Recaps

Jiang Yan Hai led Black Lion’s group toward Rebel Army territory while Leng Feng stayed behind to defend the Stargate. Along the way, Jiang Yan Hai revealed what he knew about the Stargate and explained why he had secured powerful backing for them, leaving the group reassured that they could rely on support without being officially acknowledged.

• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Leng Feng to establish a defensive line on the far side of the Stargate and took Black Lion’s group with him in two Armored Vehicles.
• Jiang Yan Hai told the group to use drones to watch for people and detour around inhabited villages as they traveled into Rebel Army territory.
• Black Lion asked about Leng Feng’s comrades, and Jiang Yan Hai explained that their status as veterans or assigned personnel no longer mattered because they were all in the same position.
• Jiang Yan Hai revealed that he had long known about the Stargate, including that American research had created one and that a nuclear bomb had come through it.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the Republic of Goa hoped to profit from the Stargate’s location, while China’s backing could help protect the group.
• Red Fox Tom and Inov thanked Jiang Yan Hai, and the group agreed they could likely receive support in future operations even if China would not publicly acknowledge them.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team reached an apparently empty village full of armed personnel, where a small U.S. Marine Corps unit was preparing to approach. He decided their mission was not to compete with the Marines but to get involved and ease future negotiations.

• Balek accepted the idea of treating himself as one of the U.S. soldiers, and the others joked about discipline and faith in their country.
• Jiang Yan Hai's team traveled through the night while Ramsey used a large drone to survey the area.
• The team learned that the village had been emptied of civilians and now contained more than a hundred armed personnel, with many asleep.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Carlos to take control of the two armored vehicles and their heavy weapons.
• Black Lion asked what they should do after drone reconnaissance spotted twelve U.S. Marines near the village, and Jiang Yan Hai said they had come to get involved rather than compete.

Jiang Yan Hai explained that his team had been hired to join the Americans’ operation for five million US dollars per person, then infiltrated their perimeter and discovered that Waters was leading the outnumbered Marines. He offered Waters help, leaving the next move between the old acquaintances unresolved.

• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the homeland wanted to join the operation and secure a share of the benefits while avoiding conflict with the neighboring country.
• Jiang Yan Hai told the team that their employer would pay each person five million US dollars and ordered Mouse and Wasp to stay with Ramsey while the others went with him.
• Jiang Yan Hai led Black Lion and the others toward the Marines’ perimeter, then sneaked inside to listen to their plans.
• Waters and his twelve Marines discussed how to face more than a hundred enemies and rescue the scientists before time ran out.
• Jiang Yan Hai recognized Waters from Argentina and offered to help him.

Jiang Yan Hai approached Waters’s team and proposed cooperation to capture a Sha Chen Organization base containing Energy Ore. After headquarters approved the alliance, the two sides prepared to move in together while leaving control of the item for their superiors to negotiate.

• Jiang Yan Hai revealed himself to Waters and identified the team’s objective as finding the Energy Ore used by the Sha Chen Organization.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned Waters that minefields surrounded three sides of the village and proposed sharing any discoveries.
• Waters contacted headquarters, which authorized cooperation on the condition that his team secure the item.
• Waters and Jiang Yan Hai agreed to work together and let their superiors negotiate the item’s final disposition.
• Jiang Yan Hai called Black Lion and the others out of hiding, and Waters realized they were mercenaries.

Jiang Yan Hai and Waters launched an assault on the Rebel Army village using a 122mm howitzer mounted on an Armored Vehicle. After the bombardment and a rapid advance through the burning village, Er Dan warned Jiang Yan Hai that enemies near the last intact building were about to detonate bombs.

• Jiang Yan Hai introduced himself to Waters as Liston Han Xiao, wanted by the U.S. government and the CIA, and the teams joined forces.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Carlos to fire the Armored Vehicle’s 122mm howitzer at the village.
• The artillery shells devastated the village and drove Rebel Army soldiers toward the mined approaches, where Jiang Yan Hai’s team opened fire.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Carlos to stop after ten shells, warned Waters that enemies might detonate themselves, and led both teams into the village.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s team advanced through the burning ruins toward the only intact building, and Er Dan’s warning alerted him to an imminent bomb detonation.

Jiang Yan Hai absorbed energy from the explosion that opened an Alpha 3 Type Invasive Star Gate, then sent a joint team through the new gate to establish a defensive line. The team found a city under attack on the other side, and both Chinese and American authorities were alerted.

