Recaps

Jiang Ling’s identity as the twenty-five-year-old chief designer of the Phantom fighter jet and engine was revealed at the State Supreme Science and Technology Award ceremony, stunning viewers in China and abroad. After Jiang Yan Hai received the award and presented the others, the ceremony ended with the remaining attendees warned to keep the secret.

• He Chen Guang, the ceremony audience, and livestream viewers were stunned when Jiang Ling was revealed as Phantom’s young chief designer.
• Jiang Ling’s identity and achievements surged across Weibo and drew attention from foreign media and intelligence agencies.
• Jiang Yan Hai received the State Supreme Science and Technology Award and gained five hundred authority points from the Red Star Engine.
• Jiang Yan Hai presented awards to the other recipients, and the senior leader privately showed curiosity while keeping his composure.
• After the ceremony, officials instructed the other groups to maintain confidentiality, and Li Ruo Bai decided not to tell anyone what she had witnessed.

After receiving the country’s highest scientific honor, Jiang Yan Hai rejected the idea of pursuing a Nobel Prize and returned to the National Defense University for his graduation assessment. He earned perfect scores and was exceptionally promoted to senior colonel, leaving the Old Commander urging him to keep working toward general.

• Jiang Yan Hai told Old Liu that he cared more about his country’s recognition than a Nobel Prize and joked that there might someday be a Jiang Yan Hai Prize.
• Jiang Yan Hai said goodbye to Li Ruo Bai, then returned to the National Defense University for his graduation assessment.
• Jiang Yan Hai completed the assessment with perfect scores and attended the senior advanced study class graduation meeting.
• The Old Commander announced Jiang Yan Hai’s exceptional promotion to senior colonel and replaced his lieutenant colonel insignia.
• The Old Commander encouraged Jiang Yan Hai to aim for general and teased Major General Bai Zhipeng about Jiang Yan Hai possibly surpassing his rank.

Jiang Yan Hai received permission to return home in uniform and began preparing to recruit and train a second batch of soldiers. He reached Jinling for the Spring Festival, where Li Ruo Bai welcomed him and Su Ya Xuan noticed his colonel insignia.

• The Old Commander told Jiang Yan Hai to go home in uniform and approved his recruitment plans, requiring recruits to understand the danger of the training.
• Jiang Yan Hai flew to Jinling in a two-seat J10, and Hound drove him to the villa with gifts prepared for his visit.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Hound to let eligible personnel take New Year leave and explained that he would leave on the third day of the lunar month to begin training the second batch.
• Li Ruo Bai welcomed Jiang Yan Hai at the villa, and they greeted each other before Su Ya Xuan called out from inside.
• Su Ya Xuan spotted Jiang Yan Hai’s colonel insignia and asked how he had already become a colonel.

Jiang Yan Hai visited Li Ruo Bai’s family for New Year and revealed he had been promoted to colonel. He and Li Ruo Bai’s parents agreed on his plans to marry her, and Li Yun Feng proposed holding their engagement banquet that day, leaving Jiang Yan Hai hesitant about the sudden celebration.

• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Ruo Bai that he had been promoted before arriving, surprising Li Yun Feng and Li Ruo Bai’s mother.
• Li Ruo Bai showed Jiang Yan Hai the men’s clothes she had bought for him and said he would stay in her room.
• Li Ruo Bai’s mother asked Jiang Yan Hai about his plans, and he said he would submit a Marriage Report after his September birthday and marry Li Ruo Bai once it was approved.
• Li Yun Feng and Li Ruo Bai’s mother approved of the marriage, and Jiang Yan Hai promised to do his best as a husband and father.
• Li Yun Feng proposed holding an engagement banquet for Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai that day, and Jiang Yan Hai hesitated because the event would draw many people.

After Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai became engaged, Jiang Yan Hai spent nearly two months recruiting volunteers for the Special Forces and selecting 3,689 candidates. The chapter leaves him ordering the candidates’ files sealed at the highest classification his authority allowed.

• Li Yun Feng hosted a family meal where Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai were considered engaged, though their military marriage date remained undecided.
• After the Spring Festival, Jiang Yan Hai left Li Ruo Bai’s family home and traveled to recruit volunteers for the Special Forces.
• Jiang Yan Hai used his Advanced Scanning Program and Er Dan’s records to screen candidates according to character, ability, and potential, selecting 3,689 people.
• Er Dan identified 2,052 candidates whose professional skills or physical fitness were lacking, including 387 military academy students, while the others were mostly active-duty soldiers.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Black Hawk and the others to contact the candidates’ units, seal their files, and restrict access to the highest classification his authority permitted.

