Chapter Summaries

After confirming that Pioneer Technology’s Little Moss had surpassed foreign AI, the leaders summoned Luo Yao and learned about her capabilities. They asked him to lead a military AI project, but he refused and returned to rest, leaving the leaders unsure how to recruit him for Plan N, the Southern Sky Gate Plan.

• Professor Zhang reported Little Moss’s success to the capital, and the leaders verified that she had modified foreign AI databases beyond the experts’ ability to restore.
• Wang Ye told Luo Yao that Pioneer Technology was being accused of stealing Gemini’s code, and Luo Yao confirmed that Little Moss had modified the database.
• Professor Zhang summoned Luo Yao to the capital, where Luo Yao described Little Moss’s training, capabilities, and potential applications to the leaders.
• The leaders asked Luo Yao to lead a military AI project, but he refused and offered to authorize use of Little Moss without becoming deeply involved.
• After Luo Yao left, the leaders revealed that the project was Plan N, also called the Southern Sky Gate Plan, and worried about how to persuade him to join.

After Pioneer Technology’s Artificial Intelligence drew international attention, Professor Zhang and Dan Xing tried to protect Luo Yao and handle the Gemini team’s request for help. Luo Yao demanded an apology before assisting, but Gemini refused and instead suspended its service to remove the corrupted databases; Luo Yao then turned his attention to the battery project.

• Professor Zhang learned that Professor Quinn and the Googol team had asked Dan Xing for help fixing their database, and he advised Dan Xing to keep Luo Yao uninvolved for now.
• After returning to East City, Luo Yao told Dan Xing he would help Gemini only if its team apologized for slandering Pioneer Technology.
• Dan Xing confronted the Gemini team, but its representatives denied wrongdoing and refused Luo Yao’s demand to publish an account of the incident and apologize.
• As Googol’s market value fell, Gemini’s project director ordered the team to delete the problematic libraries and suspend its service rather than apologize.
• Dan Xing told Luo Yao that Gemini had suspended service and was deleting databases, and Luo Yao decided to add that option to Little Moss before heading to the battery R&D team.

Zheng Yang and Academician Tao visited Pioneer Technology to classify its Artificial Intelligence project and investigate a new battery experiment. After the team validated the battery’s extraordinary performance in the capital, the chapter ended with the officials realizing it could transform military equipment.

• Zheng Yang and Academician Tao arrived at Pioneer Technology, where they discovered the battery team’s readings had surged to 1,600 watt-hours per kilogram.
• Academician Tao and the researchers checked the equipment and experimental process, but the battery’s energy density remained unchanged after they corrected a suspected error.
• Zheng Yang asked Luo Yao to approve moving the experiment to the capital, and Luo Yao left the decision to Luo Zhu, who agreed to lead the validation work.
• Luo Yao accompanied Luo Zhu and the research team to the capital, where they carried out a series of battery tests under her leadership.
• Three days later, the test report confirmed an energy density of 1,600 Wh/kg, a cycle life exceeding 30,000 cycles, and other exceptional results, thrilling Zheng Yang and Academician Tao.

Pioneer Technology’s battery impressed the capital’s leaders, who approved a commercialization team and a 100-million-yuan reward. When Luo Yao gave the battery researchers staged cash bonuses, a senior military leader condemned his approach, and Luo Yao challenged the demand that researchers keep enduring hardship.

• Zheng Yang told Old Zhou that Pioneer Technology’s battery had verified energy-density and cycle-life figures, prompting leaders to arrange its commercialization.
• Zheng Yang prepared a report on the battery’s military applications, and the capital’s leaders approved a dedicated team, broader support for Pioneer Technology, and a 100-million-yuan reward.
• Zheng Yang gave the reward money to Luo Yao to distribute among the battery R&D team.
• Luo Yao handed each researcher a 100,000-yuan first-stage bonus, and the team celebrated.
• A stern military leader summoned Luo Yao and criticized him for displaying and distributing cash, warning that rewards would undermine researchers’ motivation.
• Luo Yao questioned why researchers who had completed their R&D work should still be expected to endure hardship.

