Chapter Summaries

Zhang Han discovered that his psionic power could wake the sleeping Behemoth, so he ordered the Swarm to halt production and help him shield the Psionics Sea’s core. After the crisis passed, he thanked the Cerebrates for their work.

• Zhang Han sensed Behemoth’s immense psionic power and realized that waves in the Psionics Sea could wake him.
• Zhang Han used Thought Multitasking and Thought Acceleration to halt the Cerebrates’ work and have them calculate two possible plans.
• Zhang Han chose to draw psionic power from the Swarm Network while ordering the Hatchery to mass-produce Nuclear Detonation Crystals for a possible attack.
• Zhang Han and the Cerebrates shaped the gathered psionic power into a net and enveloped the Psionics Sea’s core, keeping the waves from disturbing Behemoth.
• Zhang Han thanked and comforted the Cerebrates, whose consciousness forms appeared as two caterpillars.

Zhang Han arranged for the Swarm to maintain the Psionics Sea while he and another Cerebrate took turns stabilizing it. Meanwhile, Robert’s army prepared to face Chloe, whose growing forces and promises to her supporters threatened his rule.

• Zhang Han assigned Stars and the Harpies to gather energy and improve the Swarm’s environment, and ordered the Harpies to undergo the first stage of Genetic Ascension.
• Zhang Han selected a third Cerebrate for production and postponed hatching the Giant Cerebrate while the Swarm’s development slowed.
• Robert marched with a hundred thousand troops after agreeing with Arthur to withdraw in exchange for gold and magic crystal weapons, but planned to defeat Chloe first.
• George warned Robert that rumors about his parents’ murders and usurpation were shaking the nobles’ loyalty, then urged him to win battles and offer a political defense.
• George told Robert that Chloe had gathered about fifty thousand troops and promised nobles land and plunder while offering titles to knights who won major victories.
• Robert called Chloe mad after hearing how she had recruited troops and rewarded commoners.

Chloe prepared to confront the False King Robert’s army, using the Swarm to scout for a battlefield while her nobles organized troops and supplies. She ordered her forces to meet Robert’s army at Turningback Hill.

• Chloe monitored Robert’s army through the Small Network while Swarm squads watched its movements and five hundred Warrior Bugs searched the Central Plains for a battlefield.
• Duke reported that only thirty thousand of the fifty thousand soldiers at Warrior Fortress were ready to fight, while the rest were too poorly trained or afraid of the Swarm.
• Marquis Hornsos, Duke, and Earl Jonathan proposed defending Warrior Fortress, evacuating the population and grain, and using scorched-earth tactics to strain Robert’s supply lines.
• Chloe asked whether the nobles had a more aggressive strategy, but only Earl Jonathan offered to lead his knights in a small-scale clash.
• Chloe ordered her forces to meet Robert’s army at Turningback Hill.

Chloe chose to confront Robert’s army at Turningback Hill rather than defend Warrior Fortress, leaving her outnumbered forces and assembled nobles uneasy. As Robert’s army arrived early, Knight Raul rallied the soldiers by promising rewards and advancement for victory.

• Chloe ordered a makeshift defensive camp built at Turningback Hill and promised to lead the Swarm in a decisive battle against Robert.
• Robert learned of Chloe’s choice, ordered a forced march, and brought his hundred-thousand-strong army to the battlefield two days early.
• Marquis Hornsos and Duke discussed their doubts about the exposed camp and their confidence in Chloe’s mysterious plans.
• Knight Raul told the soldiers how he had gained power and a title through serving Chloe, showing them his Degraded Neural Thorn.
• Raul promised knights noble titles and soldiers half the battlefield spoils if they defeated Robert, exciting the crowd.

As Chloe and Robert prepared for a decisive battle, both sides worried about the Swarm’s power and the risks of fighting. Robert authorized George to deploy his guards and promised doubled rewards, while Chloe secured the Behemoth’s aid for the coming battle.

• Duke admitted to the marquis that he feared the Swarm, and the marquis warned him to watch his words because the monsters could report to Chloe.
• Robert told George he suspected Chloe had left him a trap, but George argued that retreat would make the army and nobles lose confidence in Robert.
• Robert agreed to let George deploy his personal guard and promised to double rewards for heads taken and military merit in the next day’s battle.
• Chloe watched Robert’s army through a Hydralisk’s eyes and spoke with the Behemoth, who agreed to help after signing a contract with the Overmind.

Chloe’s Crown Prince Army faced Robert’s False King Army at Turningback Hill, where Heinrich began the battle with an artillery bombardment. Chloe used the Swarm Network to make her fewer Magic Crystal Cannons strike with remarkable accuracy, forcing Heinrich to send his first echelon into the attack.