Jiang Yan Hai organized the first intake of candidates into two groups for different kinds of training and arranged for their conduct to be monitored while they remained in their units. The recruits gathered at the expanded Special Forces 1st Battalion training grounds, where Jiang Yan Hai began welcoming them.

• Master Kang relayed Jiang Yan Hai’s plans to higher command, which approved them, and Jiang Yan Hai arranged for half of the Special Forces 1st Battalion to serve as instructors.
• Jiang Yan Hai divided the candidates into 2,052 trainees for customized physical training and 600 soldiers for special-forces-style recruitment training led by Gong Jian and the others.
• Selected soldiers received notices, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered Er Dan, Black Eagle, and the others to monitor how candidates handled envy and mockery in their original units.
• The first group of 2,652 candidates assembled in the converted hangar, where Gong Jian, He Chen Guang, and Wang Yan Bing speculated about Jiang Yan Hai’s plans for them.
• Jiang Yan Hai took the stage, welcomed the recruits on behalf of their future unit, and began addressing them.

Jiang Yan Hai warned the soldiers that the classified Special Forces unit’s training carried a risk of death and gave them the chance to withdraw. No one left, and the soldiers began signing the danger acknowledgment forms.

• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the unit was classified, would only be revealed to those who passed assessment, and involved extreme danger.
• Soldiers distributed forms warning that training could use live ammunition and endanger lives, while He Chen Guang and the others read copies outside the hangar.
• Wang Yan Bing joked that the rookies did not know what kind of live ammunition awaited them, and Song Kai Fei and Xu Tian Long discussed how frightening combat could be.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave the soldiers one minute to withdraw, but none stood up.
• A soldier joked that his parents had made a backup account for him, drawing laughter before Jiang Yan Hai ordered everyone to sign the forms.
• The soldiers picked up their pens and began signing, finding the task unexpectedly heavy despite having already decided to stay.

Jiang Yan Hai had the recruits sign documents, write wills, and enter Training Camp No. 1, whose codename was Chicken Coop. After dividing them into two groups, he left Pan Ye and Zhang Qi to train one group while he took responsibility for the other.

• Everyone signed the documents, and Jiang Yan Hai told them they could withdraw from training at any time.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave the recruits one hour to write their wills, and they handed them in when time was up.
• Jiang Yan Hai announced that the recruits would enter Training Camp No. 1, codenamed Chicken Coop, and split them into two training groups.
• The recruits answered Jiang Yan Hai's final question with a unified roar before their teams led them away.
• Jiang Yan Hai assigned Pan Ye and Zhang Qi to train one group and said he would train the other.

Jiang Yan Hai began training six hundred recruits by sending them in helicopters over deep water and ordering them to swim back to shore. He left the recruits facing a choice between jumping into the sea or withdrawing.

• Jiang Yan Hai took charge of the six hundred recruits and announced that some would be eliminated that day.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the recruits to change into wetsuits and assemble within fifteen minutes, then called Bei Chen Xiang to bring helicopters.
• Wang Yan Bing, He Chen Guang, Song Kai Fei, Xu Tian Long, and Chen Shan Ming led the first three rows onto five helicopters.
• Jiang Yan Hai sent the helicopters one thousand meters offshore, where He Chen Guang told the recruits to jump into water 175 meters deep and swim back to shore.
• When a recruit warned that non-swimmers would drown, He Chen Guang said they could either jump or withdraw.

Jiang Yan Hai put the soldiers through a dangerous open-water swimming exercise, forcing them to jump from helicopters and swim while helping struggling comrades. As the Water Ghost Team secretly rescued those in danger, the exercise left the trainees confronting life-or-death choices.

• He Chen Guang ordered the first batch of soldiers to jump from helicopters into the sea, and they all went in without withdrawing.
• Jiang Yan Hai sent the second batch into the water while nearby swimmers helped non-swimmers, and the Water Ghost Team secretly retrieved three soldiers who sank.
• Jiang Yan Hai watched drone and suit-transmitted footage as soldiers struggled, cursed, and supported one another across the sea.
• Bei Chen Xiang called Jiang Yan Hai a devil and worried the exercise would expose the trainees to destructive choices.
• A non-swimmer broke free from his swimming companion and sank, but a Water Ghost Team member rescued him while Jiang Yan Hai said each choice belonged to the soldiers.

