Chapter Summaries

The Shengli Seawater Desalination Plant and other projects turned crude salt and Yellow River sediment into materials for coastal defenses as China prepared for rising sea levels. The chapter ended with China building artificial dikes and lakes while foreign governments, especially the United States, responded less urgently.

• A transport airship installed a foam-silicon bridge section near Huimin, allowing workers to extend the elevated water pipeline toward Dezhou.
• The Shengli plant began shipping crude salt in sealed square containers to Su Province for coastal land reclamation rather than filling in the Bohai Bay.
• Su Province, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta began producing foam silicon for coastal dikes and planning artificial ports.
• The sand-pumping project along the Yellow River supplied sediment for wide coastal dikes, where workers planted genetically modified rootstocks for cherries.
• Authorities planned artificial lakes along the lower Yellow River to store water, reduce flooding, and supply material for coastal defenses.
• The chapter contrasted China's preparations with foreign inaction, noting that American states resisted coastal protection efforts for their own political interests.

As famine deepened in a blacklisted central-western African country, Seres focused on a weight-loss campaign. At 222 Laboratory, Gao Yazhi’s team tested an experimental system that used implanted nanoneedles to consume glucose and fat and generate electricity, leaving the technology’s health effects under investigation.

• Leaf Blight and climate upheavals reduced harvests in central-western Africa, while debt and the loss of oil and gas exports left the country unable to afford food imports.
• Seres debated its growing obesity problem as 222 Laboratory’s Gao Yazhi and Xiao Zhang prepared a weight-loss experiment using customized Wei Warrior 1 Type exoskeletons.
• Researchers implanted nanoneedles in Xiao Su’s thighs and arms, connected them to the modified exoskeleton, and activated the bioelectric generation system.
• Xiao Su grew pale and reported feeling as if he had run ten kilometers as the system consumed glucose and fat to generate electricity.
• Gao Yazhi’s team continued investigating the experimental technology, which could generate up to about 0.08 kilowatt-hours per day under its current safety limits.

Li Ke and Lao He trained new employees at Hai Lu Feng Company's floating-island aquaculture zone near Yongxing Island, explaining its safety systems, workplace assessments, and farming duties. The newcomers began preparing to raise seafood on the floating farms, which also aimed to cool nearby waters and protect coral reefs.

• Li Ke showed the new employees how to use a capsule boat's emergency hatch and supplies, and explained its safety procedures and living limits.
• Li Ke toured the employees through their dormitory and warned them that facility assessments could bring penalties for poor performance.
• After Li Ke left, Lao He warned the newcomers that failed assessments could lead to fines, probation extensions, return to the training center, or dismissal.
• Lao He explained that the employees would feed and monitor high-value tropical seafood raised in the capsule boats.
• Hai Lu Feng Company's floating farms used photovoltaic airships, cooling systems, and shade to support aquaculture and lower nearby seawater temperatures around coral reefs.

Dr. Wang Ding oversaw the artificial glacier project at Hailuogou, which used foam silicon frameworks and reflective photovoltaic films to protect glaciers and regulate the climate. As the project continued, the chapter described how Hai Lu Feng Company's materials and industrial upgrades were reshaping Seres's economy and weakening rivals, while India faced a worsening food crisis.

• Dr. Wang Ding asked project manager Chang Xinghua when the Hailuogou Glacier project would be completed, and Chang estimated Glacier No. 1 would be fully covered in about two months.
• Wang Ding explained that the artificial glacier project would reflect sunlight, reduce melting, and help regulate water supplies and local climate.
• The chapter described how wastewater recycling and new materials from Hai Lu Feng Company reduced industrial water use and replaced conventional resources, expanding Seres's industrial potential.
• Seres's growing steel reserves and cheaper production prevented Australia and other iron ore suppliers from raising prices, while domestic steel exports pressured foreign producers.
• India's food production fell amid extreme weather and Leaf Blight risks, forcing it to promote alternative crops as its hopes of becoming the world's factory receded.

Fang Tenglong discovered that modified Silicon Carbide Nanotubes could separate water isotopes with exceptional precision, making cheap heavy-water production and Helium-3 extraction possible. Liu Tongxin judged the technology a matter of strategic security and arranged for Du Guojian to hear the laboratory’s briefing.

