Chapter Summaries

Chen Mo showed Li Chengzhi a seismometer built from the principles in his controversial paper and asked him to arrange its deployment near the Mariana earthquake zone. After Li Chengzhi agreed to seek help, Chen Mo continued modifying the device to withstand deep-sea pressure and transmit warning signals.

• Li Chengzhi visited Ant Army Company and asked Chen Mo why he had summoned him.
• Chen Mo took Li Chengzhi into his laboratory and showed him the seismometer based on his earthquake-prediction paper.
• Chen Mo asked Li Chengzhi to help deploy six seismometers near Mariana, and Li Chengzhi agreed to consult the Academy of Sciences’ oceanographic expedition.
• Li Chengzhi photographed the instrument and left to seek arrangements for its deployment.
• Chen Mo continued modifying the seismometer to handle deep-sea pressure and send signals to the outside world.

Wu Zhen, a veteran earthquake researcher who had lost his family in an earthquake, examined Chen Mo’s paper and seismograph, hoping the device might advance earthquake early warning. He agreed to help Chen Mo secure field tests, leaving Chen Mo to prepare the instruments for deployment on land and at sea.

• Wu Zhen repeatedly studied Chen Mo’s earthquake early warning paper but could not identify its most important principle.
• Li Chengzhi visited Wu Zhen and showed him photos of Chen Mo’s seismograph, prompting Wu Zhen to ask to see it.
• Li Chengzhi brought Wu Zhen to Ant Army Company, where Chen Mo explained that he had withheld the paper’s core details to prevent the technology from leaking.
• Wu Zhen examined the seismograph and learned that Chen Mo planned to test it in snowy regions and the Western Pacific.
• Wu Zhen asked to access the instrument’s collected data if it proved useful, and Chen Mo welcomed him into the planned research collaboration.
• Wu Zhen agreed to help Chen Mo secure the experiment, while Chen Mo prepared to modify the seismographs for seafloor deployment.

Chen Mo completed modified seismographs for the snow-region survey and the Academy of Sciences’ ocean expedition, then shipped the equipment to the teams responsible for installing it. The snow-region installations began successfully, while Wu Zhen’s expedition prepared to inspect the remaining seismographs before placing them in the Mariana Trench.

• Chen Mo modified seabed seismographs with Mo Nv’s help, adding pressure-resistant structures, one-way extremely low-frequency transmitters, and safeguards against unauthorized recovery.
• After the final crates were loaded at Binhai Port, Chen Mo gave Li Chengzhi a tutorial video for Wu Zhen and explained the seismographs’ self-destruct protection.
• Chen Mo promised Xiao Yu a couple of days off and agreed to take her to a movie after two months of work.
• Zhang Songlin and his team installed and calibrated a seismograph in the snow region, while Luo Changhua’s team carried out the same work elsewhere.
• Wu Zhen’s expedition team opened six crates aboard the ship and discovered the modified seabed seismographs intended for placement in the Mariana Trench.

Wu Zhen’s research team completed installing seismographs on the Pacific seabed, while Chen Mo began researching room-temperature superconducting silicon carbide. The chapter ended with Mo Nv telling Chen Mo that people from the Island Nation had salvaged one of the seismographs.

• Wu Zhen explained that the Ant Army Company instruments were seismographs based on Chen Mo’s earthquake early-warning research, and defended testing the experimental design.
• Wu Zhen’s team deployed five seismographs during a half-month research voyage and successfully installed the sixth in the West Pacific.
• Shi Tengchuan Ying tracked the Huaxia research vessel, found a metallic object with sonar, and ordered his crew to salvage it.
• Chen Mo analyzed early seismograph data and focused on synthesizing high-purity silicon carbide for room-temperature superconducting materials.
• Mo Nv told Chen Mo that the Island Nation people had salvaged one of the seismographs.

Chen Mo confirmed that Ant Army Company’s salvaged device was a seismometer and said its core technology could not be leaked. A week later, Mo Nv delivered the first warning of a possible magnitude 6.0 earthquake in the West Pacific, putting the instrument to its first real test.

• Chen Mo told reporters that Island Nation had salvaged Ant Army Company’s test equipment and confirmed that it was a seismometer under development.
• Chen Mo said the seismometer might predict earthquakes but still needed verification, and he assured reporters that its technology could not be leaked.
• Li Lingfeng told Chen Mo and Zhao Min that Island Nation was delaying the return of the instrument and had denied him a visa.
• Chen Mo explained that the salvaged device’s chip had been destroyed and told Zhao Min not to waste too much time trying to recover it.
• A week later, Mo Nv warned Chen Mo that the seismometer had detected a geomagnetic anomaly in the West Pacific and that a magnitude 6.0 earthquake might occur in two hours.

