Recaps

Jiang Yan Hai sent He Chen Guang and the other special forces soldiers on a joint training exercise in the Gobi Desert. After they parachuted in and set out for their objective, Night Tiger Armored Regiment tanks attacked them with live ammunition.

• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the welcoming force to follow the plan as sixty-two soldiers parachuted into the Gobi Desert.
• Yang Rui and the squad leaders discussed their route toward a city northwest of their landing site, while He Chen Guang doubted Sea Lion would use a simple ambush.
• He Chen Guang and the others felt the ground tremble and saw three Type 99A tanks charge over a ridge.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered the soldiers to run toward a slope as the tanks pursued them.
• The battalion commander ordered his gunner to fire, and a shell exploded beside the soldiers’ escape route.
• Wang Yan Bing saw the crater and shouted that the tanks were using live ammunition.

The special forces soldiers fled a tank battalion, laid mines behind a hill, and watched a drone destroy them before the tanks resumed their pursuit. After hours of running, they reached a city and took shelter in an abandoned building, where Yang Rui ordered four men to scout.

• He Chen Guang ordered the soldiers carrying mines to plant them beyond the hill and keep running.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned of the ambush and ordered a strike drone to destroy the mines.
• The drone bombed the minefield, and the tank battalion resumed chasing the fleeing soldiers.
• After several hours, the exhausted soldiers reached a city and entered an abandoned six-story building.
• Yang Rui sent Gu Shun, Li Dong, He Chen Guang, and Wang Yan Bing to the roof to watch the pursuers and the city.

Yang Rui and Chen Shan Ming’s team entered an eerily empty city to search for six hostages, but six self-propelled howitzers opened fire on them. The team took cover as artillery shells battered the buildings around them.

• Yang Rui and Chen Shan Ming concluded that the city was abandoned after He Chen Guang reported seeing no people, while Gu Shun reported that the enemy had stopped pursuing them.
• Yang Rui explained that the team needed to find six hostages and escort them to an evacuation point twelve kilometers away, but warned that enemies might be hiding in the city.
• Thirteen kilometers away, a commander ordered six self-propelled howitzers to fire precision-guided shells at the city.
• Yang Rui warned the team to take cover when they heard incoming artillery, and Chen Shan Ming ordered those on the rooftops to get down.
• The shells struck nearby roads and buildings, collapsing part of a high-rise as the team sheltered behind walls and ground-floor cover.

After an artillery bombardment, the special forces split into combat groups and began searching an abandoned city for hostages while Jiang Yan Hai continued using live fire for joint-combat training. The search was slow, and the chapter ended when another shell exploded nearby.

• Jiang Yan Hai confirmed that everyone had survived the bombardment, and the soldiers emerged to find the area transformed into a battlefield.
• Yang Rui and Gong Jian organized the units into combat groups, sent them into the city, and positioned snipers to monitor and support them.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the artillery to fire another shell every twenty to thirty minutes as the teams advanced through the city.
• He Chen Guang, Gong Jian, and the others discussed the dangers of the live-fire exercise and continued searching buildings for hostages.
• After the teams searched for twenty or thirty minutes, a shell exploded nearby, and Chen Shan Ming told them to check on the other groups.

Jiang Yan Hai put the Jiaolong unit through an urban search exercise, directing the teams to use hostage profiles and clues to locate their targets. He Chen Guang's team followed a clue to People's Hospital and found an eerily well-maintained part of the abandoned city.

• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the exercise was meant to build the Jiaolong unit's urban combat experience and test its ability to analyze intelligence.
• Yang Rui suggested using a hostage's tuberculosis diagnosis to narrow the search to a hospital, and Gong Jian assigned one hostage to each of six groups.
• After a night of artillery explosions, Jiang Yan Hai told the command center to prepare logistics support as the teams resumed their searches.
• He Chen Guang's group used a map hidden in a dusty bookstore volume to plan a search for the hostage posing as a patient.
• Gong Jian led the group toward the largest hospital, where they found streets and facilities that looked newly maintained and felt increasingly eerie.

Chen Shan Ming's teams gathered at the People's Hospital after finding signs that part of the city had been inhabited until recently. Tong Li explained that the city may have been cleared for their training, and the teams found nothing in the hospital before considering where to search next.

