Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yan Hai recited the PLA Internal Affairs Regulations while holding a V-sit for hours, enduring the pain long after the other soldiers collapsed. The chapter ended with him finishing the text as the soldiers rose and joined in reciting alongside him.

• Fan Tian Lei ordered the soldiers to recite the PLA Internal Affairs Regulations while holding a V-sit, and Jiang Yan Hai began by stating the regulations’ length and structure.
• Jiang Yan Hai recited rapidly and without mistakes as the soldiers around him grew exhausted and passed out.
• After two hours, Xu Tian Long urged Jiang Yan Hai to stop, but Jiang Yan Hai kept reciting while Fan Tian Lei watched and ordered the unconscious soldiers carried away.
• More than three hours into the exercise, Jiang Yan Hai still held his legs up and continued reciting as the soldiers who had awakened gathered outside the barracks.
• He Chen Guang and the other soldiers returned to their original positions and recited along until Jiang Yan Hai spoke the final word.

Jiang Yan Hai and the exhausted recruits endured more brutal training after holding the abdominal position, while Chen Shan Ming pushed them to stand at attention and quick-march. The recruits reached the barracks barely able to walk, but Jiang Yan Hai had recovered much of his strength.

• Jiang Yan Hai and the recruits collapsed after enduring the abdominal hold, and Fan Tian Lei ordered training to continue two hours behind schedule.
• Miao Lang fired a burst to rouse the exhausted soldiers, and Jiang Yan Hai instinctively rolled up into a defensive stance.
• Chen Shan Ming forced the recruits to stand at attention for two hours, and two soldiers quit after collapsing.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered the remaining recruits to quick-march to the barracks despite their exhaustion.
• The recruits arrived barely able to move, while Jiang Yan Hai felt energetic as his stamina and abdominal pain improved.

Jiang Yan Hai fell asleep after training and experienced a vivid battlefield simulation in which a soldier named Er Dan died saving him, and Jiang Yan Hai was killed by an artillery shell. He woke in the barracks to Chen Shan Ming’s call for training and saw a notification from the Illusion Simulation Combat System.

• Jiang Yan Hai and the other soldiers rested after discussing martial arts and fell asleep.
• Jiang Yan Hai woke on a shell-battered battlefield beside an unfamiliar soldier who called him Brother Hai.
• The soldier, whom a voice identified as Er Dan, died shielding Jiang Yan Hai from danger.
• An artillery shell exploded beside Jiang Yan Hai and killed him.
• Jiang Yan Hai woke in the barracks as Chen Shan Ming ordered him to get dressed and train.
• Jiang Yan Hai saw a system notification reporting one activation and one target death.

After witnessing Er Dan’s death, Jiang Yan Hai understood why soldiers trained to face the battlefield. During grenade training, he recognized a training grenade and tossed it aside, disrupting Chen Shan Ming’s planned demonstration and provoking his anger.

• Jiang Yan Hai recalled Er Dan’s death and reflected on why soldiers and their predecessors had faced war to protect the land behind them.
• Chen Shan Ming showed the recruits Type 86 grenades, pulled their pins, and threw them toward Jiang Yan Hai and the others.
• He Chen Guang threw his grenade away, while Jiang Yan Hai sensed his was a training grenade and casually tossed it nearby before it exploded harmlessly.
• Song Kai Fei realized the grenades were empty training grenades, and Chen Shan Ming was frustrated that Jiang Yan Hai had ruined his planned stunt.
• Chen Shan Ming demanded to know how Jiang Yan Hai had recognized the grenade, but Jiang Yan Hai instead pointed out chives in his teeth, prompting Chen Shan Ming to cancel his dinner.

Jiang Yan Hai challenged Chen Shan Ming’s claim that he could not identify live grenades by weight, citing his experience and ammunition inspection standards. Chen Shan Ming began a test with mixed live and training grenades, and Jiang Yan Hai calmly identified and threw the first two training grenades as the test continued.

• Jiang Yan Hai reported that the grenade he had received was not a training grenade and explained how its weight differed.
• Chen Shan Ming challenged Jiang Yan Hai’s ability to distinguish grenades, then gave him a grenade that Jiang Yan Hai correctly identified as live.
• Chen Shan Ming mixed eight live grenades with eight training grenades and ordered Jiang Yan Hai to pull each pin and throw it according to whether it was real or fake.
• Chen Shan Ming threw the first grenade, and Jiang Yan Hai pulled its pin and tossed it three meters away.
• The first grenade exploded as a training grenade, and Jiang Yan Hai also threw the second grenade, which likewise exploded as a training grenade.

