Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yan Hai warned the Old Commander that a new Teleportation Gate might lead to another world, prompting them to delay notifying other countries until he confirmed what lay beyond it. Afterward, Er Dan reported that the CIA had discovered their virus, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered it to spread and mutate without causing damage.

• Jiang Yan Hai told the Old Commander that the Red Mad Wolves’ behavior could signal a new Teleportation Gate and a threat from another world.
• The Old Commander confirmed that the Red Mad Wolves had returned to the city after killing people who tried to lure them away, supporting Jiang Yan Hai’s analysis.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided to confirm whether a new Gate had appeared before notifying others, and planned to seize the ore’s energy if it had not.
• Er Dan alerted Jiang Yan Hai that the CIA had discovered their virus and was trying to remove it.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Er Dan to make the virus spread and mutate without revealing their involvement or causing destruction.
• Experts in the Black Five Department beneath CIA headquarters worked to counter the virus.

Thomas Gable captured a dangerous new virus and demanded a shorter sentence in exchange for solving it, while Jiang Yan Hai tracked another suspicious target transmitting data through satellites. Jiang Yan Hai and Ramsey arrived in the Republic of Evia, where Balek met them.

• Thomas Gable recognized that the virus resembled his old work but was a new, exceptionally difficult creation, and he began trying to capture it.
• Thomas Gable caught the virus and started reverse-compiling it, then demanded that his sentence be reduced to five years if he solved it.
• Thomas Gable warned the Black Five Department's person in charge that the virus might have infected important American servers, including the North American Air Defense Command, and the official went to report the threat.
• Er Dan told Jiang Yan Hai that an eleventh organization had discovered the virus and that its target was transmitting large amounts of data with three satellites, one of them unregistered.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Er Dan to keep the copied subprogram hidden and use the data flow to locate the target.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Ramsey landed in the Republic of Evia, where Balek came to meet them.

Jiang Yan Hai brought Ramsey to the Mercenary Group and prepared to lead an operation against a Rebel Army-controlled city in the Republic of Goa. The chapter left him mobilizing the fleet and three combat teams for a difficult urban assault scheduled to begin the next day.

• Jiang Yan Hai introduced Ramsey to Balek as the Mercenary Group’s new logistics and intelligence specialist, and told Balek to teach her basic combat skills.
• Balek reported that three combat teams were already in the Republic of Goa, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered them assembled for a departure the next day.
• Ramsey chose to join the operation, and Jiang Yan Hai assigned her command of the drones.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Gao Yun to place the base on highest alert, deploy warships and a strategic nuclear submarine near the Republic of Goa, and concentrate satellite resources on the region.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered reconnaissance equipment and supplies prepared for urban combat, then reflected on the armed rebels and the dangers of attacking their city.

Jiang Yan Hai tracked Sephora’s aircraft and planned an attack on it over the Indian Ocean, while cybersecurity experts struggled to contain his virus. He and three companions reached the capital of the Republic of Goa and prepared to travel overland the next day.

• Cybersecurity teams across major powers failed to eliminate Jiang Yan Hai’s virus, while Thomas Gable and Sephora managed to isolate it.
• Er Dan showed Jiang Yan Hai surveillance footage and a photo confirming that the aircraft belonged to Sephora.
• Er Dan identified an opportunity to attack Sephora’s aircraft over the Indian Ocean in thirty-six hours, and Jiang Yan Hai sent its route to Gao Yun so the submarine could approach the area.
• The next morning, Jiang Yan Hai, Ramsey, Balek, and another mercenary flew south by way of warships and received an escort through a friendly country’s airspace.
• After eight hours of travel, Jiang Yan Hai and the others arrived in the capital of the Republic of Goa, where they planned to rest before continuing by land vehicle.

Jiang Yan Hai secretly extracted energy from ore stored in a bank vault and met his contact to collect equipment. The next morning, he and the others received vehicles and equipment from the Republic of Goa and set off.