• Chen Shan Ming called the other teams after his group found intact windows and signs of recent activity at the People's Hospital.
• Wang Yan Bing showed Chen Shan Ming and Gong Jian a newspaper dated twenty-three days earlier.
• Yang Rui and the other teams reported signs that the newer half of the city had been in use recently.
• Tong Li explained that Yumen's residents had largely moved away and suggested the city had been cleared for urban combat training.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered the teams to search the hospital, but they found nothing.
• Old Gao suggested searching the other hospitals in the city.

Gong Jian’s team found a trail to their assigned mannequin targets by searching hospital records and local police files, then evacuated all six targets to a temporary camp. The chapter ended as six Z-8B Helicopters arrived to pick up the teams.

• Gong Jian ordered a thorough search of the pulmonary medicine department, where He Chen Guang found a crumpled registration paper listing their target’s name and home address.
• Gong Jian’s group searched the local police station and found resident registration records showing that the target had moved to another unit in the same residential complex.
• Gong Jian’s team found a mannequin at the new address, and Li Er Niu carried it downstairs while the team arranged to move it more easily.
• Gong Jian reported the discovery, and all six groups found their targets and retreated to a temporary camp more than ten kilometers from the city.
• The teams ate the camp’s canned food, then formed up as six Z-8B Helicopters landed nearby.

Jiang Yan Hai deducted sixty points from the team after revealing they had rescued a tuberculosis patient without using protective masks, then assigned them 180 kilometers of extreme survival training. The chapter ended with the team preparing supplies, especially water, for the trek.

• Jiang Yan Hai told the team they had failed the urban rescue exercise and would face extreme survival training, with deductions increasing their distance.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the team lost sixty points because they brought back a tuberculosis patient without protecting themselves or the patient with masks.
• Wang Yan Bing accepted the deduction, and Jiang Yan Hai warned the team to take infectious diseases seriously during future missions.
• Jiang Yan Hai assigned the team a 180-kilometer trek through remote terrain and gave them half an hour to prepare.
• Gong Jian, Old Gao, and Chen Shan Ming discussed the route and decided to plan for four days of supplies, with water as their priority.

Jiang Yan Hai led the soldiers on a three-day wilderness survival exercise, while they packed food and water without realizing the weather and terrain would make their choices unsuitable. As the helicopters crossed ALS’s snow-covered Gobi Desert, the soldiers recognized they had overlooked both the cold and the chance to bring tents.

• He Chen Guang and Yang Rui decided to take more canned goods and less compressed rations, and the soldiers packed food and water for the exercise.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned the soldiers that they had to account for every bottle of water and ordered them to board the helicopters.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned that nighttime temperatures would fall to minus twenty-seven degrees Celsius and ordered the helicopters to set off for ALS.
• After roughly two hours in flight, He Chen Guang spotted snowfields below and realized the soldiers had misjudged the terrain and their water needs.
• Gong Jian pointed out that they could probably have dismantled the camp tents and brought them along.

Yang Rui and the others crossed the snow-covered Gobi Desert on foot, gathering fuel and conserving strength as the wind and cold intensified. After covering about sixty kilometers, they found a sheltered hollow and built a fire, but their canned beef had frozen solid.

• Yang Rui and the others began their 180-kilometer trek and realized the wind and snow made traveling without tents dangerous.
• Yang Rui urged the group to collect anything burnable, and Gong Jian organized them into rotating rows to shield each other from the wind.
• Jiang Yan Hai monitored the group and ordered the command team to keep a close watch on their safety.
• After walking about sixty kilometers, Yang Rui called for a stop as the falling temperature and exhaustion threatened to injure the men.
• Gong Jian spotted a sheltered area, and the group gathered their fuel and lit a fire for the night.
• The men took out their canned beef and found it had frozen in the subzero cold.

The soldiers warmed canned beef over a fire and rested in the freezing wilderness while discussing the hardships and purpose of their march. Meanwhile, Jiang Yan Hai argued with the Old Commander over changes to the elite personnel he wanted for the new Special Forces regiment.

• Song Kai Fei and Xu Tian Long discussed their rations as the soldiers heated canned beef over the fire and ate in batches.
• Yang Rui, Gong Jian, Old Gao, and Shao Bing discussed the next day's route, the brutal conditions, and the training they expected from Jiang Yan Hai.
• The soldiers took turns sleeping in a huddle around the fire, aware that they still had 120 kilometers to travel.
• Jiang Yan Hai called the Old Commander to complain that the agreed transfers of elite soldiers from units across the country had been changed.
• The Old Commander asked Jiang Yan Hai what transferring all the requested soldiers would mean, and Jiang Yan Hai admitted it would remove nearly all the elites.

