Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yan Hai uncovered a virus that invited the hacker Ghost Shadow to join the secretive Pantheon, then learned that even Chinese intelligence had restricted information on the organization. He began weighing the invitation while arranging a payment to a Malaysian police officer.

• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan decompile a virus he found on an intelligence trading website and discovered a message inviting Ghost Shadow to join the Pantheon.
• Er Dan explained that Ghost Shadow was Jiang Yan Hai’s hacker identity and that the virus’s self-destruct function had been disabled during their unconventional crack.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Director Qiao about the Pantheon, but Director Qiao found that the intelligence required higher clearance.
• Jiang Yan Hai sent a Malaysian police officer a prize message and transferred 50,000 ringgit to the officer’s account.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered the Pantheon’s invitation and wondered whether to create another online alias.

Jiang Yan Hai investigated the Pantheon and received an intelligence report describing its extraordinary ability to erase people’s digital traces. He recognized the organization as a formidable threat, while its members and operations remained unknown.

• Jiang Yan Hai called Arthur and asked whether he knew about the Pantheon, and Arthur said he had heard only its name.
• Jiang Yan Hai waited for information from home, then downloaded an intelligence report about the Pantheon.
• The report described how the Pantheon erased the electronic records of two people it had protected, one in 2003 and another in 2013.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered how the Pantheon could manipulate surveillance and communications to help someone evade capture.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that the Pantheon’s computer capabilities were immense, especially in a world dependent on digital networks.

Jiang Yan Hai considered Pantheon’s recruitment offer and traveled toward the Golden Triangle Special Zone to approach Ma Yun Fei, but intercepted a plot to kill him. While tracking the assassin in Chiang Mai, Jiang Yan Hai discovered that another likely agent was following the same target.

• Jiang Yan Hai considered joining Pantheon but decided he needed to approach the organization carefully.
• After learning Ma Yun Fei had hired a mercenary squad, Jiang Yan Hai flew to Chiang Mai to contact him.
• Er Dan intercepted a call ordering Ma Yun Fei’s death within twenty-four hours, and Jiang Yan Hai redirected himself to locate the assassin.
• Jiang Yan Hai found the foreign assassin in Chiang Mai and then spotted an Asian man following him.
• Er Dan scanned the Asian man, assessed that he was likely an agent, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered Er Dan to mark him.

Jiang Yan Hai followed an assassin and another operative toward the Golden Triangle, but the operative died in a freak accident when a rockslide crushed his car. Jiang Yan Hai took advantage of the death to cover his tracks and ended the chapter by reporting Jiang Xiao's death to Director Qiao.

• Jiang Yan Hai confirmed with Director Qiao that no other Intelligence Operatives were participating in his mission.
• Jiang Yan Hai tracked the assassin and the Asian operative as they drove north toward the Golden Triangle.
• Er Dan warned Jiang Yan Hai that the second target had stopped moving and lost all vital signs.
• Jiang Yan Hai found the operative dead after a tire blowout and rockslide crushed his car, and Er Dan ruled out human involvement.
• Jiang Yan Hai transferred the dead man's belongings and weapons, switched license plates, erased his traces, and called the police.
• Jiang Yan Hai called Director Qiao and reported that Jiang Xiao was dead.

After taking the identity of a dead foreign agent, Jiang Yan Hai told Director Qiao he had defected and headed into the Golden Triangle Special Zone to follow the killer. The chapter left him settling in the city under his new identity while Er Dan searched for Liston Han Xiao’s lodging.

• Jiang Yan Hai took the dead agent’s passport and documents, identified himself as Liston Han Xiao, and told Director Qiao he had defected.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Er Dan searched the agent’s phone and found no recent contacts, while the passport identified him as an Australian Chinese with unknown nationality.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Er Dan to search Chiang Mai hotels for Liston Han Xiao’s registration and continued following the killer toward the Golden Triangle Special Zone.
• Thai police ruled that the dead agent had been killed by a tire blowout and falling rocks, and the embassy arranged to send his body back to China.
• Jiang Yan Hai followed the killer into the Special Zone, then separated from him and settled at a rundown inn.

Jiang Yan Hai tracked an assassin who was preparing to kill Ma Yun Fei and warned Ma Yun Fei just before the shot. The assassin retreated, and Jiang Yan Hai followed him to his hotel, where the man began packing to leave.