Luo Yao rejected officials’ demand that his researchers endure hardship, then established a foundation to support researchers in financial difficulty. He arranged with Aziz to share sensitive urban data for Saudi Arabia’s smart-city project, refused Aziz’s request for protection personnel, and heard a cadet at a Hua Nation military academy ask to meet him urgently.

• Luo Yao challenged officials to prove that enduring hardship improved research and left after Zheng Yang signaled him to go.
• Luo Yao continued distributing money to his team, and Old Zhou rebuked officials who complained about it.
• Luo Yao established the Researcher Support Foundation, prompting public support and an official donation of fifty million.
• Luo Yao and Aziz agreed to explore secure sharing of Saudi urban data for smart-city modeling, and Aziz received Luo Yao’s list of requested information.
• Aziz invited Luo Yao’s team to protect his country, but Luo Yao refused and redirected the conversation to the Artificial Intelligence project.
• A cadet at a Hua Nation military academy asked his teacher to introduce him to Luo Yao so he could discuss an urgent matter.

Zheng Yang and Old Zhou persuaded military leaders to build a new military-industrial system around Pioneer Technology’s AI and batteries, beginning with drones, fighter jets, and aircraft carriers. Fawad asked Luo Yao to sell drones to B country for protection against White Elephant, but Luo rejected a subsidized sale and suggested they needed a different kind of drone.

• Zheng Yang announced plans to build a new military-industrial system, and Old Zhou presented Pioneer Technology’s AI and high-power battery advances as the basis for it.
• Old Zhou persuaded the leaders to optimize the system around Pioneer Technology’s technology, starting with drones, fighter jets, and aircraft carriers.
• Old Zhou approved a meeting between Fawad and Luo Yao after learning that the B country student wanted to speak with him.
• Fawad asked Luo Yao to sell drones to B country, explaining that the country feared White Elephant’s drones and could not defend its borders.
• Luo Yao quoted prices that Fawad could not afford, and Fu Daobin proposed that the government subsidize a discounted sale.
• Luo Yao rejected selling Pioneer Technology’s drones at a subsidized price and argued that B country needed drones suited to its own situation.

Luo Yao settled on providing Fawad with inexpensive drones controlled by Little Moss instead of subsidizing advanced equipment. When Director Guo asked to borrow Little Moss for a science fiction film, Luo Yao turned the request back on him and asked how well his team could film.

• Aziz told the emir that Pioneer Technology needed city infrastructure data, and the emir approved sharing it on the condition that it remained confidential.
• Luo Yao rejected subsidizing Fawad’s purchase of expensive drones and proposed assembling 400-yuan drones controlled by Little Moss instead.
• Dan Xing approved Luo Yao’s plan, and Fu Daobin arranged for Fengniao Drone Factory workers to assemble the drones.
• Luo Yao tested Little Moss on the inexpensive drones, then met Director Guo and his companion when they asked to borrow her for their science fiction film.
• Luo Yao refused to let Little Moss act, learned the filmmakers lacked money for special effects and wanted to film with real props, then asked Director Guo how well his team could film.

Luo Yao supplied B country with drones and began building Aziz’s smart city, while Pioneer Technology denied involvement in the drone display and Luo Yao ignored a media smear campaign. After the project team advanced its online platform and security work, Luo Yao returned home alone and found his parents unusually eager to see him.

• Luo Yao sent calibrated drones to Fawad, and B country’s drone formations alarmed the White Elephant people, who blamed Pioneer Technology until the company denied making them.
• Little Moss modeled Aziz’s smart city data and designed an initial plan for traffic, security, and environmental systems; Aziz persuaded the chief to sign the agreement and transfer payment to Pioneer Technology.
• Luo Yao organized the smart city team, while Dan Xing refused requests to pull strings and the Old Mirror Daily spread rumors that Luo Yao had excluded experts for money.
• Authorities removed abusive accounts, and the Old Mirror Daily disavowed its claims as Luo Yao’s team built the city platform and cybersecurity protections.
• Luo Yao returned home without Luo Zhu, and Sun Xiulan and Luo Xingguo greeted him with smiles that made him uneasy.

Luo Yao agreed to develop safer firefighting equipment for Captain Sun Jian and pursued an unconventional electromagnetic-wave fire suppression system, building an Electromagnetic Cannon prototype with Little Moss. He brought firefighters to inspect the finished prototype, but planned to show them the more conventional systems first to prepare them for it.