Jiang Yan Hai negotiated with the Old Commander over staffing for his new special forces regiment and secured permission to select volunteers across the military, including students from the National University of Defense Technology. He planned to combine elite recruits with a second group he would train himself, using Er Dan’s scans to improve selection and training.

• The Old Commander said he could provide only half of the requested elite special forces soldiers immediately, or Jiang Yan Hai could train recruits himself.
• Jiang Yan Hai rejected recruits and waiting for more elite soldiers, then asked to select people from across the military.
• The Old Commander allowed Jiang Yan Hai to choose from the whole military and the National University of Defense Technology, provided the candidates agreed voluntarily.
• Jiang Yan Hai secured approval for the additional logistical support his training methods would require.
• After the call, Jiang Yan Hai reflected that only 932 people met Er Dan’s elite selection criteria and decided to train a second batch using scans to identify and develop their potential.

Jiang Yan Hai chose 378 first-tier Special Forces soldiers for his training program and began planning how to recruit and train the next batch. Meanwhile, Yang Rui, He Chen Guang, and the others struggled through worsening weather before spotting a settlement where they could seek shelter.

• Jiang Yan Hai informed Fan Tian Lei and Master Kang that the training plan would change, then told Er Dan to keep the 378 first-tier candidates and reject the rest.
• Old Commander praised Jiang Yan Hai’s selection and ordered officials to preserve the rejected candidates’ files and keep the evaluation process confidential.
• Jiang Yan Hai planned stricter screening for the next batch and decided he might visit units in person, while limiting the first new training group to 300 or 400 people.
• Yang Rui, He Chen Guang, and the other sixty-one men battled strong winds, cold, and difficult terrain as their march slowed over the next two days.
• After nightfall on the third day, He Chen Guang spotted five yurts and a large sheepfold, and Gong Jian told the group to approach the locals carefully.

Gong Jian and his soldiers reached a group of yurts and were welcomed by local herdsmen after confirming they were friendly. The herdsmen offered food and shelter, and Gong Jian accepted a place to rest while politely refusing their food because of military discipline.

• Gong Jian approached the yurts alone after a herdsman warned that they had guns, while Yang Rui and the other soldiers stayed alert.
• The herdsmen recognized Gong Jian as a People's Liberation Army soldier and invited the rest of his group to come over.
• Gong Jian learned that Baolige, a reservist, carried an authorized Type 56 rifle to defend against poachers.
• The old herdsman offered to slaughter sheep and serve dried beef, but Gong Jian refused the food because of military rules.
• The old herdsman agreed to let the soldiers stay and build fires for them, and Gong Jian offered to have his men help.

Gong Jian's soldiers took shelter in yurts offered by an old herdsman, unaware that the hospitality was part of Jiang Yan Hai's training exercise. After the soldiers drank the drugged milk tea and fell asleep, helicopters arrived to carry them away.

• Gong Jian's soldiers warmed the yurts with coal stoves and prepared hot water, while Gong Jian borrowed five hundred yuan from Song Kai Fei to pay the locals.
• The old herdsman and his son Baolige brought the soldiers milk tea, and Yang Rui accepted it and arranged to share it among the men.
• After eating and drinking, Gong Jian's soldiers went to sleep without setting sentries because dogs guarded the area.
• The old herdsman asked two men whether the setup was alright, and one explained that the soldiers had fallen for a training exercise arranged with Jiang Yan Hai.
• Six helicopters landed nearby, and more than a dozen soldiers began carrying the sleeping men out of the yurts.

Jiang Yan Hai received the rescued soldiers at the training base and scanned them, finding that many had lasting hidden injuries. After waking in the barracks, Gong Jian and the others realized they had been tricked and carried back during the night.