Jiang Yan Hai proved he could identify real grenades by their weight, though he also admitted that reading Chen Shan Ming’s reactions had helped him. Chen Shan Ming punished him with push-ups and a regulations quiz, but Jiang Yan Hai recited the text and punctuation flawlessly.

• Jiang Yan Hai caught and threw sixteen randomly ordered real and fake grenades without making a mistake.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that Chen Shan Ming’s reactions had helped him identify the real grenades and apologized to the instructor.
• Jiang Yan Hai suggested testing him with thoroughly mixed boxes of real and training grenades, making Chen Shan Ming furious.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered Jiang Yan Hai to do one thousand push-ups and added a hundred for every mistake in a quiz on the Internal Service Regulations.
• Chen Shan Ming sent Miao Lang and the other trainees to the obstacle course while White Wolf counted Jiang Yan Hai’s push-ups.
• Chen Shan Ming checked the regulations on an official website and confirmed Jiang Yan Hai had recited every word and punctuation mark correctly.

Jiang Yan Hai completed his punishment and raced through the Special Forces obstacle course with startling speed and precision. Chen Shan Ming tried to quit training him, but Fan Tian Lei kept him in charge and approved Jiang Yan Hai’s request to study during breaks.

• Jiang Yan Hai reported that he had completed one thousand push-ups, and Chen Shan Ming ordered him to the obstacle course.
• Jiang Yan Hai sprinted through the obstacle course, shooting targets with flawless tactical movements while Fan Tian Lei watched.
• Chen Shan Ming told Fan Tian Lei that he could not teach Jiang Yan Hai and wanted someone else to take over.
• Fan Tian Lei reminded Chen Shan Ming that Jiang Yan Hai had been right about the provincial capital incident and that officials were fixing the resulting security loopholes.
• Fan Tian Lei kept Chen Shan Ming responsible for Jiang Yan Hai’s training and told him to hold the books and tablet Jiang Yan Hai had requested for use during breaks.

Chen Shan Ming was ordered to deliver Jiang Yan Hai’s tablet and keep him training, while Fan Tian Lei arranged a medical examination after noticing Jiang Yan Hai’s extraordinary endurance. Jiang Yan Hai finished two more hours of grueling obstacle-course training without food or rest, impressing the watching Special Forces soldiers.

• Fan Tian Lei ordered Chen Shan Ming to deliver Jiang Yan Hai’s tablet, keep it secure, and have Jiang Yan Hai undergo a military hospital physical examination in three days.
• Chen Shan Ming took the unit through the obstacle course, then sent everyone else to eat while ordering Jiang Yan Hai to continue extra training without dinner.
• Chen Shan Ming set Jiang Yan Hai a two-hour obstacle-course session as the Special Forces soldiers fired live rounds nearby.
• Jiang Yan Hai adjusted his movements to minimize his exposure to the passing bullets, astonishing the watching soldiers.
• Jiang Yan Hai repeatedly completed the course for two hours without resting, and his speed impressed the Special Forces soldiers.

Jiang Yan Hai returned to the barracks with a military tablet, but he did not enter the Illusion Simulation Combat System in his sleep. After waking for an emergency assembly, he endured increasingly punishing training and continued to outperform the other soldiers.

• Chen Shan Ming gave Jiang Yan Hai a military tablet and ordered him to follow confidentiality rules.
• Jiang Yan Hai downloaded books and materials onto the tablet, installed a firewall, and went to sleep.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered an armed five-kilometer run, assigning Jiang Yan Hai fifty kilograms of gear and a Type 10 Rifle.
• Jiang Yan Hai finished the run at the front despite carrying more weight than the others.
• Chen Shan Ming gave Jiang Yan Hai a massive truck tire and added extra drills, including solo log carries, push-ups, and rapid-fire shooting.

Jiang Yan Hai endured a full day of punishing training, studied during breaks, and saw his physical fitness and neural reaction improve. After falling asleep, he woke inside the illusory combat scenario again, where he and Er Dan had been discovered and had to escape.

• Jiang Yan Hai impressed the others by keeping up with Chen Shan Ming's intense training and reading English books on a tablet during breaks.
• Jiang Yan Hai realized his firearm scan revealed detailed information about a weapon's condition and considered whether the system could scan vehicles or aircraft.
• After the day's training, Jiang Yan Hai's physical fitness reached 179 and his neural reaction reached 144, while his brain activity stayed at 180.
• Jiang Yan Hai studied flight theory before going to sleep, then woke to find himself back in the illusory combat scenario with Er Dan.
• Jiang Yan Hai learned the enemy had discovered them and was gathering forces to surround them, but found he could not use his scanning or skill abilities in the scenario.
• Jiang Yan Hai noticed his mind could still instinctively estimate a stone's weight and dimensions, and realized the simulation appeared to calculate events in real time.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team tried to escape an encirclement, but a sniper forced him to expose himself and return fire with a 25mm rifle. As he and Er Dan fled, an explosion killed them both, and Jiang Yan Hai lost consciousness.