• Sun Xiulan urged Luo Yao to marry, but Captain Sun Jian’s call gave him an excuse to leave and led him to accept a request for improved firefighter equipment.
• Luo Yao studied existing firefighting systems and decided to develop an electromagnetic-wave fire suppression system, while his colleagues questioned the idea.
• Luo Yao designed an Electromagnetic Cannon with Little Moss, then spent weeks preparing its components and arranging for robotic arms to manufacture it.
• Little Moss completed the prototype, and Luo Yao chose an open testing site outside the city for the experiment.
• Fu Daobin arranged a visit from Captain Sun and the fire brigade, and Luo Yao decided to demonstrate conventional firefighting systems before unveiling the Electromagnetic Cannon.

Luo Yao improvised advanced functions for Pioneer Technology’s fire safety equipment during an inspection, then demonstrated an Electromagnetic Cannon that extinguished several fires and revealed its true nature. Fu Daobin confined the officials and firefighters at the site while they awaited instructions from higher-ups, leaving the province-wide fire services conference without its leaders.

• Luo Yao introduced Pioneer Technology’s fire safety systems and improvised intelligent-linkage features that impressed Captain Sun, Fu Daobin, and the officials.
• Captain Sun agreed that the system could connect with drones, and Luo Yao estimated delivery would take about two months.
• Fu Daobin urged Luo Yao to demonstrate another prototype, so Luo Yao brought out the Electromagnetic Cannon and used it to eliminate five fires from a distance.
• Luo Yao explained that the device used electromagnetic waves, and Director Liu, Captain Sun, Fu Daobin, and the other officials realized Pioneer Technology had developed an Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Fu Daobin ordered everyone to stay and restricted their phone calls until higher-ups gave instructions.
• The province-wide fire services conference stalled when its organizers learned that Director Liu, Captain Sun, and other key officials could not attend.

After testing Luo Yao’s Fire Qilin electromagnetic cannon, Zheng Yang secured three billion in deployment funding from the navy and brought Luo Yao to an arms factory to arrange production. There, Luo Yao demanded entry to a restricted workshop containing an airborne quantum radar, claiming he was both connected to the technology and the client.

• Fu Daobin reported the electromagnetic cannon at the firefighting equipment test site to Dan Xing, who informed leaders in the capital.
• Zheng Yang arrived in East City, watched Luo Yao demonstrate the cannon, and arranged for it to be transported to the Military Research Institute for testing.
• After three days of testing established the cannon’s 220-kilometer range and other capabilities, Zheng Yang showed its results to Commander Feng, who agreed to pay three billion for deployment rights.
• Zheng Yang told Luo Yao about the deal, and Luo Yao agreed to help with deployment before asking to visit an arms factory for production arrangements.
• At the factory, Luo Yao learned an airborne quantum radar was ready for deployment and insisted on entering its restricted workshop, saying he was connected to the technology and had come as the client.

Luo Yao coordinated the manufacture and installation of an Electromagnetic Cannon on a frigate, teaching a team of military experts and introducing Little Moss’s integrated control system. He leaves the team facing a crisis after he overwrites the frigate’s Fire Control System tracking algorithms without Navy approval, then challenges Colonel Dong’s reprimand.

• The factory director learned Luo Yao’s identity and eagerly welcomed him into the military factory, while Zheng Yang received calls from the Army and Air Force demanding information about the Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Zheng Yang assembled a group of military industry experts, including Ma Shao, and Luo Yao assigned them tasks and taught them the cannon’s technology and installation requirements.
• After nearly a month and a half of training and assembly, the team mounted the Electromagnetic Cannon on a frigate and began integrating its systems.
• Luo Yao demonstrated Little Moss’s intelligent control system, navigation system, and modified Fire Control System, including new target-tracking algorithms.
• Ma Shao warned that the Fire Control System could not be modified without Navy approval, and Luo Yao admitted that he had overwritten the original code without saving a backup.
• Zheng Yang contacted Colonel Dong for help, and Colonel Dong berated the team before Luo Yao argued that having a brain did not mean knowing how to use one.

