The novel continued to sell uninhibited for several days until the stocks were completely sold out, and a new stock had to be ordered.

In the meantime, a new round of debates and discussions broke out in European countries about the actual shape of the Earth.

" This is eastern propaganda, the pagans are untrustworthy, how can the world be a sphere? It is obviously flat; if it were a sphere, wouldn't we have fallen off? "

A group of intellectuals nodded their heads as if they agreed with the statement.

" But Monsieur, his lordship Ferdinand Magellan has already proven that the Earth is a sphere by going around it in a journey on 1519. "

" Humph, that is fake, besides, wasn't he killed in 1521. According to you guys, he died before completing the journey, but if you ask me, he has fallen off the edge of the Earth. "

The astrologer debating let out a sigh of exasperation.

" In that case, what about Juan Sebastian Elcano, who took command of the ship after Magellan's death and returned to Spain in 1522. "

" Like I said, it is propaganda. Juan was never on Magellan's ship. "

" But the ship he came back in was the same ship Magellan took at the beginning of his journey. "

" That is wrong; it was a similar-looking ship to fool the public. "

These debates continued in a few parts of Europe, but in several parts of the world, some sensible debates were also held when they questioned whether what was mentioned in the novel was possible or not. People even questioned if a thing called cars even existed, and they discussed borrowing the governance systems and policies from the novel, which in their minds appeared extremely beautiful; it was like a paradise on Earth.

As for where it would take them after implementing the policies influenced by the novel, even Vijay did not know, because some of the things Kavya mentioned surprised him and made him think a lot.

Finally, Raghavendra Kulkarni, calming down his restless heart and taking a night's rest, once again dove into the novel with a fresh mind.

The cruise's maiden voyage, using Meera's experimental Trishul Drive, propels them beyond known space to a verdant world where they name it Harith Lok.

Initial scans reveal impossible readings, the planet's biosphere operates on silicon-based chlorophyll analogues, and ancient structures dot the southern continent, built from self-repairing crystalline materials the crew calls Maya Stone.

As they explored the abandoned city of towering spires, they discovered the Akashic Codex, a holographic repository left by an ancient civilisation called the Builders. The codex reveals a terrifying truth.

Every reader was on the edge of their seats.

" What happens next? " Maximilian of Austria bit his nails as his hands were trembling with anticipation.

Embugweh wiped the sweat on his forehead as he carefully turned the page.

" KRRRRRR "

A cold and neutral voice was heard.

" Decryption and verification complete. We discovered a cyclical event called Mahapralaya. It occurs every 400 standard years in this stellar sector.

It is not a random destructive force; it is an energy draw. All organic life is consumed not for its demise, but to function as a dense, bio-thermal fuel source.

The Mahapralaya sweeps through this sector to power the stellar and biological rebirth of distant star systems. Error, error, under attack, error, to anyone hearing this voice, get out, get out quickly, leave the star sector, there is no stopping it. "

'Gasp!'

A story that involves the wiping out of an entire race was never mentioned, so when it was revealed for the first time in the form of a novel, people's hands and feet did not move.

" Oh my goddd! " Andreas, who was completely hooked, let out a loud exclamation as he stroked his chest in order to bring his heartbeat down.

The reveal was so shocking that King Narayi of Ayutthaya postponed the cabinet meeting for a later date.

As people read, the story continued.

While attempting to decode more of the codex using the ship's brain, a malfunction in the ancient Builder technology triggered a static field that engulfed the entire landing party.

Captain Chandra remained conscious just long enough to see the Garudas wing automatically launch into orbit following emergency protocols, where it settled on Harithlok's larger moon. The static field preserved the crew in the Builder city while centuries passed.

In the surprised gazes of the readers, as they flipped over to the next chapter, the story moved on to the year 2412. Chandra woke up and found exactly 200 years had passed. With only two months remaining before the next Mahapralaya event, the crew raced to the moon aboard a partially functional Builder craft. They found the Garuda Swing covered in lunar dust but protected by its hull's ceramic plating.

They could still enter the ship. Meera worked frantically to repair the Trishul Drive, cannibalising parts from the Builder craft, while Zara attempted to download the complete codex into Indira's memory banks. As the first signs of the Mahapralaya appeared, exactly four days aboard the Garudas Wing, stars began to pulse in an unnatural synchronisation. Chandra was left with a choice: whether to flee immediately or risk everything to transmit a warning to Earth's colony about the cosmic threat that could consume all human settlements in its path.

" What will he do? " readers all over the world asked.

As the Garuda Swing jumped to spacefold, leaving Harithlok behind just as the Mahapralaya energy wave began consuming the system's outer planets, Chandra reviewed the partial codex data they had salvaged. Hidden within the Builder's records was a star chart showing safe paths through the galaxy, routes that avoided the Mahapralaya's cyclical consumption zones. More critically, it revealed the location of other Builder refugees, including one marked with symbols that Dr Jin recognised from his daughter's final transmission.

The book finally ends with the crew setting course for the refugee world, Shanti Dwar, to find out the real reason behind Mahapralaya, regroup with other humans who survived, and continue to explore the uncharted sea of stars while trying to get revenge on whoever is absorbing all the biological energy every 400 years in the whole star sector.

Truth be told, the first volume of Kavya's magnum opus did not have a very complicated story. The first half of the book was about a person finding comrades, arranging a vehicle, and travelling among the stars, while the second part was about getting stuck on a planet, rescuing fellow mates, discovering a huge secret, and escaping from the brink of death. It was nothing new, but what was mind-blowing for a lot of people was the world-building that had been done. Several things they could not understand what they were at all, but the words were the most attractive they had ever heard. Also, the detailed technology, given to the point of showing detailed specifications in some places, attracted people deeply.

The novel '2012' was more of a prophecy than an actual novel, and that is why, as the reputation of the novel spread, it became more and more popular among the intellectuals.

In the first week, due to the reputation that usually goes with the novels of the Empress, over two million copies were sold worldwide, with some countries already selling out the 200,000 books they had been allocated. Starting from the second week, although the sales volume globally decreased, it maintained a steady volume of over 200,000 sales per day, making the total sales worldwide over 1.4 million. In the third week, the sales continued to drop, but they still maintained 1 million sales. By the end of the month, the sales volume reached over five million copies, breaking all the previous records of novel sales, which Kavya herself had set.

Raya Media Corporation's '2012: A Star Wanderer's Story' became yet another cash cow, with an average profit of 20 varahas per book. Putting aside the fees they had to pay for Her Majesty, printing, publicity, and logistics, they made a profit of 100 million varahas. These were profits that had never been seen before. Not only that, starting from November, the Chitrakala version of ' 2012: A Star Wanderer's Story' began to go on sale, once again attracting millions of people to read and consume.

Adding the profits from making the story into a moving picture, selling its music rights and drama rights, by the end of November, the total profits brought by 'A Star Wanderer's Story' netted Raya Media Corporation a whopping 225,000,000 varahas. What is the concept? This is the same amount of money they make in a year, and now it has been achieved in a single quarter.

" This is not only a novel but a philosophy, a prophecy, and a window into our future. "

" Her Majesty the Empress has shown a guiding light on how society should move forward with this novel. "

" This novel will be cemented in the annals of history as one of, if not the best, science fiction works ever written. "

" I can't help but look forward to the continuation of the story. "

An academician of the Bharatiya Academy of Civilian Sciences commented with a look of admiration and even piety on his face.

P.S. I wrote this chapter yesterday afternoon, but some Sh** went down at home, so I didn't get the chance to post this. Tomorrow, I will try to make it up by uploading three chapters.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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