• Jiang Yan Hai learned his codename was Sea Lion and identified the other members of his six-person team as they prepared to withdraw from the encircled area.
• After Eagle reported enemy armored units nearby, Jiang Yan Hai used his helmet to draw fire and Vulture spotted the enemy sniper about eight hundred meters away.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Er Dan to run when he made his move, then rolled out of cover and shot the sniper with the 25mm rifle.
• Er Dan sprinted toward the mountaintop, and Jiang Yan Hai followed him as a familiar shriek warned of an incoming attack.
• Er Dan turned back and threw himself onto Jiang Yan Hai just before a deafening explosion struck them, leaving Jiang Yan Hai in darkness.

Jiang Yan Hai woke before Chen Shan Ming’s smoke grenade ambush and threw himself into training, haunted by repeated deaths in the Illusion Simulation Combat System. The chapter leaves him growing more silent and driven as teammates in the simulations repeatedly die saving him.

• Jiang Yan Hai woke as Chen Shan Ming entered his tent with Smoke Grenades, then escaped after Chen Shan Ming tossed them inside.
• Chen Shan Ming ordered a five-kilometer armed run, and Jiang Yan Hai sprinted far ahead of the others.
• Jiang Yan Hai recalled Er Dan dying to save him in an artillery blast during the illusion, and blamed himself for surviving.
• Jiang Yan Hai trained with fierce intensity throughout the day, leaving Miao Lang and the others puzzled by his behavior.
• Over the following days, Jiang Yan Hai grew quieter and trained harder as the simulation repeatedly ended in his death and his teammates died trying to save him.

Jiang Yan Hai reflected on the danger his comrades faced because of him and continued his punishing training. Chen Shan Ming demonstrated a demanding Special Forces driving course, then challenged Jiang Yan Hai to complete it within fifteen minutes to earn control over his future training volume.

• Jiang Yan Hai worried that his comrades in reality might die because of him and said he would rather sacrifice himself to save others.
• Chen Shan Ming introduced Special Forces driving training and asked which trainees had learned to drive.
• Chen Shan Ming drove the Warrior through the difficult course in seven minutes and forty-five seconds, earning a score of seventy-seven points.
• Chen Shan Ming tossed Jiang Yan Hai the keys and wagered that, if Jiang Yan Hai finished within fifteen minutes, he could decide his own training volume; otherwise, it would keep increasing.

Jiang Yan Hai drove the Warrior through the training course at extraordinary speed, using his scanning abilities and driving skill to navigate obstacles that stunned Chen Shan Ming and the other soldiers. He continued through the log obstacle course as Chen Shan Ming took a remote control and switched it on.

• Jiang Yan Hai saluted Chen Shan Ming, took the vehicle keys, and accelerated into the shell-crater road.
• Jiang Yan Hai used his scanning abilities and driving skill to steer through the craters, entering one only once before clearing the stretch.
• Jiang Yan Hai crossed a mud pit and drifted around the elevated platform bend at high speed.
• Jiang Yan Hai sped through a narrow gap between concrete platforms and navigated the log obstacle course.
• Chen Shan Ming took a remote control from Miao Lang and switched it on as Jiang Yan Hai drove among the wooden posts.

Jiang Yan Hai completed the simulated driving course despite explosions and falling obstacles, earning a record-breaking score. He immediately ran the course again at higher speed and raised his score to 99 points.

• Jiang Yan Hai reacted to an explosion and falling log by spinning the Warrior around the obstacle and continuing through the course.
• Chen Shan Ming’s group watched as Jiang Yan Hai drove through the boulder road amid explosions and dust, emerging without damage.
• Miao Lang reported Jiang Yan Hai’s first result: five minutes eighteen seconds, an average speed of fifty-seven kilometers per hour, and a record score of 97.
• Jiang Yan Hai began another run, took a shorter line through the first turn, and sped past a falling log and through the dust-covered obstacle road.
• Miao Lang reported Jiang Yan Hai’s second result: four minutes forty-six seconds, an average speed of sixty-three kilometers per hour, and a record score of 99.

Jiang Yan Hai stunned Chen Shan Ming and the others by completing the driving course at an exceptional speed, then explained how he memorized and calculated the route. Song Kai Fei attempted the course next and barely passed the driving itself, but failed the evaluation.

