelligence and emphasized how difficult true artificial intelligence would be to create.
• Qian Zhenhua told Han Niba that completing the tasks could earn Great Xia Kona’s fifteen thousand years of accumulated technology, including complete strong artificial intelligence technology and training data.
• Qian Zhenhua estimated that Great Xia would need at least a thousand years to advance from Type I to Type II, and Han Niba interrupted in surprise, asking why he had previously said the gap was only a hundred years.

Qian Zhenhua persuaded Han Niba that helping the Kona Civilization could bring Great Xia advanced technology while moving the Demon Clan war away from Blue Star. Han agreed to pursue the opportunity but insisted Great Xia reshape the mission terms, and he raised the possibility of choosing its own rewards.

• Qian Zhenhua explained that the Kona Civilization's technology tree and strong artificial intelligence could greatly accelerate Great Xia's development and help it avoid abandoning Blue Star.
• Han Niba agreed that fighting on Kona's territory could reduce the risks to Blue Star and Terra, but said Great Xia would decide how and when to accept the offer.
• Han Niba argued that clearing the entire Kona Satellite was too dangerous as an initial mission and that Great Xia needed to negotiate for a more manageable framework.
• Han Niba proposed that the Kona Civilization provide one technology upfront to prove its value and build support for sending troops.
• Han Niba said the Kona Civilization could not decide the mission rewards alone, and Qian Zhenhua asked whether he wanted Great Xia to choose the technology itself.

Han Niba and Qian Zhenhua planned Great Xia’s counterproposal to Kona, aiming to secure battlefield-relevant technologies as rewards for each stage of military assistance. The chapter ended with Great Xia’s draft setting out five missions, staged rewards, and its request to choose the technologies.

• Han Niba argued that Great Xia should retain the initiative and choose rewards based on battlefield needs, while Qian Zhenhua suggested Kona might also want Demon Clan Corpse Refining Technology and Antimatter Technology.
• Han Niba ordered a reply accepting Kona’s mission-based framework but revising the mission details and requiring rewards at each stage rather than only at the end.
• Han Niba made establishing a Great Xia outpost on the Kona Satellite the first mission, followed by destroying wormholes, retaking the satellite, defending Kona’s home planet, and reclaiming its colonies.
• Great Xia’s draft offered one chosen technology for each of the first four stages and three for every colonial planet retaken in the fifth stage.
• The draft explained that letting Great Xia select technologies would strengthen its combat, industrial, and deployment capabilities, improving the odds of completing missions and helping Kona survive.

Han Niba sent Great Xia’s revised cooperation terms to the Kona Civilization, and the Watcher accepted them while setting its own limits on the partnership. It chose quantum communication technology as the first verifiable technology to deliver, leaving Great Xia to verify the data and prepare for joint missions.

• Han Niba approved Great Xia’s revised terms and sent them to Lin Mo’s battlefield terminal for transmission to Kona.
• Three hours later, the Tianshu Command Center received Kona’s reply accepting Great Xia’s proposed mission adjustments and choice of compensation technologies.
• Kona warned that it would treat extremely unequal terms that threatened either party’s survival or independence as a high-risk relationship.
• Kona selected quantum communication technology as the initial verifiable technology and divided its data into seventeen segments for isolated verification.
• The Command Center celebrated Kona’s acceptance, and Han Niba decided Great Xia should verify the technology and avoid pushing for more.

Kona Civilization assessed Great Xia’s proposed trade and offered three sets of priority technological data in exchange for antimatter technology, space wormhole locating technology, and demon clan corpse refining technology. The chapter ended with Liu Chengen asking Qian Zhenhua which technologies Great Xia would choose.

• Kona Civilization identified antimatter technology, demon clan corpse refining technology, and space wormhole locating technology as its priority trade items.
• Kona Civilization declined to prioritize Zheng Gold and Terra Civilization’s special magic products because they could not help its war effort quickly enough.
• Kona Civilization proposed exchanging two sets of priority technological data for antimatter technology and space wormhole locating technology together.
• Kona Civilization judged demon clan corpse refining technology its highest-priority item because it could turn battlefield corpses into resources amid severe industrial damage and resource shortages.
• Kona Civilization offered three sets of priority technological data for all three technologies, and Liu Chengen asked Qian Zhenhua which ones to select.

Qian Zhenhua ordered Great Xia to safely inspect the quantum communication technology delivered by the Kona Civilization. Zhou’s preliminary review revealed a mature system with near-zero theoretical latency, enormous throughput, and broad potential, leaving Great Xia considering how it could transform communications and reduce the risks of establishing an Outpost.

• Qian Zhenhua told the security technicians to isolate the seventeen segments of Kona’s quantum communication technology in a sandbox and validate them without connecting them to core systems.
• Zhou examined the translated data and said Kona’s system integrated quantum-state stabilization, long-distance entanglement retention, relay calibration, information encoding, and resistance to spatial disturbances.
• Zhou reported that the technology could achieve nearly zero theoretical latency, around one petabyte per second wirelessly, and up to one exabyte per second through a wired connection.
• Zhou explained that the system could detect external observation or interference and could link Great Xia’s surface, Underground Cities, Moon, orbital platforms, and future Kona Outpost.
• Han Niba considered how the technology could let Great Xia remotely coordinate robots, weapons, and other systems at a battlefield three thousand light-years away, reducing the need to send human troops there immediately.

