Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yan Hai discussed starting civilian research on advanced aircraft engines and materials, then checked for security breaches at the Rongcheng base. He went with Li Ruo Bai to meet Li Yun Feng about a possible collaboration, while privately realizing he no longer wanted to delay making a formal promise to Li Ruo Bai.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked Old Liu about restrictions on civilian companies researching engines, and Old Liu offered him a place at his institute.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided to fund preliminary materials research himself so that any later investment from the Li Family would not depend on Li Ruo Bai's feelings for him.
• Old Liu asked Jiang Yan Hai to check whether a virus and server data had been stolen, and Jiang Yan Hai spent two days investigating at the Rongcheng base.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Li Ruo Bai to return to Jinling and went with her to meet Li Yun Feng, teasing her about his reason for wanting to speak with her father.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Yun Feng that he wanted to discuss a possible collaboration.

Jiang Yan Hai asked Li Yun Feng to cooperate on materials, engines, and aircraft research, but Li Yun Feng offered to fund the work himself. He insisted that Li Ruo Bai lead every research project, making her participation the condition for Jiang Yan Hai to work in the laboratories.

• Li Ruo Bai realized Jiang Yan Hai’s proposed cooperation was not about her, pinched him, and left for her room while he and Li Yun Feng went to the study.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that he wanted to use Li Yun Feng’s laboratories to develop materials and eventually research engines and aircraft, offering his own money and the materials’ ownership rights as security.
• Li Yun Feng told Jiang Yan Hai not to risk his savings, revealed his immense wealth, and pointed out that Jiang Yan Hai’s earlier engineering plastic was already worth tens of billions.
• Jiang Yan Hai agreed to accept Li Yun Feng’s support after hearing that the earlier material’s success made other investors likely to back him.
• Li Yun Feng required Li Ruo Bai to lead every research project, explaining that her participation would make it easier for her to see Jiang Yan Hai.

Jiang Yan Hai asked Li Yun Feng for his blessing to marry Li Ruo Bai and promised to protect her from the grief of losing him in service. He also arranged to use a wind tunnel and specialists to begin designing Phantom, then left with Li Yun Feng to meet Li Ruo Bai.

• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Yun Feng that he loved Li Ruo Bai and hoped to marry her.
• Li Yun Feng accepted Jiang Yan Hai’s intentions but required him to do everything possible to avoid returning home draped in the national flag.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Yun Feng he would attend the National Defense University and could see Li Ruo Bai when he had time.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked to use a wind tunnel as he planned to build Phantom from the design details he remembered.
• Li Yun Feng and Jiang Yan Hai left the room and found Li Ruo Bai pacing anxiously in the living room.

Jiang Yan Hai and Li Yun Feng teased Li Ruo Bai by discussing her wedding, and Jiang Yan Hai explained how further study and research might let him spend more time with her. The chapter ended with Li Ruo Bai asking if she could visit him at National Defense University.

• Li Ruo Bai overheard that Jiang Yan Hai and Li Yun Feng had been discussing her wedding and blushed.
• Jiang Yan Hai clarified that he wanted to marry Li Ruo Bai and had asked Li Yun Feng about betrothal gifts, prompting her to flee upstairs.
• Jiang Yan Hai followed Li Ruo Bai to her bedroom and explained that he had discussed ways to stay together long-term with her father.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Ruo Bai he might study at National Defense University and work with her companies on materials, engines, and fighter jet design.
• Li Ruo Bai embraced Jiang Yan Hai and asked if she could visit him at university.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that he would leave for the capital in three days to begin intensive military studies, while Li Ruo Bai accepted that they could meet on weekends. At the base, he received another First Class Merit and learned that Fan Tian Lei and Master Kang expected him to recruit promising officers for their brigade.

• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Ruo Bai that she could not accompany him to the National Defense University, but he could leave campus to meet her on weekends.
• Fan Tian Lei called Jiang Yan Hai back to the base and told him to prepare to leave for the capital in three days.
• Master Kang gave Jiang Yan Hai an order awarding him another First Class Merit for the Sha Chen operation, the overseas rescue, and the events involving Ivan.
• Fan Tian Lei explained that Jiang Yan Hai would take two six-month advanced courses and study military command in a professional master's program.
• Master Kang and Fan Tian Lei told Jiang Yan Hai to recruit promising junior staff officers for their brigade while he studied.

