Chapter Summaries

Zair’s fleet faced annihilation until Moras arrived, but Moras killed her and retreated with her own forces. After Chloe’s Swarm Fleet won an inexplicable battle, Zhang Han and Abaddon investigated the psionic field and questioned what price its power might demand.

• With her fleet reduced to thirty thousand vessels, Zair prepared to abandon it and flee into the Hyperspace Route, but Moras’s flagship emerged before she could escape.
• Zair warned Moras that the enemy fleet’s abnormal strength might indicate a trap, and Moras invited her aboard the Leviathan to retreat and report to the Matriarch.
• Moras engulfed Zair’s Overlord in blue plasma, killed her, and withdrew into Hyperspace, planning to conceal the murder with a fabricated memory.
• Chloe’s Swarm Fleet annihilated its enemies, and the battle records and memories were sent back to Tabi Star.
• Zhang Han summoned Abaddon to study the psionic field, and Abaddon warned that the Shroud might be pressing against the real universe.
• Abaddon said the field could be reproduced through faith in the Overmind and strong enough bodies, then asked what price its power would exact.

Abaddon concluded that the Shroud was being deliberately expanded by a powerful civilization in the dark energy dimension, prompting Zhang Han to order more research and cautious use of psionics. The Overmind Consciousness studied Abaddon's findings while the battle on Cadian continued to drain Zhang Han's forces, even as reinforcements and supplies kept arriving.

• Abaddon explained that a civilization in the dark energy dimension had carved the Shroud from conventional space and was carefully stretching it along the dimensional membrane.
• Zhang Han promised Abaddon more Cerebrates for research, ordered the Swarm to use psionics cautiously, and mentioned that the Demon Bug Laplace was incubating.
• Zhang Han sent Abaddon's findings to the Overmind Consciousness, then helped Isha coordinate plans and expand the Hatchery's production.
• The Overmind Consciousness realized that the Shroud's changes had increased the power of psionic spells, but frequent use would accelerate its expansion.
• Zagara continued fighting Zhang Han on Cadian for over ten days and added two War Hatcheries, while Kundera captured five of her star systems.
• Zhang Han's forces suffered heavy daily losses, but Stargate reinforcements and Johnny's steady shipments of rare resources raised his production capacity.

The Church of the Lord of Desire and the God of War Church fought over a planet, using mortal followers and supernatural monsters to battle for control of its temple altar. Their champions clashed as both sides tried to claim the planet for their gods.

• The Church of the Lord of Desire and the God of War Church deployed fleets and armies to contest a planet inhabited by a medieval civilization.
• The churches’ followers fought across the grasslands while Lust Demons, Ripper Beasts, Warfiends, and Fury Bulls tore through the battlefield.
• Pink-bannered giants occupied the pyramid temple and began changing its altar’s magic circle, while red-armored giants and Warfiends attacked them.
• A silver-armored warrior killed a Warfiend, and a red-armored warrior split a Lust Demon in half.
• The silver-armored warrior and the red-armored warrior shouted for their gods and struck at each other with a greatsword and great axe.

The Church of the Lord of Desire won the battle for the planet, while the defeated God of War Church punished its surviving faithful with a brutal gladiatorial slaughter. Sophia reflected on the church’s growing power and the intensifying competition to conquer the remaining civilizations in the Barren Sector.

• The red-armored warrior killed the silver-armored warrior with a flaming axe, but a beam from the altar revealed that the Church of the Lord of Desire had completed its ritual first.
• Sophia learned that the Desire Church had won, while the God of War Church’s transports gathered its defeated faithful from the battlefield.
• The skull-helmeted commander ordered roughly a hundred thousand faithful to fight until only those worthy of serving the God of War remained.
• After an hour of slaughter, twenty thousand survivors boarded the transports, including wounded faithful who crawled aboard unaided.
• Sophia considered the dangers of fighting the God of War Church again and noted that competition for the Barren Sector’s dwindling civilizations was growing fiercer.