• Jiang Yan Hai disguised himself as the assassin and prepared to watch Ma Yun Fei, while Er Dan tracked the assassin nearby.
• Jiang Yan Hai identified a sniping position and set up where he could watch the assassin’s chosen location.
• Jiang Yan Hai called Ma Yun Fei and ordered him to crouch beneath the window, allowing him to dodge the assassin’s shot.
• Jiang Yan Hai watched the assassin abandon the attack and leave, then followed him to his hotel.
• Jiang Yan Hai monitored the assassin from nearby as the man checked his room and began packing to withdraw.

Jiang Yan Hai followed the sniper to a hotel and overheard him report to the CIA that his assassination attempt had failed. After learning that the sniper believed Kevin Liu was disrupting CIA operations, Jiang Yan Hai discovered that Kevin Liu was the identity he was currently using and investigated the story behind his defection.

• Jiang Yan Hai followed the sniper back to the same hotel and learned that their rooms were directly above and below each other.
• Er Dan patched through the sniper's call with his superior, during which the sniper requested intelligence on Kevin Liu and learned that a mercenary team would soon arrive.
• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan copy the CIA file and found that Kevin Liu had been a CIA logistics disposal agent who defected two years earlier.
• Jiang Yan Hai bought Kevin Liu's profile from an intelligence-trading website and learned that he had refused to shoot because a twelve-year-old girl had stepped in front of the target.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned that Kevin Liu had killed the CIA cleanup personnel sent after him, escaped the manhunt, and spent the following two years sabotaging CIA operations.

After uncovering that Jiang Yan Hai’s predecessor had operated alone, Jiang Yan Hai went to see Ma Yun Fei, whom he had secretly warned of an assassination attempt. He left after Ma Yun Fei questioned whether the warning had been a setup, and Ma Yun Fei was left wondering how the intruder had reached his room unnoticed.

• Jiang Yan Hai destroyed the intelligence he had found and concluded that his predecessor had been a solo agent.
• Jiang Yan Hai left his hideout and drove to Ma Yun Fei’s residence in the Golden Triangle Special Zone.
• Ma Yun Fei, shaken by an earlier assassination attempt, sought comfort with two women before Jiang Yan Hai appeared in his bedroom.
• Jiang Yan Hai reminded Ma Yun Fei that his daytime warning had saved him, but Ma Yun Fei questioned whether Jiang Yan Hai had staged the attack.
• Jiang Yan Hai walked out without answering, and Ma Yun Fei chased after him only to find him gone.
• Ma Yun Fei questioned his guards, who said they had seen no one enter or leave.

Jiang Yan Hai secretly watched Ma Yun Fei as the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group took over his security and Ma Yun Fei gathered underworld bosses around him. A week later, Ma Yun Fei prepared to host a banquet and hold his first meeting, while Jiang Yan Hai waited for N3 to act.

• Jiang Yan Hai left Ma Yun Fei's residence and concealed himself to monitor Ma Yun Fei and N3.
• The Blood Wolf Mercenary Group arrived, and leader Kang Ke set clear terms with Ma Yun Fei before taking charge of his security.
• Jiang Yan Hai listened in as Ma Yun Fei began putting his plans into action under the mercenaries' protection.
• Word spread through the Golden Triangle Special Zone that Ma Yun Fei had hired elite mercenaries, and minor bosses began joining him.
• Within a week, several hundred people and at least thirteen bosses had gathered around Ma Yun Fei, who planned a banquet and his first meeting.

Ma Yun Fei held a banquet to rally his new followers and promise them profitable business, while Jiang Yan Hai and N3 infiltrated the estate in disguise. As N3 reached for his hidden pistol, Jiang Yan Hai moved in to stop him.

• Ma Yun Fei asked Black Lion and the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group to protect him after a failed assassination attempt, and Kang Ke assigned four men to find defensive positions.
• Jiang Yan Hai monitored the security team's communications while he and N3 entered the estate disguised as a cleaner and a server.
• Ma Yun Fei went out to greet the gathered guests and promised higher income and prices 20% lower than Nuo Ka's.
• A disguised N3 reached for his hidden pistol near Ma Yun Fei, and Jiang Yan Hai moved closer to intercept him.

Jiang Yan Hai killed a CIA assassin who tried to shoot Ma Yun Fei, then revealed that he had planted bombs around Ma Yun Fei’s estate. After Ma Yun Fei recognized him as Han Xiao and asked to repay his help, Jiang Yan Hai waited in the back while Ma Yun Fei and Black Lion dealt with the aftermath.