• An explosion destroyed the building and opened an Alpha 3 Type Invasive Star Gate, while Er Dan detected and absorbed special mineral energy for Jiang Yan Hai.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned that he had stored enough Star Gate energy to interfere with and close two gates, then called Carlos to the site.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained to Waters that the Star Gate connected two worlds, and Waters sent Barn, Porter, Carl, and John through with Black Lion and Balek.
• Black Lion reported that a city lay about six kilometers away and that planes, bombs, gunfire, and artillery could be heard.
• Jiang Yan Hai reported the situation to headquarters, while the American team passed the news to the Pentagon, which activated its highest-level alert.

Jiang Yan Hai and Waters concealed the Stargate and crossed through to inspect the other side, where they discovered a war-torn region near the Persian Gulf. American and Republic of Goa forces arrived to secure the site, leaving both sides guarding the Stargate together.

• Jiang Yan Hai warned Waters that other countries had satellites, and both sides set up tents to hide the Stargate.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Waters crossed the Stargate, where Er Dan located them near the Persian Gulf, far from their other Stargate.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Waters observed a distant town under attack, with helicopters circling overhead.
• Zhang Qi's men arrived with desert camouflage tents and nets, then stayed to guard the concealed Stargate.
• An American transport aircraft dropped supplies and more than a hundred soldiers, and Waters ordered them to establish a defensive perimeter.
• Zhang Qi arrived with around fifty more men, and Waters let them through after American soldiers initially stopped them.

Jiang Yan Hai left the Star Gate under homeland authorization and traveled toward the Red Star Republic to carry out a secret mission. In the Osai Nation's capital, he confronted a bar's guard and gained entry by threatening him with a grenade.

• Jiang Yan Hai put Black Lion in charge of the defensive line and told Zhang Qi to manage the situation without revealing his identity.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Waters agreed to protect the area while higher-level officials negotiated, and Waters questioned whether he would receive the promised twenty million dollars.
• Jiang Yan Hai received formal authorization from the homeland to go to the Red Star Republic, packed several kilograms of gold, and left the Star Gate.
• Jiang Yan Hai crossed the Gaosuo Mountain Range into the Osai Nation, obtained a motorcycle and cash, and rode to its capital.
• Er Dan found a contact who could provide Jiang Yan Hai with an identity, and Jiang Yan Hai went to a rundown bar to find Frog.
• A burly guard denied knowing Frog, but Jiang Yan Hai showed him a grenade with its pin pulled and entered the bar.

Jiang Yan Hai confronted Frog to obtain four valid blank passports, using a drone image, a claimed missile strike, and details of Frog’s bank accounts to pressure him. Frog considered the deal after Jiang Yan Hai offered ten kilograms of gold.

• Jiang Yan Hai entered Frog’s bar and followed a guarded route to a basement reception room.
• Frog arrived with armed men and questioned Jiang Yan Hai, who asked for four valid blank passports.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned that a fighter jet missile could destroy the building and demonstrated that he knew Frog’s seven primary bank accounts.
• Frog questioned whether the threat would remain after the deal, and Jiang Yan Hai argued that an attack could harm nearby civilians.
• Jiang Yan Hai offered five gold bars totaling ten kilograms, and Frog inspected them and confirmed their purity.

Jiang Yan Hai secured passports and money to travel to Jingping, the Red Star Nation’s capital, where he posted evidence of a Teleportation Gate to draw the authorities’ attention. The post triggered a Level One crisis alert after a cybersecurity reviewer recognized the discovery.

• Jiang Yan Hai sent Frog photos of himself, Price, Gates, and Comrade Soap, then accepted the passport job.
• Frog refused to have Jiang Yan Hai tailed and warned that the passports had to be flawless.
• Jiang Yan Hai secretly took over a hundred thousand Osai Nation currency from local criminals and collected the passports the next morning.
• Jiang Yan Hai flew to Jingping, bought a phone and laptop, and used Er Dan to upload prepared data.
• Jiang Yan Hai posted photos and video of a Teleportation Gate, triggering the Red Star Nation’s monitoring system.
• A cybersecurity staff member reviewed the post, sounded the alarm, and reported that someone had discovered a new Teleportation Gate.