• Huang Chongyi brought Liu Tongxin to the fifth team’s work area, where Fang Tenglong showed him experimental material No. 582 and its isotope-separation results.
• Liu Tongxin learned that the nanotubes could cheaply extract heavy water and concentrate Superheavy Water, while Fang Tenglong had stopped further purification over concerns about a nuclear accident.
• Liu Tongxin considered how stored Superheavy Water could yield Helium-3 for fusion fuel and how the technology might combine with Minqin Group’s other advances.
• Liu Tongxin called Du Guojian and asked him to come because the discovery might involve strategic security; Du Guojian scheduled a visit for one-thirty.
• Liu Tongxin, Huang Chongyi, Fang Tenglong, and the laboratory staff organized the experimental data before Du Guojian arrived at the laboratory.

Fang Tenglong’s isotope-separation technology impressed Hai Lu Feng’s executives, who arranged a confidential report and follow-up research. Later, Jiang Miao reviewed the technology, a proposed nanotube-net weapon, and a report warning that Leaf Blight was spreading across Asia, leaving him concerned that a regional famine was imminent.

• Fang Tenglong explained that his technology could extract tritium from Superheavy Water at far lower cost, and he and Liu Tongxin warned Du Guojian that cheap fuel alone would not make controlled nuclear fusion commercially viable.
• Du Guojian ordered Liu Tongxin’s team to prepare a complete technical report within a week and assigned Huang Chongyi to help explain the technology.
• Nine days later, Jiang Miao reviewed the confidential report, suggested expanding the isotope-separation method to other materials, and sent his comments to the Information Security Office through Hu Siqi.
• Jiang Miao reviewed a proposed Silicon Carbide Nanotube interception-net weapon and directed the laboratory to work with domestic military-industrial enterprises while Minqin Group supplied materials.
• Jiang Miao read that Leaf Blight had spread into Southeast Asia and devastated rice near Bangkok, and he feared a major food crisis across Southeast and South Asia, though Hai Lu Feng had already prepared for the outbreak.

Leaf Blight spread through Gui Province as Seres shifted toward cassava, potatoes, soybeans, and New Rice Bananas to replace vulnerable staple crops. In Qiongzhou, the first New Rice Banana harvest supplied food and feed, while Siam inspected the processed bananas and considered buying them for emergency reserves.

• Gui Province harvested late rice early after Leaf Blight appeared and replaced rice fields with cassava, while other regions expanded alternative crops and flour supplies.
• Qiongzhou’s New Rice Bananas reached their first harvest, and factories processed the bananas into shelf-stable starch blocks while turning stems and leaves into silage feed.
• Two inland tourists tried the new cheese banana mash at a Western Fast Food restaurant in Gan'en City.
• Siam sent purchasing groups to inspect soybeans, cassava, and New Rice Bananas after receiving approval to buy emergency food from Seres.
• La Li Gong tasted the compressed banana starch blocks, learned they cost 3,500 Hua yuan per ton, and considered the purchase amid Siam’s food and currency troubles.

Seres announced three mega-projects to secure food and reshape East Asia’s economy, drawing regional powers into its sphere as famine and climate disasters destabilized India and weakened America and Lucia. With eastern Asia stabilized, Hai Lu Feng Company prepared to expand overseas.

• Seres proposed the Asian Road and Bridge Plan, the Antarctic Solar Energy Development Plan, and the Industrial Consortium Plan to link regional economies and provide work and food through trade.
• Japan and South Goryeo secretly shared information with Seres, while Japanese clans moved resources and technology to Seres as American influence in Asia declined.
• After a famine killed more than six million people in India’s Ganges River Basin, India collapsed into disorder, and Seres sealed its border while Hongsha Wandi bought landmines to block refugees.
• Regional powers sought industrial allocations from Seres, and the three plans helped stabilize eastern Asia within Seres’s sphere of influence.
• Hai Lu Feng Company prepared to enter the international market after exhausting its domestic growth and gaining room to expand overseas.

Hai Lu Feng Company and other Seres businesses expanded across Siam, investing in tropical fruit, manufacturing, and electricity while recruiting thousands of local workers. Zheng Anmin used his Chinese-language skills to switch from an electrician application to a technician's assistant position and passed the interview.