Sophia transformed a conquered planet for the Desire Church and sacrificed its enslaved population to the Dark Prince, who marked the planet as his own. Elsewhere, Teresa trained in the Shroud to withstand contact with a being beyond mortal comprehension.

• Sophia ordered the Church to establish a connection between the planet and the Shroud while its warships announced the Church's rule to the kingdoms.
• The Church destroyed kingdoms that resisted, enslaved their people, and gathered over a million captives at the altar.
• Sophia performed a sacrificial ritual, and the Dark Prince consumed the captives before marking the planet and its sapient life-forms.
• Teresa prayed to the Great Instrument of Longing and entered the Shroud, where a strange mouth praised her and tested her with a surge of desires.
• The voice told Teresa to become more resilient, warning that her younger distant cousin's survival after contact with the Overmind was no guarantee.

Teresa passed another test from the Dark Prince, strengthened her Psionic Power, and learned that the gods intended to use her as an intermediary with the Devouring Swarm. She ordered a manifestation ritual as the church grew stronger, while wondering what future awaited the Milky Way.

• The Dark Prince and other powers in the Shroud helped Teresa resist temptation, and she passed the test with her will strengthened.
• The Dark Prince ended the Shroud's influence and said Teresa's mental strength needed further training before he returned.
• Teresa caught a Shroud Crystal and discovered it bore the marks of the God of War, the Lord of Desire, and the Father of Life, and could summon at least three thousand Shroud Fleet vessels.
• Teresa understood that the gods meant to use her as a pawn to resolve their conflict with the Devouring Swarm's Overmind through communication.
• Teresa ordered an Abstainer to find Prelate Sun Yun and prepare a manifestation ritual because the church's strength had grown.

Zhang Han struggled to hold Cadian against Zagara’s increasingly costly attacks, adapting his Swarm Network and using Darom Empire ships and people to preserve his psionic forces. As the battle intensified, tachyon reconnaissance detected an anomalous gravitational wave a light-year away, and Zhang Han prepared to counter what he assumed was a small faster-than-light assault.

• Zhang Han’s forces suffered heavy losses as Zagara’s tactical attacks targeted Ghost Bugs, so he added Cerebrates and Darom Empire personnel as Swarm Network nodes.
• Zagara sent Warrior Bug Nests against Zhang Han’s remaining Meteorite Fortresses and used expendable units to drain his Ghost Bugs’ psionic power.
• Zhang Han drew on four thousand Darom Empire warships and the minds of five hundred thousand people on Tabi Star to supply computing power and psionic energy.
• Zhang Han’s psionic Corruptors struck back against Zagara’s fleet, while her Plasma Cannon barrages destroyed some Ghost Bugs and the fleets continued trading losses.
• A Cerebrate detected an anomalous gravitational wave a light-year away, and Zhang Han prepared for a faster-than-light attack, believing Zagara’s force would fall into his trap.

Zhang Han discovered that Zagara planned to destroy Cadian and its star with warp-accelerated impacts, so he evacuated while leaving a rearguard to cover the retreat. As his main force withdrew toward the Fishman System, Zagara pursued the Overmind Consciousness Fragment, aiming to kill its leader.

• Zhang Han repositioned his defensive line to counter Zagara's expected warp arrival, but her Warp Warships arrived three hours later than the Tachyon Radar predicted.
• Zhang Han realized Zagara had sent two massive objects at fifty percent of the speed of light, one aimed at Cadian and the other at its star, and ordered a retreat with only an hour remaining.
• Zhang Han assigned the Specialized Cerebrate to lead the rearguard, and it asked to compete with him in psionic technique after being reborn.
• Zhang Han ordered the Darom Empire to leave five hundred warships behind, and religious volunteers were chosen by lottery to crew them.
• Zhang Han led two hundred thousand Swarm vessels and many Overlords toward the Fishman System as the rearguard fought with the Darom warships' psionic field bolstering half the Swarm Fleet.
• Zagara pursued Zhang Han, intent on killing the Overmind Consciousness Fragment to win the battle.

