Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yan Hai and the defenders held the Great Wall against an overwhelming Taotie swarm that surpassed two million, as their weapons began to fail and the enemy piled corpses toward the ramparts. Once command confirmed no more Taotie were emerging from the cave, Jiang Yan Hai ordered the artillery to begin a coordinated barrage.

• Drones estimated that more than two million Taotie were attacking the Great Wall, while machine-gun fire piled their corpses into a rising wall.
• After sustained firing damaged machine-gun barrels and motors, ordinary soldiers joined the defense with Assault Rifles.
• The Taotie reached the base of the wall, and Yang Rui urged Jiang Yan Hai to bring in the artillery, but Jiang Yan Hai waited for command's report.
• Command reported that no more Taotie were emerging from the cave, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered rocket artillery and 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzers to extend their fire between the cave and the Great Wall.

Jiang Yan Hai showed Commander Lin and the other generals how his forces used 155mm howitzers for a sustained firepower cover against the Taotie. As the bombardment continued, he launched 192 specially enhanced rockets into the valley, where the first scattered a white powder that suddenly ignited.

• Commander Lin asked Jiang Yan Hai about the attacks, and he explained that his forces had so far used only light weapons to avoid casualties.
• Jiang Yan Hai revealed that the twelve 155mm howitzers were firing, and their shells struck the Taotie near the Great Wall in a continuous bombardment.
• Commander Lin and the other generals watched the artillery devastate the Taotie, while some survivors continued charging toward the wall.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered 192 specially enhanced rockets to strike the valley between the Great Wall and the cave, while other artillery covered the middle area.
• The rockets flew into the valley, and the first exploded above the ground, scattering white powder that then burst into flames.

Jiang Yan Hai’s forces used enhanced white phosphorus incendiary shells to trap and burn the Taotie, ending the assault on the Great Wall. With the battle over, Jiang Yan Hai planned a counterattack and agreed to help rebuild the wall if his forces withdrew.

• Jiang Yan Hai’s incendiary shells spread flames across the valley, burning Taotie and even rocks as the fire grew from the piles of corpses.
• With the flames blocking reinforcements, the soldiers finished off the scattered Taotie while Jiang Yan Hai considered how to clear the valley and move vehicles through it.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Commander Lin about their discussions, and Commander Lin agreed to the plan to blast down the Great Wall on the condition that Jiang Yan Hai help rebuild it if he withdrew.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered engineering units forward, the armored regiment to prepare to move in, and the artillery regiment to establish three defensive lines for a possible attack that night.
• Commander Lin recognized that Jiang Yan Hai’s forces had concealed powerful weapons and equipment that the Song Dynasty’s soldiers would be unable to withstand.

Jiang Yan Hai and the engineering corps demolished sections of the Great Wall to make a route for heavy equipment and a passage through the Taotie-facing wall. They used experimental quick-drying cement to turn the rubble slope into a road, leaving a six-meter-wide crossing ready for use.

• Jiang Yan Hai mapped the Great Wall's structure and helped install shaped-charge explosives while the engineering units prepared to open the gatehouse for heavy machinery.
• The engineering units demolished the gatehouse and cleared a fifteen-meter-wide route with excavators and bulldozers.
• The engineers blasted a thirty-meter-wide section of the Taotie-facing wall, leaving rubble slopes too steep and unstable for tanks.
• The engineering officer had the crew reinforce the slope's sides with steel pillars and plates, then pour Type-1 Quick-Drying Cement mixed with Material Number 2 through the rubble.
• Jiang Yan Hai watched the cement seep into the stones and solidify in fifteen minutes as the crew completed a six-meter-wide sloping road across the Great Wall's foundation in two hours.

Jiang Yan Hai led an armored regiment through the Great Wall and into the cave where the Taotie had emerged. The troops discovered a Stargate opening onto an unfamiliar forest, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered them to advance.

• Commander Lin watched the engineering troops quickly repair the Great Wall and clear a route through the Taotie corpses.
• Jiang Yan Hai refused Commander Lin’s request to join the expedition, then ordered the armored regiment to move out.
• The armored regiment crossed the valley and entered the cave, with drones scouting ahead.
• An information soldier reported that the drones had found an empty chamber containing a Stargate and an unfamiliar forest beyond it.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the regiment to advance at full speed.