• Jiang Yan Hai returned the vehicle and keys to Chen Shan Ming, who conceded that he could set his own training load.
• Chen Shan Ming asked how Jiang Yan Hai had completed the course, and Jiang Yan Hai described memorizing obstacles and calculating an optimal route from visual data.
• Jiang Yan Hai encouraged his future teammates to use the same method to improve their driving for missions.
• Chen Shan Ming sent Song Kai Fei to try the course with the explosions turned off.
• Song Kai Fei returned after more than twenty minutes without crashing, but the mechanical voice gave him 23 points and declared him failed.

Chen Shan Ming asked Fan Tian Lei to replace him as Jiang Yan Hai’s trainer, but Fan Tian Lei persuaded him to continue after praising Jiang Yan Hai’s abilities and revealing his exceptional physical recovery. Meanwhile, Jiang Yan Hai kept training through daily combat illusions, whose repeated deaths were weighing heavily on him.

• Chen Shan Ming told Fan Tian Lei he wanted someone else to train Jiang Yan Hai, but Fan Tian Lei pointed out that Jiang Yan Hai’s performance made him a reassuring teammate.
• Fan Tian Lei showed Chen Shan Ming Jiang Yan Hai’s examination results, which revealed unusually active cells and a recovery ability potentially twice that of an ordinary person.
• Fan Tian Lei ordered Chen Shan Ming to keep Jiang Yan Hai’s training load unchanged and told him to keep the results confidential.
• Chen Shan Ming left the office realizing he had failed to ask for a replacement and reluctantly resolved to continue training Jiang Yan Hai.
• Jiang Yan Hai read quietly and struggled with the deaths he experienced in his daily combat illusions, where his teammates often died because of his mistakes.

Jiang Yan Hai recognized that Fan Tian Lei was preparing the recruits for a lesson about killing in combat, but he was forbidden from revealing the surprise. The squad changed into regular uniforms and marched toward the mess hall, where the lesson awaited them.

• Jiang Yan Hai reflected on the Illusion Simulation Combat System and the emotional toll of repeatedly dying inside it.
• Fan Tian Lei introduced tactical sniper training and challenged the recruits to consider whether they could shoot a living enemy in wartime.
• Wang Yan Bing questioned Fan Tian Lei about the standards for snipers, and Fan Tian Lei praised Jiang Yan Hai's exceptional shooting ability.
• Fan Tian Lei ordered Chen Shan Ming to take the recruits back to change into regular uniforms, while Jiang Yan Hai kept quiet about the reason.
• Chen Shan Ming led the changed recruits toward the mess hall, and Jiang Yan Hai anticipated the difficult lesson ahead.

Jiang Yan Hai ate tofu pudding with chili sauce despite realizing it was meant to make the soldiers confront painful memories, then joined his unit on a trip to observe a major operation at an execution ground. There, Director Gao introduced him to officers who had met him before as Jiang Ling and still doubted that he was the same person.

• Xu Tian Long warned everyone not to eat too much tofu pudding, but Jiang Yan Hai requested extra chili sauce and ate his bowl while recalling the illusion of Er Dan's death.
• Fan Tian Lei told the soldiers they were going to observe a major operation by Public Security and the Armed Police, and the group boarded a bus out of the base.
• The soldiers reached an execution ground controlled by Armed Police and Public Security forces, and Jiang Yan Hai suspected that Scorpion had already arrived.
• Director Wen asked Fan Tian Lei to bring Jiang Yan Hai over, and Director Gao introduced him to Yu Dong, Wang Haiqiang, Zhao Gang, and Qian Bing as the Jiang Ling they had met before.
• Yu Dong, Wang Haiqiang, Zhao Gang, and Qian Bing looked at Jiang Yan Hai in disbelief.

Jiang Yan Hai proved he was Jiang Ling by imitating his voice, then used his scanning abilities to spot Scorpion watching the group from a concealed position. He sprinted after the suspected sniper while the others prepared to proceed with the execution.

• Jiang Yan Hai switched shoes with Zhao Gang and spoke in Jiang Ling’s voice, convincing Yu Dong, Wang Haiqiang, and the others of his identity.
• Jiang Yan Hai requested a Type 88 sniper rifle and scanned the surrounding area through its scope.
• Jiang Yan Hai spotted a reflection near Scorpion’s concealed position and told Director Gao that no one had been stationed there.
• Director Gao ordered the men to move, and Jiang Yan Hai rushed toward the suspected sniper with an Armed Police unit and a police dog following.
• Fan Tian Lei ordered He Chen Guang and the other rookies to stay put, while Director Wen and Director Gao decided to proceed with the execution.