Chen Mo learned that American and Island Nation forces were heading to salvage his seismometer, so he announced a subtle earthquake warning to show the consequences of interfering with his equipment. The warning spread worldwide as both forces raced toward its coordinates, leaving the predicted earthquake and the seismometer’s fate unresolved.

• Shi Tengchuan Ying and Carter redirected their forces toward the undersea signal, hoping to salvage Ant Army Company's equipment.
• Mo Nv told Chen Mo that American warships and the Island Nation were heading for the seismometer.
• Chen Mo informed Zhao Min that he would publish a warning about a possible earthquake near the seismometer's location.
• Chen Mo posted a subtle warning on Ant Army Company's website, giving coordinates and predicting a magnitude 6.0 earthquake within two hours.
• Media outlets worldwide circulated the warning, and Shi Tengchuan Ying and the American military raced toward the target waters.

After Army Ant’s earthquake prediction proved accurate, Liu Qiang and others deleted their smear articles and apologized to Chen Mo, while the seismometer’s importance stunned the world. Carter’s crew found the signal device in the West Pacific, but an Island Nation fleet arrived as they began salvaging it.

• Carter’s warship was jolted by the earthquake, but he ordered the crew to continue toward the signal’s source.
• The United States Geological Survey and the Island Nation Meteorological Agency reported a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in the West Pacific and issued tsunami warnings.
• Liu Qiang felt ashamed of smearing Army Ant, deleted his article, and wrote, “We Owe Chen Mo an Apology!”
• Netizens and media deleted or withdrew their attacks, and Army Ant’s official Weibo account gained five million followers in less than half an hour.
• Carter’s crew detected the device that had sent the signal and prepared to haul it aboard.
• A soldier warned Carter that an Island Nation fleet was approaching, but Carter ordered the salvage operation to proceed.

After the seismographs successfully predicted an earthquake, Chen Mo warned countries that had recovered Ant Army Company instruments to return them and pay compensation. Cheng Guo, director of the Earthquake Administration, then arranged to test and purchase twenty seismographs, leaving Chen Mo and Li Chengzhi alone to continue their discussion.

• Chen Mo learned that the U.S. military had recovered a seismograph and ordered Ant Army Company to demand its return within three days, warning of consequences otherwise.
• Cheng Guo and Li Chengzhi visited Ant Army Company so Cheng Guo could seek help deploying seismographs across the country.
• Chen Mo said he could not supply enough instruments for nationwide coverage, but agreed to provide twenty for test zones.
• Cheng Guo agreed that the Earthquake Administration would consider buying the twenty instruments for one hundred million once their effectiveness was confirmed.
• Zhao Min took Cheng Guo on a tour of the company, while Chen Mo and Li Chengzhi stayed behind.

Chen Mo assured Li Chengzhi that the seismometer’s technology remained secure and gave him a research paper to pass to Wu Zhen. Meanwhile, American and Island Nation officials sought intact devices after the salvaged American seismometer proved burned out, and the Island Nation navy was ordered to search the seabed again.

• Li Chengzhi told Chen Mo that Chile and Indonesia were interested in the seismometer and asked whether its technology had leaked; Chen Mo assured him it had not.
• Chen Mo gave Li Chengzhi the complete Earthquake Early Warning research paper and asked him to pass it to Wu Zhen.
• At Norfolk Naval Base, Carter watched experts open the salvaged seismometer, whose internal components had been burned out.
• A military officer demanded surveillance footage and confronted Carter, who insisted that his people had not damaged the device.
• Shi Tengchuan Ying received an order from his elderly superior to search the route of the China Scientific Expedition Team with sonar and find an intact seismometer.

Chen Mo and Zhao Min discussed the seismograph’s global attention, production, and pricing as Chen Mo prepared to research room-temperature superconducting material. Zhao Min warned him to keep a low profile and stay safe, while Ant Army Company prepared to sell the technology to countries for $50 million per unit.

• Chen Mo shared a warm breakfast with Xiao Yu before they went to work at Ant Army Company.
• Zhao Min told Chen Mo that seismograph production procedures were underway and that the company had attracted intense attention and a record-breaking valuation.
• Zhao Min warned Chen Mo to avoid causing more trouble and to protect his personal safety because powerful interests might target him.
• Zhao Min explained that ambassadors from earthquake-prone countries wanted information about the seismograph’s accuracy and price.
• Chen Mo estimated the device’s production cost at about three million and said its accuracy might reach eighty percent, while Zhao Min proposed a selling price of $50 million per unit.