Jiang Yan Hai received his new uniform and official documents for the Logistics 9th Rapid Reaction Brigade, then discussed plans for the unit and a possible fleet with Fan Tian Lei and Master Kang. After spending two days with Li Ruo Bai, he left for the capital to attend university.

• Jiang Yan Hai examined the Logistics 9th Rapid Reaction Brigade and Dark Blade Unit patches, and Fan Tian Lei gave him his updated officer’s certificate listing him as a lieutenant colonel and training staff officer.
• Fan Tian Lei asked Jiang Yan Hai to prepare proposals for the unit’s composition, training base, and information unit over the coming months.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked about obtaining a Type 055, and Master Kang and Fan Tian Lei described a proposed small fleet that might also include a Type 095.
• Jiang Yan Hai proposed keeping the warships at their existing ports with Navy logistics staff while placing their training and joint combat missions under his command.
• Jiang Yan Hai spent two days with Li Ruo Bai, then boarded a plane for the capital while she stayed behind to continue her studies.

Jiang Yan Hai arrived at the National Defense University to register for the Joint Operations College’s Military Command program, surprising the officers there with his lieutenant colonel rank and young age. He also presented two advanced-study admission notices and hurried to a class beginning that day.

• Jiang Yan Hai entered the university and followed directions to the registration point outside Teaching Building No. 2.
• A major stopped lecturing when Jiang Yan Hai appeared, saluted him, and confirmed that the registration point was for Jiang Yan Hai’s program.
• The major checked Jiang Yan Hai’s admission notice and Officer’s Certificate, then helped him register and gave him the course list.
• Jiang Yan Hai presented two additional admission notices for six-month advanced studies, startling the major.
• The major directed Jiang Yan Hai to Classroom 12 in Teaching Building No. 3 for a class starting that day and told him to visit the principal afterward.

Jiang Yan Hai arrived late to his first class at the military academy and found himself studying alongside fourteen generals. After accurately answering the lecturer’s memory questions, he was asked to explain his own understanding of Military Thought.

• Jiang Yan Hai rushed to Teaching Building No. 3 and reported to class, where he discovered that his classmates were generals.
• Jiang Yan Hai introduced himself as a twenty-year-old lieutenant colonel from the 9th Rapid Reaction Brigade of Logistics, surprising the officers.
• Jiang Yan Hai sat beside a general and listened attentively to a lesson on Military Thought.
• The lecturer quizzed Jiang Yan Hai, who recited every answer accurately and said he had a good memory.
• The lecturer asked Jiang Yan Hai to explain what Military Thought meant to him.

Jiang Yan Hai explained his view that Military Thought grew from life’s struggle to survive and that humanity could achieve internal peace only under pressure from another civilization. Teacher Hu praised his reasoning, then dismissed the class and left the generals to consider whether such ideas were useful.

• Jiang Yan Hai defined Military Thought as a way of understanding war and defense, then argued that it began with life’s struggle against nature and other organisms.
• Jiang Yan Hai said humanity would never reach true peace without an outside threat, because competition and conflict were necessary to avoid stagnation.
• Teacher Hu praised Jiang Yan Hai’s answers, and the generals applauded him.
• When a general asked whether such ideas were useful, Jiang Yan Hai said the ideas alone were empty talk but that a mind capable of thinking them could be useful.
• Teacher Hu ended the class and told everyone to find out during the six-month training whether the ideas were useful.

After his first class, Jiang Yan Hai reported to Principal Zheng, received his room key and a secure tablet, and learned how he would be contacted for missions. He reviewed the packed course schedules and planned to master theoretical subjects early so he could leave time for research and design.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked Teacher Hu where to report for his six-month intermediate advanced training course, and Teacher Hu directed him to Principal Zheng’s office.
• Jiang Yan Hai reported to Principal Zheng, who reviewed his documents and gave him a key to his room.
• Principal Zheng told Jiang Yan Hai to go to the helicopter pad if he received a mission and gave him a secure tablet for course information and special orders.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether he could skip courses he had already mastered, and Principal Zheng said he could do so for some theoretical subjects if he passed the examinations.
• Jiang Yan Hai checked the courses on his tablet and decided to complete theoretical material early to make time for research and design.