Jiang Yan Hai inspected an ancient, unstable Star Gate and learned that neither his troops nor the Shadowless Imperial Guard could pass through it. After reporting the risks and recommending a shutdown experiment, he received approval from the country to proceed.

• Jiang Yan Hai deployed tanks and armored vehicles around the Star Gate and ordered soldiers to inspect the cave.
• The Red Star Engine identified the gate as an obsolete Alpha-1 type, and Er Dan confirmed it could be shut down using Star Gate energy.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that Taotie, possibly including the Beast Kings, had retreated through the gate and ordered a ground defensive line and scanning equipment from headquarters.
• Headquarters sent scanning instruments and experts, and Jiang Yan Hai reported the gate's instability and uncertain threat to the country.
• Jiang Yan Hai recommended interfering with and shutting down the gate as an experiment, and the Old Commander approved the plan while stressing personnel safety.

Jiang Yan Hai and the scientists shut down the Star Gate, recovered their equipment, and demolished the cave to seal the site. With the gate gone and the area secured, Jiang Yan Hai ordered the force to return to the Great Wall.

• Jiang Yan Hai and the team installed explosives throughout the cave and set up a device to interfere with the Star Gate using Star Gate ore.
• Professor Li activated the shutdown device, and the Star Gate’s energy collapsed and vanished.
• Professor Li led the scientists and Yang Rui’s squad into the cave to recover the equipment, then withdrew with everyone safely.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the explosives detonated, collapsing the cave and the ground above it.
• Jiang Yan Hai watched the drone footage and ordered the force to return to the Great Wall.

After the Shadowless Imperial Guard celebrated the destruction of the Taotie, Jiang Yan Hai told Commander Lin Mei that his forces would soon leave the Great Wall. Lin Mei confessed her feelings, but Jiang Yan Hai gently turned her down and departed after revealing that Commander Shao had been rescued.

• News that Jiang Yan Hai's unit had wiped out the Taotie spread through the Shadowless Imperial Guard, and both armies celebrated together.
• Commander Lin asked Jiang Yan Hai to drink wine, but Jiang Yan Hai refused because his army's discipline forbade alcohol.
• After the feast, Commander Lin asked whether Jiang Yan Hai would return, and he said his people might build a city nearby but he could receive other orders.
• Lin Mei confessed that she was a woman, told Jiang Yan Hai he was the most captivating man she had met, and asked whether concubines were allowed in Great Qin.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Lin Mei that Great Qin practiced monogamy and that he was already married, then said she deserved to be loved and left after telling her Commander Shao had been rescued.

Jiang Yan Hai left Lin Mei and returned through the Star Gate, where he handed command of both worlds to He Zhi Jun. Afterward, he reunited with Li Ruo Bai, while Lin Mei prepared to return to Bianliang to protect her soldiers’ future.

• Jiang Yan Hai left without saying goodbye to Commander Lin, and Lin Mei watched his departure from the city wall.
• Lin Mei ordered her guards to prepare her armor and told the generals to accompany her to Bianliang to report for duty.
• Jiang Yan Hai passed through the Star Gate, visited He Zhi Jun, and handed him supreme command of the Great Qin and Song Dynasty worlds.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered how the worlds might be developed, including the contained Red Mad Wolf, the Taotie threat, and Great Qin people settling new regions.
• Jiang Yan Hai reunited with Li Ruo Bai and apologized for being unable to take her around because of his duties; she told him she was glad to know where he was.

Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai talked about his farewell to Commander Lin, Lin Mei’s responsibilities, and the future of the Song Dynasty world. The Star Gate had closed, leaving the newly connected world to be occupied and developed, while an expedition investigated ancient ruins in South America.

• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Ruo Bai that he had left without saying goodbye to Commander Lin because they might never meet again and he hoped she would learn to be a commander.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that Commander Shao would return to become one of the Shadowless Imperial Guard and take on some of Advisor Wang’s former responsibilities.
• Li Ruo Bai reflected that Lin Mei carried more responsibility than she did, and Jiang Yan Hai agreed that their lives had been very different.
• Jiang Yan Hai said the Song Dynasty world had abundant unclaimed land that could be occupied and developed or claimed by placing markers.
• Jiang Yan Hai described satellite surveys that found no signs of civilization in North America, while an advance team investigated ancient ruins in South America.

Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai left Great Qin after the Song Dynasty and Great Qin aftermath no longer needed his attention, then returned to reality and visited Wolf Fang. Jiang Yan Hai reunited with Gao Da Zhuang and went to his old warehouse, where Li Ruo Bai saw the site of his past rifle research.

• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai discussed how the world was changing and hoped their country would become the strongest.
• After a few more days in Great Qin, Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai said farewell and returned to reality.
• Jiang Yan Hai took Li Ruo Bai to Wolf Fang, where Gao Da Zhuang welcomed them and told Jiang Yan Hai his old laboratory had been maintained.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Gao Da Zhuang reflected on how Wolf Fang and its recruits had changed since Jiang Yan Hai had served there.
• Jiang Yan Hai, Li Ruo Bai, and Gao Da Zhuang reached Jiang Yan Hai's warehouse, and the doors opened as Li Ruo Bai looked inside.

Jiang Yan Hai returned to the warehouse where he had developed the Type 19 Assault Rifle and prepared to test the Illusion Simulation Program against real-world data. He asked Old Liu for extensive materials data, explaining that he wanted to study an algorithm for simulating undiscovered materials.

• Old Gao showed Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai the maintained warehouse and arranged quarters for them at Wolf Fang Special Operations Base.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Li Ruo Bai that he had developed the Type 19 Assault Rifle in the warehouse and planned to use the equipment for an experiment.
• Jiang Yan Hai contacted Old Liu and requested data on new materials discovered in Great Qin, the newly discovered Song Dynasty, and Red Star.
• Jiang Yan Hai also asked Old Liu to copy all available data on existing materials, claiming he wanted to develop an algorithm to simulate undiscovered materials.

Jiang Yan Hai connected the Electronic Warfare Program to a vast materials database and instructed it to analyze manufacturing processes. After entering the upgraded Illusion Simulation Program, he learned it could simulate environments only as far as its recorded data allowed.

• Old Liu agreed to provide Jiang Yan Hai with a high-speed connection and a super administrator account for the databases.
• Jiang Yan Hai had Er Dan copy the materials database and search for modern materials science manufacturing processes.
• Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai stayed at the Wolf Fang base, and Jiang Yan Hai entered the Illusion Simulation Program after falling asleep.
• Er Dan explained that Jiang Yan Hai could run multiple kinds of simulations and choose their environments.
• Jiang Yan Hai tested simulations of Mars and a black hole, then learned that Earth’s data covered species and elements but did not create a complete replica of the planet.

Jiang Yan Hai used Er Dan’s Illusion Simulation Program to test materials and improve the Type 19 Assault Rifle’s accuracy. His work instead led him to develop core components for precision sensors used in automated CNC machine tools.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked Er Dan to create a Wolf Fang warehouse and production line in the simulation, then declined an offer to simulate Li Ruo Bai.
• Jiang Yan Hai requested lists of new materials and firearm substitutes, then began testing common metal alloys for the Type 19 Assault Rifle.
• Er Dan’s program accelerated material processing and simulated real-world errors, allowing Jiang Yan Hai to conduct tests rapidly.
• By dawn, Jiang Yan Hai had developed core components for several precision sensors after tracing rifle accuracy requirements back to CNC machining and machine-tool control.

Jiang Yan Hai explored the Illusion Simulation Program’s capabilities, using it to run a high-output Controlled Nuclear Fusion facility and learning that Er Dan could record failures and assist with simulations. He discovered that other researchers might access the program remotely through a powerful computer and an expanded 5G satellite network, opening the possibility of using it for broader scientific work.