Chen Mo announced that three seismometers had detected a possible super earthquake in the West Pacific, while Japanese and American warships moved to salvage them. As the predicted hour ended, a major undersea earthquake began.

• Shi Tengchuan Ying's fleet detected signals from three seismometers and headed toward one of them to salvage it.
• Mo Nv told Chen Mo that three seismometers had issued warnings and that Japanese and American warships were approaching them.
• After Zhao Min approved, Chen Mo posted an announcement warning of earthquakes and a possible super earthquake in the West Pacific one hour later.
• People debated the warning, while residents in the Island Nation fled coastal areas and Yihe Haoer spotted signs of an impending earthquake.
• Shi Tengchuan Ying received a warning from headquarters and ordered his fleet to slow down.
• After an hour passed, the Pacific seabed shook and massive cracks appeared as the disaster began.

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck offshore from Sendai, and authorities issued a tsunami warning as residents fled for high ground and ships raced out to sea. The tsunami surged inland, swallowing homes, vehicles, and people while Akashi watched from a mountain.

• Takagi Akiko escaped her shaking home barefoot and reached an open area, where she saw the district reduced to rubble.
• Kato Masa ordered the Island Country Meteorological Agency to release earthquake information and a tsunami warning after monitoring confirmed the magnitude 8.9 quake.
• Kishimoto turned his fishing vessel away from the harbor and headed for open water, while other ships also fled the coast.
• Yasui abandoned his trapped car and ran toward the mountains as traffic clogged the roads in Miyagi Prefecture.
• Akashi watched from a mountain as the tsunami surged inland, carrying ships and vehicles and swallowing homes and people.

After the Island Nation’s earthquake, Ant Army Company faced international demands to disclose its seismograph technology but declined. Chen Mo and Zhao Min agreed to help build China’s earthquake early warning network, while Zhao set a steep export price for the seismographs.

• News outlets reported the earthquake’s devastation and noted that Ant Army Company had warned of the disaster an hour before it struck.
• Online voices and international media demanded that Ant Army Company disclose its seismograph technology, and the company responded that its equipment had not been close enough to the epicenter to identify the earthquake’s center or magnitude.
• Yao Yi invited Ant Army Company to participate in Bin Hai City’s Smart City project and reported that the seismograph production license had been approved.
• Cheng Guo said the country planned to buy two hundred seismographs for an earthquake early warning network, and Chen Mo offered them at roughly three million per unit.
• Li Chengzhi offered help with production equipment and asked Ant Army Company to prioritize the domestic network; Zhao Min quoted an export price of fifty million US dollars per unit.

Chen Mo refused the Island Nation’s request to buy seismographs until it returned the salvaged device and compensated Ant Army Company. After the Island Nation embassy realized the refusal stemmed from the earlier dispute, its government agreed to return the damaged seismograph, leaving the purchase negotiations unresolved.

• Xiao Yu told Chen Mo that the Island Nation Embassy wanted to discuss buying seismographs, and Chen Mo refused until the country returned the salvaged device and compensated Ant Army Company.
• Chen Mo learned that New Zealand and several other countries were interested in buying seismographs, while he focused on purifying room-temperature superconducting material for chip production.
• Inada Jinan complained that Ant Army Company had rejected his request, and Yokoi Go suggested the refusal was due to the Island Nation’s failure to return the salvaged seismograph.
• Inada Jinan contacted the government, which agreed to return the damaged seismograph because it had already extracted what it could from the device.

Chen Mo and Zhao Min turned the Island Nation’s private return of the damaged seismograph into a public ceremony at Ant Army Company. Chen Mo then revealed that two nearby seismographs had been salvaged, leaving the Island Nation’s representatives facing reporters as he suggested someone had taken the second one too.

• Zhao Min told Chen Mo that the Island Nation planned to return the seismograph privately, and they agreed to publicize the handover.
• Inada Jinan arrived at Binhai Port and brought the seismograph to Ant Army Company with Yokoi Go and an interpreter.
• Inada Jinan discovered reporters and a return-ceremony banner at Ant Army Company, then apologized publicly while Chen Mo posed with him beside the seismograph.
• Chen Mo announced that Ant Army Company would donate the seismograph to a museum in Bin Hai City and said he regretted that it could not provide the earthquake’s precise location warning.
• Chen Mo showed a map of six seismographs and revealed that the salvaged instrument and a second one had both been taken from the waters near the earthquake’s epicenter.

