Chapter Summaries

Liu Guang proposed that the Dream Clan work with the Minotaur Tribe on dreamscape development, offering an alternative to its dependence on the Silicon-Based Race. After leaving Nuan Meng to consider the proposal, he returned to Lu Xiao and hinted that she had wanted to see him.

• Liu Guang proposed that humanity or the Minotaur Tribe cooperate with the Dream Clan to improve dreamscape equipment, and Nuan Meng agreed to contact her clan's decision-makers.
• Liu Guang explained that the Minotaur Tribe could be presented as an independent partner, giving the Dream Clan a way to cooperate without directly encroaching on the Mother Goddess Elves' interests.
• Nuan Meng considered the benefits of reducing the Dream Clan's reliance on costly equipment from the Silicon-Based Race, while Liu Guang left her room to think.
• Liu Guang returned to the underground Present World as Lu Xiao's group prepared to enter the water, and Lu Xiao asked how the meeting had gone.
• Liu Guang teased Lu Xiao by saying Nuan Meng had specifically wanted to see him, prompting Nico to suggest there was a story between them.

Lu Xiao, Antie, Nico, and the Doctor’s proxy explored the deep ocean, where they encountered heavily mutated creatures and a mysterious black whale. The whale identified itself as a shadow whale and was surprised to find humans, though it did not understand why it had used that word.

• The Doctor sent a proxy to pilot a small submarine while Lu Xiao, Antie, and Nico explored the eastern coast underwater.
• The group traveled toward the Mariana Trench, avoiding weaker creatures and killing aggressive star-level mutants along the way.
• At depths beyond two thousand meters, the group saw heavily contaminated ocean life, including a strange eye-like jellyfish that Nico feared she might resemble.
• A huge shadow approached the group, stopped after calling to them, and prompted the eye-like jellyfish to flee.
• The Doctor communicated with the whale-shaped creature and learned that it called itself a shadow whale and had come to investigate the group’s unfamiliar auras.
• The shadow whale asked whether they were humans, then expressed joy at meeting them without understanding why it had said the word.

Doctor and the others traveled toward the Mariana Trench with the Shadow Whale, then fought their way through aggressive deep-sea creatures. As they reached the trench, Doctor recognized an old acquaintance, and a tentacle covered in eyeballs appeared as an ancient voice called out, “Al... fred!”

• Doctor learned from the Shadow Whale that it had been born in the Mariana Trench and persuaded it to guide the group partway there.
• The Shadow Whale refused to approach the trench, so Lu Xiao and the others continued alone through water more than seven thousand meters deep.
• Nico fought off aggressive deep-sea creatures while Doctor explained their adaptations to Lu Xiao.
• Nico carried Doctor’s Submarine toward the Mariana Trench as the creatures drawn by blood fought among themselves.
• Doctor announced that they had encountered an old acquaintance, and a tentacle covered in eyeballs appeared as an ancient voice called, “Al... fred!”

Nico carried everyone away from the murmuring presence in the sea, and the Doctor returned to the trench with Galaxy Academy security captain Kula to investigate. The Doctor reached the trench’s edge, where a gigantic blood-red eye appeared and warned him not to go farther, while Kula realized the warning was aimed at him.

• Nico flew out of the water with everyone wrapped in her tentacles, and Lu Xiao asked why the presence had appeared.
• The Doctor proposed sending his stand-in back to investigate, and decided to summon a Star God to protect it on the descent.
• Security captain Kula arrived and carried the Doctor’s submarine down through the sea, keeping aggressive creatures at bay with his Star God aura.
• At the trench, the Doctor piloted his submarine toward the tentacle while Kula stayed above him and Lu Xiao and Antie watched by video.
• A colossal blood-red eye appeared across the rift, and the Doctor stopped when its intensified murmuring warned him not to proceed.
• The Doctor tried to communicate with the presence, while Kula realized the eye had fixed on him and its warnings were directed at him.