Jiang Yan Hai’s trainees protested after seven men disappeared during a dangerous swim back to shore, and he confronted them with the risks they had agreed to accept. The chapter ended with the trainees acknowledging that they had chosen to take part despite knowing their lives could be in danger.

• Bei Chen Xiang watched as 143 trainees struggled toward shore together, helping comrades who could not swim.
• When the first group returned, the soldiers demanded that He Chen Guang and the other instructors rescue the missing men, then threatened to withdraw from training.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Chen Shan Ming to bring the trainees back so he could personally explain what had happened.
• Chen Shan Ming reported that 143 of the 150 swimmers had returned and seven remained missing in the ocean.
• Jiang Yan Hai questioned a protesting trainee about the signed agreement, the warnings, and the choice to participate, and the trainee confirmed that the soldiers had made that choice.

Jiang Yan Hai forced the trainees to confront the danger of their training by demonstrating his marksmanship and telling them they could quit. As one trainee withdrew and the others faced their choice, a rescued soldier asked why they were not told that the men presumed dead were actually safe.

• Jiang Yan Hai challenged the trainees over their wills and warned them that their training would not include time for emotional support.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered He Chen Guang, Wang Yan Bing, Song Kai Fei, Xu Tian Long, and Li Er Niu to balance mandarins on their heads, then shot all five mandarins from thirty meters away.
• Jiang Yan Hai declared that the trainees could quit or report him, and warned that later training would be far more brutal.
• The instructors ordered anyone quitting to carve their name on a wooden marker and place it in the graveyard, and one trainee stepped forward to withdraw.
• From another room, one of the seven rescued soldiers asked why the trainees were not told that they were safe and argued that they could become excellent soldiers with training.

Yang Rui and Jiang Yan Hai put the trainees through a dangerous sea-jump exercise that tested their swimming, composure, and willingness to protect one another. After revealing that the eleven apparent deaths were staged, Jiang Yan Hai regrouped the survivors and began dividing them for the next phase of training.

• Yang Rui rejected seven trainees for losing control after comrades appeared to die, but praised their choices and told them they would continue learning to swim.
• Thirty-two trainees withdrew after the first batch, while the second batch organized swimming partners for its non-swimmers and completed the exercise without anyone being declared dead.
• Across four batches, 103 trainees withdrew and eleven were presumed dead, leaving 486 trainees lined up after the exercise.
• Jiang Yan Hai revealed that the eleven apparent casualties were alive, and the 497 remaining trainees embraced them and wept before returning to formation.
• Jiang Yan Hai announced that the trainees would be split into two swimming groups, explained the limits on rescue, and ordered roll call.

Jiang Yan Hai split the trainees between sea training and cement-pit swimming pools, where he put the weaker swimmers through punishing practice. He monitored their condition and allowed rescue only after they passed out, leaving the trainees to endure the ordeal while he ensured they suffered no lasting harm.

• Chen Shan Ming and the others divided the trainees into 307 stronger swimmers for sea training and 190 weaker swimmers for pool training.
• Jiaolong instructors explained freestyle, breaststroke, and breathing before ordering the pool trainees into the water to practice.
• Jiang Yan Hai refused to let the trainees leave the pools to rest and told them they would be rescued only if they choked on water or faced danger.
• When a trainee began drowning, Jiang Yan Hai made the rescuers wait until the man passed out, then had them pull him from the water.
• Jiang Yan Hai used his Advanced Scanning Program to guide treatment and monitor the rescued trainee, preventing lasting harm.

Jiang Yan Hai put the remaining trainees through intensive swimming training before beginning artillery evasion drills. The chapter leaves him standing on a concrete platform as a rocket approaches, while the trainees take cover in nearby pits.

• After three days of pool training and a week of ocean swimming, the remaining trainees improved their abilities, while forty-one more withdrew.
• Jiang Yan Hai divided the remaining 456 trainees into groups and started a drill on evading artillery shells.
• Number 38 explained how to find cover, lie prone, and protect oneself during a bombardment, and Jiang Yan Hai praised his answer.
• Jiang Yan Hai placed a Laser Emitter Device on the concrete platform as the trainees took cover in pits.
• Bei Chen Xiang sent a firing order to a rocket artillery battalion, which launched a rocket toward Jiang Yan Hai's position 180 kilometers away.

Jiang Yan Hai tested whether the soldiers still needed evasive training by subjecting them to a live rocket and artillery barrage. After the soldiers survived and climbed out of their pits, the concrete platform where Jiang Yan Hai had stood was left blasted into a huge crater.

