Recaps

Jiang Yan Hai proposed controlled live-artillery training for the recruits, and a Senior Colonel said he could submit the plan for approval. Jiang Yan Hai also considered adapting his Illusion Simulation Combat System for VR, but concluded that realistic physical training remained impractical to simulate.

• Jiang Yan Hai explained that modified fuzes and remote detonation would keep 155 mm shells beyond a five-hundred-meter safety distance.
• A Senior Colonel questioned how Jiang Yan Hai would handle close-range preparations, and Jiang Yan Hai described his detonation plan.
• The Senior Colonel said he could submit Jiang Yan Hai’s detailed safety report for approval, though he could not guarantee it would pass.
• Jiang Yan Hai planned to demolish the woods and use the training ground to train two combat groups at a time with controlled explosions.
• Jiang Yan Hai reviewed possible VR and force-feedback systems for his Illusion Simulation Combat System, but found no practical way to reproduce realistic movement and physical feedback.

Jiang Yan Hai sent two teams of Special Forces 1st Battalion through an uninformed simulated combat exercise in which they had to escape enemy territory. After Scrawny Chick 1 Group and Scrawny Chick 2 Group landed separately, Pan Ye called for a combat briefing.

• Zhang Qi and Pan Ye discussed the grueling training and wondered what Jiang Yan Hai had planned for their exercise.
• The twenty-four soldiers assembled after breakfast and boarded a helicopter without knowing their mission.
• Jiang Yan Hai told them they had completed a mission behind enemy lines, were being hunted by a much larger force, and had to reach an extraction point five kilometers north; one person escaping would count as victory.
• Pan Ye questioned whether a lone survivor could truly claim victory, and the soldiers reflected on the graves that had accumulated at their training ground.
• Scrawny Chick 1 Group rappelled down at its landing zone, followed by Scrawny Chick 2 Group several hundred meters away.
• After Zhang Qi and the others landed, Pan Ye called for a combat briefing.

Jiang Yan Hai put Pan Ye’s rookie teams through a live-fire exercise, first eliminating most of them with grenades and then sending real 155mm shells near them. The exercise continued as the survivors scrambled under fire and a sniper picked off another soldier.

• Jiang Yan Hai caught Pan Ye’s teams gathering after landing and ordered two grenades thrown at them, eliminating eight of the twelve within twenty seconds.
• Jiang Yan Hai sent the teams back to the landing zone after they replaced their helmet adjudication devices, and Pan Ye ordered everyone to scatter and return a grenade toward the attackers’ former position.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the artillery crew to fire, and the first 155mm shell exploded more than five hundred meters from Pan Ye’s group.
• Pan Ye and Zhang Qi warned the others to move after a second shell detonated less than two hundred meters away, but a sniper shot one member as they stood up.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the exercise to continue and told the nearby firefighting crew to stay ready in case the shells started a forest fire.

Jiang Yan Hai continued the costly combat simulations, and the teams improved in the second round as they learned to stay calmer under artillery fire. As the third round began, Fan Tian Lei summoned Jiang Yan Hai to Wolf Fang because Ma Yun Fei had reappeared and a mission might require him.

• Pan Ye and the others survived forty-eight minutes in their second combat simulation, while Jiang Yan Hai decided the training would continue until higher-ups stopped it.
• Jiang Yan Hai ran daily simulations for the Special Forces 1st Battalion, and the first round exposed how badly artillery fire disrupted the teams.
• Jiang Yan Hai posted the teams' results, leaving Pan Ye and the others with the worst record as the core members were dispersed to lead other teams.
• The second round produced better results, with the teams staying calmer and inflicting casualties on the Wolf Warrior side.
• Fan Tian Lei told Jiang Yan Hai that Ma Yun Fei had reappeared and summoned him to Wolf Fang for a possible mission.
• Jiang Yan Hai briefed Shao Bing and Tan Xiao Lin on the training tasks, then left for the Wolf Fang Special Operations Base.

Jiang Yan Hai received two First Class Merit medals at Wolf Fang Special Operations Base before He Zhi Jun assigned him a mission involving a former CIA agent and an extraordinary energy-rich ore in Africa. The chapter left Jiang Yan Hai reviewing an old case whose details remained partly classified.