At the Tianshu Command Center, Han Niba and the experts chose which Great Xia technologies to exchange with Kona, while Qian Zhenhua organized work to develop quantum communication. They selected planetary-level automated industrial system architecture and heavy engineering robot design and manufacturing technology, leaving the third choice undecided.

• Qian Zhenhua ordered Old Zhou to finish verifying the remaining quantum communication fragments and prepare a complete technical report within twenty-four hours.
• Han Niba asked Qian Zhenhua to assemble a research team to develop quantum communication and produce a first-generation prototype.
• Qian Zhenhua argued against spending an exchange slot on quantum computers because quantum communication research could support them and other technologies were more urgently needed.
• Han Niba and the experts selected planetary-level automated industrial system architecture as Great Xia's first technology to exchange for.
• Han Niba chose heavy engineering robot design and manufacturing technology as the second selection, to support remote construction and reduce risks during the Kona Satellite landing operation.
• The experts left the third exchange choice undecided as the meeting grew tense.

Han Niba weighed the remaining technologies and argued that Great Xia should choose basic shipboard shield generator technology because it lacked any comparable defense and needed to protect its costly spaceships. He began explaining how even a miniaturized shield could strengthen ground forces, but the chapter ended before the choice was finalized.

• Experts argued for shipboard shields, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and ecological transformation, each citing Great Xia's needs.
• Han Niba questioned whether ecological transformation could reduce combat losses or help establish a foothold on the Kona Satellite quickly, then said warfighting capability had to come first.
• Han Niba recommended basic shipboard shield generator technology, explaining that Great Xia had no mature force-field defenses and could not quickly develop them on its own.
• Han Niba argued that mass-produced, continuous shields would protect expensive spaceships better than costly, limited-use Magic Shield scrolls.
• Han Niba began describing how miniaturized shields could be installed on Combat Robots and unmanned combat vehicles.

Han Niba persuaded Great Xia’s experts to prioritize an automated industrial system, Heavy Engineering Robots, and shield technology as an integrated system for sustaining the war. As they prepared to trade with the Kona Civilization, the group turned to designing safeguards against fake or incomplete technology and mutual distrust.

• Han Niba argued that shield technology would reduce combat losses and complete a warfighting system alongside automated production and Heavy Engineering Robots.
• Qian Zhenhua recognized Han Niba’s choices as an integrated plan for manufacturing, construction, and protection, and the experts agreed to prioritize the three technologies.
• Han Niba asked the group how to secure the technology trade, and officials warned that Kona might delay delivery, provide incomplete documentation, or offer deceptive theories.
• Liu Chengen warned the group not to treat Watcher like a saint, while Han Niba agreed that Great Xia needed rules rather than relying on Watcher’s restraint.
• Old Zhou pointed out that Kona would also distrust Great Xia’s technology and urged the group to establish mutually acceptable trading rules in advance.

Great Xia agreed to exchange three technologies with the Kona Civilization in two stages, withholding the most critical details until both sides verified the initial documentation. The chapter ended with Kona accepting the safeguards and sending its first-stage technology packages.

• Qian Zhenhua proposed exchanging most of each technology’s documentation first and withholding the key details until verification.
• Han Niba approved an eighty-twenty exchange process and ordered a formal reply listing Great Xia’s three technologies and Kona’s three technologies.
• Han Niba added that Great Xia would launch military operations against the Demon Clan on the Kona Satellite after verifying all three exchanges.
• Han Niba sent the reply to Commander Lin for forwarding to Kona.
• Hours later, Kona accepted the phased exchange rules and sent documentation covering 81 percent of its industrial system architecture, 82 percent of its Heavy Engineering Robot technology, and 79 percent of its Shipboard Shield Generator technology.

Great Xia began verifying the first-stage documentation for three technologies provided by the Kona Civilization and found all three credible. The shield technology passed its preliminary review at 4:00 a.m., leaving the Command Center celebrating the successful exchange.

• Qian Zhenhua ordered security checks and assigned teams of experts to verify the three technologies for sound theory, practical engineering, and possible traps.
• Great Xia's experts examined the planetary automated industrial system, heavy engineering robots, and shipboard shield generator technology overnight.
• The industrial system team reported that its production logic was self-consistent and contained no obvious false structures.
• The heavy engineering robot team found the designs credible and complete in engineering logic, despite withheld material parameters.
• At 4:00 a.m., the shield team confirmed that the technology's main framework was self-consistent, implementable, and free of detected misleading elements.
• The Command Center cheered as Great Xia concluded that all three sets of first-stage documentation were genuine.

Han Niba prepared Great Xia’s first technological exchange with the Kona Civilization while planning an unmanned landing on the Kona Satellite. He ordered ten Pangu Mecha to prepare for the mission in three days and planned to equip them with quantum communication prototypes and an Antimatter Bomb.