Zagara’s Gravity Ships destroyed Cadian and crippled Zhang Han’s fleet, allowing her to seize the star system, but Zhang Han escaped and Kundera captured her main production system. Facing danger in her rear and unable to eliminate Zhang Han’s overmind consciousness fragment, Zagara retreated toward the Stargate at Neutron Star.

• Zhang Han’s psionically enhanced Swarm Fleet tore through Zagara’s forces, forcing her to commit more troops and leaving her unable to pursue his retreat.
• Zagara’s two early-arriving Gravity Ships smashed through her own fleet and Zhang Han’s Meteorite Fortresses, then destroyed Cadian and severely damaged the remaining interception fleet.
• Zagara brought her remaining forces into the system, but Zhang Han accelerated his withdrawal and his abandoned fleet was overwhelmed by her superior numbers.
• Zagara recognized that her plan to kill Zhang Han’s overmind consciousness fragment had failed and learned that his next system was fortified and contained another Stargate.
• Zagara learned that Kundera had captured her main production system, then retreated with her fleet toward the Stargate at Neutron Star.

After Zagara retreated, Zhang Han rebuilt his forces and tried to counterattack through the Stargate, only to find the far side heavily fortified. He accepted Kundera’s advice to focus on expanding and building up the Swarm, while Kundera claimed the balance of power had shifted in his favor.

• Zhang Han confirmed Zagara had retreated, counted his losses, and cautiously reclaimed systems while rebuilding his Swarm fleet.
• Kagar returned with 1.7 million Swarm vessels, while Stars and Rosesta sent another 1.2 million; Zhang Han’s total reached 4.2 million.
• Zhang Han mourned the Specialized Cerebrate, who had died when Zagara disrupted the Swarm Network and prevented him from transferring his consciousness.
• Zhang Han sent a reconnaissance force through the Stargate at Neutron Star, but Zagara’s traps and heavy fire destroyed twenty thousand vessels before he ordered a retreat.
• Zhang Han told Kundera that Zagara’s defenses prevented him from deploying more than two hundred thousand vessels through the Stargate, and Kundera said he would take on the pressure himself.
• Zhang Han decided to avoid provoking the Stellaris Council, expand his territory, and compensate for his weaker tactics by building a much larger Swarm fleet.

Zhang Han organized the Swarm’s expansion and focused on developing its Hatcheries while working with his Humanity Consciousness to manage the Swarm Thought Tide. In the Libra Sector, Johnny gathered representatives from twenty civilizations under the guise of an economic forum, then faced a delayed supply delivery from the Mogol government.

• Zhang Han assigned 2.2 million Swarm Fleet units to defend the Stargate and Cadian, and divided two million more among Chloe, Nalga, Kagar, Kagat, and Kamu to unify Hatcheries and colonize new systems.
• Zhang Han and his Humanity Consciousness joined forces to calm the Swarm Thought Tide, while planning to hatch more logical consciousnesses and Cerebrates and eventually create a War Hatchery.
• Johnny convened representatives from twenty civilizations at Giant Serpent Star and led them in worship before a statue of the Four-Armed Serpent God, despite the event being publicly described as an economic forum.
• The Mogol government leader told Johnny that the ordered supplies had been collected but were delayed because Mogol lay far away in the central Libra Sector.
• Johnny weighed how to punish the Mogol leader, knowing that a mild response might not deter the other civilizations while a severe one could be unreasonable.

Johnny presided over a meeting of church bishops, pardoned the Morgor leader after warning him, and revealed that the church’s infiltration of the Libra Sector had been exposed. The bishops supported punishing the Evans, leaving Johnny to consider an overt attack with the Swarm fleets.