The Doctor’s main consciousness was invaded by a digital eye that transmitted information about a Biological Gene Bank in the deep ocean trench. After the eye vanished, the Doctor pieced together how the gene bank’s stored genes had caused mutations in the underground ocean and contamination throughout the sea.

• After the giant eyeball reacted to the Submarine’s movement, it invaded the Doctor’s database, and the Doctor followed it through his consciousness space.
• The Doctor ordered Lu Xiao and Antie to evacuate, while Nico carried them away; his stand-in told Liu Guang and the Warden to suspend the exploration and activated a backup consciousness.
• The digital eye reached the World Tree, the Doctor’s main consciousness entity, and flooded it with information until the Doctor extracted the term “Biological Gene Bank.”
• The eye vanished after transmitting the information, and the Doctor used his computing power to reconstruct the truth about the underwater world.
• The Doctor learned that genes from the bank had contaminated and assimilated deep-sea creatures, driving them to devour one another and spreading flesh and gene carriers into upper waters, contaminating the sea.

The Doctor learned that a gene bank containing fragments from more than half the Universe’s species lay hidden beneath Earth, but its guardian would not let humanity access it. After a month of preparation, Earth left the Solar System and began the next phase of its expansion, while Weidiya and Moli'an continued visiting Lu Xiao to annoy each other.

• The Doctor concluded that Doctor Li had built the gene bank and suspected Tina’s gene-extracting ability had supplied its contents, then told Lu Xiao and the others what he had learned.
• The group in the command room realized the gene bank held species’ inherited authority, but they could not open it because its guardian barred them.
• A month later, engineering ships towed Earth out of the Solar System while a gravitational system and stellar furnace protected its tides and climate.
• After Earth reached its designated coordinates, Humanoid Race workers and engineering ships arrived to begin the second phase of planetary modification.
• Weidiya and Moli'an kept visiting Lu Xiao without any real business, each using his company to irritate the other.

Lu Xiao avoided choosing between Weidiya and Moli'an over the Unclaimed Authority while Lan attended classes at Galaxy Academy. Bai Suoyi endured a chaotic civil war and repeated transfers between the Rebel Army and Regular Army until Nellie rescued him.

• Lu Xiao spent most of his time refusing to engage with Weidiya and Moli'an, while the two sides prepared their plans around the Unclaimed Authority.
• Lan attended Li Xiuqi's Cosmic Sociology class at Galaxy Academy.
• Bai Suoyi's ship was shot down above a planet embroiled in civil war, and he and Lucilla were caught between the opposing forces.
• The rebels took Bai Suoyi hostage and hoped his status and his Mother God Elf bodyguard would win them support from humanity and the Mother God Elves.
• The Rebel Army and Regular Army repeatedly fought over Bai Suoyi, who changed hands several times and remained miserable despite avoiding physical harm.
• Nellie appeared and finally freed Bai Suoyi from the conflict.

After returning to Earth, Lu Xiao continued pretending he could only babble to avoid being forced to choose sides between Weidiya and Moli'an. Lu Qian reunited with him and left with Nuan Meng, prompting Weidiya to reconsider the Mother God Elves’ relationship with the Dream Clan.

• The Dream Clan delegation arrived on Earth, met Nuan Meng and Niu Bo, and announced a collaboration with the Minotaur Tribe on the Super Dreamscape System Carrier Integrated System.
• Nuan Meng brought Lu Qian to see Lu Xiao, who greeted her with his usual "abba abba" babbling.
• Lu Qian asked Weidiya and Moli'an whether something was wrong with her father, and they explained that he had been speaking that way for more than two months.
• Lu Xiao privately reflected that he had been pretending to be dumb to avoid choosing sides between the two Mother God Elves.
• Lu Qian invited Nuan Meng to return to the academy with her, and Weidiya interpreted their closeness as a possible sign of ties between the Dream Clan and the Zerg.
• Weidiya sent word to Mother Goddess Star about Lu Qian and Nuan Meng's relationship.

The Warden and the Director went fishing and discussed the Director’s family, his prospects on the Deliberative Council, and the Warden’s plans to remedy their dependence on the Mother God Elves. The Warden hinted that Liu Guang had set a plan in motion, while the Director said the Warden was too afraid of poverty to give up their existing benefits.

