In the ten thousand and first year of the Ming calendar, the Zhu dynasty spans thirteen star regions of the Milky Way, ruling over trillions of subjects and more than ten thousand habitable planets. Quantum technology and ancient martial cultivation of qi have fully merged. Giant warships and mechs guard the sea of stars. The emperor guards the frontier, and the sovereign dies for the realm. No ceding territory, no marriage alliances, no tribute. Ten thousand years of iron resolve, never bent.
Yet beneath the golden age, cracks are forming.
The Prince of Yan commands two northern regions. The Qingxiu Corps hunts down Embroidered Uniform Guard spies, while privateering runs rampant. The Prince of Ning controls the quantum mines of Xiliang, is richer than the state, and conspires with foreign powers. The Prince of Chu occupies the fertile southern frontier, sealing his domain and blocking all scrutiny. At court, the civil officials control the cabinet, while the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial hold the power to approve edicts. The three branches of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Wind-Listening Embroidered Guards, the Thought-Severing Imperial Prison, and the Swift-Horse Hongfei, hold one another in check, all tangled together. The vassal princes carve up the realm, court factions scheme against one another, and enemies encircle the empire. After ten thousand years, the Ming is on the brink of a storm.
Shen Mo is an orphan from the frontier army of Shuofang. All he wants is to stay alive: through the bitter cold of the frontier, beneath the blades of the barbarians, and during patrols that never end.
Then an order from Xiao Tiance, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, sends him from the wastelands of Shuofang to the Ziwei Imperial Star. A probationary Captain of a Hundred, his own battleship, top-of-the-line mechs, and six hundred elite soldiers. A frontier army squad leader rises to the top in a single step.
He thought this was a promotion.
From the 2,200-meter Tidal Listening-class, to the 3,000-meter Shadow Pursuit-class, the 4,000-meter Hongfei-class, the 7,000-meter Unbroken-class, and the 8,500-meter Heaven's Will-class, he fights his way to the 9,999-meter Supreme-class. He fights until the vassal princes bow, until foreign enemies retreat, until the emperor himself says, "I doubted you. I guarded against you. But you never betrayed me."
The Flying Fish cleaves through darkness, one blade stilling every hidden tide.