Jiang Yan Hai settled into his National Defense University accommodation, reviewed the campus facilities, and attended a Russian class for junior officers. After class, he planned to tell the teacher he would stop attending, but Xu Peng Fei asked the teacher the same thing first, drawing an unhappy reaction.

• Jiang Yan Hai reached his assigned villa, registered at the guarded entrance, and found a motorcycle waiting in its yard.
• Jiang Yan Hai arranged his registration and books, then visited the library and cafeteria before going to his Russian class.
• Jiang Yan Hai listened as classmates whispered about his young age and lieutenant colonel rank, then attended Teacher Liu's class.
• Xu Peng Fei asked Teacher Liu in front of the class if he could stop attending, and Teacher Liu's expression turned unpleasant.

When Xu Peng Fei claimed he was proficient in several languages to avoid Teacher Liu's class, Liu ZhiKuan challenged him and made him retract his request. Jiang Yan Hai then asked to skip the language classes, and a multilingual conversation convinced Liu ZhiKuan that Jiang Yan Hai was genuinely proficient in many languages.

• Xu Peng Fei claimed proficiency in English, Russian, and Japanese, but Teacher Liu challenged his knowledge of dialects and other languages until Xu Peng Fei apologized and agreed to keep attending class.
• Teacher Liu asked whether anyone else wanted to leave his class, and Jiang Yan Hai requested a test so he could skip language lessons for advanced courses.
• Jiang Yan Hai said he knew nearly all major languages, prompting Liu ZhiKuan to test him in Japanese and several other languages.
• Jiang Yan Hai conversed fluently with Liu ZhiKuan in multiple languages, convincing him Jiang Yan Hai was genuinely proficient and leaving the class astonished.

Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated his command of more than a dozen languages, then focused on studying materials and fighter jet design. During physical training, he challenged the instructor’s routine as too easy and began an intense burpee workout.

• Liu ZhiKuan learned that Jiang Yan Hai had mastered more than a dozen languages and excused him from future language classes except for exams.
• Jiang Yan Hai left class to study materials and fighter jet design, deciding not to use his abilities to access classified plans without permission.
• Jiang Yan Hai rose early to train on his own before joining the advanced-study class for morning physical training.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Lu Bing that the training was too easy and requested permission to train independently.
• Lu Bing challenged Jiang Yan Hai to demonstrate his preferred intensity, and Jiang Yan Hai began doing burpees with jumps nearly a meter high.

Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated extraordinary endurance during three hours of nonstop Physical Training, convincing Lu Bing to let him choose whether to attend daily training. He then proved his mathematics knowledge to the teacher and was excused from mathematics and other regular classes, leaving the trainees stunned by his shrinking schedule.

• Jiang Yan Hai completed five hundred Burpees, then continued Physical Training without resting for three hours as Lu Bing and the trainees watched.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Lu Bing whether he had met the training requirements, and Lu Bing let him decide whether to attend daily training.
• Jiang Yan Hai claimed his logistics unit trained by carrying missiles, then hurried to the teaching building after showering and changing.
• Xu Peng Fei and other trainees discussed Jiang Yan Hai's physical abilities and wondered whether he would also excel in advanced mathematics.
• Jiang Yan Hai persuaded the math teacher to excuse him from class after demonstrating his expertise, and the teacher offered the same option to trainees who passed a test.
• Jiang Yan Hai stopped attending regular courses outside the military subjects, leaving the trainees resentful and bewildered by his sparse schedule.

After completing most of his courses at National Defense University, Jiang Yan Hai received an alert and was sent to a military airport to take charge of a J10 Qinglong fighter. He received upgraded flight equipment and met four female pilots, leaving before his patrol mission and new callsign were settled.

• Jiang Yan Hai studied military command courses at National Defense University after finishing most of his other coursework.
• Jiang Yan Hai responded to a red alert and flew by helicopter with Hong Ying and Apple to a military airport.
• Wu Zhenjiang assigned Jiang Yan Hai a J10 Qinglong, asked him to choose a new callsign, and ordered him to conduct a combat readiness patrol while testing the fighter's limits.
• Hong Ying, who introduced herself as Bai Yang, showed Jiang Yan Hai his dormitory and changing room.
• Jiang Yan Hai examined an upgraded Anti-G Suit and helmet before meeting Lu Xiaoran, Yi Dan, Wang Zheng, and Tian Jia.