• Jiang Miao became the largest shareholder of Jiang's Commercial Investment Bank, which invested heavily in Asian markets, while Hai Lu Feng Company openly expanded across Southeast and Northeast Asia.
• Hai Lu Feng Company and other Seres enterprises established operations in Siam, creating jobs in manufacturing, tropical fruit, recycling, and electricity generation.
• Zheng Anmin met Lin Haibin while waiting to interview, and Lin advised him to apply as a technician's assistant because he could read Chinese.
• Zheng Anmin passed the interview for a technician's assistant position and received instructions to report for three months of training.
• Other applicants considered learning Chinese after seeing Zheng Anmin succeed, while Hai Lu Feng Company faced about 600,000 applications for 24,000 Siamese jobs.

In November 2028, Zijin Mining and its partners developed newly discovered mineral deposits around Hebang Town, Hongshavadi, while coordinating security and pollution controls for their overseas operations. The chapter ended by outlining Seres companies’ broader plan to use industrialization, urbanization, and specialized agriculture to integrate Southeast Asia into its economic system.

• Zijin Mining’s survey airship discovered a rich cinnabar deposit near the Taunggyi Basin, prompting it to establish Taunggyi Mercury Mine Company and secure five billion Huayuan in loans.
• Taunggyi Mercury Mine Company and three other mining groups brought workers and investment to Hebang Town, where local currencies were rapidly displaced by the Huayuan.
• He Jiaqiang, General Zhou, and a bald local company representative agreed to form a joint security company after an exploration airship had been attacked with rockets.
• Lao He reassured General Zhou that the mercury refining plant would use domestic standards and discarded Sponge Battery material to filter heavy-metal pollution.
• The narration described how Hai Lu Feng Company planned to draw rural workers into urban jobs, expand labor-intensive industries, and make Southeast Asia dependent on Seres’s industrial and agricultural system.

Zhou Qi’s branch in He Bang Town gained 4G service as Seres companies expanded local infrastructure and communications. The Angu Family opened a mobile shop, while competing local families waited for their own services to launch.

• Zhou Qi learned that mobile service had begun across the Taunggyi Basin and tested the new 4G signal.
• Li Xinghe explained that telecom service would have to wait until its Communication Airship was ready, while Seres firms supported several local families to keep power divided.
• Angu and Mao An had a three-story building lowered onto the Angu Family’s foundation for use as a home and communications shop.
• Angu financed the building and shop with loans secured by the family’s gold, and his family completed training to run the business.
• Li Na sold two phones and service packages to a Taunggyi Mercury Mine worker after He Bang Mobile Communication opened.
• Angu’s shop sold more than eighty phones in just over a week, prompting rival families to press the telecom company and Unicom company to launch their services.

Seres’s expansion into Northern Desert and its plans to reshape global industry continued as the Asian semiconductor conference revealed technology capable of replacing high-end lithography machines. The chapter left Asia’s semiconductor companies joining a Seres-led alliance while Europe and America prepared to consolidate their shrinking spheres of influence.

• Seres-backed companies recruited more than 1.8 million Northern Desert residents, while Hai Lu Feng Company began preparing 80,000 square kilometers of desert for development.
• America destroyed semiconductor equipment in Dayuan Island and South Goryeo, and Seres let the damage proceed, expecting it to weaken their industries and push them toward Seres.
• At the Shanghai conference, Chen Nanxian introduced Minqin Precision Instruments’ Nano Glue Injection Machine and said it could replace high-end lithography machines; he also revealed that Seres could mass-produce ten-nanometer Kirin A100 chips.
• The Asian Semiconductor Industry Association formed a Seres-centered alliance to exchange technology and patents and remove European and American equipment and materials from Asian supply chains.
• European and American forces explored deeper integration and considered bringing Lucia into their camp, while America planned to withdraw troops from Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia to defend its core regions.

Jiang Miao sent Zhang Xiaolong to stabilize the Yuzhang Branch after a deputy general manager used a false sexual-assault accusation to undermine a rival. Zhang Xiaolong began investigating and suspected Zhang Dawei had framed Deputy General Manager Wang, while the branch’s surveillance system had been disabled before the incident.