Chen Mo revealed that a salvaged seismometer had prevented Ant Army Company from accurately locating the super earthquake, fueling anger at the Island Nation government. After admitting to Zhao Min that the United States had salvaged the second seismometer, he left its identity undisclosed for lack of evidence.

• Chen Mo said the salvaged seismometer had left Ant Army Company unable to accurately locate the super earthquake, and his remarks spread across Island Nation’s social media.
• Island Nation’s death toll and missing-person count rose, and opposition parties and protesters blamed the government for salvaging the seismometer.
• Inada Jinan learned that Ant Army Company would discuss the damaged seismometer only after receiving double compensation of 100 million US Dollars.
• Chen Mo told Zhao Min that he had announced the earthquake warning to keep the seismometer experiment from being wasted if it was salvaged again.
• Chen Mo told Zhao Min that the United States had salvaged the second seismometer, but he had withheld the accusation because he lacked evidence.

An Yuanxin arranged to leak photographs of the Americans salvaging the seismometer, while Chen Mo spent a quiet evening with Xiao Yu before learning the leak had triggered a public feud between the United States and the Island Nation. The Island Nation government gained relief from public anger, and Chen Mo watched the fallout from the sidelines.

• An Yuanxin ordered Shi Tengchuan Ying to keep the seismometer photographs secret, then gave them to a man to post online as pictures taken by fishermen.
• Chen Mo and Xiao Yu walked by the sea in the rain, where Xiao Yu shared memories of her father and showed him the conch shell she used to make wishes.
• Mo Nv told Chen Mo that the Island Nation had released photographs of the Americans salvaging the seismometer the previous night.
• The photographs fueled anger in the Island Nation and sparked an online insult war between Island Nation and American netizens.
• Chen Mo observed that the leak redirected public resentment away from the Island Nation government and toward the United States.

Chen Mo confirmed that his synthesized material had reached 92% purity and continued pursuing superconducting chips while inspecting expanded Seismograph production. He asked Zhao Min to obtain the best lithography machine available for a special chip design, despite export restrictions.

• Chen Mo tested the synthesized crystalline powder and found it had 92% purity, enough for superconducting circuits but not yet his ultimate goal of making a superconducting chip.
• Xiao Yu told Chen Mo that Seismograph production equipment had arrived, and he went with her to inspect it at the parts-processing factory.
• Zhao Min introduced the new precision machines and senior fitters, and Chen Mo told the workers that Seismograph components had to meet extremely high quality standards.
• Chen Mo asked Zhao Min about Seismograph orders, and she said countries were watching and waiting because of the high price and the need to establish a domestic network first.
• Chen Mo asked Zhao Min to import a lithography machine for experiments, and she warned that export restrictions could prevent them from obtaining high-end equipment.
• Chen Mo said he needed the machine for a special chip design and would accept the highest-precision model they could obtain.

Chen Mo entered the Sci-Tech Library and chose to study computer technology, but the flood of information overwhelmed him and left him ill. After Xiao Yu cared for him and he recovered, Chen Mo prepared to examine the technology he had received.

• Zhao Min accepted Chen Mo's request to find him a lithography machine, while Chen Mo returned to his office to plan his confidential superconducting chip experiments.
• Chen Mo entered the Sci-Tech Library and chose the computer technology book from among the seven remaining fields.
• The computer technology information overwhelmed Chen Mo, and he collapsed in the library, suffering severe dizziness and nausea.
• Xiao Yu responded to Mo Nv's alert, comforted Chen Mo after he woke and vomited, and arranged for him to visit a hospital after work.
• Chen Mo slept until evening, woke feeling recovered, and began checking what technology he had received.

After recovering, Chen Mo returned to the company and began planning robot and supercomputer chip designs, while learning that advanced lithography equipment was unavailable. Terry visited to discuss the damaged seismograph and request exports, and Zhao Min hinted she had a way to help him.

• Chen Mo returned to work after several peaceful days with Xiao Yu and asked Mo Nv to design robot chips and high-efficiency supercomputer chips.
• Zhao Min told Chen Mo that ASML would not sell EUV equipment and would only offer outdated lithography machines, so he declined the offer.
• Zhao Min reported that the company could assemble three seismographs a day using its available equipment.
• Terry told Chen Mo that the United States had found and damaged one of Ant Army Company's seismographs and said it would return the instrument.
• Terry asked to buy two seismographs, and Zhao Min said she had a solution.