• Jiang Yan Hai arranged to share a room with Ramsey so Balek and the others could help protect her while he went out.
• Jiang Yan Hai slipped out at night, evaded detection, and extracted 232 special energy points from ore in the bank vault.
• Jiang Yan Hai met his contact and collected equipment delivered by the intelligence department.
• Jiang Yan Hai returned to the hotel early and pretended to sleep on the sofa while Ramsey remained unaware of his nighttime trip.
• The Republic of Goa delivered weapons, equipment, and two off-road vehicles, and Jiang Yan Hai and the others loaded their gear and drove away.

Jiang Yan Hai’s group continued through the dangerous route while Er Dan coordinated a covert missile strike against an enemy aircraft. The missile locked onto the aircraft, and its crew received a radar warning.

• Jiang Yan Hai’s team equipped themselves with weapons and continued toward the rendezvous point while Er Dan guided their route by satellite.
• Jiang Yan Hai received Gao Yun’s inquiry and had Er Dan send the order to proceed with the plan.
• Gao Yun ordered the submarine Sea Squid to execute the mission, and its captain launched a missile.
• Er Dan interfered with the enemy aircraft’s radar as Sephora investigated the virus affecting its systems.
• The missile’s seeker acquired the aircraft, triggering its radar warning receiver and alerting the crew that they had been locked on.

A hypersonic missile destroyed Sephora’s aircraft, cutting off the Sha Chen Organization’s external communications. Jiang Yan Hai reached a secret base near the target city and prepared to plan an approach that would avoid harming civilians.

• The missile ignored the aircraft’s countermeasures and struck its tail, killing Sephora and destroying the plane.
• Gao Yun received confirmation that all targets had been eliminated, and the nuclear submarine retrieved its communications buoy before heading back.
• Jiang Yan Hai received the report that Sephora was gone and concluded Sha Chen would have limited time to respond.
• Jiang Yan Hai and his team reached Black Lion’s temporary base thirteen kilometers from the target city, where they learned about the Rebel Army presence and available drones.
• Black Lion identified a guarded three-story building where apparent researchers frequently entered and left, while Jiang Yan Hai weighed the danger of approaching through a dense civilian neighborhood.

Jiang Yan Hai planned a daytime assault on the enemy’s building, dividing his forces into three teams and assigning himself to Leng Feng’s group. He explained that he wanted to guide Leng Feng’s soldiers through urban combat among civilians, and the teams prepared to enter the city the next morning.

• Jiang Yan Hai chose a daytime operation because the city’s civilians and the enemy’s familiarity with the terrain made a nighttime attack more dangerous.
• Jiang Yan Hai assigned three combat teams to attack from different directions, with his team drawing enemy forces while the other two advanced on the target building.
• Black Lion volunteered his team for the vanguard, but Jiang Yan Hai ordered him to follow the plan and said he would join Leng Feng’s team.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Black Lion’s team that he chose Leng Feng’s soldiers because they lacked experience in urban combat among civilians.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the teams to change gear that night and blend into the city in the morning.

Jiang Yan Hai revealed his identity as a Dark Blade colonel and warned the three teams about the dangers of fighting rebels among civilians. He left them preparing for battle with new camouflage and advanced protective equipment.

• Jiang Yan Hai identified himself as Liston Han Xiao, codename Technician, and as Dark Blade colonel Haidongqing.
• Jiang Yan Hai warned the teams that they could face over a thousand Rebel Army soldiers and urged them not to die through reckless attempts to protect civilians.
• Shao Bing confirmed Jiang Yan Hai's identity, and the soldiers accepted his orders to gear up in thirty minutes.
• Jiang Yan Hai's three combat teams gathered in a resupplied warehouse and changed into jungle camouflage.
• Jiang Yan Hai issued the teams custom Kevlar vests and Superalloy inserts designed to stop bullets and reduce injuries.

Jiang Yan Hai equipped the teams with advanced armor, helmets, and support equipment before leading them toward the city. By dawn, the teams had infiltrated the outskirts and gathered at cars left there during reconnaissance.

• Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated that a new-alloy helmet could withstand a 7.62-millimeter sniper round, though he warned that the impact could still be fatal.
• Jiang Yan Hai outfitted the teams with beacons, ammunition, infrared detectors, and other equipment, and warned the snipers to stay near their combat teams.
• Before dawn, Jiang Yan Hai and the teams took Ramsey to a nearby mountain so she could operate the drones while a mercenary guarded her.
• Several hours later, the teams slipped into the city outskirts, where they found the cars Black Lion and the others had previously hidden.
• The teams climbed into the vehicles in groups and waited for dawn.

