Chapter Summaries

After nearly two thousand years, Academician Zhou Xiaohua found a way to extract genuine virtual particles, which appeared in a vacuum without ordinary energy and could become a powerful weapon. Hu Yu awarded Zhou the Gold Ship Medal, and the discovery inspired a new wave of enthusiasm for study across the fleet.

• Academician Zhou Xiaohua explained that genuine virtual particle pairs consisted of one real-energy particle and one virtual-energy particle, and that their properties defied existing rules.
• After nearly two thousand years of effort, Academician Zhou found a way to hold a genuine virtual particle in existence by controlling the pair before they vanished.
• Academician Zeng congratulated Zhou on his breakthrough and encouraged him to continue investigating virtual energy, despite its unexplained origin and negative mass.
• The next day, Hu Yu announced the discovery and awarded Academician Zhou the Gold Ship Medal.
• Academician Zhou's story spread through the fleet and inspired renewed enthusiasm for study.

Hu Yu continued preparing for a rescue of the Tree Race while Academician Li struggled to create the third reversed state. Years later, Li solved the problem, and the Tree Race patriarch pledged every elder to the operation despite the danger.

• Hu Yu expanded virtual-particle production, but Academician Li told the Tree Race patriarch that energy shrank too much to form an enclosed space capable of trapping the Far Watcher Civilization.
• Hu Yu's miniature spacecraft waited at Epsilon Eridani and Upsilon1 Hydrae for Luo Zhigao, but he missed a second rendezvous.
• The Tree Race patriarch told Hu Yu that the Tree Race had over one billion elders, drawn from generations who had accumulated internal spaces.
• Hu Yu told the patriarch that Academician Li had solved the third reversed-state problem and warned that the rescue would require the elders' help and bring casualties.
• The Tree Race patriarch committed every elder to the rescue, and Hu Yu said he would discuss whether the operation could begin ahead of schedule.

After six thousand years of preparation, humanity debated whether to launch a rescue operation against the Far Watcher Civilization to free the Treefolk. The leaders chose to attack immediately and planned to force the hidden fleet into normal space, where the Treefolk elders could act.

• Academician Li explained that one billion Tree Race elders could create a Third Reversed State energy layer, and described his research into the more powerful Fourth Reversed State armor.
• Humanity amassed 1.4 billion Grim Slayers, 1.2 billion Stinger Kinetic Impact Ships, and four million virtual-matter arrows, but its forces remained far smaller than the Far Watcher Civilization's fleet.
• Chen Peng, Li Zhixiong, Gao Jianchuan, Yang Fan, and Zhonghua debated whether to wait for a larger fleet or attack at once, then agreed to proceed immediately.
• The leaders set a four-year limit for the main operation, warning that returning Far Watcher fleets could otherwise overwhelm them.
• The rescue plan called for gravity bombs to repeatedly force the Far Watcher fleet out of concealed space while miniature spacecraft tracked it from uninhabited planets, giving the Treefolk elders a chance to act.

Hu Yu’s alliance began harassing the Far Watcher Civilization to draw out its forces and prepare a rescue operation. The Far Watcher head of state discovered the concealed main fleet and ordered a massive counterattack while keeping forces to defend the inhabited planet.

• Hu Yu refused the Brilliant Star Civilization and the other five leaders’ request to join the rescue operation, telling them their fleets were too small and promising the Tree Race would understand.
• A gravity bomb revealed the Far Watcher Civilization’s hidden territory, prompting its head of state to order the fleet to conceal it again and protect its inhabited planet.
• After repeated gravity-bomb harassment, the Far Watcher Civilization emerged again and increased patrols, while Hu Yu’s miniature spaceship monitored its response.
• Wen Zhonghua ordered five hundred million Grim Slayers to act as bait while a hidden fleet of more than fifty billion Grim Slayers followed.
• The Far Watcher head of state learned of the hidden fleet and ordered a hundred billion warships to intercept it, ten billion to engage the bait fleet, and forty billion to defend the territory.