• Two disguised soldiers thanked the local herdsmen and returned to the helicopters with the rescued soldiers.
• Jiang Yan Hai received the report that everyone had been picked up and ordered the soldiers to rest after they returned.
• Medical staff brought the soldiers to their barracks, where Jiang Yan Hai scanned them and found widespread hidden injuries that could cause serious health problems later in life.
• Gong Jian woke in a military barracks, realized the soldiers had been transported there, and concluded they had fallen for the trick again.
• He Chen Guang, Song Kai Fei, Xu Tian Long, and Wang Yan Bing discussed how the rescue had fooled them, and Gong Jian suspected the milk tea had been drugged.
• Yang Rui arrived and told Gong Jian he was impressed by the person behind the deception.

Jiang Yan Hai asked Gong Jian, Yang Rui, Gao Da Zhuang, Shao Bing, and Chen Shan Ming to help decide how the Dark Blade Unit’s Special Operations Regiment should be organized. They agreed to retain a regiment structure, and Jiang Yan Hai assigned the five of them as battalion commanders while keeping the existing teams intact.

• Jiang Yan Hai welcomed the five officers after their failed wilderness exercise and told them their next mission had been completed.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked the group whether the Special Operations Regiment should use a regiment-and-battalion or brigade-and-company structure.
• Gong Jian recommended a regiment structure to help keep the secret unit’s identity concealed.
• Old Gao explained how the regiment structure could organize twelve-person teams into squads, companies, battalions, and a regiment.
• Gong Jian warned that splitting the existing sixty-two personnel could weaken their combat effectiveness.
• Jiang Yan Hai kept the teams intact and appointed the five officers as battalion commanders, with team leaders taking higher command roles during joint operations.

Jiang Yan Hai appointed Gong Jian and the others as battalion commanders and assigned them to train the remaining special operations personnel while he recruited new trainees. When he returned to Base No. 9 to request permission to start selection, the Old Commander postponed it until after Spring Festival and gave him another mission tied to Phantom’s test flights.

• Jiang Yan Hai appointed Gong Jian, Yang Rui, and the others as battalion commanders, explaining that higher-level operations would be directed by the brigade command center.
• Jiang Yan Hai assigned the new commanders to train the remaining 316 elite special operations personnel while he traveled to inspect selected units and recruit new trainees.
• Jiang Yan Hai returned to Base No. 9 and asked the Old Commander for permission to begin trainee selection, but the Old Commander postponed it until after Spring Festival.
• The Old Commander asked Jiang Yan Hai about Phantom’s test flights, and Jiang Yan Hai explained that its public appearances and leaked photos were intended to showcase the aircraft.
• The Old Commander told Jiang Yan Hai that he had another important mission, after discussing Phantom’s supersonic cruise and the public attention surrounding it.

Jiang Yan Hai was ordered to attend the National Science and Technology Award ceremony under Jiang Ling’s identity and travel to the capital. After checking into the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, he found Li Ruo Bai waiting for him and showed her the makeup supplies prepared for his disguise.

• The Old Commander ordered Jiang Yan Hai to attend the conference as Jiang Ling, receive an award, and complete his National Defense University graduation assessment.
• Three days later, Jiang Yan Hai flew to the capital and checked into Room 303 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
• Jiang Yan Hai used his Scanning System to check the room and detected Li Ruo Bai hiding in the living room.
• Li Ruo Bai explained that Old Liu and the others had invited her to the ceremony, and Jiang Yan Hai encouraged her to aim for the award stage someday.
• Li Ruo Bai told Jiang Yan Hai that his things had arrived, and he opened the case of makeup supplies prepared for his disguise.

Jiang Yan Hai tested a lifelike breast disguise with Li Ruo Bai, and their playful teasing led to an intimate encounter. He then carefully applied his makeup and put on his custom suit and wig, becoming Jiang Ling as he prepared to meet the arriving experts.

• Li Ruo Bai urged Jiang Yan Hai to try on the silicone disguise, and he put it on for her.
• Li Ruo Bai examined and squeezed the disguise, then Jiang Yan Hai teased her and their playfighting moved to the bed.
• Jiang Yan Hai left the bedroom and carefully began applying makeup, anticipating that he would soon need to interact with the experts.
• Li Ruo Bai came to watch as Jiang Yan Hai finished his lipstick, put on a wig, and transformed into Jiang Ling.

Jiang Yan Hai disguised himself as Jiang Ling and went shopping with Li Ruo Bai before meeting Professor Liu and Professor Qian. He introduced himself to the professors, who did not recognize him.

