Chapter Summaries

pew and Gaz pursued Little Zakhaev through a rebel camp and captured him only after he killed himself, while Zakhaev launched a nuclear retaliation. The chapter ended with nearly ten intercontinental rockets heading toward major cities in Europe and America.

• Price’s team ambushed Little Zakhaev’s convoy, but Little Zakhaev shot a Marine and escaped in his jeep after crashing through pew’s watchtower.
• pew and Gaz chased Little Zakhaev through enemy gunfire, and the Vulture helicopter rescued pew from an apartment-building firing position.
• Price and the others cornered Little Zakhaev on a rooftop, where he shot himself before they could capture him.
• Zakhaev, grieving his son’s death, launched nearly ten intercontinental rockets carrying nuclear warheads toward cities including New York, Washington, London, and Manchester.

Chun Hei’s Soap helped stop Zakhaev’s nuclear missile strikes with less than a second to spare, but Zakhaev escaped and ordered his forces to pursue the joint task force. The chapter ended as Soap and his teammates raced through the mountains with Zakhaev’s forces close behind.

• Zakhaev launched nuclear missiles after the joint task force failed to withdraw, and Captain Price led the team toward the missile base to stop them.
• Price ordered Soap to destroy two light tanks with C4, and Soap blew one up after fighting through enemy fire.
• Soap reached the control terminal and uploaded the missile termination order with 0.67 seconds left on the countdown.
• The task force stopped the nuclear strikes, but Zakhaev escaped the base and ordered his ground and air forces to hunt them.
• Kamarov pursued Zakhaev while the task force fled through the Altai Mountains, with Zakhaev’s forces chasing them.

Soap’s team fought through a desperate pursuit in the Altai Mountains, where Gaz was killed and Price was pinned beneath rubble. Soap shot Zakhaev as reinforcements arrived, ending the nuclear crisis, while the chapter left other conflicts unresolved and revealed that Modern Warfare had earned Golden Wind global perfect reviews.

• Soap and Gaz fled enemy forces along a mountain road as a Hind gunship pursued them and attacked their pickup.
• A missile struck near the bridge, flipping the pickup and leaving Soap dazed as Gaz carried him to cover.
• Gaz was killed by a stray bullet, and Soap watched enemy troops overwhelm the team while Zakhaev approached Price and Soap.
• A Stinger missile brought down the Hind as Kamarov’s reinforcements arrived, and Soap used Price’s 1911 to kill Zakhaev and his guards.
• Players finished Modern Warfare with the nuclear crisis resolved but the Warsaw civil war, the Marines’ fate, and Price’s survival unanswered.
• Global reviewers gave Modern Warfare perfect scores, while a new storm within the gaming industry began to gather.

Golden Wind learned that Dream planned to impose per-download engine fees, with developers registered in China charged double, and suspected Vendi was behind the discriminatory policy. Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng decided to develop their own engine, but the chapter ended when Gu Sheng received a call from Huayudian Chairman Jiang Yingcai.

• Moriya-san informed Golden Wind that Dream would announce major pricing changes for Dream 5 Engine and Fantasy 3.
• Gu Sheng explained that the new per-download fees would heavily burden developers and charge Chinese-registered companies twice as much as those in other regions.
• Gu Sheng concluded that Vendi was likely supporting Dream's targeted policy and warned that relying on Dream would leave companies vulnerable to opaque download tracking.
• Shen Miaomiao declared that Golden Wind had to develop its own engine, and Gu Sheng accepted her resolve.
• Gu Sheng's phone vibrated with a call from Huayudian Chairman Jiang Yingcai.

Jiang Yingcai told Gu Sheng that Dream Engine’s planned price changes targeted all companies registered in China and had already alarmed the authorities and investors. At a closed-door industry meeting, Chinese game companies placed Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao in the leading seats, then learned that Xunteng’s outdated Weiguang Engine was the only self-developed engine represented.

• Jiang Yingcai informed Gu Sheng that Dream Engine’s discriminatory pricing was nearly finalized and was discouraging investment across China’s gaming and related technology industries.
• Jiang Yingcai stressed that Golden Wind bore responsibilities as a flagship company while China’s domestic gaming businesses faced pressure from foreign competitors.
• Huayudian organized a closed-door meeting, and representatives from Yiyou, Xunteng, and other companies seated Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao as industry leaders.
• Jiang Yingcai urged the companies to break the blockade by developing independent technology and asked which of them had a self-developed engine.
• Chen Guangde said Xunteng owned the Weiguang Engine, but admitted it had not been updated in years, and Jiang Yingcai asked Gu Sheng for ideas.