• Chloe deployed her forces in three defensive lines on Turningback Hill, placing the Magic Crystal Cannons and elite troops at the summit.
• Heinrich ordered his eighty Magic Crystal Cannons to bombard Chloe’s first defensive line, but Raul used Chloe’s shell-impact calculations to guide the troops’ evasive movements.
• Chloe directed her twenty Magic Crystal Cannons to shell Heinrich’s artillery positions with calculated accuracy, destroying twenty cannons and forcing him to disperse and withdraw the rest.
• Chloe’s cannons then struck Heinrich’s infantry and nearly killed him, until a mage protected him with a psionic shield.
• Heinrich ordered his ten-thousand-strong first echelon, equipped with half plate, to attack Chloe’s army.

Duke Duke's forces endured a fierce battle against Heinrich's False King Army, then rallied with reinforcements and drove the enemy to retreat. As Chloe's Army pursued the fleeing troops, Raul delivered the Crown Prince's order for Duke to advance and cut them down.

• Heinrich's ranged troops helped suppress Duke Duke's first line, and Duke sent three thousand elite soldiers into the fight.
• Heinrich committed his second infantry line, stabilizing his troops as Duke's elite charge inflicted heavy casualties.
• Duke requested help, and Ymir and Marquis Hornsos sent reinforcements that strengthened Chloe's Army and overwhelmed the False King's ranged forces.
• Heinrich ordered a retreat, but Chloe's Army pursued while its infantry stripped armor and weapons from the dead.
• Raul told Duke that the Crown Prince ordered him to advance and slaughter the retreating enemy.

Duke ordered Chloe's Army to pursue the False King Army, and the routed soldiers were crushed between their pursuers and their own reinforcements. The fighting continued as Ymir and the nobles' elite private soldiers broke through the heavy infantry, while Heinrich repositioned his remaining troops and Magic Crystal Cannons for the next phase.

• Duke ordered nearly sixteen thousand soldiers to charge from the trenches, and Raul rallied them with a cry for titles and gold.
• The False King Army's elite lost morale and fled, abandoning weapons and armor as their pursuers killed them.
• Heinrich sent nearby units and heavy infantry to support the routed troops, whose own formations killed fleeing comrades to keep order.
• Chloe's Army and the nobles' second-line soldiers charged into the reinforcements, and Ymir led the elite private soldiers in breaking the heavy infantry lines.
• Heinrich held back his remaining troops, repositioned fifty thousand soldiers, and moved the Magic Crystal Cannons into bombardment positions as noon arrived.

Chloe ordered Jonathan to lead four thousand cavalry in a flank charge that broke the heavy infantry, but Heinrich countered by unleashing fifteen thousand elite cavalry against the scattered attackers. The charge routed most of Chloe's first and second lines and trapped Duke, Ymir, and Raul, leaving Heinrich confident that Chloe's army would collapse.

• Chloe studied the battle and ordered Jonathan to lead one thousand heavy cavalry and three thousand light cavalry against the wavering heavy infantry.
• Jonathan's downhill cavalry charge broke the heavy infantry, whose survivors fled and dropped their weapons.
• Heinrich sent fifteen thousand elite cavalry into a countercharge while Jonathan's forces were scattered in pursuit.
• Jonathan ordered a retreat toward the Hills and managed to gather five thousand men behind the camp defenses.
• The False King Army's cavalry overwhelmed the battlefield and surrounded Duke, Ymir, and Raul with the soldiers they had gathered.
• Heinrich concluded that his countercharge had reversed the battle and expected Chloe's army to collapse.

Chloe’s army was being overwhelmed by the False King Army until the Behemoth and the Swarm emerged from the forest and frightened the enemy. Heinrich ordered a full assault and asked the Emperor to commit the strongest forces, leaving the battle poised to escalate.

• Chloe’s stone-throwing machines struck the False King Army, but Heinrich sent light cavalry to burn them and ordered his troops to eliminate the surrounded soldiers.
• The False King Army used Magic Crystal Guns and cavalry to break down Chloe’s formations while Jonathan prepared to charge and rescue Duke, Raul, and Ymir.
• Duke regretted pursuing the enemy, while Raul and Ymir encouraged the surrounded soldiers and continued fighting.
• The Behemoth emerged from the forest with Swarm Monsters, causing the False King Army’s soldiers to panic.
• Robert realized Chloe could control a Legendary Beast, and Heinrich ordered the Magic Crystal Cannons to fire on the Monsters before requesting the Emperor send all remaining troops and elite fighters.