• Johnny rejected the bishops’ praise, heard Masuk call for the Morgor leader’s removal, and recorded one offense against the leader instead of punishing him immediately.
• Johnny informed the bishops that an Evans report had exposed a Mimic at customs and that the church had lost one of the god’s fingers.
• The bishops assured Johnny that their governments, Ascendants, and church operations remained secure despite the exposure.
• Masuk urged a Holy War against the Evans, and the other bishops enthusiastically agreed.
• Johnny considered using his hundred thousand Swarm fleets to attack openly and reorganize the Doomsday Church in the Fan Libra Sector.

Johnny ordered the allied Civilization Leaders to build fleets for an attack on the Evans’ homeworld, Blonda Star, and promised them genetic ascension. He sent them with Typhon to the Hatchery for examination and modification, intending to monitor their networks and remove any threats to the Swarm.

• Johnny explained the dangers of traitors’ zeal and ordered the Civilization Leaders to redirect resources toward building fleets for a church-controlled Libra Sector.
• Johnny announced plans to attack the Evans’ homeworld, Blonda Star, and the Civilization Leaders enthusiastically pledged to fight for the Serpent God.
• Typhon arrived, and Johnny told the leaders she would take them to the Hatchery for genetic ascension.
• Johnny privately instructed Typhon to probe the leaders’ thoughts, brainwash anyone dangerous, and connect their networks to the Hatchery on Giant Serpent Star.
• Typhon led the Civilization Leaders away, and each leader approached Johnny to kiss the tip of his tail.

On Blonda Star, Gupi urged Queen Christina to leave the threatened Libra Sector, but agreed to support the Fairy Great Wall and proposed hiding Princess Liliya and other future hopes in a remote star system. Christina then went to the Life Altar to sing the Evans’ Song of Life.

• Gupi met Christina in her garden and gave her technology gathered from major council members, including the Antilians.
• Gupi warned Christina that the Devouring Swarm was too dangerous to fight alone and urged her to leave the Libra Sector.
• Christina showed Gupi evidence of the Swarm’s attacks and explained that the fairies intended to fight for their home and seek revenge.
• Gupi offered to support the Fairy Great Wall plan and suggested sending Princess Liliya to a hidden star system to preserve their future.
• Christina summoned Liliya and took Gupi to the Life Altar, where she sang the Song of Life.

While Gupi watched Princess Liliya sing at the Life Altar, Joey and Terrell escaped a Devouring Swarm attack on a tourist planet. Terrell began recovering strange memories and heard an unknown voice claim to be his “golden finger” as their ship fled the Libra Sector.

• Princess Liliya joined her mother Christina at the Life Altar and sang while Gupi resolved to train her into a queen.
• Joey and Terrell tried to flee the planet as a Swarm fleet attacked and Warrior Bugs slaughtered its inhabitants.
• After their car crashed, Terrell raised his hand toward pursuing Zerglings, and the bugs turned away without attacking them.
• Joey rescued the injured Terrell, and the two escaped the planet aboard their luxury space yacht while the Swarm ignored them.
• As they fled the Libra Sector, Terrell recalled that he and Joey had destroyed civilizations, but Joey dismissed his words as head injury nonsense.
• In the medical pod, Terrell heard a strange voice say they were now one and demand that Terrell call it boss.

Overmind Zhang Han expanded his Swarm while struggling to preserve his humanity, then received an offer from Zagara to pass through an undefended Stargate and join the front against Kundera. Although he accepted, he remained suspicious and fortified the Stargate instead of pressing onward.

• Zhang Han’s expanding Hatcheries increased his Swarm’s strength and Psionic Power, while the humanity consciousness helped his Clone maintain a sense of self.
• Zagara contacted Zhang Han and argued that Kundera might be manipulating him, warning that he would be vulnerable after she fell.
• Zagara offered to withdraw her forces from a Stargate so Zhang Han could observe the fighting and choose whom to support.
• Zhang Han accepted the offer but said he would make his own decision after seeing the situation.
• Ten days later, Zhang Han sent a hundred thousand Swarm Fleet vessels through the Stargate and found Zagara’s defenses and installations withdrawn.
• Suspecting a trap, Zhang Han occupied the Stargate’s far side and began building defenses and planting Spore Towers instead of scouting ahead.