Luo Yao proved that he had found and fixed three bugs in the frigate’s Fire Control System, then joined the vessel’s sea trials. The test reached its simulated Electromagnetic Cannon firing stage, where the crew noticed an unexpected second target near the virtual one.

• Luo Yao explained the three Fire Control System bugs he had found and challenged Colonel Dong to verify them.
• Colonel Dong summoned technical lead Tang Ke, and Luo Yao reproduced all three bugs in the virtual environment, confirming his fixes.
• Old Zhou and Commander Feng praised Luo Yao, while Colonel Dong insisted on testing the modified system during sea trials.
• Old Zhou approved a simulated Electromagnetic Cannon test as the frigate sailed through heavy fog.
• The tactical-room technicians spotted an unexplained target near the virtual target.

Luo Yao and the frigate crew responded when Japanese warship Kumano threatened three Hua Nation fishing boats, and they prepared an Electromagnetic Cannon test despite the target being beyond its known range. The chapter ended as Kumano prepared to fire its Close-in Weapon System and an unknown signal approached.

• Luo Yao and the frigate crew detected fishing boats and a Japanese warship near the test area, while the fishermen warned Kumano to leave.
• Yamamoto ordered Kumano to accelerate toward the three fishing boats, then stopped nearby and activated its Close-in Weapon System.
• Old Zhan and the other fishermen refused to yield as Kumano aimed its weapons at them.
• Luo Yao proposed testing the Electromagnetic Cannon, and Colonel Dong ordered the crew to prepare a firing test while shifting the aim away from the ships.
• Yamamoto ordered Kumano's firing test despite the fog, but his crew reported an approaching unknown signal.

The frigate’s Electromagnetic Cannon tests nearly struck the Kumano, then drove it to retreat as Old Zhan’s fishing boats welcomed the frigate. After Luo Yao took the real combat data for Little Moss to analyze, General Ninomiya suspected Great Bear had helped build the frigate and moved to meet Colonel Ivanov.

• The first Electromagnetic Cannon shot landed only a few hundred meters from the Kumano, and Commander Feng ordered Colonel Dong to continue testing with more care.
• Luo Yao had Little Moss adjust the cannon’s trajectory, and the second shot struck the sea 300 meters from the Kumano while its crew was trying to contact the frigate.
• Yamamoto dismissed the frigate’s warning at first, but ordered the Kumano to retreat after seeing the vessel emerge from the fog and hearing the fishermen’s horns.
• Old Zhan thanked the frigate crew, and Luo Yao asked for a computer so Little Moss could process the cannon’s combat data.
• At the Mitsubishi shipyard, Ito suggested to General Ninomiya that Great Bear had supplied technical assistance for the frigate, prompting Ninomiya to seek a meeting with Colonel Ivanov.

Ivanov learned from Ninomiya that a new Hua Nation frigate had overwhelmed Japan’s Kumano, prompting him to seek a purchase deal through Dan Xing. Meanwhile, Luo Yao proposed AI-assisted operation for the Electromagnetic Cannon, and Old Zhou backed a cautious pilot plan before realizing the country might have no AI experts beyond Luo Yao’s team.

• Ivanov met Ninomiya online, pretended to consider cooperation, and learned that Japan wanted technology supposedly supplied by the Big Bear to Hua Nation.
• Ninomiya described how the frigate had driven the Kumano away, and Ivanov ended their meeting to report the information to Valoja.
• Ivanov contacted Dan Xing to ask about buying frigates, naming the vessel that had confronted the Kumano as his preferred model.
• Dan Xing learned the Little Japs had mistaken Hua Nation’s technology for Big Bear technology and promised to ask about the purchase.
• At Old Zhou’s emergency meeting, the military branches argued over the Electromagnetic Cannon, and Luo Yao proposed AI-assisted operation.
• Old Zhou suggested a small AI pilot program, but Luo Yao questioned the availability of domestic AI experts and explained that he had built the foundational architecture and code himself.

Luo Yao explained Little Moss’s upgrade and agreed to an expert evaluation, then discussed selling upgraded frigates to Big Bear with AI-controlled permissions. During an online meeting, he showed Ivanov’s delegation the Electromagnetic Cannon’s firepower and hinted that it was only a small part of his research, leaving them eager and uneasy about cooperating.