The Behemoth and Swarm creatures routed the False King Army, whose soldiers could not withstand their attacks. Duke rallied the exhausted defenders to urge surrender, and Chloe ordered the Swarm to spare those who laid down their weapons, leaving Robert's army defeated.

• Heinrich ordered most of his troops to turn back and resist the beasts, but the False King Army could not carry out his commands.
• The Behemoth and the Warrior Bugs slaughtered the False King Army while avoiding the Magic Crystal Cannons' attacks.
• Duke urged the soldiers to pledge allegiance to the Queen and surrender, and the call spread across the battlefield.
• Chloe ordered the Swarm to stop attacking surrendering soldiers as more troops and nobles put down their weapons.
• Some soldiers killed their noble officers before surrendering, and Robert's army was finished.

Robert’s army collapsed after its defeat, and Robert retreated while Chloe’s forces captured the surviving troops and supplies. Chloe welcomed ten Siege Beasts sent by the Overmind as reinforcements, leaving her preparing to receive them.

• Heinrich admitted that his army had lost, and Robert ordered his remaining troops to retreat from the battlefield.
• Chloe let Robert’s army escape while three thousand Warrior Bugs remained hidden underground, and her forces gathered the captured soldiers and abandoned supplies.
• Ten Siege Beasts arrived under the escort of Rettell Flyers and requested access to Chloe’s free network.
• Duke, Ymir, and Raul organized the prisoners as captured nobles pleaded with Duke to seek leniency from Chloe.
• Chloe assembled servants and guards to welcome the Siege Beasts sent by the Overmind.

Chloe received the Siege Beasts and learned that she was the core node of the Free Network, not a node of the Swarm Network. Their leader, Kamu, explained the limits of the Swarm’s ability to create wisdom and demonstrated how the Siege Beasts could support her wounded soldiers.

• Ten Siege Beasts arrived with giant flying bugs and were lowered onto the hills near Chloe.
• Kamu told Chloe that she was the Free Network’s core node and relayed the Stars High Node’s warning not to use too much Hatchery energy.
• Chloe asked the Siege Beast for a name, and it chose Kamu after the God of Meteors.
• Kamu explained that the other Siege Beasts were less intelligent and that technology could not create wisdom.
• Kamu and the flying bugs moved the Siege Beasts to the plains, where they opened their Hatchery Pools and spread creep.
• Kamu offered the nutrient fluid from the Hatchery Pools to help restore Chloe’s wounded soldiers.

Chloe used the Siege Beast’s healing nutrient fluid to recruit Altian nobles and soldiers as she prepared to unite the Human Kingdom. Meanwhile, Zhang Han began replacing the Psionics Sea’s core with the Swarm’s psionic power to investigate Behemoth, while Stars oversaw the Swarm’s expanding industrial complex in the Death Forest.

• Chloe ordered Raul and Ymir to have Duke and the others recruit nobles and soldiers, offering pardon and treatment for the wounded in exchange for their allegiance.
• Chloe shared information about the Siege Beast’s nutrient fluid and planned to pacify the Altia Empire before turning against the other great human nations.
• Zhang Han cautiously probed toward Behemoth in the Psionics Sea, but even his finest psionic thread disturbed the sleeping creature.
• Zhang Han began gradually replacing the psionic power at the Psionics Sea’s core with his own and the Swarm’s, and Behemoth did not react to the initial changes.
• With the Mental Barrier stable, Stars directed Harpies and hundreds of thousands of Drones in building a home for the Giant Cerebrate and expanding the Swarm’s energy and mineral facilities in the Death Forest.

Stars oversaw construction around the Swarm’s incubating Giant Cerebrate while recalling a past intergalactic campaign that taught the Swarm to conserve energy. The memory recounted the Swarm’s desperate arrival on a barren planet and its discovery of the lost Ivan Zerg civilization, whose underground world had just been opened to sunlight.

• Stars stood above the basin where the Swarm was building a reservoir and incubating a Giant Cerebrate, then set to work preparing defenses and infrastructure.
• The Hive Mind’s memory revealed that a navigation error had sent a Swarm fleet millions of light-years off course, leaving it depleted at a barren planet.
• The Swarm gathered resources on the planet for a year to build a fleet that could reach a star system a hundred light-years away, but it lacked rare elements.
• A scout insect discovered artificial ruins, and the Swarm excavated them to learn about the Ivan Zerg, an intelligent insect civilization that had lived underground.
• A major earthquake split the planet’s crust, exposing the Ivan Zerg to golden sunlight for the first time and thrilling the insects who saw it.

