When the Alemann Empire's economy became the second largest in the universe, a much older nation began to rise. This was the Panhua Empire. It followed a unique path of development.

The exact details of its uniqueness are unclear. Most of the historical records were destroyed during the First Cosmic War. The History Bureau of the Yinglong Pirate Group only holds fragmented information. At the final stage of the war, all nations attacked the Panhua Empire. They destroyed its historical documents. The History Bureau could only reconstruct some facts based on survivors' memories. After the older generations of the Panhua people passed away, their history faded into the past.

It is said that when the Saxon Kingdom and the Faklu Republic first sent faster-than-light ships to explore the universe, they encountered the ancient Panhua Empire. At the time, the Empire was still a pre-first-level civilization. It had no steam engines or advanced technology. The explorers had no interest in making contact. They viewed civilizations below level four as unimportant. However, as they explored the Yanhuang system, they found that the Panhua Empire had settlements on all 2,592 life-bearing planets. This discovery was shocking. According to cosmic rules, only level-four or higher civilizations could fully explore a star system. The Panhua Empire, a pre-first-level civilization, should not have been capable of this. In response, the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic sent interstellar paratroopers to investigate.

After landing, they encountered another strange phenomenon. The capital planet, Gui Xu, had a population of 3.6 billion people. The other planets had populations ranging from one or two people to a few hundred. On Gui Xu, the resistance was weak. A 100,000-strong brigade of paratroopers easily defeated the defenders. They quickly took control of the planet. However, on other planets, the situation was different. Some planets had only one or two people. It took a whole regiment of paratroopers to overcome them. Despite their powered armor and magnetic rifles, the paratroopers struggled against these strange people. The paratroopers initially tried to capture them for study. However, they soon realized this was impossible. These people looked down on the two powerful level-five civilizations. They preferred death to surrender. In the end, the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic lost one billion paratroopers. Even 50,000 cosmic soldiers could not eliminate them. Frustrated, the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic used their powerful level-seven cruisers to destroy the strange people.

Afterward, the explorers examined the planets where the strange people had lived. They found only simple everyday items similar to those used by ordinary Panhua citizens. There were no extraordinary discoveries.

Ultimately, the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic found only 3.6 billion Panhua people. They conducted thorough investigations but found no trace of the strange people. However, their customs closely resembled those of the ancient Panhua Empire. The mystery of the strange people remained unsolved.

The Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic, intrigued by the Yanhuang system, could not abandon it. They made a deal. They would abandon colonizing the system but would station troops there. They hoped to uncover the secret of the strange people.

There were countless other star systems to explore. The Panhua Empire, fortunate to escape colonization, began developing rapidly. After 100,000 years, it discovered a new energy equation. This discovery allowed it to advance to a level-five civilization. The Panhua Empire quickly took control of the entire Yanhuang system. During this time, the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic found no new strange people. Eventually, they gave up their search. With more colonies to manage, they decided to leave the Yanhuang system to the Panhua Empire.

Over time, the Panhua Empire grew into a powerful cosmic empire. It controlled a complete star system. The Yanhuang system, with a diameter of 630,000 light-years, contained 2,592 life-bearing planets and 7,200 resource planets.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, more civilizations reached level five. The colonial systems established by the Saxon Kingdom and the Faklu Republic began to collapse. The Panhua Empire expanded and began to take over neighboring star regions. By the time the Saxon Kingdom and Faklu Republic established new economic alliances, the Panhua Empire had become the seventh-largest economic power in the universe, controlling 72 star systems. Despite facing pressure from the Saxon Kingdom and the Frank Empire, the Panhua Empire remained strong. The distance between these powers limited their ability to suppress the Empire.

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By the time the First Cosmic War began, the Panhua Empire’s economy had risen to the third-largest in the universe, just behind the Alemann Empire.

The rise of these two emerging powers angered the Saxon Kingdom and the Faklu Republic. They formed the United Life Alliance. This was an organization designed to unite smaller nations against Alemann and Panhua.

