Conclusion: Annihilation Star Map Draftsman II: Fate of the Galaxy

As Jonathan’s fleet approached the Old Lady, he stared at the numbers on the range finder. The moment they entered the firing range, he personally activated the cannons. Even though the Old Lady’s ship was built with technology left behind by Datheon, it could not withstand the bombardment. In the end, she could only transform into a Datheon emissary—like a dazzling white incandescent lamp—and fly toward Jonathan. But she knew full well that this could not stop Jonathan’s determination to destroy the Solar System fleet. The explosion made the already chaotic migration even more disordered; smaller ships even broke away from their own civilizations, slipping through gaps like needles as they fled toward the DeFi Passage.

After Stacean Lucius learned that the Old Lady’s ship had been destroyed, he summoned his subordinates and made sure everyone knew his instructions regarding the Solar System civilization in real time. He also ordered them to support Katherine no matter what, so that she could lead them to survival. The officer in charge of the military immediately declared his stance: in the Solar System’s DeFi Passage, there was only one leader, and that was Katherine. Relieved, Stacean Lucius returned to Katherine’s side. After signaling the others in the room to leave, he told her the current situation. He needed to lead a portion of the army to stop Jonathan—only then would the Solar System civilization have hope. Katherine cried and begged him to stay, clutching his hand and refusing to let him go. Stacean Lucius gently patted the back of her hand and told her that every father would unhesitatingly protect his child. His own father had done the same, willingly turning himself into energy to hold open the DeFi Passage for them. Only then did Katherine learn that this was the final opportunity her grandfather had created for them.

Stacean Lucius wanted to say something, but a thousand words choked in his throat, and not a single one could escape his lips. He gripped Katherine’s hand tightly, and in the end, turned the words “Daddy loves you” into a gentle kiss on her forehead. Although his subordinates had told him they were willing to stop Jonathan at any cost, he deeply understood his responsibility as a leader—and as a father. Amid Katherine’s sobs, Stacean Lucius took all the heavy weapons with him. He told the rest of the army that this was a battle with no triumphant return. Aside from his personal guard legion, which was required to participate, the other troops could decide for themselves whether to join. Not long after Stacean Lucius left the main formation, he noticed more and more ships gathering behind him. Soon, more than half of the Solar System’s forces had assembled. Just as they had trained so diligently, roles were clearly divided: small attack craft protected the capital ships, preventing enemy bombers from damaging their cannons, while the capital ships’ sole objective was to unleash all their fury and firepower. There was no tactic—just advancing toward Jonathan’s forces and firing at will.

Blazes of fire illuminated vast stretches of empty space. No one looked back to see who was missing or whose ship had been blown apart. Everyone only looked forward, charging without hesitation. When Stacean Lucius linked up with the Old Lady, the battle was at its most intense. Their ship was too heavy and could not keep pace with the hyper-velocity energy bombs being fired. Stacean Lucius noticed that Jonathan had no intention of evading; instead, he was charging straight at them with full force. Stacean Lucius glanced at the Old Lady—her face showed no ripple of emotion. He took a deep breath and pushed the ship’s speed to maximum on the console.

The Moreth Federation’s forces reported their battle status against Madam Winifred and the Defenders’ Alliance. From the voice, it was clear the current commander was a young man—all his superiors had perished in the fighting. The Defenders’ Alliance’s troops were nearly wiped out, and Madam Winifred had fled. The Old Lady could guess that she had escaped back to Visadio Planet, using the knowledge left by Datheon to transform it. Even in a dark cosmic bubble, she would be able to survive. The young commander also reported that the forces had regrouped and were preparing a flank attack on Jonathan’s army when the Old Lady ordered them to stop. She told them to fly toward the DeFi Passage at full speed and complete the migration quickly. By now, everyone had noticed that the DeFi Passage was dimming—it could close at any moment.