• He Zhi Jun and Fan Tian Lei presented Jiang Yan Hai with two First Class Merit medals for shooting down a stealth fighter and helping crack an enemy encryption system and test the J10S Azure Dragon.
• Jiang Yan Hai wondered why he had not also received a medal for discovering the Super Virus, and He Zhi Jun assured him that the proper process would handle what he was owed.
• He Zhi Jun gave Jiang Yan Hai a file about Chen Jie Ke, a CIA agent sent to Africa in 1998 as part of the Comet Plan.
• He Zhi Jun explained that the mission concerned an unusual ore capable of releasing immense energy, and that an experiment in South Africa had destroyed a power plant and damaged a city's electrical appliances.
• He Zhi Jun said China's later aid to African nations was connected to the ore, but withheld the classified history as Jiang Yan Hai studied the old case file.

Jiang Yan Hai received a solo mission to investigate Ma Yun Fei’s contact with an international organization linked to mysterious African ore. With only twenty-four hours to prepare, he learned Li Ruo Bai was heading to Beijing and rushed to meet her before deploying.

• He Zhi Jun briefed Jiang Yan Hai on Ma Yun Fei’s contact with an organization that held data about ore tests and asked him to investigate.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned the mission might also give him a chance to address his promise involving Chu Ying and Chu Tian Nan.
• He Zhi Jun told Jiang Yan Hai to find Ma Yun Fei, avoid exposing Bai San’s identity, and infiltrate the organization if possible.
• Fan Tian Lei gave Jiang Yan Hai twenty-four hours to prepare and told him Li Ruo Bai was at the provincial capital airport, bound for Beijing.
• Jiang Yan Hai hurried out in his uniform to catch Li Ruo Bai and meet her in Beijing.

Jiang Yan Hai rushed to the airport after He Zhi Jun and Fan Tian Lei arranged a delayed flight and special boarding access. He boarded in uniform and reunited with Li Ruo Bai, only to realize her father was also on the plane.

• He Zhi Jun explained to Fan Tian Lei why Jiang Yan Hai needed someone to care about, then sent Fan Tian Lei to make a call while he arranged the flight delay.
• Jiang Yan Hai drove toward the airport and learned that Li Ruo Bai's flight had been delayed by military airspace restrictions.
• An airport contact gave Jiang Yan Hai alternate identification documents and guided him through a closed checkpoint without a security inspection.
• Flight attendants escorted Jiang Yan Hai onto the plane, where the first-class passengers noticed his Army uniform and major's insignia.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai saw each other, and Jiang Yan Hai realized her father was on the flight.

Jiang Yan Hai reunited with Li Ruo Bai on her flight to the capital, then joined her for dinner at Quanjude while Li Yun Feng continued to his business appointment. The chapter ended as Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai arrived at the restaurant and were led to their private room.

• Jiang Yan Hai greeted Li Yun Feng aboard the plane, then took a seat beside Li Ruo Bai.
• Li Ruo Bai moved to Jiang Yan Hai's seat, and they quietly planned to eat Peking Duck together in the capital.
• After landing, Li Ruo Bai told Li Yun Feng she would go to dinner with Jiang Yan Hai, and Li Yun Feng advised Jiang Yan Hai to stay safe.
• Li Yun Feng arranged a car for Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai, who held hands and leaned together during the drive.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai arrived at Quanjude in Qianmen, where a waiter escorted them to their private room.

Li Ruo Bai accepted more medals from Jiang Yan Hai and discussed preparing to help manage her father’s microelectronics research institute. Meanwhile, Jiang Yan Hai traveled undercover toward the Golden Triangle Special Zone, where he began hacking nearby telecommunications servers.

• Li Ruo Bai told Li Yun Feng that Jiang Yan Hai had visited before leaving on a mission, and Li Yun Feng advised her to prepare for the difficulties of their relationship and travel abroad less.
• Li Ruo Bai showed Li Yun Feng the First Class Hero Model Medal and six First Class Merits Jiang Yan Hai had given her.
• Li Yun Feng described the country’s lithography research and equipment challenges, and Li Ruo Bai offered to learn about and help manage the research institute.
• Jiang Yan Hai flew to Bangkok under the disguised identity Jiang Xiao and continued toward the Golden Triangle Special Zone with an unnamed contact.
• Jiang Yan Hai rode in a battered minivan and used his Electronic Warfare Program to hack nearby telecommunications providers’ servers.

Jiang Yan Hai arrived in the Golden Triangle Special Zone and used Er Dan to search surveillance footage for Ma Yun Fei while tracking down Chu Ying. He located Chu Ying at a nearby hotel but had not yet found Ma Yun Fei.