Li Shun’s forces launched a deceptive assault on the Far Watcher Civilization to reach the planet holding the Tree Race prisoners. The Far Watchers let the invading fleet enter their territory, and the Tree Race elders began moving into position to help form the containment sphere.

• The Far Watcher head of state ordered the invading fleet destroyed, while Li Shun’s forces used holographic projections to disguise their true numbers and intentions.
• The real fleet attacked the Far Watchers with Stingers and Grim Slayers, destroying more than a billion enemy warships despite the Far Watchers’ spatial attacks.
• The Far Watchers decided to draw the invaders into their territory and activate planetary defenses, believing their armor was the enemy’s main advantage.
• Li Shun and Old Hu took advantage of the Far Watchers’ restraint as the fleet neared the Tree Race prison planet, 400 astronomical units inside the territory.
• The Tree Race elders were ordered to move to their assigned coordinates and prepare to release their energy and internal spaces.

Wen Zhonghua’s forces struggled against the Far Watcher Civilization’s planetary cannons and overwhelming fleet while the Tree Race elders’ space expanded. The reversal instruments enclosed over seven hundred planets and nearly eighty billion Far Watcher warships in a gigantic sphere, leaving the Far Watcher Führer demanding that its cannons break through.

• The Tree Race elders revealed their true forms, and the Far Watcher Führer ordered the fleet to attack while keeping the elders alive.
• The planets opened thousands of enormous cannon ports and began devastating the Grim Slayers and Stinger Kinetic Impact Ships.
• Wen Zhonghua ordered the Stingers to ram the planets and the Grim Slayers to launch energy spheres, but the Far Watcher forces held the planets and destroyed hundreds of millions of attackers.
• Wen Zhonghua ordered the reversal instruments activated as the expanding space reached its designated size.
• The instruments formed a hollow sphere five hundred astronomical units wide around more than seven hundred planets and nearly eighty billion Far Watcher warships.
• The sphere’s wall withstood the collision of hundreds of millions of warships, and the Far Watcher Führer ordered the space cannons to attack it.

The Grim Slayers and Stingers struggled to rescue the Tree Race captives as the Far Watcher Civilization’s Space Cannons overwhelmed their forces. The Tree Race elders’ attempt to destroy the cannons failed, and the rescue operation was declared a complete failure.

• The Far Watcher Civilization damaged the giant Reversed State sphere, moved its planets into firing positions, and reduced the Grim Slayer and Stinger fleets.
• Hu Yu and the Tree Race patriarch considered retreat, but Grand Elder Zhigu and the elders chose to sacrifice themselves to destroy 3,000 Space Cannons and free the captives.
• Hu Yu ordered the remaining Grim Slayers to cover the elders, and the fleet attacked the Far Watcher Civilization’s forces as the elders charged toward the Space Cannons.
• The Far Watcher Civilization’s restraint prevented the elders from self-destructing, and its fleets surrounded them until they grew weak.
• Hu Yu declared the rescue a complete failure and ordered the Grim Slayers to launch spatial attacks to open an escape route for the elders.

Academician Xiao’s signal caused the Far Watcher Civilization’s warships to attack one another, allowing the Grim Slayer and the Tree Race elders to reach the captive Tree Race. As the elders rescued their people and escaped through the chaos, a clearheaded Far Watcher fleet pursued them but was slowed by its own warring ships.

• Academician Xiao sent a signal that made Far Watcher Civilization warships attack one another and destroy their space cannon.
• The Grim Slayer and the Tree Race elders charged into Far Watcher territory as the signal spread and the enemy fleets fell into chaos.
• The Head of State ordered inhabited planets moved away and the captive Tree Race planets relocated toward the battlefield’s edge.
• The Grim Slayer cleared enemy ships from the captive planets, and Grand Elder Zhigu’s elders pulled their people from the planets and carried them through the battle zone.
• A clearheaded fleet of forty billion Far Watcher warships pursued the Tree Race elders, but the chaotic fleet attacked it and the Grim Slayer resisted its fire.