• Jiang Yan Hai used a thrown liquor bottle to knock the assassin’s gun aside, broke his back, and shot him dead.
• Jiang Yan Hai faced Blood Wolf’s armed men with a detonator, then told Black Lion where he had planted ten bombs around the venue.
• Ma Yun Fei recognized Jiang Yan Hai’s face as Liston Han Xiao’s and ordered his men to lower their guns.
• Jiang Yan Hai tossed the detonator to Black Lion and agreed to let Ma Yun Fei handle the aftermath after Ma Yun Fei asked to repay his help.
• Ma Yun Fei told Black Lion to preserve the assassin’s identification documents and then went to speak with Jiang Yan Hai, who waited in a back room.

Jiang Yan Hai met with Ma Yun Fei and Blood Wolf’s leader, Black Lion, and revealed how much he knew about the mercenary group. Ma Yun Fei offered to pay him to stay and help against the CIA, leaving Jiang Yan Hai to consider the arrangement with Blood Wolf.

• Ma Yun Fei asked Jiang Yan Hai about the captured man and learned that Jiang Yan Hai had once worked for the CIA and now intended to sabotage its operations.
• Jiang Yan Hai identified Black Lion as Kang Ke and recited the names and roles of Blood Wolf’s members.
• Ma Yun Fei asked Jiang Yan Hai to stay with him and offered free support and two million US dollars.
• Ma Yun Fei said Jiang Yan Hai could direct Black Lion and Blood Wolf, then offered twenty million dollars for a year of help.

Jiang Yan Hai agreed to stay and protect Ma Yun Fei, while Black Lion offered to coordinate with him. After Jiang Yan Hai left without a trace, Ma Yun Fei increased Black Lion’s commission and paid him to investigate Jiang Yan Hai’s background.

• Jiang Yan Hai agreed to stay until the CIA abandoned Ma Yun Fei, in exchange for an extra five million US dollars if he helped him through the crisis.
• Ma Yun Fei left Jiang Yan Hai and Black Lion alone to get acquainted, and Black Lion proposed coordinating their teams.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Black Lion shook hands and agreed to work together, with Jiang Yan Hai asking to meet Black Lion’s team.
• Jiang Yan Hai left the room before Ma Yun Fei returned, surprising Ma Yun Fei and Black Lion.
• Black Lion told Ma Yun Fei that his team had found explosives at the locations Jiang Yan Hai identified, and offered to investigate Jiang Yan Hai’s background.
• Ma Yun Fei promised Black Lion a thirty-percent commission increase for a flawless mission and paid him one hundred thousand US dollars to investigate.

Jiang Yan Hai returned to Ma Yun Fei’s villa, requested electronics and an extensive supply of weapons, and joined Black Lion’s team as Technician. When Inov challenged his authority, Jiang Yan Hai proposed an arm-wrestling match, and the team gathered to bet on the result.

• Jiang Yan Hai returned with his belongings, having slipped past Blood Wolf’s guards without being noticed.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave Ma Yun Fei a list of electronic products and weapons, and Black Lion added his team’s requests for weapons and ammunition.
• Ma Yun Fei contacted the Sha Chen Organization to arrange supplies while Black Lion gathered his team to introduce Jiang Yan Hai as Technician.
• Black Lion asked the team to follow Jiang Yan Hai’s orders on protection matters, but Inov questioned why he should obey him.
• Jiang Yan Hai challenged Inov to an arm-wrestling match and bet several thousand dollars on himself, while Inov and the others placed their own bets.

Jiang Yan Hai defeated Inov in an arm-wrestling match, winning over the mercenaries with his strength and generosity. After Jiang Yan Hai left, Black Lion’s team discussed his dangerous bomb setup and agreed not to offend him as they prepared for a demanding mission.

• Black Lion bet on Jiang Yan Hai to win the arm-wrestling match against Inov.
• Jiang Yan Hai held firm against Inov’s strength, then slammed his hand onto the table and won.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave the winnings to Black Lion to buy drinks for everyone before heading to his room.
• Rat asked Black Lion whether Jiang Yan Hai was reliable, and Tom and Elton warned that Jiang Yan Hai’s bombs could have killed or crippled most of them.
• Black Lion told his team to avoid offending Jiang Yan Hai and explained that completing their employer’s mission could fund a training base.
• Jiang Yan Hai rested, planning to win over Blood Wolf by saving the mercenaries during future missions.