• Jiang Yan Hai infiltrated local mobile networks and surveillance cameras as he entered the Golden Triangle Special Zone.
• He checked his hotel room for danger, then had Er Dan analyze footage through the night while he trained in the Illusion Simulation Combat System.
• Er Dan narrowed Ma Yun Fei's recent location to the Myanmar section of the Special Zone, so Jiang Yan Hai disguised himself and set out to find him.
• Jiang Yan Hai went to a place where he expected Ma Yun Fei's associates to appear and waited for them.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned that Chu Ying was staying at a nearby hotel with two people who were likely former subordinates of her father.

Jiang Yan Hai infiltrated surveillance systems and NASA-linked satellites, gaining access to civilian satellite communications while monitoring the dormant Super Virus and the Stealth Bomb virus. After moving to Chu Ying’s hotel, he discovered that someone armed with a pistol was watching her room.

• Jiang Yan Hai scanned the area, infiltrated nearby private surveillance cameras, and continued searching for Ma Yun Fei.
• Jiang Yan Hai used botnets to access NASA’s servers and found the dormant Super Virus and the Stealth Bomb virus still operating in the United States.
• Jiang Yan Hai took control of a civilian communications satellite and connected his phone to satellite communications.
• Jiang Yan Hai checked out of his hotel, booked a room across from Chu Ying, and received a warning from Er Dan about someone with a pistol outside her room.
• Jiang Yan Hai entered his room and concluded that Chu Ying had been targeted by someone who was not one of her bodyguards.

Jiang Yan Hai spotted a highly trained bald man while waiting for Chu Ying’s court verdict, then saved her from a car attack and shot at the killers. The attackers remained inside the stopped SUV as Jiang Yan Hai faced them with his pistol.

• Jiang Yan Hai monitored Chu Ying and her watcher while preparing for her final court verdict.
• Er Dan detected a heavily trained European man with a barcode tattoo, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered surveillance to track him and Ma Yun Fei.
• Chu Ying left the courthouse and dismissed her two bodyguards, saying the Chu Family’s era had ended.
• A black SUV driven by Chu Ying’s hotel neighbor sped toward her, but Jiang Yan Hai pulled her out of its path.
• Several attackers emerged from the SUV, and Jiang Yan Hai shot two of them before wounding another who fired from a window.

Jiang Yan Hai rescued Chu Ying from an assassination attempt and escaped with her while Er Dan managed surveillance and the vehicles. After telling Chu Ying that he had promised her father to keep her safe, he took her away in a Toyota, leaving her wondering whether he had teammates.

• Jiang Yan Hai killed Chu Ying's two bodyguards when one of them raised a hand, then drove her away as military police and police cars pursued them.
• Jiang Yan Hai evaded the police and learned from Er Dan that Mr. Sha was likely at the Golden Triangle Special Zone prison.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Chu Ying he had promised her father to protect her and took her to his hotel room to retrieve her belongings.
• Jiang Yan Hai had Chu Ying change into an androgynous outfit, then left the hotel with her without checking out.
• Jiang Yan Hai drove Chu Ying to a Toyota that opened automatically, and Er Dan started the car as Chu Ying wondered whether Jiang Yan Hai had teammates.

Jiang Yan Hai arranged for Chu Ying to receive new documents and resettle in China under the name Chu Yingying. After bringing her supplies and documents at the rundown villa, he asked whether she was willing to leave, and Chu Ying challenged him about his intentions.

• Jiang Yan Hai took Chu Ying to the rundown villa, gave her food and water, and photographed her before calling Gao Gang.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Gao Gang about Chu Ying’s connection to Lu Yun Fei and arranged for her to get documents to live in China.
• Gao Gang agreed to help, and Jiang Yan Hai chose the name Chu Yingying and planned to take her to the border that night.
• Fang Xinwu brought Jiang Yan Hai a waist bag containing Chu Ying’s official documents.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Chu Ying whether she was willing to live in China, and she said she had little choice and teased him about whether he was a bad man.

Jiang Yan Hai gave Chu Ying new identification and helped her escape across the border, where Gao Gang took her in. On his return to the Golden Triangle Special Zone, he learned that Mr. Sha had been assassinated in prison and began tracking the Barcode Killer.