Gu Sheng announced that Golden Wind would develop its own engine rather than rely on other companies, despite the long timeline and enormous cost. Shen Miaomiao then recruited technical support from seventeen companies, leaving a development force of over 2,500 people and a shorter schedule.

• Gu Sheng said Golden Wind would build a self-developed engine and handle the project’s costs itself.
• Chen Guangde offered technical support, and Shen Miaomiao accepted after learning it would raise the project’s expenses while saving time.
• Shen Miaomiao persuaded Yan Sheng’s Yiyou and Li Xiaofeng’s Furious Flame to provide technical support.
• Shen Miaomiao went around the meeting and recruited technical support from a total of seventeen companies.
• The companies assembled a technical team of over 2,500 people, and Shen Miaomiao asked whether it would shorten the development schedule.

Shen Miaomiao assembled a 2,500-person mercenary corps for Golden Wind’s Golden Engine project, and Gu Sheng found a direction for the engine’s core competitiveness. As Dream’s price increase loomed, Golden Wind’s joint game with Rage, Euro Truck Simulator, opened at the Europa Expo amid speculation that it would be Golden Wind’s last game made with Dream 5 Engine.

• Shen Miaomiao urged Golden Wind and the mercenary corps to stand up to Dream, and Gu Sheng announced that it was time to show their enemies the nation’s greatness.
• Golden Wind established the Golden Engine project, despite the prospect that accelerating development with the mercenary corps would greatly increase costs.
• News of Dream’s coming price adjustment spread, and media outlets speculated that Euro Truck Simulator would be Golden Wind’s final Dream 5 Engine game.
• Tiantian arrived at the Europa Expo in Paris with review editors Hao Xianming and Lin Xiaomeng, while viewers debated Dream’s pricing and Golden Wind’s future.
• Tiantian and his guests entered the exhibition hall as the Europa Expo began under intense attention.

Tiantian and the others toured the European Expo, where Hao Xianming found Yunwei’s Burning Wheels polished but familiar. At Fury Flame’s crowded booth, they discovered players were taking shifts hauling cargo in what appeared to be a truck-driving game, and the group decided to try it.

• Tiantian’s group explored the racing-focused expo and watched Hao Xianming play Yunwei’s Burning Wheels.
• Hao Xianming praised Burning Wheels’ production and progression but said racing games rarely offered anything truly new.
• Tiantian’s group arrived at Fury Flame’s booth and saw players calmly handing off a truck-driving session and cargo-hauling duties.
• The group and livestream viewers wondered whether Fury Flame had made a truck-driving game, so Tiantian and the others decided to try it.

Hao Xianming tried Euro Truck Simulator, expecting little from its slow truck-driving gameplay, but struggled to maneuver his rig out of the factory and wrecked the yard. After damaging several vehicles and structures, he broke down on the road and decided to delete his save and start over.

• Hao Xianming learned that Euro Truck Simulator had him take delivery jobs, earn money, and build a trucking business across Europe.
• Hao Xianming accepted a cabbage delivery from Fapouyoni to Marseille and scraped the factory gate while trying to drive out.
• Hao Xianming repeatedly misjudged the trailer while reversing, smashing the factory fence and a parked truck as the livestream audience laughed.
• Hao Xianming finally drove through the factory ruins, but his damaged Scania broke down less than half a kilometer down the road.
• Hao Xianming cursed the game, decided to delete his save, and vowed to take a job that let him drive straight out of the factory.

Lin Xiaomeng enjoyed Euro Truck Simulator’s relaxing drive through Provence, and the game’s first-day preorders reached 1.25 million worldwide. As Dream 5’s blockade threatened Golden Wind’s next expo appearance, Gu Sheng declared that the studio would make its next game by hand if necessary.

• Lin Xiaomeng drove a Volvo truck through Provence while listening to Chinese radio and enjoying the scenery, and her livestream audience praised the game’s relaxed atmosphere.
• Euro Truck Simulator reached 1.25 million global preorders on its first day, setting a European Expo record and delighting Fury Flame and Steel Chain Fingers.
• Li Xiaofeng and Sato discussed how Dream’s takeover by Vendi would leave Golden Wind without access to Dream engines and might prevent it from attending Gamescom.
• Gu Sheng told Golden Wind’s team that they would make the game by hand if they had no engine to use.