Jiang Yan Hai and his fourteen-man team infiltrated the city, using a drone to find a way past the checkpoints and into the core district. When Rebel Army patrols blocked their route near the target, Jiang Yan Hai ordered the team into combat and led them forward.

• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the drone operation to begin, and Ramsey found an alley route past the checkpoints.
• Jiang Yan Hai led his team through the alley and over a wall into the core district.
• Ramsey reported armed patrols ahead, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered his team to prepare for combat.
• Leng Feng fired into the air to drive civilians away from the streets.
• Jiang Yan Hai shot a Rebel Army soldier in a second-floor window and ordered his team to advance.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team fought through a residential district as the Rebel Army swarmed their position. They destroyed an enemy heavy-machine-gun truck and drew most of the enemy forces away, allowing Teams Two and Three to advance toward the target building, while Jiang Yan Hai remained under rocket fire.

• Jiang Yan Hai and Leng Feng led their team through the residential district while Rebel Army soldiers attacked from all sides.
• Jiang Yan Hai pulled a soldier into a house to escape a twin-mounted heavy machine gun, and Leng Feng and Shao Bing helped suppress it.
• Jiang Yan Hai destroyed the machine-gun truck with a Grenade Launcher Round, and his team charged toward the target building.
• Ramsey reported that most Rebel Army forces were converging on Jiang Yan Hai, so he ordered Teams Two and Three to advance and told Black Lion to secure the buildings around the target.
• A rocket forced Jiang Yan Hai through a nearby window, and he charged toward the other doorway as the blast struck behind him.

Jiang Yan Hai and his soldiers fought to escape a street ambush as Rebel Army tanks and machine guns pinned them down. After Ramsey’s drone destroyed both tanks and crashed into a machine-gun position, Jiang Yan Hai used smoke and infrared detectors to prepare the team to charge across the street.

• Jiang Yan Hai spotted two approaching tanks and ordered his team to move, then took bullets while shielding a soldier and killed nearby enemies.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Leng Feng and Shao Bing to deploy smoke grenades as tank shells blasted nearby buildings and injured two soldiers.
• Ramsey’s drone fired its two missiles and destroyed both tanks, causing their ammunition to explode and killing nearby Rebel Army soldiers.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Ramsey to crash the drone into a protected machine-gun position, opening a hole in the building.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s team filled the street with smoke and used helmet-mounted infrared detectors to locate the enemy before charging across.

Jiang Yan Hai’s team captured a research facility, rescued eight kidnapped scientists, and discovered that the researchers were developing radar-absorbing materials rather than studying Energy Ore. The team loaded the scientists and research materials into trucks and escaped the facility under Black Lion’s cover.

• Leng Feng and another sniper suppressed the Rebel Army’s machine guns while Jiang Yan Hai and Shao Bing used grenades to destroy enemy positions and open a route into the building.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s team cleared the facility and found research equipment but no Energy Ore, while Black Lion’s group established a defensive line outside.
• Jiang Yan Hai questioned eight captive scientists, who explained that they had been forced to develop materials that could absorb radar waves.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered Leng Feng to collect the research materials and hard drives, then prepared three trucks to evacuate the scientists and his team.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s convoy smashed through the building’s gate and escaped under fire with help from Black Lion’s defensive line and Ramsey’s drone guidance.

Jiang Yan Hai concluded that Sandstorm’s supposed new-material research was a decoy and traced suspicious supply trucks to a village near a government military base. After dispatching the scientists and setting out to investigate on foot, he examined information about the nearby base and its commander.

• Jiang Yan Hai reasoned that Sandstorm’s research facility had to be somewhere populated and ordered Ramsey to trace the supply trucks’ routes.
• Ramsey found that tarp-covered trucks repeatedly passed through a village thirty kilometers southeast, near a small city and government military base.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered his team to approach the village on foot without notifying the government forces, and sent Group Three to escort the scientists away.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s team abandoned their vehicles in the forest while Ramsey used drones to reconnoiter the village.
• Jiang Yan Hai reviewed information Er Dan gathered about the military base and the Republic of Goa’s political standoff between government forces and the Rebel Army.