The two new powers were excluded from the United Life Alliance. In response, they formed the Cosmic Mutual Aid Alliance. This alliance attracted smaller nations to resist the United Life Alliance.

When the Alemann Empire invaded the Awei’er National Republic, the United Life Alliance condemned the attack. They accused Alemann of violating their principles and demanded an immediate end to the invasion.

In response, Alemann’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended its actions. They claimed that the Awei’er National Republic had supported terrorism and refused to hand over the assassin of Count Ross. Alemann insisted that their actions were meant to capture the criminals.

At the same time, the Cosmic Mutual Aid Alliance called for calm. They acknowledged that Alemann’s actions were extreme but argued they were justified. Terrorism, they said, was a threat to all nations.

Alemann’s fleet of 500,000 warships broke through the Awei’er National Republic’s defenses and advanced toward the capital, Berglai Star.

This attack angered the Ross Empire. The Ross Empire had long viewed Awei’er as a potential target for expansion.

The Ross Empire issued a public warning. They claimed that the Rasfu people of Awei’er and the Ross people shared a common ancestry. They demanded that Alemann withdraw its forces or face war.

The Ross Empire, ranked seventh in the universe, was the largest nation and had a history of conflicts with Alemann. However, neither side had ever completely defeated the other.

Alemann ignored Ross’s warning and continued its attack.

The Awei’er National Republic was not very strong. Though it had a fleet of over 400,000 ships, it was no match for Alemann. After a week of fighting, most of Awei’er’s fleet was destroyed. Ross’s 700,000-ship fleet finally reached the battlefield.

Alemann, however, did not engage Ross directly. They withdrew their remaining 350,000 ships to the Segway system.

Ross did not pursue Alemann’s fleet. Instead, they turned back to pressure the Awei’er National Republic into surrendering. Angered, Awei’er assembled 600,000 ships to confront Ross.

Meanwhile, Alemann moved swiftly. Without warning, they launched a major attack on the Faklu Republic with a fleet of 2 million warships.

This marked the official beginning of the First Cosmic War.

Although the Ross Empire was a member of the United Life Alliance, it declared war on Alemann when Alemann attacked Faklu. However, Ross had its own agenda. When Alemann attacked Faklu, Ross believed Alemann would not have enough strength to deal with both Awei’er and Faklu simultaneously. Seeing this, Ross decided to press Awei’er into joining the Ross Empire, threatening to destroy their fleet if they refused.

Greedy and unscrupulous, Ross ignored Faklu’s repeated requests for help and began attacking Awei’er’s scattered fleets.

Alemann saw an opportunity. They deployed 3 million warships to attack Ross.

Ross, believing Alemann would not dare fight on two fronts, weakened its defenses. Within two days, Ross lost five rich star systems.

Ross now faced a difficult decision: continue destroying Awei’er or pull back to defend its core systems.

Alemann seized the moment to negotiate with the Rasfu people within their empire. They offered to merge the Swaya and Segway systems with Awei’er after the war if Rasfu supported Alemann during the conflict.

Rasfu rebels inside Alemann reached out to Awei’er, warning them of Alemann’s proposal. Awei’er was unsure of Alemann’s sincerity but felt forced to make a choice. After careful consideration, they decided that Alemann was the more trustworthy power. They saw Ross as greedy and dishonest.

After securing Awei’er’s support, Alemann’s 350,000 ships in the Segway system joined forces with Awei’er to confront Ross.

Ross’s fleet, poorly constructed and inferior to Alemann’s, was quickly defeated. The combined Alemann-Awei’er forces destroyed 600,000 of Ross’s ships, with only 100,000 escaping.

During the first two weeks of the war, Alemann gained a decisive advantage. They captured five of Ross’s key star systems, four from Faklu, and nine more from smaller nations in the United Life Alliance. In total, Alemann deployed 6.3 million warships.

This marked the true beginning of the First Cosmic War.