Jiang Yan Hai considered how the Alpha 3 Type Invasive Star Gate connected worlds and why China should share access to the other world with the United States instead of claiming it alone. He concluded that China should keep Great Qin secret, build its strength, and avoid drawing the world’s hostility while it was still weaker.

• A supervisor ordered staff to freeze an account, locate its user in the capital, and alert the local security department.
• Jiang Yan Hai reasoned that severing the Star Gate to Great Qin had removed it from the Alpha 3 Type’s connecting chain, though the real world could still be connected again.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered the conditions under which another world could connect to the real world and noted that he had enough special Star Gate energy to close two gates.
• Jiang Yan Hai judged that China could not seize the American Star Gate in the Republic of Goa alone and believed the other world should be developed jointly with the United States.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that China should keep Great Qin secret, quietly build strength, and find someone else to take the blame rather than confront the world head-on.

Jiang Yan Hai considered why he had left the Star Gates open, believing they could give humanity a path to technological growth and a future beyond Earth. As Security Bureau operatives surrounded his hotel room, he told them not to throw a stun grenade, but kicked their Flashbang Grenade back into the group.

• Jiang Yan Hai reflected on how China could use time and its complete industrial system to grow without drawing too much attention from its rivals.
• Jiang Yan Hai reasoned that closing the Star Gates would cut off possibilities for humanity, since their materials could drive technological progress and open a route to the stars.
• Two vans brought more than a dozen Security Bureau operatives to Jiang Yan Hai's hotel, where their supervisor questioned whether the target's location was a provocation or a mistake.
• Jiang Yan Hai told the operatives not to throw a Stun Grenade and said he would not resist.
• The operatives threw a Flashbang Grenade into Jiang Yan Hai's room, and he kicked it back out, incapacitating the group when it exploded.

Jiang Yan Hai was arrested after he kicked a stun grenade back at the agents who had thrown it into his room, then calmly let them take him to the Security Bureau. In the interrogation room, he told Chang Song that the passport in his belongings was fake and gave his real name.

• Jiang Yan Hai kicked the stun grenade back at the agents, leaving them stunned and groaning.
• The team arrested Jiang Yan Hai, packed up his belongings, and took him away with his head covered by an overcoat.
• Jiang Yan Hai realized the agents were driving in circles and told them to stop wasting time, so they headed to the Security Bureau.
• The director ordered Chang Song and Wu You Hai to interrogate Jiang Yan Hai while he listened in.
• Chang Song read the name Winston from Jiang Yan Hai's passport, and Jiang Yan Hai interrupted him to say the passport was fake and his name was Jiang Yan Hai.

Jiang Yan Hai negotiated an exchange of information and resources with Liu Min, then deduced the history and dangers surrounding the Stargate on Liu Min’s side. Liu Min confirmed the existence of a hostile, technologically advanced civilization and revealed that their first contact was with a soldier called Prophet, who wore Nano-biochemical Armor.

• Jiang Yan Hai proposed sharing Stargate information and exchanging resources, and Liu Min agreed to the information exchange.
• Jiang Yan Hai presented his authorization document, after which Liu Min admitted that his side had a Stargate connected to another world with technology far beyond their own.
• Jiang Yan Hai reasoned that the Stargate’s opening had brought a threat through and that another civilization existed on the far side; Liu Min confirmed his deductions.
• Jiang Yan Hai inferred that the advanced civilization’s enemy was likely extraterrestrial, and Liu Min confirmed it.
• Liu Min explained that his side had contacted a soldier codenamed Prophet, who wore defensive, optically camouflaging Nano-biochemical Armor.

Jiang Yan Hai discussed exchanging supplies and Stargate-expansion resources with Director Liu, then offered information about another Stargate and the United States. Director Liu said he needed approval from his superiors and asked Jiang Yan Hai to wait one day.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether Director Liu's side could produce the Nano-biochemical Armor technology, and Director Liu said they had obtained it but lacked production capacity.
• Jiang Yan Hai proposed exchanging scarce resources and asked whether Director Liu's side controlled resources that could expand Stargates; Director Liu confirmed they did.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Director Liu about another Stargate that would likely be controlled by the United States in his world.
• Director Liu asked whether Jiang Yan Hai could represent his side with full authority, and Jiang Yan Hai said he could.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned that United States actions in the Middle East could have consequences, and Director Liu said he would report to his superiors and respond within a day.