• Weidiya enjoyed her time slacking off, while the Warden invited the Director to fish on the eastern coast of the Underground Present World.
• The Warden asked whether the Director feared a new younger brother might compete for the family fortune, and the Director said his father had little wealth and he had earned what the family had.
• The Warden asked whether the Director wanted to become a full councilor and admitted he could not support their position in the Deliberative Council alone.
• The Warden said Liu Guang had already cast the bait, then caught a fish that spat a fast jet of water before he reeled it in.
• The Warden told the Director and Nellie that they had overlooked potential allies and become too reliant on the Mother God Elves, and the Director replied that the Warden was afraid to lose their secured benefits.

The Director proposed spending the Mother Goddess Elves’ resources on population growth and borrowing military equipment for the Species Ranking Tournament, while the Warden considered pushing him toward the Deliberative Council. The Warden hinted that Liu Guang had baited a trap for someone destined to meet them, and the Director’s fishing line suddenly went taut.

• The Director urged the Warden to consolidate resources and prioritize population growth before the Species Ranking Tournament, even if it meant abandoning sustainable development.
• The Director suggested borrowing military equipment and resources from allied species, promising benefits and postponing repayment until after the tournament.
• The Warden asked the Director to oversee the plans and said he wanted to push him into a Councilor’s seat, but the Director said he preferred his current position.
• The Director noted that the Authority could be a useful resource to them, but the Warden stopped him and said they had received only the safe while the key remained elsewhere.
• The Warden explained that Liu Guang had laid bait for someone destined to meet them, and the Director’s fishing rod bent as he suspected it had snagged on the bottom.

As Earth continued expanding and humanity prepared for rapid population growth, the Commerce Department devised a scheme to attract off-world investment and technology. The chapter ended with alien delegations arriving on Earth and being funneled through Gambler's Las Vegas before hearing the companies’ pitches.

• The Pivot Council introduced a welfare policy that was expected to double humanity’s population in about two years, worsening the resource shortfall Zhang Ming and the Commerce Department faced.
• Bai Ning proposed creating shell companies disguised as high-tech enterprises to attract alien investors, use their money and labor to develop technology, and direct production orders to domestic companies.
• Liu Guang, Gambler, and the Warden were revealed to have helped devise the scheme, while Gambler’s Las Vegas drew large numbers of off-world tourists.
• The Pivot Council announced an investment fair scheduled for five years later and promised equal treatment to investors of every race and faction.
• Alien delegations arrived on Earth and were taken to Las Vegas, where they lost their money before being led to hear company founders’ pitches.

Antie established secret training classes to help authority wielders understand and strengthen their powers, while Zhang Chu and Daimon studied their authorities. A year later, humanity’s mining and gambling arrangements with the Humanoid Race led to the founding of the universe’s first intergalactic conglomerate, Farstar Group.

• Antie created an Accelerated Training Class with scientists and Doctor's stand-ins to study authorities, and Zhang Chu and Daimon joined to learn about their elemental powers.
• The Kunlun Lineage opened a Metaphysics Class, where Daimon also enrolled and became Zhang Chu’s senior martial uncle by lineage.
• Earth’s expansion work suffered a financial setback after the construction crew lost money in Gambler’s Las Vegas, prompting the Humanoid Race to ban its people from the gambling city.
• Humanity received ownership of a thousand mineral planets and the Humanoid Race gifted it metallic life to handle mining.
• Humanity and the Humanoid Race agreed to establish a second gambling city on Azure Seat, with humanity gaining a thirty-three percent stake in exchange for knowledge.
• The parties’ stock arrangement established the universe’s first intergalactic conglomerate, Farstar Group.

The Warden maneuvered the Mother God Elves, the Dream Clan, and the Zerg Princess Lu Qian to secure investment in the Farstar Group through a scheme built around a massive mobile gambling city. Humanity emerged as the hidden power behind the Dream Clan Group, and the Warden’s next step was to arrange its investment in the Farstar Group.