• Number 45 questioned why the soldiers kept repeating an evasive training drill, and Jiang Yan Hai told everyone to watch the western sky.
• Jiang Yan Hai, Chen Shan Ming, and Miao Lang moved beside pits as six self-propelled howitzers fired and a guided 300mm rocket streaked toward the training area.
• The soldiers panicked at the incoming rocket and dove into pits as it struck the concrete platform, sending flames, fragments, dust, and debris across the area.
• A rapid sequence of artillery shells exploded around the pits, forcing the soldiers to stay prone as dirt collapsed over them.
• After the barrage ended, Chen Shan Ming and Miao Lang ordered the shaken soldiers to assemble, and they emerged to find the ground cratered and the concrete platform blasted apart.

Jiang Yan Hai subjected the recruits to live artillery fire as an exercise in evading shells, then tested their knowledge of the weapons used. After they correctly identified the artillery, he showed them the devastation of a 300mm rocket’s high-explosive shell, leaving them shaken but still in training.

• Chen Shan Ming blew the assembly whistle, and the recruits gathered after surviving the artillery bombardment.
• Number 52 challenged Jiang Yan Hai for using live rounds, but Jiang reminded the soldiers that they had agreed to live ammunition and offered them the chance to withdraw.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked the recruits to identify the weapons used, and they named a 300mm Long-Range Rocket Launcher and 155mm and 122mm howitzers.
• The recruits declined to withdraw and followed Jiang Yan Hai to inspect the damage from a high-explosive shell.
• Jiang Yan Hai showed them the crater blasted through reinforced concrete, and the recruits saw how powerful the artillery was.

Jiang Yan Hai and Chen Shan Ming put the trainees through a realistic shooting exercise, where they shot lifelike corpse models and buried the remains. Afterward, a staged explosion made most of them drop their meals, leaving them to face Jiang Yan Hai’s no-waste order.

• Jiang Yan Hai sent the trainees to a shooting range filled with lifelike corpse models, which Chen Shan Ming identified as their shooting instructors.
• The trainees shot the models, many of them vomited, and they packed the remains into boxes and buried them beneath the gravestones.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the trainees to eat every bit of food that fell on the ground, then began eating beside them.
• A staged explosion startled the trainees, causing most of them to throw their trays down and dive for cover.
• The trainees saw their scattered food and remembered Jiang Yan Hai’s order to pick up and eat anything that fell.

Jiang Yan Hai forced the trainees to eat food spilled during an explosion, then assigned language study and nighttime training. After a second explosion jolted them awake, the exhausted trainees returned to sleep, while Jiang Yan Hai planned harsher training at ALS's main base.

• Jiang Yan Hai ordered trainees whose meals had spilled to wash and eat the food, then assigned them 1,000 push-ups for wasting it.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave the seven trainees whose food had not spilled 1,500 push-ups for failing to react to the explosion.
• Jiang Yan Hai handed out language textbooks and required the trainees to memorize at least twenty words or phrases each day.
• After physical training, the exhausted trainees went to bed, but a pre-buried explosive charge blasted apart the ground between their barracks beds and woke them.
• The trainees rushed outside, realized there was no assembly, and returned to their dirt-covered, smoky barracks to sleep.
• Jiang Yan Hai let them rest and planned to send future groups to ALS's main training base for more demanding training across different environments.

Jiang Yan Hai’s training program produced a stronger first batch for Dark Blade while the second batch prepared to begin, and his work drew the higher-ups’ attention. He arrived at the National Defense University to report to Old Commander and other senior officers.

• Jiang Yan Hai described how Dark Blade’s training would prepare soldiers for different terrains, while recruits continued to withdraw or be selected out.
• Jiang Yan Hai completed training with the first batch, leaving 273 of 600 special operations soldiers and raising the Dark Blade Special Operations Regiment’s strength to 651.
• A further 986 personnel completed the three-month Physical Training program and prepared to begin the full training under Gong Jian after a short vacation.
• Jiang Yan Hai noted that his soldiers’ physical fitness and combat skills had improved rapidly, though the first batch still needed experience and coordination.
• Jiang Yan Hai traveled to the capital to report on his work and met Old Commander, the deputy commander of the Eastern Theater Command, Principal Zheng, and several others at the National Defense University.

Jiang Yan Hai explained why Dark Blade could make a Blue Army occupation of Jinling nearly impossible for the Red Army to challenge in the planned urban-combat exercise. The chiefs recognized that his confidence came from his proven special-operations and command experience.