• Luo Yao told the leaders that he had built Little Moss alone and described its upgrades for Quantum Computers, learning, and battlefield perception.
• Old Zhou announced an evaluation team for Little Moss after the leaders insisted that experts test it.
• Dan Xing told Luo Yao that Ivanov wanted to buy frigates, and Luo Yao proposed restricting access to sensitive systems through Little Moss.
• Old Zhou and the others refined a permission-control plan for a possible frigate sale to Big Bear.
• Dan Xing arranged an online meeting where Luo Yao showed Ivanov and the Big Bear representatives videos of the Electromagnetic Cannon and its performance against the Kumano.
• Luo Yao called the cannon a small part of his research, and a bearded representative left the meeting before removing his beard.

Valoja decided to assess Luo Yao’s warships through an anti-piracy exercise, but Old Zhou chose to organize a separate exercise rather than join one hosted by Muddy Nation. Luo Yao began upgrading fighter-jet fire control systems, then discussed connecting Little Moss to Dog Big Household’s surveillance network, and Dog Big Household asked to join the upcoming exercise.

• Valoja and Ivanov agreed to invite Luo Yao’s side to an anti-piracy exercise so they could assess its warships.
• Old Zhou asked his team whether to accept the invitation, and Luo Yao argued they should hold their own exercise instead of joining Muddy Nation’s event.
• Old Zhou decided to organize an exercise and asked Luo Yao to upgrade fighter-jet fire control systems, which Luo Yao said he could complete in time.
• Luo Yao designed the upgraded system’s target recognition, electronic-warfare defenses, and self-repair functions, then sent it to Zheng Yang for testing after four days.
• Luo Yao proposed connecting Little Moss to Dog Big Household’s surveillance system, and Dog Big Household chose that plan over sending daily information.
• Dog Big Household asked Sergei whether it could participate in the upcoming anti-piracy exercise.

Hua Nation prepared its anti-piracy exercise by deploying its new Electromagnetic Cannons and completing tests of Luo Yao’s fighter jet Fire Control System. At the Wanga 25 exercise, Ugly Nation and Little Japan demonstrated their forces, while the fleets awaited the electronic warfare confrontation on the second day.

• Sergei saw news of Hua Nation’s anti-piracy exercise, and Valoja decided Big Bear would join it instead of Little Japan’s exercise.
• Yamamoto asked to take part in the exercise to regain Ninomiya’s favor, while Halsey urged Ninomiya to join Hua Nation’s event; Ninomiya and Halsey both registered their fleets.
• Old Zhou allowed all applicants to participate and asked for an update on the fighter jet Fire Control System; Zheng Yang and Luo Yao reported that testing was complete and the system met its expected standards.
• Hua Nation deployed its Electromagnetic Cannons and trained its navy to operate them before the Wanga 25 exercise began with ten fleets in attendance.
• Ugly Nation demonstrated LHA-6’s aircraft and firepower, and Little Japan’s Mogami-class destroyer and Kumano frigate completed their simulated live-fire drill.
• Ninomiya told Yamamoto to prepare for the electronic warfare exercise, which began on the second day after the fleets completed their other drills.

As Ugly Nation promoted its combat system and prepared to dominate the electronic warfare exercise, Luo Yao assured Colonel Li that Hua Nation had withheld its advanced equipment for the right moment. Wang Ying flew the upgraded J20 alone with its Luneberg Lens disabled, while Ugly Nation's aircraft searched the sky without detecting her.

• Netizens praised Ugly Nation's F35s, and Pioneer Technology's staff watched the exercise anxiously as online commenters predicted Hua Nation would lose.
• Halsey and Jack discussed using the exercise as publicity to attract military equipment orders, and Halsey told his crew they would easily win the electronic warfare event.
• Luo Yao told Colonel Li that Hua Nation had skipped some events because its equipment was too advanced to reveal, and he predicted victory in the day's exercise.
• Wang Ying refused to take the J16 as backup, flew the upgraded J20 alone, and deactivated its Luneberg Lens after Colonel Li gave permission.
• Ugly Nation's F35s, EA-18G aircraft, and E-2D aircraft searched for Wang Ying but found no targets, while a Dog Big Household prince mocked Hua Nation's absence.