Hu Yu’s forces rescued the Tree Race elders and attacked the Far Watcher Civilization, but the Heavenly Peak Civilization arrived and demanded compensation. Elder Daozi appeared to challenge its authority, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• The Tree Race elders escaped the battle as Hu Yu kept the Grim Slayers and Stingers fighting the Far Watcher Civilization.
• Hu Yu ordered the Grim Slayers to use spatial attacks, clearing a path to a planet while the Far Watcher Civilization’s ships suffered heavy damage.
• A huge warship arrived, and the Heavenly Peak Civilization ordered Hu Yu to hand over an intact warship as compensation.
• Hu Yu refused, arguing that humanity had only rescued the Tree Race and had not destroyed the Far Watcher Civilization.
• Elder Daozi arrived on an Azure Ox ship, and Wen Zhonghua greeted him warmly while the Heavenly Peak Civilization defended its actions to Mr. Zhou Dao.

The Heavenly Peak Civilization formally notified humanity that it had joined the Galactic Alliance and explained the alliance's rules and patrol service. Daozi arrived, ended the dispute by taking a Far Watcher planet as compensation for the Tree Race, then joined the humans for a feast before Hu Yu asked him questions.

• The Heavenly Peak Civilization explained the alliance's rules to Hu Yu and invited humanity to patrol against insect swarms, but Hu Yu declined for the time being.
• Hu Yu agreed to let the Tree Race matter go and took one of the Far Watcher Civilization's planets as compensation.
• Daozi transported the human warships and the planet to the JD6 Planetary System, and the Heavenly Peak Civilization allowed the Far Watcher Civilization to move into alliance space.
• Daozi entered the command room and reunited with Wen Zhonghua, who served him wine and a lavish meal.
• After eating, Daozi asked whether the humans had questions, and Hu Yu said they did.

Mr. Daozi revealed that he had copied life from Li Shun’s world to create Earth and had manipulated events to test humanity. He also explained that a Great Star Region Civilization was secretly feeding the Insect Race as part of a plan to unify the Milky Way, while warning that exposing it too soon could destroy the galaxy.

• Hu Yu asked Mr. Daozi about humanity’s origins and learned that both human branches came from his seeding plan.
• Mr. Daozi admitted that Li Shun’s world was the original, that he copied its life to Earth, and that he had once pretended to be a successful man there.
• Mr. Daozi revealed that he had arranged for humanity to encounter a damaged four-dimensional space bubble, but humanity had failed to obtain dimensional technology before it disappeared.
• Mr. Daozi told Hu Yu and Wen Zhonghua that one of the five Great Star Region Civilizations was behind the Insect Race’s feeding operation, but he could not identify it safely.
• Mr. Daozi explained that the hidden civilization aimed to unify the Milky Way and fed the Insect Race living beings in the greater universe, despite the supposed special nutrients being nonexistent.

Mr. Daozi warned Hu Yu and the others about the growing threat from the Insect Zone and explained why their civilization should avoid Alliance Space. He also revealed that Minister Luo had missed two meetings and that he had lost track of another team, though the team had reached the Star System-Level Civilization stage when he last saw them.

• Hu Yu questioned Mr. Daozi’s reasons for cultivating humanity, and Mr. Daozi urged them to grow stronger as the Insect swarm approached a critical point.
• Mr. Daozi said he could not provide technology beyond their abilities, then advised them to keep more than a hundred billion warships in their territory and warned them not to enter Alliance Space.
• Mr. Daozi explained that Alliance Space was a vast four-dimensional region created by five Great Star Region Civilizations, where time flowed faster than in the universe.
• Mr. Daozi said Minister Luo and his group were safe but did not know why they had missed two meetings, and he revealed he had lost track of another team ten thousand years earlier.
• Mr. Daozi reassured everyone that the missing team had reached the Star System-Level Civilization stage when he last saw them.