• Qian Zhenhua confirmed that Kona’s three technology documents had passed preliminary authentication, and scientists verified that Great Xia’s exchange materials contained no protected information or coordinate leaks.
• Han Niba sent Great Xia’s materials through the Arctic wormhole after the adjutant reported that three wormholes remained guarded and the Antarctic entrances were secured by Commander Lin and the Terra Allied Army.
• The adjutant reported that Great Xia’s second Antimatter Bomb would be ready before eight that night, while ten Pangu Mecha awaited final calibration.
• Han Niba ordered the ten Pangu Mecha to attempt an unmanned landing on the Kona Satellite in three days and told the Academy of Sciences to accelerate quantum communication prototypes for remote control.
• Han Niba planned for the mecha to clear the area around the wormhole, establish an outpost, and take the second Antimatter Bomb in case a Demon God attacked.

Han Niba ordered his staff to plan a landing operation, accepting that the wormhole might have to be destroyed if a Demon God threatened the landing force. In Antarctica, Great Xia’s forces farmed demons emerging from a wormhole while Lin Mo told Terra’s experts he was keeping wormholes to prepare a counteroffensive, leaving them alarmed by the danger.

• Han Niba told his staff to plan the landing and said they should preserve the wormhole if possible but destroy it if necessary.
• Great Xia’s forces suppressed demons emerging from the Antarctic wormhole, killed them, and hauled their corpses away for processing.
• Lin Mo dined beside six Seventh-Order Experts from Terra as they watched Great Xia’s forces contain the wormhole.
• Balin asked Lin Mo why he kept three wormholes open and warned that high-ranking demons could overwhelm the defenses.
• Lin Mo said the first reason was to prepare for a future counteroffensive against the Demon Clan.
• Balin and the other experts doubted the plan, warning Lin Mo that the Demon Clan’s endless numbers and Demon Gods made it too risky.

Lin Mo proposed using the open wormhole as both a future route for counterattacks and a source of Demon Clan corpses, then agreed to let Terra’s races help clear Blue Star under Great Xia’s command. Han Niba reported that technology exchanges with the Kona Civilization were progressing and planned a landing on the Kona Satellite in three days, leaving Lin Mo questioning what would happen to Blue Star.

• Lin Mo explained that Great Xia would keep the wormhole open to observe the Demon Clan, prepare defenses, and eventually strike back, while recycling Demon Clan corpses for resources.
• Warwick asked whether Half-Orc troops could enter Blue Star to hunt scattered Demon Clan members in exchange for selling their corpses to Great Xia.
• Lin Mo welcomed the Half-Orcs and learned that the Holy Human Race’s Purification Brooches could protect them from nuclear radiation.
• The Holy Human Race, Dwarves, and Elves also offered to help, and Lin Mo required all the races to follow Great Xia’s unified command while keeping the corpses they collected.
• Han Niba told Lin Mo that the first stage of the technology exchange with the Kona Civilization was complete and proposed a first landing on the Kona Satellite in three days.
• Lin Mo questioned Han Niba about the planned attack, asking what would happen to Blue Star.

Han Niba and Lin Mo prepared to clear Demon Clan forces and establish a safe portal site, while Great Xia and the Kona Civilization completed their technology exchange. After three days of global strikes reduced the Demon Clan threat, Han Niba received the latest battle report as Kona prepared to begin its landing operation.

• Lin Mo confirmed he could open another portal using recorded spatial coordinates and warned Han Niba to prepare an isolated transition zone.
• Han Niba ordered the engineering team to arrange the portal site, and Great Xia received Kona’s verification of the first-stage technical documents.
• Kona sent the remaining core data for three technologies, which Great Xia verified before exchanging its own remaining documentation.
• Great Xia and Kona completed the three-technology trade, and Kona announced a landing operation on the Kona Satellite in three days.
• Great Xia’s forces conducted global strikes for three days, reducing the Demon Clan population on Blue Star by roughly thirty percent.
• Han Niba received the latest battle report in Celestial Pivot City’s Command Center.

Great Xia prepared to eliminate the remaining Demon Clan creatures on Blue Star while Terra’s races mobilized for the Kona landing operation and competed to profit from trade with Great Xia. The Holy Human Race and dwarves arrived near Blue Star’s equator first, and the elves prepared to follow with their own protective magic items.

• Han Niba ordered his forces to keep the Demon Clan’s movements contained and prevent further large-scale Demon Tides once the Kona landing operation began.
• Terra’s races prepared for war, while their leaders worried that trade with Great Xia was draining their wealth and sought income by selling Demon Clan corpses.
• The Holy Human Race sent one hundred thousand soldiers through a Portal to Blue Star, protected by Purification Brooches and supported by Great Xia’s equipment and supplies.
• One hundred thousand dwarven soldiers arrived with rune-engraved breastplates that protected them from Blue Star’s radiation.
• The elves completed their own magical protective items so they could join the operation without buying equipment from the Holy Human Race.