Jiang Yan Hai ordered Er Dan to scan Pantheon’s challenge website while keeping his hacking capabilities concealed, and waited to see what the CIA would do after N3’s death. When Ma Yun Fei’s weapons shipment arrived, Jiang Yan Hai began installing a surveillance system across the neighborhood around the villa.

• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan begin a forced scan of Pantheon’s website overnight and planned to restore the Active Warning System the next morning.
• Jiang Yan Hai continued training in the Phantom simulation as the CIA made no moves over the next two days.
• On his third day with Ma Yun Fei, Jiang Yan Hai watched two trucks deliver weapons and supplies to the villa.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Black Lion to bring Rat, Red Fox, and Vulture over to help set up the surveillance system.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Ma Yun Fei’s men began laying cables and installing cameras across the surrounding city block.

Jiang Yan Hai equipped the villa with visible and hidden surveillance cameras, adding explosive devices designed to thwart signal jamming. He finished planning the exterior camera network and assigned the easier indoor installation to the others.

• Jiang Yan Hai had Red Fox and Vulture prepare explosive components while he and Mouse Carlos built devices that would detonate if someone tried to jam the surveillance signals.
• Jiang Yan Hai installed visible cameras at night, and the Blood Wolf members who knew the cameras could explode avoided patrolling near them.
• After checking that the visible cameras worked, Jiang Yan Hai showed Mouse the infrared motion-capture micro-cameras he planned to hide around the property.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained how he concealed the hidden cameras among rooftop clutter and satellite dishes, leaving Mouse alarmed by how thoroughly he had planned against intruders.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Mouse spent most of the night installing exterior cameras, then Jiang Yan Hai directed the others to install cameras inside the villa.

Jiang Yan Hai planted remotely detonated bombs at the three likely sniper positions overlooking Ma Yun Fei’s villa. He then took Bob Lee and Red Fox to an abandoned high-rise to inspect a possible support position for an attacking force.

• Jiang Yan Hai brought Bob Lee and Red Fox to a rooftop and identified the sniper position most favorable for escape.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that assassins relied on instinct when choosing escape routes, and Bob Lee agreed the spot was his own instinctive choice.
• Jiang Yan Hai and the others buried a remotely detonated bomb at each of the three sniper positions overlooking the villa.
• Jiang Yan Hai used Er Dan’s scanned map to consider how an enemy combat squad might attack and support its forces.
• Jiang Yan Hai led Bob Lee and Red Fox to the top floor of an unfinished high-rise more than three kilometers from the villa.

Jiang Yan Hai finished fortifying the area around the manor and configuring its surveillance system in anticipation of another CIA attack. He expected the next threat to be a squad rather than a lone assassin.

• Jiang Yan Hai installed an infrared camera, a remote-controlled bomb, and concealed signal relays in an abandoned high-rise, despite Red Fox and White Headed Eagle questioning their usefulness.
• Jiang Yan Hai and his companions planted three remote-controlled bombs in isolated parts of the manor.
• Jiang Yan Hai set up surveillance software that cross-checked cameras, flagged suspicious people, and alerted the manor to unfamiliar visitors.
• Jiang Yan Hai secretly added a virus that would raise an alarm if someone invaded the surveillance server.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that the CIA would likely send a squad to attack, since a lone assassin would struggle against Ma Yun Fei’s prepared security team.

Jiang Yan Hai maintained his training while Black Lion reviewed his past and Ma Yun Fei confirmed his identity. Meanwhile, a CIA team in the Golden Triangle prepared to eliminate Kevin Liu and Ma Yun Fei, and Jiang Yan Hai received a message whose contents were not revealed.

• Jiang Yan Hai trained in the villa gym and told Black Lion that his actions came from a personal bottom line, not kindness.
• Black Lion reflected on Kevin Liu's selective attacks against CIA agents and passed his background to Ma Yun Fei, who felt reassured after checking it.
• CIA personnel gathered in a hotel conference room and planned to kill Kevin Liu and Ma Yun Fei, using intelligence support and watching for a chance after Ma Yun Fei's recruits left.
• Jiang Yan Hai received a message on his phone, continued reading for several minutes, then stood and went to an unoccupied place.