• Jiang Miao assigned Zhang Xiaolong to become deputy general manager at the troubled Yuzhang Branch and said the Supervision Department would handle the accusation case.
• Zhang Xiaolong arrived at the branch, met Deputy General Managers Song Hanbo and Zhang Dawei, and asked for recent work reports.
• Zhang Xiaolong questioned an elderly security guard, who claimed Zhang Dawei had arranged for Xiao Yan to accuse Deputy General Manager Wang and had a secret relationship with her.
• Zhang Xiaolong asked Li Weili to organize a recording of the guard’s account and send it to the Supervision Department in his name.
• Zhang Xiaolong reviewed the case materials and learned that Zhang Dawei had arranged maintenance on the surveillance system so the cameras in Wang’s office would not work.

Hai Lu Feng Company completed the Brain-Control Helmet, which could detect lies and uncover criminal secrets, and Jiang Miao prepared to use it against the people who had extorted the company. A nationwide publicity campaign exposed the technology and prompted police to arrest Yan Chunping's family and Zhang Dawei before the public tests began.

• Sun Yan Jun confirmed that Dr. Li Jianjun and Gao Shu Yuan's Brain-Control Helmet project had succeeded, though its equipment remained expensive.
• Jiang Miao ordered Sun Yan Jun to bring three helmets to the Yuzhang Branch and sent Li Haoran and the Legal Department to pursue the case against Yan Chunping's family.
• Xiao Ding hired Dong Gan Di and Observing Animals Website to produce paid publicity materials about the Brain-Control Helmet.
• Hai Lu Feng Company funded a nationwide media campaign that first showcased the helmet's medical and work applications, then revealed its lie-detection results and connection to recovered trafficked children.
• Yan Chunping's family turned against one another at home, and plainclothes officers arrested them before they could take the public lie-detection test.
• Zhang Dawei tried to flee overseas after seeing the news, but officers stopped him before he could leave the employee residential compound.

The Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Bridge opened, demonstrating the feasibility and lower cost of movable floating bridges and strengthening interest in the Asian Road and Bridge Plan. Its success left companies, banks, and sovereign wealth funds eager to participate in the expanding regional infrastructure and industrial network.

• Qiongzhou and Lingnan leaders, Hai Lu Feng Company, contractors, and designers jointly announced the opening of the First Qiongzhou Strait Bridge on January 20, 2029.
• Engineer Tian explained to foreign guests that the movable floating bridge cost far less than a conventional bridge and could be adapted for projects such as the Tsushima Strait Cross-Sea Bridge.
• Guests toured Floating Island One, where Samsung Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy Industries executives discussed South Goryeo's likely share of bridge component production and Seres's efforts to limit the power of major conglomerates.
• The chapter described how Seres food imports had sharply lowered Japanese food prices and weakened the Eastern Ying Agricultural Association while industrial cooperation and zero tariffs helped revive regional economies.
• The bridge's successful opening showed investors that the Asian Road and Bridge Plan was achievable, prompting major corporations, banks, and sovereign wealth funds to seek involvement.

Jiang Miao harvested a new Leaf Blight-resistant rice variety and negotiated with Lao Zhang to delay the varieties’ release as part of Seres’s strategy. He also recommended allowing Annan to introduce new cassava varieties while cutting its industrial quotas, leaving Seres poised to use food and technology access to pressure the region.

• Jiang Miao approved the harvest of Yan Rice 25, one of five final Leaf Blight-resistant rice varieties he had bred.
• Jiang Miao explained how the five varieties differed in salt tolerance, climate suitability, fragrance, and yield, and planned to use salt-tolerant rice to protect coastal farmland.
• Lao Zhang asked Jiang Miao to delay releasing the new rice varieties, and Jiang Miao agreed to release them no later than September while withholding two South China varieties until March next year.
• Lao Zhang asked how Seres should respond to Annan’s request to introduce new cassava varieties, and Jiang Miao agreed to allow it while recommending cuts to Annan’s industrial quotas.
• Lao Zhang confirmed that Annan had secretly obtained cassava cuttings and was raising Tissue Culture Seedlings, while Jiang Miao argued that Annan should choose between food and industrial access.