In truth, the Old Lady did not want the young officer to attack Jonathan not only because she wanted more people to have a chance to live, but more importantly because she did not want Jonathan’s own forces to turn against him. She knew her son was already suffering greatly. On Jonathan’s side, unity was fraying as well—ships behind him began changing course, rushing toward the DeFi Passage. Those people no longer cared whether their ships used Sane ship craftsmanship or whether they had taken White Crystal; in the face of life and death, they only wanted to rush in first. Stacean Lucius noticed Jonathan beginning to deploy dark matter. Purple energy enveloped the ships around him, preventing them from fleeing while also shielding them from the cannon fire of Stacean Lucius’s fleet. Stacean Lucius warned the Old Lady that he might not be able to protect her much longer—carbon-based life had no chance against such energy. He stared intently at the signals of the Solar System ships on the screen. Some had already vanished, having entered the DeFi Passage—at least Katherine had gone through first, and others were about to follow. Stacean Lucius only wanted to hold out a little longer, to ensure more people could complete the migration.

Stacean Lucius’s fleet was now close enough to Jonathan’s. After all, it was only an imitation Star Source—it could not achieve the stability or range that the Star Map Draftsman could manipulate with dark matter. In the Old Lady’s eyes, the dark matter Jonathan had summoned gradually diminished until it faded away entirely. More ships began to flee and veer off course; those that could not dodge in time were shattered into fragments by the cannon fire of Stacean Lucius’s fleet. Hyper-velocity energy bombs pierced through Jonathan’s formation and continued flying into the distant darkness. The Old Lady reminded Stacean Lucius that he could cease fire. He relayed the order, but the ships continued surging forward.

“Young man...” The Old Lady looked at Stacean Lucius. “You can still leave now. No one will threaten the Solar System civilization anymore. The DeFi Passage is about to close—go find your daughter.” She waved at him.

“And what about you, Old Lady?” Stacean Lucius released his hands from the console and turned slightly to ask her.

“I belong only to this cosmic bubble. And you need not worry about me. Go.”

Stacean Lucius glanced out the porthole. The DeFi Passage was no longer visible to the naked eye—they were too far away. He hesitated, wondering if there was still time.

“Young man, go. There’s still time.” The Old Lady smiled, giving Stacean Lucius more confidence.

“Then I’ll leave the capital ship to you. The remaining forces and I will hurry after them.” With that, Stacean Lucius and the soldiers behind him withdrew. All the small attack craft were left behind. Under his command, five long-range attack ships raced toward the DeFi Passage, their engines spewing blue flames so bright they stung the eyes.

The dark matter had fallen below the zero boundary. Because she was a Datheon emissary, what others saw as silent, frigid space was clear and vivid to her—it was tearing apart frantically, like a mischievous child bursting into a cosmetics store and twisting off lipsticks of different shades to scribble on white walls. The Old Lady could even feel the panic of the entire cosmic bubble. Galaxies began collapsing; bar-shaped galaxies smashed into disk galaxies. Planets were like fragile decorative glass bulbs scattered randomly into a large iron basin—when they collided, they shattered into pieces. When she probed farther, the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds were gone. One could say the entire Laniakea Supercluster had fragmented into chaos. Their former home had vanished—no one could return, no one could survive. At the same time, she noticed the faintly glowing threads beginning to dissipate, like grains of sand drifting in the wind—those were the last remnants of dark matter. When she searched for the DeFi Passage, she saw Stacean Lucius’s ships just passing through before the entrance vanished. The Shepherds would no longer tend this cosmic bubble.

All the villains, all the good people, all the ambitious, all the children and mothers, all the husbands and fathers—they were all annihilated here. Love and hate no longer mattered.