• Old Commander asked Jiang Yan Hai whether Dark Blade could fight in the Eastern Theater Command’s urban-combat exercise, and Jiang Yan Hai volunteered for the first battle.
• Old Commander assigned Dark Blade to the Blue Army, which would occupy Jinling, and Jiang Yan Hai warned that the Red Army would have little chance to play.
• Jiang Yan Hai described how Dark Blade could control Jinling’s surveillance systems and guard likely entry routes, making it difficult for Red Army special forces to enter the city.
• Jiang Yan Hai argued that even a decapitation strike could fail because he could command troops without a fixed headquarters and lure infiltrators into an explosive trap.
• The chiefs recalled Jiang Yan Hai’s past operations and recognized that his record and capabilities backed up his claims.

Jiang Yan Hai was tasked with guarding Phantom’s secrets and monitoring the security of its research networks while continuing to train his units. After months without leave, he was sent to Pearl City to see Li Ruo Bai and discuss their marriage before submitting a Marriage Report.

• Jiang Yan Hai declined to take part in the Eastern Theater Command’s city-defense exercise and said he would continue training his units.
• Old Commander ordered Jiang Yan Hai to watch for the Ghost Shadow virus, protect Phantom’s blueprints, and secretly monitor the networks at Taihang and Old Liu’s research institute.
• Old Commander warned Jiang Yan Hai that spies had been arrested while targeting Phantom and that his identity as Jiang Ling must remain secret.
• Jiang Yan Hai continued training and security work as Phantom production advanced, with twelve aircraft completed by September besides the two used for testing and research.
• Fan Tian Lei and Master Kang ordered Jiang Yan Hai to go home, discuss marriage with Li Ruo Bai, and submit a Marriage Report after his birthday.
• Jiang Yan Hai received leave and headed to Pearl City to meet Li Ruo Bai after nine months apart.

Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai spent the day together, discussed her worries about getting pregnant, and planned to submit their Marriage Report after his birthday. The next day, Jiang Yan Hai went shopping with Li Ruo Bai despite the risks of appearing in public.

• Li Ruo Bai asked Jiang Yan Hai about his health examinations and admitted she was worried that she had not become pregnant.
• Jiang Yan Hai reassured Li Ruo Bai that conception was uncertain and told her to let nature take its course.
• Li Ruo Bai said they would stay home until Jiang Yan Hai's birthday and then submit their Marriage Report.
• Li Ruo Bai asked Jiang Yan Hai to disguise himself so they could go shopping, but he explained that Jiang Ling was also unable to appear in public because foreign intelligence agencies were searching for her.
• Jiang Yan Hai went shopping with Li Ruo Bai the next day.

Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai shopped together and discussed buying a home of their own, though Sparrow reminded them that they would likely live mainly in the military compound. When a message upset Li Ruo Bai, Jiang Yan Hai chose to respect her privacy rather than press her, and she remained silent about what she had read.

• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai browsed shops and talked about buying a home, with Jiang Yan Hai offering to pay for it.
• Sparrow reminded them that Jiang Yan Hai would probably live in the military compound and that any outside home would need security measures.
• Li Ruo Bai received a WeChat message, became unsettled, and asked Jiang Yan Hai to take her back.
• Jiang Yan Hai noticed Li Ruo Bai's mood but did not ask about the message, explaining that spouses should respect each other's privacy.

Jiang Yan Hai reassured Li Ruo Bai about keeping some privacy, then learned that Wang Xin Tian was back and intended to pursue her. Jiang Yan Hai encouraged Li Ruo Bai not to worry and went out with her, hoping Wang Xin Tian would show up so they could settle the matter before his birthday and visit to Old Commander.

• Li Ruo Bai showed Jiang Yan Hai a chat from Su Ya Xuan, and he accidentally saw their intimate conversation before she snatched the phone away.
• Jiang Yan Hai read Su Ya Xuan's message warning that Wang Xin Tian had returned and planned to pursue Li Ruo Bai in Pearl City.
• Li Ruo Bai explained that Wang Xin Tian had pursued her since they were young, but she had no feelings for him and found his persistence annoying.
• Jiang Yan Hai reassured Li Ruo Bai that Wang Xin Tian's pursuit was not her fault and said he was willing to face him.
• On September 27, Jiang Yan Hai took Li Ruo Bai out, hoping to resolve the situation before his birthday and his visit to Old Commander for a signature on his Marriage Report.