Jiang Miao learned that Shu Ya had discovered Qing He Hormone, which suppressed leaf blight and could induce hibernation-like states in animals, and agreed to investigate it. He also agreed to look into Huang Tianhua’s risky gold-mining venture in Mindanao before learning that the Northern Desert Branch had uncovered major mineral deposits, including an enormous potash reserve.

• Jiang Miao discussed bamboo breeding plans and heard Shu Ya explain that Qing He Hormone from human serum albumin rice suppressed leaf blight and induced sleep or hibernation-like states in white mice.
• Jiang Miao agreed to study Qing He Hormone after Shu Ya shared her findings.
• Huang Chunming told Jiang Miao that Huang Tianhua planned to develop a gold mine in Mindanao, and Jiang Miao agreed to investigate the venture through the Luzon Branch.
• Lu Weibin reported discoveries of coal, hematite, copper, and an estimated three billion tons of potash in the Northern Desert.
• Jiang Miao approved a small-scale potash production base rather than large-scale extraction.

Huang Chunming and Chen Xiumei discussed their plan to make their eldest son change his ways, then discovered a new health-monitoring service from Hai Lu Feng Company. Happiness Home provided them with implanted nano detectors and watches that tracked their health and recommended affordable meal plans, marking the launch of a new consumer health business.

• Huang Chunming learned that his third aunt had been hospitalized with kidney failure and called Chen Xiumei to ask about her condition.
• Huang Chunming told Chen Xiumei that Jiang Miao had agreed to investigate their eldest son's troubles and planned to make him suffer so he would change; Chen Xiumei agreed to keep the plan secret.
• Huang Chunming and Chen Xiumei met Lao Liu, who showed them a health-monitoring watch he had received for free from Happiness Home.
• Lao Liu led Huang Chunming and Chen Xiumei to Happiness Home, where they waited in line and received watches and implanted micro nano detectors.
• Happiness Home's system tracked health indicators, analyzed food, and recommended meals that customers could order through its app at basic or premium prices.

Jiang Miao approved a 10-billion-yuan expansion plan for Happiness Home after reviewing its strong membership, profits, and growth potential. He also learned that major companies were preparing to enter the market, but Hai Lu Feng’s control of the key detector technology gave it a major advantage.

• Jiang Miao learned that the Fuqing Gang had deceived Huang Tianhua with a depleted gold mine and ordered officials to wait until Huang reached Manila before striking at the gang and other criminal groups in Southeast Asia.
• Jiang Miao reviewed Happiness Home’s report and was surprised that its five Shanmei branches had attracted 64,000 registered members, including 7,583 monthly subscribers.
• Jiang Miao approved the Commercial Research Center’s 10-billion-yuan initial funding request and directed it to expand Happiness Home nationwide and report progress.
• Jiang Miao identified elderly people, working families, and other groups as promising customers, while the report showed the company’s standardized meals could produce a net profit of about 15 percent.
• Jiang Miao saw that major domestic and foreign companies were positioning themselves to enter the health-meal market, but Hai Lu Feng controlled Shuyuan Nanometer Medical Company, the sole source of the required low-cost dynamic detectors.

Doctor Du’s team tested Star Ring 28 and achieved controlled Helium-3 fusion with a Q value of about 16.4, while containing neutron damage and leakage. The successful results earned plans for longer tests and a Star Ring 29 prototype, though the team still needed to develop a lithium-self-sustaining version and kept the breakthrough secret.

• Wang He Ming reassured Doctor Du and the researchers that Hai Lu Feng Company would continue supporting the project before authorizing Star Ring 28’s first live test.
• Doctor Du’s team activated Star Ring 28, where accelerated Helium-3 plasma collided and fused, producing a Q value of approximately 16.4.
• Doctor Du shut down the reactor after three hours when neutron detectors showed no leakage, and A Wu led a team to inspect the device and remove samples for testing.
• Three days later, the inspection report showed no obvious structural defects in the tungsten alloy plates and found liquid lithium consumption acceptable.
• Doctor Du planned three-day and month-long continuous tests and construction of a Star Ring 29 prototype, while Wang He Ming promised to secure further funding.
• Doctor Du’s team continued pursuing lithium-self-sustaining fusion, and Star Ring 28’s success was kept secret.