• Jiang Yan Hai revealed his disguise to Li Ruo Bai, who teased him about using it in women's spaces.
• Li Ruo Bai persuaded Jiang Yan Hai to go shopping, and they bought dozens of outfits for Jiang Ling.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai returned to the hotel and spent the night together in special outfits.
• The next evening, Professor Liu and Professor Qian waited at the restaurant to meet Jiang Yan Hai.
• Jiang Yan Hai approached the professors disguised as Jiang Ling and introduced himself, but they did not recognize him.

Jiang Yan Hai revealed his disguise as Jiang Ling to a group of trusted professors, who were impressed by how convincingly he had altered his appearance and voice. He then proposed expanding his engine design into a series, including larger models suitable for stealth bombers.

• Li Ruo Bai joined Jiang Yan Hai, and he revealed his true voice and identity to Professor Liu and Professor Qian.
• Professor Liu brought Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai to meet the professors, telling Jiang Yan Hai to use the name Jiang Ling around researchers arriving the next day.
• Jiang Yan Hai introduced himself to the gathered professors as Jiang Ling, then confirmed his identity as Jiang Yan Hai in his original voice.
• Professor Li examined Jiang Yan Hai's hands and praised how convincing his disguise was, while the professors agreed to help keep his identity secret.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Professor Qian he could develop his engine design into a series, including larger engines for stealth bombers, and offered to send annotated blueprints.

Jiang Yan Hai agreed to help Professor Qian's team expand the engine series and discussed Phantom's upgrades and rapid finalization with Old Liu and Professor Li. After the meal, Jiang Ling met the veteran professors so they would recognize her in the future.

• Jiang Yan Hai agreed to share his engine expertise and let Professor Qian lead the series' expansion, while offering to advise on the overall design.
• Old Liu told Jiang Yan Hai that Phantom was close to finalization after its test aircraft and engines accumulated strong test results.
• Jiang Yan Hai said Phantom's main upgrade needs involved electronic systems, but kept quiet about the electronics blueprints he had already designed.
• Jiang Yan Hai ate with Li Ruo Bai and the professors, who watched him finish the meal.
• Jiang Ling met the veteran professors so they would recognize her later.

Jiang Yan Hai met veteran researchers before the award ceremony, where he would accept the Phantom’s award under the identity of Jiang Ling. Several groups with different levels of knowledge about his identity were gathered to watch the live broadcast, though they did not yet know why.

• Jiang Yan Hai met veteran professors and researchers, who admired his achievements and were impressed by him and Li Ruo Bai.
• Jiang Yan Hai prepared to accept the award at the Great Hall disguised as Jiang Ling to protect his identity and draw out spies.
• Director Wen, Yu Dong, and former Wolf Fang members gathered to watch the broadcast and were told Jiang Yan Hai was on a mission and would accept the award for Jiang Ling.
• He Chen Guang and the first sixty-two people Jiang Yan Hai had recruited gathered to watch, knowing Jiang Yan Hai had designed the Phantom and were ordered to keep it secret.
• Young PhDs who knew the Phantom’s chief designer were told Jiang Ling was a state intelligence operative meant to divert attention from Jiang Yan Hai.
• Song Kai Fei questioned why Wolf Fang had to watch the broadcast, while Xu Tian Long and Gong Jian told him to follow orders and recognize the professors.

During the awards ceremony, Jiang Ling received the highest science and technology award for designing the Phantom Fighter Jet and its engine, and former special operations team members watching the broadcast realized she was their Boss Jiang in disguise. He Chen Guang revealed Jiang Yan Hai had also designed other weapons and was an Army Aviation and fighter pilot with nine kills, leaving everyone stunned by the scale of his abilities.

• The awards ceremony introduced Jiang Ling as the designer of the Phantom Fighter Jet and its engine, and she walked onto the stage to receive the award.
• Chen Shan Ming and the former Red Cell members recognized Jiang Ling as their future brigade commander, Jiang Yan Hai, and crowded around the television in shock.
• The team teased Chen Shan Ming about having been attracted to Jiang Yan Hai in disguise, while Tong Li envied Jiang Yan Hai's makeup skills.
• He Chen Guang told the team that Jiang Yan Hai had designed the improved Type 10 Rifle and the Type 19 Assault Rifle.
• Gu Shun asked whether Jiang Yan Hai was a pilot, and He Chen Guang confirmed he was an Army Aviation and fighter pilot with nine kills who had designed the Phantom Fighter Jet.