Galactic Star Calendar, year 3034, mid-June.
The Starlight Empire's second civil war, a week and more from its opening, had advanced at a pace far beyond anyone's reckoning.
News came out, one piece upon another.
First was the Chu Wen system's field, where, under the coordination of Marshal Chu Changhe and a mysterious Owl Dragon interstellar missile-ship fleet, every enemy force upon that field was annihilated entire.
Next, the Northern Goose Group's field, where the Northern Goose defensive fleet and the Owl Dragon Fourth Legion fought in concert — and where a special fleet of the Owl Dragon Legion, composed of interstellar stealth bombers to the last hull, gave an outstanding showing.
Under the tacit coordination of these fleets, Qin Xiaotian's imperial forces and hive-race fleets, which had sought to attack and wreck the Northern Goose Group's industrial base, were destroyed to the last!
More miraculous still, the Northern Goose Group's industrial base had suffered not the least particle of loss; indeed, over the several days of fighting, not even its production tasks had been delayed — and its production efficiency had, if anything, risen greatly above the ordinary.
And the last straw to break Qin Xiaotian, this new Emperor, was the state of the fighting in the Snow-Swallow Star Region!
And it came with an enormous scandal besides.
That Qin Xiaotian had been developing hive-race biological technology was a thing everyone had known since the first Starlight Empire civil war, when the hive-race fleets were brought out.
But in this Snow-Swallow Star Region campaign, no one had imagined Qin Longcheng would, of all things, use a hive-race spore-virus and loose it upon a dozen-odd systems centered on the Snow-Swallow second system.
Which led directly to every living thing upon every habitable planet of those dozen-odd systems being infected within a bare 24 hours, mutating, and giving birth to a terrible creature named the mutated hive-race.
By rumor, above 1 trillion living souls across those dozen-odd systems were killed entire, and near 100 large habitable planets were laid waste — for all the world like the end of days.
And all of it was Qin Longcheng's doing, to hold off the oncoming Owl Dragon Legion fleets.
Yet even so, in the end the Owl Dragon lord led three Owl Dragon legion fleets himself, together with an interstellar missile-ship special fleet requisitioned along the way—
and drove by main force into the Snow-Swallow second system, and after a hard-fought battle destroyed Qin Longcheng and the Snow-Swallow First Research Institute Qin Xiaotian had built.
And at the last, the Owl Dragon Legion's fleets withdrew safely by interstellar jump ship.
While the Snow-Swallow second system ate the fruit of its own sowing: that system was invaded by the mutated hive-race.
And more important still: before Qin Longcheng and the rest died, a hive-race technology named the "hive-egg" was used.
Creating outright a permanent tier-4 cosmic bug-nest.
The Owl Dragon Legion broadcast at once across the whole Starlight Empire, designating half the Snow-Swallow Star Region's territory a high-risk zone for the present, warning all fleets to go there with the greatest caution.
And notifying the systems remaining in the Snow-Swallow Star Region to make ready for emergency evacuation.
This news, once out, ran hotter for a time even than the Starlight Empire's second civil war.
A permanent cosmic bug-nest?
And a tier-4 one at that!
Everyone, on first hearing it, disbelieved.
A temporary cosmic bug-nest was terrible enough already; a permanent tier-4 cosmic bug-nest was a thing no one was willing even to think of.
For it meant that in that region, interstellar hive-race could pour into the Starlight Empire without cease.
And to the outside world's doubts the Owl Dragon Legion released the greater part of the video material it held that could be made public; as for those who still would not believe, Zhao Chen had no mind to trouble himself over them.
What he ought to say, what he ought to lay out, he had said.
Whether they believed it was their own affair.
And some who did believe naturally turned the spearhead of opinion upon Qin Xiaotian, this new Emperor.
And Qin Xiaotian, too, mounted his crisis management at once.
He announced publicly that such a thing had indeed occurred — which brought the vast majority to trust Zhao Chen's words utterly, and led directly to a wave of emigration from the systems remaining in the Snow-Swallow Star Region.
But Qin Xiaotian laid the whole of the responsibility upon Zhao Chen.
His meaning was that his Snow-Swallow First Research Institute had indeed been researching relevant hive-race subjects, but that the reason a permanent cosmic bug-nest had appeared—
was wholly that the Owl Dragon Legion's warships had bombarded the Snow-Swallow First Research Institute, a coincidental event of their making.
Lame though this reasoning of Qin Xiaotian's was, it counted as leaving himself a scrap of a fig leaf.
Upon which the Owl Dragon Legion did not dwell further; for a great many things cannot be settled by lips alone.
And afterward, of Qin Xiaotian's three moves upon the board, the last piece fell.
Upon the field of the royal Princess fleet groups, the Owl Dragon lord appeared, leading four fully refitted Owl Dragon legions.
And with the force of dry twigs snapped and rotten wood swept away, destroyed Qin Xiaotian's imperial forces and hive-race fleets upon that field entire.
And after that, every front pressed toward the Imperial Capital Star at once.
By this hour the number of troops in Qin Xiaotian's hands had come to only a fifth of what it was before the war — and a part of that was broken remnants and beaten men, of very poor fighting power.
Anyone with eyes could see it.
Qin Xiaotian, this new Emperor, was finished.
The Imperial Capital Star's fall was merely a matter of time.
And at this juncture, in a number of the Starlight Empire's star regions, certain things happened as well.
The situation was changing.
First was the Su family of the Purple Perilla Star Region: the old Governor Su led the Su family fleet groups himself — 30,000 warships scraped together from east and west — and, under the name of loyalty to the crown and the chastisement of traitors, turned his coat to the little princess's side.
And, whether by coincidence or not—
he arrived precisely in time for the mopping-up stage of the royal Princess fleet groups' field.
Beyond that—
the Governor of the Pegasus Star Region and several family powers, who had never joined the Starlight Empire's civil war at all, all raised the little princess's banner and drove from the Pegasus Star Region into the Starlight Central Star Region.
It might well be called: when the wall totters, everyone gives it a push.
……
The Imperial Capital Star.
Qin Xiaotian sat upon his throne, all spirit gone out of him, and in his hands were heap upon heap of empty wine cups.
Within the great hall that had served as the wartime staff headquarters there was now nothing but wreckage strewn about, and the staff officers still at work were pitifully few.
Some had taken leave on grounds of ill health and the like; in truth the family powers behind them had begun working their connections toward the little princess's side, hoping to catch at a life-saving straw at the last hour.
"Your Majesty… latest word. Three more systems in our Starlight Central Star Region have defected and taken their stand with the little princess! And one more system has fallen entire; we have lost 3,000 imperial warships."
Hearing the subordinate's report—
Qin Xiaotian flung the wine bottle in his hand straight at him.
"Useless — a pack of useless things!"
The bottle struck that subordinate upon the head, and the wine ran down together with the blood; that subordinate only dared bow his head, not daring to make a sound.
Step, step, step, step.
And at this moment, a figure walked into the great hall.
"All of you… get… out."
Seeing who had come, several staff officers looked with some hesitation toward Qin Xiaotian upon the throne.
"Doctor! Splendid! You are alive! I have had men searching for your whereabouts all this while!" Seeing who had come, Qin Xiaotian at once came down from the throne, two steps at a stride, for all the world as though he had seen a life-saving straw.
And at the same time he ordered everyone within the great hall to get out.
The one who had come was precisely the black-cloaked Doctor.
Within the great hall there remained only the black-cloaked Doctor and Qin Xiaotian.
Qin Xiaotian seized the black-cloaked Doctor by both shoulders in his agitation — and that agitated movement made the hood upon the black-cloaked Doctor's head slip down…