• Yi Hao designed a mobile gambling city built on a superplanet propelled by a locomotive towing planets, but the Humanoid Race balked at its enormous cost.
• The Mother God Elves offered to invest in the Farstar Group, and the Dream Clan later raised funds by announcing its Superdream System and establishing the Dream Clan Group.
• Lu Qian visited the Dream Clan's Home Planet and publicly appeared close to Nuan Meng, prompting the Mother God Elves to release the Dream Clan from its vassal relationship.
• The Warden revealed that he had arranged Lu Qian's visit and leaked the gambling city proposal to draw investors toward the Farstar Group.
• Humanity held thirty-three percent of the Dream Clan Group through cross-shareholding, and the Warden aimed to use its investment to make humanity the Farstar Group's largest shareholder behind the scenes.

The Dream Clan used the Dream Group’s success to secure a stake in the Farstar Group and launch the Farstar Project with the Humanoid Race. When the project stalled awaiting a stellar power core, mounting costs trapped the Mother God Elves in the venture, and the Humanoid Race proposed opening the Farstar Group to more investors.

• The Dream Group’s low-cost superdreams sold widely, and its first quarterly dividends returned nearly ten percent of shareholders’ investments.
• The Dream Clan invested in the Farstar Group in exchange for a ten-percent stake, and the two groups announced they would jointly develop the Farstar Project.
• The humans built Star Ring City, but Farstar construction stalled because Silicon-based Life had not yet completed its essential stellar power core.
• As the suspension strained the Farstar Group’s finances, the Humanoid Race and other shareholders injected more funds, while the Dream Group announced it would sell some of its shares.
• The Mother God Elves bought the Dream Clan’s shares at a high price and became shareholders, only to find themselves burdened by the project’s growing costs and uncertain completion date.
• The Humanoid Race called a shareholders’ meeting and proposed opening the Farstar Group to outside investment, despite knowing this would dilute its own stake.

The Farstar Group used share sales and the stellar Power Core’s arrival to revive the Farstar Project, while humans profited from the market swings. As the Farstar neared completion, trade and stock trading spread across the universe, and humanity’s investment conference drew eager attention.

• The Humanoid Race and Mother God Elves agreed to cash out shares, but humans bought them at low prices shortly before Silicon-based Life delivered the stellar Power Core.
• The Farstar Project resumed, Farstar Group shares recovered, and shareholders sold more shares at record prices, with humans cashing out substantial star source.
• The Farstar’s planet-sized steam locomotive reached Star Ring City as the second construction phase ended, and the Humanoid Race prepared to tow ten planets for the project.
• The Farstar began its trial run, encouraging races to pursue trade and helping bring a brief period of peace to the universe.
• Galaxy Academy’s first graduates returned to their home planets, and technological development and stock trading spread among the races.
• Humanity held its investment conference, attracting investors who hoped to buy its advanced technology.

During humanity’s investment fair in Star Ring City, Chasing Stars took Lu Xiao to subspace and warned him that a Cosmos had joined the escalating conflict and breached the barrier. Chasing Stars said only the Lu Xiao on the Throne could stop the enemy, and that He would return on His own; Lu Xiao went back to the fair wondering how long peaceful days would last.

• Beings from across the universe gathered in Star Ring City for humanity’s investment fair, while Moli'an and Weidiya attended the event.
• Chasing Stars appeared before Lu Xiao and took him from Star Ring City to subspace.
• Chasing Stars told Lu Xiao that the fighting had escalated, the barrier had been breached, and an enemy Cosmos was involved.
• Chasing Stars explained that only the Lu Xiao on the Throne could stop the Cosmos, then said He would return on His own.
• Back in Star Ring City, Lu Xiao listened to a human present a Dyson Sphere project and wondered how much longer the peaceful days would last.

Lu Xiao considered humanity’s rapid growth, the investment conference, and Earth’s reconstruction while an immense battle raged in Subspace. The fighters struggled against powerful enemies, and a middle-aged man demanded that Old Li hurry Time along to blur their universe’s timeline.