• Jiang Yan Hai gave Chu Ying a complete set of new documents and told her she could choose her own future, while warning her that Lu Yun Fei had a family and they could never be together.
• Chu Ying burned her old documents and left with Jiang Yan Hai, heading north toward the border.
• At the border, Chu Ying asked Jiang Yan Hai his name, hugged him goodbye, and crossed safely to meet Gao Gang.
• Jiang Yan Hai returned to the Golden Triangle Special Zone and learned from Fang Xinwu that Mr. Sha and thirty-six others had been killed in prison by a professional assassin.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned Fang Xinwu to stay safe and asked Er Dan to find the Barcode Killer's last known location.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that Mr. Sha had been killed and began investigating Ma Yun Fei, whose ties to a powerful organization made the killing more suspicious. He discovered Ma Yun Fei was negotiating to take control of the Golden Triangle with outside backing, and learned the organization wanted information about a woman named Mei.

• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that the bald man had killed Mr. Sha and wondered why the killers had targeted him.
• Jiang Yan Hai returned to the Golden Triangle Special Zone, left Chu Yingying's car behind, and went to watch Ma Yun Fei.
• Jiang Yan Hai followed Ma Yun Fei and two men, hacked their phones, and listened to Ma Yun Fei speak with Mr. Locke.
• Ma Yun Fei offered sixty percent of his profits to Mr. Locke's organization and asked for weapons support to seize control of the Golden Triangle.
• Mr. Locke said arms manager Krain could contact Ma Yun Fei and asked him to investigate a Chinese woman named Mei on Lipe Island in Thailand.

Jiang Yan Hai tracked Ma Yun Fei’s contact Locke and learned that Ma Yun Fei planned to take over the Golden Triangle drug trade with outside support. He then traveled in disguise to Lipe Island to investigate Mei, who Krain appeared to be targeting.

• Jiang Yan Hai photographed Locke and sent his image and information to China after Locke left his meeting with Ma Yun Fei.
• Director Qiao and Fan Tian Lei assessed Locke as a low-level contact and decided to leave Ma Yun Fei’s plans alone unless they threatened China.
• Jiang Yan Hai received no reply from China and chose to continue acting on his own.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned that Krain intended to deal with Mei and arranged to travel from Chiang Mai to Phuket.
• Jiang Yan Hai used satellite imagery to locate Lipe Island and obtain a photo of Mei, then disguised himself and hired a speedboat to reach the island.

Jiang Yan Hai arrived on Koh Lipe to investigate Mei and Krain, but unexpectedly encountered Arthur, who was also heading to the island. As suspicious people gathered around them, Jiang Yan Hai watched from the sidelines and saw a man beating the blonde woman aboard a yacht.

• Jiang Yan Hai noticed armed men on boats near Koh Lipe and suspected they had been sent by Krain.
• Jiang Yan Hai recognized Arthur on another boat, but Arthur did not recognize him in disguise.
• Mei welcomed Jiang Yan Hai to the island and arranged a cabin for him, while Arthur stayed in a separate cabin.
• Jiang Yan Hai detected satellite network communications near Arthur's cabin and spotted armed people on a yacht.
• A blonde woman with bruises asked island residents for first-aid medicine and went to see Mei, while Arthur watched her with binoculars.
• That night, Jiang Yan Hai watched from his window as a man beat the blonde woman on the yacht.

Jiang Yan Hai secretly approached Arthur after Arthur disposed of a man and brought a blonde woman back to his house. The two former acquaintances recognized each other on a secluded beach, and Jiang Yan Hai explained that he was tracking a possible assassin organization connected to the Barcode Killer.

• Mei and Arthur took boats to the yacht, and Arthur later sent it out to sea, where it exploded.
• Mei brought a blonde woman to Arthur's house, and Arthur asked Mei whether the nearby tourist had heard what happened.
• Jiang Yan Hai quietly left his room and lured Arthur to a secluded beach for a private conversation.
• Jiang Yan Hai revealed that he was the man who had stopped Arthur from faking his death in Buenos Aires, and Arthur recognized him.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked about Krain and explained that he was tracking an organization possibly connected to the Barcode Killer.
• Arthur warned Jiang Yan Hai that the Barcode Killer's organization was dangerous, and Jiang Yan Hai said they could not defeat him.

Arthur explained the Syndicate’s origins, its former intelligence agents, and its genetically modified Barcode Killers to Jiang Yan Hai. Jiang Yan Hai asked whether the Syndicate was behind a mysterious organization seeking a powerful ore, but Arthur ruled it out, leaving the ore organization unidentified.