Jonathan was unwilling to accept it. He tried cranking the device’s power to maximum, but it had almost no effect—barely enough to illuminate the pitch black around him. The system mechanically warned that the space he occupied was being guided by chaotic fields and might soon collide with suddenly appearing stars. The ship’s protective shield had already activated. Lights flickered as the system began conserving energy. Exterior outline lights went out, oxygen and lighting ceased in unmanned areas. The few remaining soldiers gathered in the command room—some stood numbly, some crouched on the floor sobbing, and one even walked to the porthole and pulled the trigger on himself against the endless dark. Jonathan tried contacting nearby ships, but there was only static and no answers. He grabbed a soldier behind him and demanded news of the DeFi Passage. Everyone remained silent, like ascetics who had vowed silence before their lord. He felt his breathing quicken. He pounded randomly on the control panel—no signals, no people remained visible.

“What are you doing here?” When the Old Lady appeared before Jonathan in her unstable energy form, he swung his fist at her but struck only air. Jonathan rose again, muttering “I hate you” as he flailed wildly at nothing—as he had on his eleventh birthday when he learned the Old Lady was not his birth mother.

“Son.” The Old Lady tried to return to human form, though half her face remained transparent. She opened her arms and walked toward Jonathan, gently caressing his cheek, tenderly pinching his chin, then drawing close and embracing him.

“I don’t want you. I don’t want you. I don’t want you.” Jonathan tried pushing her away. The parts of her still in human form were pushed back, but the unstable energy lingered around him, tugging.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.” The Old Lady continued stroking his face and gently patting his back, refusing to let go. “Don’t be afraid—Mommy is here, and I’ll always be with you.”

“I don’t want you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know you’re angry with me. I’m sorry,” the Old Lady whispered softly.

“I don’t want you...”

“Mommy knows, Mommy knows.”

“I don’t want you...”

“Mommy knows. There, there—don’t be afraid. Mommy is with you.” The Old Lady sat down on the floor with Jonathan’s collapsing body, letting his head rest in the crook of her arm as she gently patted his arm.

“I hate you, I hate you.” Jonathan had lost all ambition, all desire to rule this cosmic bubble. Like a child exhausted from play and wronged outside, he buried his face in the Old Lady’s embrace and sobbed.

“I’m sorry. Mommy didn’t do well enough. I’m sorry,” the Old Lady continued, smoothing his back. A smile appeared on her face as she quietly watched Jonathan.

“I hate you...” Jonathan’s muttering grew softer.

“Mommy knows.”

“Why didn’t you support me?”

“I’m sorry. Mommy was afraid of interfering with your freedom to act.”

“You lied to me.”

“Really.”

“Do you really support me?”

“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought the Star Map Draftsman over to your side. Mommy only hoped that, while he completed the task Datheon gave him, he could use his strength to help you gain more allies.”

“But why didn’t you take his Star Source and give it to me?”

“Well, Mommy hoped you would have more friends, not more enemies.”

“But I just wanted more people to acknowledge me.” Jonathan’s voice grew quieter, like when he was little, negotiating before sleep for extra sugar in tomorrow’s breakfast.

“Many, many people already acknowledge you.”

“You’re lying to me.”

“Mommy is serious. I’m not lying.”

“I’m the greatest Moreth Steader in the Moreth Federation.”

“You always have been.”

“I hate the Star Map Draftsman.” Jonathan buried his face deeper.

“Why? Did he make you angry?”

“Yes.”

“Are you getting sleepy?”

“I’m not.” Jonathan stretched his head defiantly.

“Then how about we put the toy down first, go to sleep, and talk about it tomorrow?” The Old Lady tried to remove the imitation Star Source from Jonathan’s hand—it had embedded into his flesh, wildly feeding his desire for power.

“I don’t want to. You can’t take it.”

“Okay, Mommy promises.” The Old Lady turned her hand into energy, flowing along the imitation Star Source into Jonathan’s skin, slowly extracting the device from his body and gently placing it beside him.

“You can’t take it.” Jonathan pressed one hand on the device, his voice even softer.

“Okay, okay—I won’t take it.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Jonathan slowly drifted to sleep. The chaotic collisions in the cosmic bubble did not wake him. For him and the Old Lady, the extinguishing of this cosmic bubble was merely like a thunderous rainy night in some summer when mother and son had fallen asleep together.

This is the fate of the Galaxy—and it is our fate as well.