Zhang Han’s dispute with Kundera weakened their alliance and gave Zagara a brief reprieve, but Zhang Han planned to overwhelm them with a larger Swarm. He prepared to harvest a neutron star by using three planets as impactors, leaving the membranes around the star to collect the ejected matter.

• Kundera reprimanded Zhang Han for accepting control of the stargate from Zagara, and Zhang Han insisted that he was a partner, not a subordinate.
• Kundera warned Zhang Han against Zagara and ended their transmission, then diverted forces to guard against Zhang Han, easing the pressure on Zagara.
• Zhang Han realized that Zagara had used his actions to make Kundera suspicious, but resolved to defeat both rivals with superior numbers.
• Zhang Han used the level-seven Hatchery’s Gravity Ships and Warp Drive technology to prepare a neutron-star harvesting plan.
• Zhang Han surrounded a neutron star with specially made Spore Membranes and equipped three planets with Warp Drives to serve as impactors.
• The three planets passed through the membranes toward the neutron star, while Star Eaters began sealing the openings before the impacts.

Zhang Han used three planets to batter a neutron star into ejecting vast quantities of rare elements, and he began considering a Super-Giant Swarm Leviathan. Meanwhile, Zagara tried to turn Kundera against Zhang Han, leaving Kundera uncertain how to preserve the Swarm’s unity and break the deadlock.

• Zhang Han observed as three planets struck the neutron star, with the final collision deforming it and flinging out vast quantities of matter.
• The Swarm absorbed the pulverized ejecta, giving Zhang Han enough rare elements to sustain ship production and consider hatching a Super-Giant Swarm Leviathan.
• Zagara sent Kundera a message arguing that Zhang Han was using both of them to become the Overmind and proposing they unite against him before resuming their conflict.
• Kundera worried that Zagara might be right, questioned whether Zhang Han could be trusted, and feared being forced to fight them both.
• Kundera struggled to find a way to reverse the damage to his reputation and protect the Swarm’s future.

Aike prepared the ratmen’s grand plan while awaiting a signal from the Shadow Rats, then sent another squad with his Psionic Power to oversee their mission. A Shadow Rat infiltrated a supply ship carrying a bomb inside his body and ordered the squad to reach the warship’s engine compartment and detonate it.

• A Rat Prophet reported that the ratmen had amassed over a hundred million armed fighters, giant rats, abominations, tunnels, and bombs for their plan.
• Aike learned the Shadow Rats had not sent a signal, punished a Rat Prophet, and gave another Prophet Psionic Power to lead a new Shadow Rat squad.
• Aike approached the Rat God’s altar, where he intended to announce the grand plan he had invented to secure his authority.
• Shadow Rats hid in a cargo container aboard a supply ship and killed two soldiers who inspected it.
• The Shadow Rats devoured the soldiers and their bodies, then the tall Shadow Rat swallowed a bomb hidden inside a zombified ratman.
• After the ship left the planet, the tall Shadow Rat told the squad to enter the warship’s engine compartment and detonate the bomb.

Shadow Rats infiltrated the Death Cult’s fleet and space station, while two hijacked warships crashed near a major city. Aike then announced the Grand Plan and unleashed the Apocalypse Rat Swarm onto the surface amid a planet-wide earthquake.

• Shadow Rats hidden aboard supply ships attacked the Third Fleet, destroying vessels and taking control of others.
• Zulaman sent the Death Army to reinforce the fleet, but disguised ratmen landed on the space station and set it ablaze.
• Two Shadow Rats piloted hijacked warships toward the planet, causing explosions near a major city and mushroom clouds.
• Aike showed the ratmen the crash explosions and declared that the Grand Plan had begun, naming them the Apocalypse Rat Swarm.
• The master engineers triggered a massive earthquake that collapsed buildings and Ascension Platforms as ratmen poured through fissures and devoured the surface.