After the king and pope suppressed knowledge of the world above the sky, a priest’s sunrise experience sparked a religious reformation that grew into a revolution. The Ivan Zerg overthrew the monarchy and orthodox church, founded a republic, and turned toward exploration and technological progress.

• The king and pope branded reports of the world above the sky heretical, persecuted those who spread them, and sealed the opening to the surface.
• A soldier’s notebook preserved the truth about sunlight, and a priest who found it opened the sealed passage and witnessed a sunrise.
• The priest reinterpreted the scriptures and led believers to the surface, beginning a religious reformation against the orthodox church.
• The king and church launched a broad crackdown, but rebellions spread into a kingdom-wide uprising.
• The rebels overthrew the king and pope and established a more democratic republic that pursued exploration and technological development.

The Ivan Zerg united to develop spaceflight after learning their sun would eventually destroy their planet, but scarce resources made interstellar colonization impossible. The State of Emergency Executive Committee concealed the failure and launched a doomed ship carrying genetic material and three astronauts, leaving the civilization believing its descendants had a future.

• The Ivan Zerg developed rockets and a solar observation satellite, which revealed that their star would become a supernova in a few million years.
• Religious figures persuaded the Ivan Zerg that past events were divine guidance to escape their planet, and society established the State of Emergency Executive Committee to coordinate colonization efforts.
• The Ivan Zerg imposed harsh labor and education rules as they devoted their civilization to building spaceships, while scientists faced overwhelming pressure and some died by suicide.
• The committee discovered that the planet lacked enough resources for interstellar travel, and three of its ten members killed themselves after realizing the plan was hopeless.
• The remaining committee members devised Project Hope and publicly launched a spaceship carrying genetic material from tens of thousands of Ivan Zerg and three astronauts, concealing that the mission could not succeed.
• The Ivan Zerg celebrated the launch, believing their descendants would survive and that they could face death in peace.

The Swarm uncovered the Ivan Zerg’s hidden repository, used its resources to survive and eventually devoured the galaxy, marking the stripped planets with the Ivan Zerg’s name. Later, Zhang Han read about the Swarm’s history as the story shifted to Terrell and Joey, two Sek'Dari partners about to discuss another risky business deal.

• The Swarm deciphered the Ivan Zerg committee’s message and found that the civilization had gone extinct, but recovered supplies that secured its fleet’s journey to the next star system.
• The Swarm replenished its resources on an ocean planet, developed for decades, and eventually devoured the galaxy, leaving the name Ivan Zerg on every stripped planet.
• Zhang Han browsed stories in the Hatchery’s database to learn about the Swarm and the universe.
• Joey invited Terrell to a restaurant to discuss a lucrative deal, but Terrell recalled that Joey’s last scheme had sent him to prison.
• Terrell and Joey’s different backgrounds and complementary skills were described as they argued over their history of risky ventures.
• Joey tried to calm Terrell by pointing out that they were in an upscale restaurant and urging him to try the food.

Joey showed Terrell a secret plan to create cloned hybrid life-forms and sell them as slaves, hoping to recruit him for a dangerous scheme. Terrell discovered the target planet lay in a high-risk zone, but Joey claimed recent military action had cleared out the invading bugs.

• Joey treated Terrell to food, then sealed their booth with a privacy membrane before showing him the documents.
• Terrell read the Alpha Paradise Cultivation Plan and learned a corporation intended to breed cloned hybrids on a planet, then sell them as native slaves.
• Terrell condemned the plan and worried that helping with it could get them executed, but Joey insisted the corporation would take the blame.
• Terrell compared the planet's star chart with the latest news and pointed out that it was in a high-risk zone where the Stellaris Council was fighting invading bugs.
• Joey said the Antil Military Empire had largely cleared the bugs from that region months earlier and argued that the planet sat on the edge of the risk zone.

Joey persuaded Terrell to join an interstellar pioneering venture, promising wealth and a legal claim to an undeveloped planet. As they traveled through Hyperspace with combat robots, Terrell learned Joey had never finalized the mercenary contract and that both men faced unlimited liability, so he attacked Joey as Joey claimed to have made a crucial discovery.

• Joey convinced Terrell that pioneering a planet could make them rich and urged him to sign on as the company's general manager.
• Terrell agreed after thinking of his struggling family and sister, and Joey said he had hired the third-ranked mercenary group.
• The two drank and spent a night with a female fox before setting off through Hyperspace with two batches of combat robots.
• Joey confessed that the company had no money to pay the mercenaries, so their contract had never been finalized.
• Joey revealed that the robot loan carried unlimited liability for them both, and Terrell switched the ship to autopilot and punched him as Joey shouted about a crucial discovery.