Jiang Yan Hai waited in a secure hotel room while considering the looming conflict between the Sand Bear Federation and Mipu and the Red Star Republic’s place in it. He concluded that Red Star risked losing its chance to influence events if it stayed out too long, and that this world would be crucial to resisting the invasion of the Prophet’s world.

• Jiang Yan Hai inspected his hotel room and found it clean, secure, and free of surveillance devices.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered the possibility of war between the Sand Bear Federation and Mipu escalating into a nuclear conflict.
• Jiang Yan Hai compared the world’s great powers, noting that the North Alliance Community and Sulan United Kingdom were strong while the Red Star Republic lagged behind Sand Bear and Mipu.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered Red Star’s strategic alliance with the Tans Republic and its military presence near the Persian Gulf.
• Jiang Yan Hai weighed whether his arrival could prompt Red Star to act before other powers dragged it into the conflict.
• Jiang Yan Hai recognized that this world could become a frontline against the invasion if the Prophet’s side failed.

Jiang Yan Hai met Mr. Bai and asked about expanding the Stargate and the turmoil in the Red Star Republic’s world. Director Liu revealed that self-replicating Stargate devices had escaped and that the increasingly powerful terrorists might be connected to them, though the cause remained uncertain.

• Jiang Yan Hai met Mr. Bai and agreed to discuss cooperation directly and candidly.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether the Red Star Republic could expand the Teleportation Gate and asked about the international situation.
• Jiang Yan Hai questioned whether forces behind terrorists such as Assad were connected to the world beyond the Stargate.
• Director Liu explained that mechanical devices capable of expanding the Stargate could fight and apparently replicate themselves, and some had escaped before being pursued.
• Director Liu said known escaped devices had been eliminated, but the terrorists’ radical beliefs and growing power left their connection to the devices uncertain.

Jiang Yan Hai questioned the origins of the terrorists and offered to investigate them personally, while discussing cooperation between the two worlds with Mr. Bai. After sharing prepared documentaries about his world, he went with Director Liu to inspect the Stargate-expanding device and learned where the gate to the Prophet's world was located.

• Jiang Yan Hai reflected that terrorists had varied motives and agreed with Director Liu that the paranoid doomsday believers seemed more like a cult.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Mr. Bai about military intervention and proposed a small-scale operation to uncover what was behind the terrorists.
• Jiang Yan Hai revealed that he had come from the Special Forces and offered to personally investigate after the two sides reached an agreement.
• Jiang Yan Hai showed Mr. Bai's group documentaries about his world and suggested that both sides could learn from each other's technology.
• Director Liu took Jiang Yan Hai to inspect the device that expanded the Stargate and told him that the gate to the Prophet's world was on an island near the Southern Peninsula.

Jiang Yan Hai visited a secret underground base with Director Liu to examine an Octopus Machine capable of self-replication. After its replication test began, the machine produced two small robots, leaving Jiang Yan Hai to study what he had scanned.

• Director Liu brought Jiang Yan Hai to the secret base beneath an Air Force Base and explained that the Octopus Machine could be destroyed and buried if necessary.
• Director Liu showed Jiang Yan Hai the machine’s capabilities and ordered staff to begin a replication test.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked to observe the machine through its reinforced window so he could scan it.
• Director Liu activated the energy supply, and a remote-controlled robot delivered metal into the room.
• The Octopus Machine absorbed the metal and, after several minutes, produced two small robots that began combining their mechanical arms.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that the Octopus Machine and its smaller robots could expand the Star Gate, while Er Dan detected that the machine contained micro-robots capable of causing severe mental illness. He returned to the capital and waited for the Red Star Republic to decide whether to support his plans.

• Director Liu cut the energy supply, and automated guns destroyed the two small robots before cleanup machines removed the debris.
• Director Liu told Jiang Yan Hai that the robots could expand the Star Gate but that their functions and programs remained difficult to study.
• Jiang Yan Hai offered to send a combat team to search for terrorists, and Director Liu said Mr. Bai would respond in about twenty hours.
• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan send their discussion and information back home, then returned to the capital with Director Liu.
• Er Dan warned Jiang Yan Hai that the Octopus Machine contained mind-interfering micro-robots that could enter a person’s body and cause destructive paranoia.

Jiang Yan Hai used the Electronic Warfare Program to connect to the Octopus Machine, while the Red Star Republic’s leaders assessed the technology and potential benefits of cooperation with his world. They began considering concessions and arrangements for Jiang Yan Hai to join a special forces mission.

• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan copy a subprogram into the Octopus Machine and take control of it, though he left it running under its original programming.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered whether the Electronic Warfare Program could connect to the Nano-biochemical Armor and help reveal how it worked.
• Mr. Bai and Red Star Republic experts reviewed videos of the other world’s technology, including the Phantom Fighter Jet, and concluded that it was ahead of theirs.
• Mr. Bai agreed that sharing the Nano-biochemical Armor technology could be acceptable if the other side provided advanced fighter-jet technology in return.
• Mr. Bai and the other officials discussed negotiations with the Tans Republic and Meloyev, as well as arranging for Jiang Yan Hai to accompany a special forces team on a mission.

Jiang Yan Hai’s home country approved cooperating with the Red Star Republic, and Mr. Bai’s team agreed to Jiang Yan Hai’s proposals while offering materials and technologies for research. The chapter ended with Jiang Yan Hai and Mr. Bai shaking hands on a win-win partnership.

• Jiang Yan Hai’s home country supported cooperation with the Red Star Republic because both worlds faced a common enemy.
• A middle-aged man questioned whether Mr. Bai’s team was giving away too many strategic advantages before negotiations were settled.
• Mr. Bai argued that showing sincerity would strengthen ties with the Red Star Republic and speed up access to its technology.
• Mr. Bai told Jiang Yan Hai that his team accepted all his proposals and would provide materials and technologies for preliminary research.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Mr. Bai shook hands and agreed to work together.

Jiang Yan Hai secured an agreement with the Red Star Republic for supplies and coordinated their delivery through the Star Gate. After the cargo reached home, he learned that the Red Star Republic had also offered an advanced naval nuclear reactor for aircraft carriers.

• Mr. Bai agreed to provide Jiang Yan Hai with supplies and arrange an airdrop, while leaving ground security to Jiang Yan Hai’s people.
• Jiang Yan Hai boarded a transport plane escorted by six fighter jets and returned to the Star Gate area.
• Leng Feng’s soldiers unloaded the cargo and moved it through the Star Gate to the Republic of Goa, where it was secured.
• Jiang Yan Hai waited for the supplies to reach home and then established a communications link with the authorities.
• The Old Commander told Jiang Yan Hai that the Red Star Republic had offered an advanced nuclear reactor for aircraft carriers.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that the advanced reactor could enable aircraft carriers and other large naval ships, then visited Waters at the other Stargate while waiting for the negotiation team. He and Waters agreed to hold their positions for now, but Jiang Yan Hai challenged the Americans’ occupation and stressed that his side had entered with the Republic of Goa’s invitation.

• Old Commander told Jiang Yan Hai that the reactor could support nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, large supply ships, and amphibious assault ships.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided to investigate whether the terrorists had a unified organization while a negotiation team prepared to arrive.
• Jiang Yan Hai went to the other Stargate, where Waters reported that the Americans had airdropped more than a hundred soldiers and many armored vehicles.
• Waters said his forces had stayed put and relied on drone reconnaissance while Zhang Qi and soldiers remained inside the city.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Waters agreed to maintain the current situation until negotiations concluded, and Jiang Yan Hai mocked the American deployment as an occupation.
• Jiang Yan Hai pointed to the Republic of Goa flag on his uniform and said his side had entered by invitation, frustrating Waters.

Jiang Yan Hai saw the neighboring side’s negotiations end in rapid agreements, while Great Qin prepared defenses and ecological restoration in its world. The chapter left the European continent facing a disastrous winter as Great Qin planned for the Red Mad Wolves’ next attack.

• Jiang Yan Hai learned from the news that the neighboring side had restored normal procedures, reaffirmed the One China principle, eased some technology restrictions, and agreed to cooperate with China.
• Jiang Yan Hai noted that Great Qin was preparing to destroy the fleets around the British Isles and let the Red Mad Wolves cross the frozen strait in winter.
• Jiang Yan Hai assessed the Red Mad Wolves’ devastation in Europe, where their numbers had gathered near a million and food supplies had been mostly destroyed.
• Kang Lei and the others extended Great Qin’s defensive line from the southern Kunlun foothills to the Western Sea, using radar and surveillance to detect Red Mad Wolves.
• China’s biologists began planning to restore the Great Qin world’s ecosystem by creating a protected area and releasing tracked animals in controlled numbers.