Gu Sheng reassured Golden Experience that they could make a worthwhile game without an engine or 3S-level production values, then revealed a block-based game called Minecraft for Gamescom. Vendi president Kornik mocked the concept and saw the expo as a chance to strike at Golden Wind.

• Jiang Yun warned Gu Sheng that Golden Experience could not develop a 3S game in time for Gamescom without an engine, and the team worried that a lower-quality release would hurt their reputation.
• Gu Sheng reminded the team that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds had become a hit despite its modest budget and argued that a game's quality did not depend on production values alone.
• Gu Sheng unveiled a pixelated concept poster for Minecraft and declared that even a blocky game could amaze the world.
• After Golden Wind announced it would attend Gamescom in Cologne, Kornik laughed at Minecraft's block-based visuals and decided the expo would be his chance to bring down Golden Wind.

Golden Wind announced it would attend Gamescom with Minecraft, drawing widespread skepticism over the game's blocky appearance and the company's engine troubles. Meanwhile, after Nightfall Island's disastrous launch left him facing an ouster and pressure to surrender his shares, Jouetsu Kagemasa called Moriya Tetsuya to request a meeting with Gu Sheng about transferring them.

• Golden Wind announced that it would see players in Cologne, unveiling Minecraft and prompting fans and industry observers to doubt its quality and its decision to attend Gamescom.
• Jouetsu Kagemasa found a threatening note in his garage and panicked, fearing the struggle over his Komeila shares.
• Jouetsu Kagemasa reflected on Nightfall Island's failure, Ito Suke's impeachment effort, and the evidence of his alleged misconduct that had been delivered to him.
• After contemplating his predicament for two hours, Jouetsu Kagemasa concluded that his conflict with Gu Sheng and Moriya Tetsuya had ended in defeat.
• Jouetsu Kagemasa called Moriya Tetsuya at midnight and asked to speak with Gu Sheng about transferring his shares.

Gu Sheng learned that Jouetsu Kagemasa was being forced out of Komeila and offered a way to escape Japan in exchange for his 7.85% stake. Gu Sheng planned to sell the shares to Ito Suke at a profit, then ended the night teasing Shen Miaomiao.

• Moriya called Gu Sheng to report that Komeila’s board had begun impeachment proceedings against Jouetsu, while evidence of crimes and death threats were being sent to him.
• Moriya told Gu Sheng that Jouetsu wanted to know whether Golden Wind would buy his 7.85% stake and help him flee Japan.
• Gu Sheng said Golden Wind had no money, implying it would take the shares for free in exchange for helping Jouetsu escape.
• Gu Sheng told Shen Miaomiao that the stake could not give Golden Wind control of Komeila, so he planned to sell it to Ito Suke for three billion.
• Gu Sheng flirted with Shen Miaomiao, and the two disappeared beneath the covers.

After Golden Wind acquired Jouetsu Kagemasa’s Komeila shares, Ito bought them from Gu Sheng, paving the way for Komeila to merge with Vendi and reshape the global gaming industry. As Dream Group imposed engine fees on Chinese developers, Golden Wind announced a coalition to build China’s first commercial game engine.

• Moriya Tetsuya pressured Jouetsu Kagemasa into transferring his Komeila shares to Golden Wind for one dollar.
• Ito confronted Gu Sheng, then bought the 7.85% stake for $3 billion and became Komeila’s largest shareholder.
• Komeila announced Jouetsu Kagemasa’s resignation, Nakamura Masakazu’s appointment as president, and merger negotiations with Vendi.
• Dream Group announced runtime fees for Dream 5 Engine and Fantasy 3 that applied to developers registered in China.
• Golden Wind announced that it would join Yiyou Games, Xunteng Games, Raging Flame Games, Zhenting Games, Phantom Technology, Qun Feng Games, and seventeen other companies to develop Golden Engine.

Golden Wind openly declared war on Mirage Dream and its allies, setting up a first confrontation with Cloud Might at Gamescom in two months. Cloud Might CEO Kornik backed Snow Leopard Studio’s Lord of the Rings game and vowed to crush Golden Wind’s Minecraft.