• Jiang Yan Hai tested the Illusion Simulation Program by running a simulated Controlled Nuclear Fusion facility at high output for thirty-two minutes, while Er Dan recorded its malfunctions.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked Er Dan about thought acceleration and learned that its maximum ratio was 1:100, though Er Dan could not use it independently.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether other people could submit data remotely for simulations, and Er Dan said this was theoretically possible but had not been tested.
• Er Dan explained that remote simulations would require a supercomputer, an expanded 5G satellite network, and Jiang Yan Hai to remain connected to the network.

Jiang Yan Hai proposed connecting the Illusion Simulation Program to a supercomputer so scientists could view its simulations and run research at unprecedented speed and accuracy. The leaders approved the project and promised to deliver a supercomputer to him within about a week.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked Er Dan to test whether the Illusion Simulation Program's images could be synchronized to a computer screen, and Er Dan agreed.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided the project required a secret facility and a cutting-edge supercomputer, so he used his emergency authority to contact the nation's leaders directly.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the program could simulate scientific experiments with over ninety-nine percent overall accuracy and could help reduce the cost and risk of real-world tests.
• The leaders discussed Jiang Yan Hai's proposal and approved the purchase and delivery of a supercomputer within about a week.
• Jiang Yan Hai thanked the leaders for trusting him, and they urged him to proceed without restraint.

Jiang Yan Hai arranged for a supercomputer to be assembled at a secret strategic-reserve base in one week and connected it to Er Dan’s subprogram. The Pangu Program was put to its first test at Li Ruo Bai’s chip research institute, where the researchers saw a forest scene appear on their computers.

• Jiang Yan Hai’s supercomputer was assembled and brought online within a week at a reserve base, then connected remotely through the national defense fiber-optic network.
• Er Dan’s subprogram became the supercomputer’s operating system, hidden beneath an interface that appeared familiar to ordinary users.
• Li Ruo Bai’s chip research institute became the first department to test Jiang Yan Hai’s Pangu Program, which could simulate and calculate designs requiring 3-nanometer manufacturing technology.
• Jiang Yan Hai, Li Ruo Bai, and the researchers connected their computers to Pangu and were stunned when a forest scene appeared.

Researchers at the institute used the Pangu Program to simulate chip production and improve their lithography machine designs. After raising their 7nm machine’s simulated yield to 90%, the Lithography Machine Design team planned to build and test the improved design in reality, while the Chip Design team continued its slower work.

• Researchers adapted to the Pangu Program’s game-like interface and set up a simulated 3nm lithography machine production line.
• The Chip Design team entered chip designs and used the simulated line to test their performance without worrying about real-world production costs or low yields.
• The Lithography Machine Design team ran its real-world 7nm machine data through unlimited simulated production and corrected issues as they appeared.
• The design team raised the machine’s simulated yield from below 40% to 90% in just over two days.
• The Lithography Machine Design team stopped its simulation work and planned to build a real machine using the latest improvements for physical testing.

Jiang Yan Hai’s research institute prepared to trial a domestically developed 7nm lithography machine, drawing intense attention from government leaders and major electronics companies. As the machine began production, executives and officials watched from the observation room while Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai remained elsewhere to avoid exposure.

• Huawei, SMIC, and government officials followed the test, while other chip manufacturers awaited the result.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that China could produce the lithography machine’s critical components and that a successful 7nm machine could ease restrictions on Huawei and domestic chipmakers.
• Researchers modified an existing experimental lithography machine and completed the work in about ten days.
• More than twenty company executives and officials gathered to watch the machine begin trial production, while Jiang Yan Hai and Li Ruo Bai waited in another room with senior leaders.

A modified lithography machine produced and passed tests on its first batch of Huawei Kirin chips, achieving an 80% yield rate. The successful trial left the research institute and visiting company executives anticipating domestic chip independence and rapid progress toward more advanced machines.

• Professor Bai ordered the modified lithography machine to begin production, and the institute staff monitored its operation.
• The first chip completed packaging, and testers confirmed that the chips had no quality issues.
• After the machine ran for a full day, the final yield test showed an 80% success rate.
• Jiang Yan Hai and the institute’s senior colleagues celebrated the program behind the machine, which they believed could accelerate lithography research.
• The visiting electronics company executives anticipated that the institute would authorize their companies to manufacture with the machine.