In 2182, Lin Su, chief scientist at the Earth Federation Academy of Sciences, should have turned to cosmic dust along with Earth when the Sun underwent a helium flash. Instead, he was struck by a deep blue light from three million light-years beyond Earth. Every memory fragment in the brain cells of Lin Su (activated acetylcholine) transformed into countless quanta, attaching themselves to the blue crystal ball, the substance behind the deep blue light. The deep blue light then suddenly accelerated: 0.1 times the speed of light... twice the speed of light... 100 times the speed of light... tens of thousands of times the speed of light. In just a few seconds, the space Lin Su occupied collapsed into a singularity of infinite mass. The blue crystal ball, carrying Lin Su's quantum memories, plunged into it and returned to 2025.
With the help of the blue crystal ball from an unknown alien civilization, Lin Su repeatedly led humanity past technological barriers. Controlled nuclear fusion, compact fusion reactors, Hall-effect thrusters, suspended animation, high-power laser cannons, life-extension technology, and more were achieved one after another.
Threatened by the coming helium flash and overcoming countless hardships, Lin Su led humanity into the stars. Humanity embarked on a journey to find another home, but things proved far more difficult than they had imagined. Other advanced civilizations sensed the crystal ball's existence and sought to seize it and wipe out Earth's civilization. Humanity struggled to survive, treading carefully among a host of advanced civilizations.
Faced with threats from these advanced civilizations, humanity kept searching for habitable planets to settle, only to migrate and wander again and again, year after year, century after century.