Jiang Yan Hai received the upgraded J10S Azure Dragon, chose the codename Gyrfalcon, and took off on a combat readiness patrol along the border. After testing the fighter’s powerful engine, he opened his tactical tablet and was startled by what it displayed.

• Jiang Yan Hai arrived at the hangar and found the J10S Azure Dragon ready, with new equipment and six missiles mounted.
• Jiang Yan Hai inspected the fighter, signed for it, and learned from Dong Kejiang and Zheng Ling that its engine had been upgraded.
• Jiang Yan Hai chose Gyrfalcon as his codename and received clearance to patrol southward along the border from Zone Z6.
• Jiang Yan Hai took off in Azure Dragon and pushed the fighter into supersonic flight to test its performance.
• Jiang Yan Hai opened his tactical tablet at the Control Tower’s request and widened his eyes at the information displayed.

Jiang Yan Hai tested the Azure Dragon’s new supersonic cruising performance and reached Mach 2.8, drawing attention from a border radar station. During his combat-readiness patrol, Er Dan warned him of an approaching incident, and Jiang Yan Hai headed toward it after Control Tower authorized him to investigate without opening fire first.

• Jiang Yan Hai accelerated the Azure Dragon to Mach 2.8, and a radar station contacted him to check his status.
• Jiang Yan Hai slowed down and continued his patrol, while Er Dan assessed the fighter’s electronic systems.
• Er Dan warned Jiang Yan Hai of an unusual situation, and Jiang Yan Hai called Control Tower.
• Control Tower told Jiang Yan Hai he could make his own decisions but could not fire first, and said J11s Bee and Wasp were heading to the area.
• Jiang Yan Hai turned sharply and dove toward the destination to investigate.

Jiang Yan Hai flew Azure Dragon toward two Korean F16C fighters in the overlapping air defense identification zone, while Bee and Hornet escorted them and traded rapid English warnings over the radio. He left the story after blasting through the formation at Mach 2, startling the Korean pilots with a sonic boom.

• Bee and Hornet approached the two Korean fighters and Bee spoke faster than their pilots over the shared communications channel.
• The Control Tower ordered Bee and Hornet to cooperate with an approaching fighter codenamed Sea Eagle.
• Jiang Yan Hai locked onto the Korean fighters with Er Dan’s assistance and approached from behind at around Mach 1.5.
• Jiang Yan Hai accelerated Azure Dragon past Mach 2 and shot through the Korean formation, shaking both fighters with a sonic boom.

Jiang Yan Hai confronted Kimchi and Beef after they entered the air defense identification zone, using several dangerous close passes to intimidate them. After Beef spotted Jiang Yan Hai’s four kill markings and the ground Control Tower ordered them back, Kimchi and Beef left for their own airspace.

• Jiang Yan Hai warned Kimchi and Beef to leave the air defense identification zone, then flew back toward them at supersonic speed.
• Kimchi and Beef pulled their fighters vertical as Jiang Yan Hai passed between them, shaking all three aircraft with the turbulence.
• Jiang Yan Hai stabilized his fighter, climbed while inverted, and caught up with the opposing pilots from above.
• Beef spotted four kill markings on Jiang Yan Hai’s fighter and told Kimchi, who recalled the East China Sea incident and fell silent.
• The ground Control Tower ordered Kimchi and Beef to return to base, and the two pilots broke away from Jiang Yan Hai and headed toward their own airspace.

Jiang Yan Hai completed a patrol after a tense encounter with two opposing pilots and told Bee and Hornet about the J10S Azure Dragon’s supercruise ability. After he returned to base, a photo of his fighter’s four kill markings spread through the pilots’ group chat, and several female pilots rushed to tell Lu Xiaoran the news.

• Jiang Yan Hai outmaneuvered two opposing pilots, then returned to normal flight as they switched channels and headed back toward their airspace.
• Bee and Hornet spotted the four stars on Jiang Yan Hai’s cockpit and spoke with him about the East China Sea incident and the local patrol routine.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Bee and Hornet that his J10S Azure Dragon could supercruise, then left to continue his patrol.
• Jiang Yan Hai completed his two-hour patrol and returned to the airbase, unaware that a photo of his fighter’s four gold stars was circulating among the pilots.
• Several female pilots rushed into Lu Xiaoran’s dormitory to announce huge news.