Mr. Daozi urged Hu Yu and the others to form an alliance with the Xuan Star Civilization and the Carina Civilization, and explained that they would need to remove the Xuan Star Civilization’s leader and free it from the Fish Horse Star Civilization’s control. After Mr. Daozi departed, Hu Yu’s group considered his advice and received coordinates to a newly formed fifteen-star system.

• Mr. Daozi recommended the Carina Civilization as a reliable ally and said it would join if the humans brought the Xuan Star Civilization into their alliance.
• Mr. Daozi told the humans to remove the Xuan Star Civilization’s leader and free the civilization from the Fish Horse Star Civilization’s control, adding that they only needed to deal with a hundred enemy warships.
• Mr. Daozi said the humans should consider the larger picture regarding the Far Watcher Civilization and praised the Tree Race’s devotion to them.
• Mr. Daozi bid farewell, gave the humans coordinates to a newly formed fifteen-star system, and left aboard his spaceship with food and wine.
• Hu Yu and Academician Zeng agreed to consider Mr. Daozi’s advice and try to form an alliance with the Xuan Star Civilization.

The alliance’s leaders planned to defeat the Fish Horse Star Civilization and later seek reconciliation with the Xuan Star Civilization. Meanwhile, Academician Zeng led thousands of scholars and an escort fleet to study the unstable fifteen-star system, where they began gathering data from a distance.

• Academician Xiao proposed freeing the Xuan Star Civilization from the Fish Horse Star Civilization and secretly eliminating its current head of state so the two civilizations could negotiate afterward.
• The leaders agreed to focus first on the Fish Horse and Mu Star Civilizations, while Wen Zhonghua warned that their forces were far weaker than Fish Horse Star warships.
• Academician Zeng urged an expedition to the fifteen-star system, and the leaders sent Wen Zhonghua, Jianchuan, thousands of academicians, and an escort fleet.
• The Tree Race patriarch learned that the Far Watcher Civilization would no longer threaten his people and resolved to restore the Tree Race’s strength and aid the alliance.
• At the fifteen-star system, the academicians observed fifteen stars following unusual, constantly changing orbits within ten astronomical units and suspected Mr. Daozi had created the system.
• Academician Zeng ordered the fleet to remain still at a distance while the computers simulated the stars’ trajectories and the academicians examined the changing data.

Hu Yu and the Alliance joined the Tree Race’s celebration before the patriarch revealed the secret of the Tree Race’s two princes. The princes were once one person, and the Tree Race said they had to merge to secure their people’s future, though one prince feared losing his independent consciousness.

• After more than two years of studying the unusual system, Hu Yu, Academician Xiao, and other Alliance members attended the Tree Race’s month-long celebration.
• Ninety-Seven told Hu Yu that the Tree Race’s secret was troubling him.
• The Tree Race patriarch led Hu Yu and the others through a concealed passage to a hidden planet, where they met Grand Elder Zhigu and a second prince identical to Ninety-Seven.
• The patriarch explained that the two princes had split to evade the Far Watcher Civilization, and that their consciousnesses and internal spaces had divided between them.
• Academician Xiao warned that merging the princes might erase one consciousness, while the patriarch said the Tree Race needed a complete prince’s internal space to produce future elders.

The two Ninety-Sevens fused into one, retaining both sets of memories and restoring his internal space. The Tree Race patriarch named him the new patriarch, and Hu Yu’s group returned to Earth Two to continue studying the Far Watcher Civilization.

• The Tree Race patriarch and Grand Elder Zhigu fused the two Ninety-Sevens, exhausting much of their energy.
• The fused Ninety-Seven told Hu Yu and the elders that both senses of self remained and his internal space had returned to normal.
• The Tree Race patriarch stepped down and appointed Ninety-Seven as the new patriarch, who promised to lead the Tree Race.
• The patriarch explained that the Tree Race reproduced through incarnations and division, and that joining the Star Ring Alliance would help the race recover.
• Hu Yu and the others returned to Earth Two, where scientists continued examining the Far Watcher Civilization’s planet and collected preserved brains for study.