Jiang Yan Hai investigated the government troops near the Rebel Army territory and led his team toward a suspicious village. After identifying a likely target there, he decided they would rest in a nearby farmstead and assess the situation before acting the next day.

• Jiang Yan Hai learned that the military base’s leadership and soldiers belonged to government-loyal tribal groups, though he still suspected an undiscovered connection.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Gao Yun to have officials verify whether the Republic of Goa troops along the Rebel Army border could be trusted.
• Jiang Yan Hai and his team reached a large farmstead near the village and cut through its fence to hide in the fields for the night.
• Ramsey showed reconnaissance footage indicating that newer buildings in the village’s southwest and nearby patrol routes might mark their target.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided the team would rest and wait until the next day, while Black Lion and the others held off on attacking until he gave the order.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team found a vegetable farm, ate fresh produce, and settled in for the night. They discovered the farm owners were Chinese but stayed hidden to avoid alarming them while on their mission.

• Jiang Yan Hai and his group found well-tended tomato, cucumber, and watermelon fields and ate the produce, with Inov offering to pay the owner.
• White Headed Eagle and other snipers stood guard while the team ate and waited for nightfall.
• White Headed Eagle spotted the farm owners, and Jiang Yan Hai used low-light binoculars to see a phone bearing a Chinese flag.
• Leng Feng confirmed the farm owners were Chinese, but Shao Bing and the others decided not to approach them.
• Jiang Yan Hai began resting as Black Lion's side arranged watch rotations, and the team slept in the dark.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team woke to armed men approaching the farmer’s house and learned that a local gang was threatening the owners over their farm. Because the team owed the farmers money for their food, Jiang Yan Hai ordered his men to move in and protect them.

• White Headed Eagle woke Jiang Yan Hai and the others after spotting three vehicles heading toward the farmer’s house.
• Jiang Yan Hai and his team crawled closer and heard the farmers say the Kaman Gang might be coming to force them to sell their farm.
• Leng Feng explained that the gang was threatening the farmers, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered Black Lion to circle around while the snipers protected the owners.
• Jiang Yan Hai gave further orders as his teams advanced through the grass toward the armed men, while Ramsey stayed with the snipers.

Jiang Yan Hai and his team watched as Bamanhe threatened Boss Yang’s family into selling their farm for a fraction of its value. As Bamanhe pressed his advantage, Jiang Yan Hai prepared a quiet intervention and used national flag patches as part of his plan, but the confrontation had not yet turned violent.

• Jiang Yan Hai and his team approached unseen while Bamanhe demanded that Boss Yang sell the farm for one million Gadan.
• Boss Yang offered to sell the farm and its equipment for half the 600,000 RMB he had paid, but Bamanhe refused and had his men aim their rifles.
• Jiang Yan Hai told his team to prepare silencers and flashbang grenades, keep the three men alive, and avoid firing unless Bamanhe’s side fired first.
• Boss Yang warned Bamanhe that the embassy knew about the situation, but Bamanhe threatened to flee to Rebel Army territory if he killed the family.
• Jiang Yan Hai instructed Leng Feng’s squad to wear national flag patches, took one for himself, and told Black Lion’s men to stay hidden.
• Bamanhe urged Boss Yang to think of his wife and taunted him to bring in his country’s military, leaving the standoff unresolved.

Jiang Yan Hai and the Chinese Special Forces rescued Boss Yang and his men from Bamanhe and his soldiers at the farm. The chapter ended with Jiang Yan Hai greeting an overwhelmed Boss Yang.

• Bamanhe offered Boss Yang 30,000 RMB for the farm and threatened that his homeland could not save him.
• Jiang Yan Hai and thirteen other special forces soldiers emerged from hiding and surrounded Bamanhe’s men.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the soldiers to drop their weapons, and Leng Feng and the others disarmed them.
• Jiang Yan Hai knocked Bamanhe’s gun aside, kicked him down, and captured him.
• Jiang Yan Hai greeted Boss Yang in Chinese, and Boss Yang struggled to express his relief and disbelief.