• Golden Wind’s defiant tweet drew support from seventeen companies and thousands of players as the gaming industry anticipated a showdown at Gamescom in Cologne.
• Kornik attended Snow Leopard Studio’s development meeting and explained that he had based the project on his understanding of It Takes Two’s platform-jumping gameplay.
• Kornik announced a preliminary agreement to license The Lord of the Rings from New Line Cinema and revealed the game’s title, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
• Kornik dismissed Golden Wind’s blocky Minecraft visuals but warned Snow Leopard Studio not to underestimate the momentum behind Golden Wind’s public declaration.
• Kornik cited the game’s 328 million in funding and its major IP license, then vowed that Cloud Might would defeat Golden Wind at Gamescom.

As Golden Wind faced predictions of defeat against Yunwei’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum at Gamescom, it released Minecraft’s first promotional video. Streamer Dream watched as the trailer introduced Steve to a pixelated world, where Alyx welcomed him to her world.

• Gamescom drew intense attention as Dream’s engine price change stirred the gaming industry and more than 32 million viewers reserved livestream spots.
• Observers predicted Golden Wind’s low-budget Minecraft would lose to Yunwei’s much more expensive The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and Kornik looked forward to defeating Golden Wind.
• Golden Wind released Minecraft’s first promotional video, titled “What are you doing?”, and Dream watched it on his stream.
• In the trailer, Alyx emerged through an office floor and pulled Steve into a blocky pixel world.
• Alyx landed Steve safely on grass and welcomed him to her world.

A Minecraft trailer revealed a world where players could build homes, automate production with Redstone, and explore a wide range of activities, leaving Dream desperate to play. After the trailer ended, Dream demanded that George book flights to Cologne so they could try the game immediately.

• Steve and Alyx passed a player-built villa and a massive Redstone assembly line, while Alyx explained how carefully the devices had to be built.
• Alyx showed Steve a gigantic Redstone-powered sphere made by players, and Dream reacted in disbelief as he recognized it as resembling the Las Vegas Sphere.
• Steve and Alyx walked through a lively village where players mined, farmed, fought creatures, built portals, rode animals, and put out fires.
• Alyx told Steve that creativity did not need a tutorial, then revealed the clear, vivid world as the Minecraft title appeared in the sky.
• After watching the trailer, Dream called George and demanded that he book plane tickets to Cologne so they could play Minecraft immediately.

The release of Minecraft’s trailer stunned players and developers, while Kornik ordered Vendi to redirect marketing resources toward The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Flush with an unexpected $3 billion windfall from Komeila, Shen Miaomiao attended a meeting about development in the Southern District.

• Minecraft’s trailer sparked worldwide excitement, and Gu ShengSam named its new genre sandbox games.
• Kornik learned that Minecraft had eclipsed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum in publicity and ordered Bedang to increase the game’s marketing.
• Kornik instructed Bedang to shift promotional funds and resources from Vendi’s other projects to The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
• Jouetsu Kagemasa was sent to Northern Europe, and his surrendered 7.85% stake helped Komeila transfer power and brought Golden Wind an unexpected $3 billion.
• Shen Miaomiao sat with Peng Xiaopang at the Binjiang Major Project Construction Mobilization Conference and asked about its focus on the Southern District development.

Li Xuefeng tried to persuade businesses to invest in the Southern Suburbs after Stardew Valley Resort’s success, while Shen Miaomiao saw the unwanted plots as a possible opportunity. She asked Li about future land transfers and proposed selling them through listing.

• Li Xuefeng urged local enterprises to support Southern Suburbs development, using Stardew Valley Resort’s success as an example.
• After the meeting, Peng Qianqian prepared to leave, but Shen Miaomiao called Li over and brought Peng to his office.
• Shen Miaomiao asked Li when and how the Southern Suburbs plots would be transferred.
• Li invited Shen to suggest a transfer method, and Shen proposed using listing.

Shen Miaomiao asked Secretary Li Xuefeng to package all four plots in the Southern Suburbs’ northern district, worth nearly six billion, for Golden Wind to buy. She planned to use the land to begin building a huge game-themed resort city, which she believed would become a guaranteed loss under her system.

• Li Xuefeng praised Golden Wind and promised the government would support the company’s reasonable requests, while Peng Qianqian anxiously tried to dissuade Shen Miaomiao.
• Li Xuefeng explained that the Southern Suburbs plots covered 325 hectares and had risen to a floor price of about 3,820 per square meter.
• Shen Miaomiao asked Li Xuefeng to sell plots A1 through A4 as a package and said Golden Wind wanted them all.
• Li Xuefeng froze when he learned the four northern plots covered 154 hectares and would cost 5.8828 billion.
• Shen Miaomiao imagined a vast resort filled with attractions based on Golden Wind’s games and decided to begin the project with the northern plots.