Academician Zeng and the other academicians observed a Reversed State membrane vanish briefly amid the distorted space of a multiple-star system, raising the possibility of spatial folding or passage into the fourth dimension. After the system’s stars collided in a series of immense eruptions, Hu Yu’s fleet shielded nearby civilizations and set out for JD6 to investigate the recorded data.

• After 200 years of drifting, the Reversed State membrane reached the center of the multiple-star system, where the academicians recorded its changing shape.
• When part of the membrane vanished and reappeared, Academician Zhou Xiaohua proposed that it had entered the fourth dimension, while Academician Zhang Xinheng suggested it might have folded into space.
• Academician Liu urged the fleet to notify nearby civilizations, and the academicians recorded the data before the multiple-star system began collapsing.
• The stars collided in successive eruptions that sent powerful energy waves across space, and tens of millions of Grim Slayers formed defensive groups to shield civilizations.
• Hu Yu used warships to protect planetary-level civilizations and help shield stellar-level civilizations from the surges.
• After the fireworks show, the fleet headed for JD6 to study the disappearance of the Reversed State in Earth Two’s laboratories.

Academician Zeng and the other academicians began analyzing the Far Watcher Civilization’s space cannon, while the fleet considered its next moves against the Fish Horse Star Civilization. The chapter left the fleet searching for stronger weapons, defenses, and artificial intelligence as it prepared for a difficult war and the risk of attracting a great star region civilization.

• Academician Zeng led the analysis of the space cannon and found that its enormous shaft and equipment made mass production a slow, resource-intensive undertaking.
• The fleet approved a strategic plan to win over the Xuan Star Civilization and began considering how to defeat the hundred Fish Horse Star Civilization warships in the Mu Star Civilization.
• Hu Yu asked Academician Li Youwei about the Fourth Reversed State, but Academician Li said that research had made no progress.
• The fleet considered virtual matter weapons and stronger spatial attacks but recognized that neither had been proven sufficient against Fish Horse Star warships.
• The fleet prioritized artificial intelligence because high-level insect swarms could disrupt long-distance communication, but simulated battles showed that AI still could not match human judgment.

Hu Yu oversaw the fleet’s expansion and research into entering the fourth dimension while waiting for the insect threat to grow. In 28996, a powerful swarm surrounded a million Grim Slayers, and Hu Yu sent a massive force to destroy it and assess high-level insects.

• Hu Yu assigned computer scientists to develop more autonomous artificial intelligence and continued preparations for entering the insect zone.
• By 20000, the fleet had expanded its population and forces, built Reaper warships, and helped six alliance civilizations advance to star system-level civilization.
• Hu Yu sent a fleet to Epsilon Eridani and waited for Luo Zhigao, but Luo did not arrive after a hundred years.
• In 25000, Zhou Xiaohua used ten stars to send a spacecraft into the fourth dimension, but the craft vanished and could not be traced.
• In 28996, a swarm of level 16 to level 20 insects surrounded a million Grim Slayers, and Hu Yu dispatched ten billion Reapers and ten billion Stingers to destroy it.

The Grim Slayers struggled to survive after two insect kings overwhelmed their million-ship fleet, while the Reapers remained 45 days away. Far away, Tian Feng and Yun San watched the battle and discussed the threat of the insect emperor, with Yun San expressing hope that Zhou Dao could turn the fight around.

• The insect swarm surrounded the Grim Slayers, and Wen Zhonghua ordered the fleet to break out and fight a mobile battle while awaiting support.
• A giant centipede-like insect king pierced a Grim Slayer’s armor and destroyed the ship, while a second insect king also attacked the fleet.
• The two insect kings each began destroying nearly one Grim Slayer per second, leaving fewer than 100,000 of the million ships after 40 days of fighting.
• Tian Feng warned Yun San that high-tier swarms had appeared unusually often and feared the insect emperor might evolve again.
• Yun San showed Tian Feng the battle and said the human fleet’s armor had held against all but the two main combat insects, adding that Zhou Dao might turn the situation around.