• Arthur told Jiang Yan Hai that the Syndicate had recruited former intelligence agents, many of whom had been targeted after the CIA’s Operation Stone was exposed.
• Arthur explained that the Barcode Killers belonged to another Syndicate branch and had undergone genetic modification and childhood training.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Arthur about the organization behind Krain and the powerful ore discovered in southern Africa around 1998.
• Arthur recognized the ore but said he had only heard that a small-time arms dealer had tried to buy it and that the CIA later dealt with him.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether the Syndicate could have been behind the ore deal, and Arthur said the organization’s focus on assassination made that unlikely.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that the Mechanist Association was investigating Mei and grooming Krain as an outside operative, while Krain sought to eliminate his competitors in the arms trade. After discussing Arthur’s past and the Association’s methods, Jiang Yan Hai left to continue his investigation.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked Arthur about a dark-web network, and Arthur gave him its address while promising to sponsor his registration later.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Arthur that the organization was investigating Mei and recruiting Krain to help him unify the global arms market.
• Arthur explained that Krain had been his fellow child soldier and might be targeting him because he had escaped without taking Krain along.
• Arthur described the Mechanist Association and its practice of making murders appear accidental, drawing on research by insurance companies.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that Krain wanted Arthur’s methods to disguise his competitors’ deaths and that a woman had tried to manipulate Arthur into helping.
• Arthur said he had already rescued the woman, and Jiang Yan Hai left through the seawater after telling him to return to her.

Jiang Yan Hai examined the intelligence site's layered security and decided to help Arthur covertly, then returned to Phuket and told Fan Tian Lei and Director Qiao what he had learned about Arthur and the assassin organizations. He left further details unexplained as he began briefing them on the Syndicate.

• Jiang Yan Hai used the Electronic Warfare Program to inspect the intelligence site's redirects and concluded that breaking into its servers would be difficult and unlikely to reveal much.
• He decided to help Arthur from the shadows, then spent another day on the island and arranged how they would stay in contact before leaving.
• After returning to Phuket, Jiang Yan Hai called Fan Tian Lei and spoke with him and Director Qiao about the Syndicate and the Mechanist Association.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that Arthur, whom he had met during training in South America, was a Mechanist and had told him about the Syndicate.

Jiang Yan Hai secured intelligence support from Director Qiao and Fan Tian Lei and requested files on Krain’s competitors in the arms trade. After reviewing the files, he realized Krain was preparing to enter the lucrative black-market arms business.

• Director Qiao and Fan Tian Lei reviewed intelligence on the Syndicate and the Mechanist Association, and Fan Tian Lei questioned whether Arthur could be trusted.
• Jiang Yan Hai vouched for Arthur and asked Fan Tian Lei for information on Krain’s competitors, saying he would provide intelligence support without appearing directly.
• Fan Tian Lei agreed to send the files through a special channel, and Jiang Yan Hai accessed them from an encrypted server.
• Jiang Yan Hai read files on Krill, Cook, and Max Adams, three arms dealers who competed in the black market.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that Krain planned to enter the arms trade, where established markets were difficult to break into.

Jiang Yan Hai planned to kill Krill in the Malaysian prison by exploiting a coming supply delivery and the prison officer responsible for it. After gathering information and preparing his approach, he left the officer’s hospitalized wife unharmed but exposed to a calculated risk.

• Jiang Yan Hai studied Krill’s prison records and habits, then decided he could arrange Krill’s death as an apparent accident.
• Jiang Yan Hai traveled to Penang and learned that the prison’s next supply delivery was due in two days.
• Jiang Yan Hai investigated the officer overseeing the delivery and found that the officer’s wife was hospitalized.
• Jiang Yan Hai hacked local communications and hospital surveillance, scanned the wife, and left after planning to use her in his scheme.

Jiang Yan Hai set a plan in motion to draw Handuya away from a police supply transport by staging a medical emergency for Handuya’s wife and manipulating their communications. The nearest officer assigned to replace Handuya was the one Jiang Yan Hai had planted in the system.

• Jiang Yan Hai found Handuya’s wife’s medical records and tricked Handuya into replying to a fake carrier promotion so Er Dan could intercept his messages.
• While Arthur and Gina continued their plan on Lipe Island, Jiang Yan Hai injected a drug into Handuya’s wife’s IV, triggering the hospital’s emergency response.
• Jiang Yan Hai intercepted the hospital’s call to Handuya, then had Er Dan imitate the nurse and notify him that his wife was critically ill.
• Jiang Yan Hai changed into a police uniform and left for the target location as Er Dan intercepted Handuya’s radio traffic and relayed his request for a replacement officer.
• Police headquarters approved a replacement and named the nearest eligible officer; Er Dan confirmed that the officer’s name and call sign matched the identity Jiang Yan Hai had planted.