• Lu Xiao reflected that humanity could gain more star source from the investment conference and was approaching the status of a medium-sized species.
• Lu Xiao remembered the Heavenly Insect Clan’s rapid rise and realized its representatives had also attended the conference.
• Lu Xiao estimated that Earth’s second reconstruction phase would finish within two months, after which smaller stars could be brought into orbit around it.
• Species at the investment conference clamored to fund humanity’s projects, and some had already spent their reserves.
• In Subspace, a galaxy-sized crow dismembered an enemy after a streak of light distracted its attacker with a curse.
• A middle-aged figure hurled figures of chaos into the battlefield and called for Old Li to hurry Time along as several enemies remained trapped in collapsed space.

Technology transformed into a star-system-sized robot and fought the Universe-level Life, but the invader’s arrival forced the Rule Controllers to flee after a Flesh Alarm Clock obscured their universe’s timeline coordinates. The Great Celestial Venerable failed to locate those coordinates, while the fleeing group feared that the giant eyeball would devour the universe’s essence first.

• Technology assembled a giant armed robot and fired at the Universe-level Life while Fantasy cheered him on.
• The Universe-level Life emerged from collapsing space, and the Rule Controllers stopped fighting as they faced his overwhelming power.
• Death unleashed death energy, but Fate warned him that the enemy had transcended the rules, and Technology admitted he might not be able to hold him off.
• A Flesh Alarm Clock announced that it had obscured the timeline coordinates and urged the Rule Controllers to run, so Technology disintegrated and warped space to carry them into a dark matter vortex.
• An enormous eyeball blocked the Universe-level Life’s attempt to reach into the vortex, then fled after cursing that it had not boarded in time.
• The beings addressed their leader as the Great Celestial Venerable and learned he had not found the timeline coordinates; they worried the escaped eyeball would devour the universe’s essence and advance first.

One year after the enemy breached the spatial barrier, the alliance argued over whether Time would choose a side, while Earth's alien-run technology companies and Galaxy Academy's new admissions policy reshaped interspecies education. The medium-sized species were left weighing costly new enrollments against falling behind technologically.

• Fantasy asked Time whether he had obscured their universe's timeline, and Technology warned that the enemy could still find it by searching along the timeline.
• A luminous figure urged Time to choose a side, but Time demanded the return of his stolen authority and then vanished.
• Fate insulted Time after he left, and Death silently pressed his scythe to Fate's neck.
• Over the following year, alien managers from multiple species worked at technology companies on Earth to learn and obtain technologies useful to their clans.
• Galaxy Academy introduced postgraduate places tied to enrollment, requiring ten new students from a species for one place, and medium-sized species reluctantly began sending more students.

Liu Guang recounted how a suicide attempt led to his recruitment by Bai Xuedong into the Anomaly Supervision Bureau, where he became part of a team fighting extraterrestrial life. After leading the Spark Plan through the Gate to rebuild civilization in the Present World, he met a humanoid contained anomaly at C03 and felt a powerful sense of familiarity.

• After his savings were stolen, Liu Guang jumped into a river to save a girl he had seen leap from a bridge, but Chen Fei rescued him and explained that she had been a hallucination caused by an experimental subject.
• Bai Xuedong recruited Liu Guang into the Anomaly Supervision Bureau, paid off his debts, and assigned Chen Fei to train him and take him on missions.
• Liu Guang joined Chen Fei and Zhang Chu on missions, handled logistics, and later infiltrated the Salvation Society before its rituals brought down powerful extraterrestrial lifeforms.
• As humanity’s war against the Evil God Kin devastated the world, Doctor Li’s God-Making project created the Creator and the Gate, while the Prison Plan and Spark Plan were launched.
• Bai Xuedong chose Liu Guang to lead the Spark Plan, and Liu Guang took the preserved spark through the Gate to the Present World, where civilization was rebuilt.
• Liu Guang visited C03 to see a humanoid contained anomaly, recognized a deep familiarity, and admitted he had knowingly schemed against him with a bribe.