Chapter Summaries

Liu Di told his mother he worked as an executive at Creator Group and arranged a lavish new home and regular financial support for her. After the banquet, his mother assigned the wealthy Liu Di to sleep alone on the sofa.

• Liu Di revealed that he worked for A Jia at Creator Group, stunning Zhang Qisheng, who recognized the company behind Gemini.
• Liu Di offered to build his mother a new courtyard, and she agreed to a three-story house modeled after Zhang Fusheng's home.
• Liu Di sent Zhang Qisheng ten million yuan and instructed him to build a much larger, high-end home with advanced security.
• Liu Di transferred one million yuan to his mother and set up monthly payments for twenty years.
• After the banquet ended, Liu Di's mother made him sleep alone on the sofa in the small family courtyard.

Minister Hoover Walker gathered 168 European Nation hackers and ordered them to capture China's Emperor Four within ten days, even if they had to cripple China to draw him out. The hackers welcomed the chance to cause havoc, while their leader Skull dismissed Emperor Four as an unimpressive amateur.

• Zhang Qisheng took Dazhuang to search for land to build Mom a house, while Liu Di took two women and a boy on an outing around River Town.
• Hoover Walker arrived at an abandoned school where 168 European Nation hackers had gathered and fired a gun to make them listen.
• Hoover Walker threatened the hackers with prison unless they followed his orders, then promised to clear their records and pay bonuses if they captured Emperor Four.
• Hoover Walker ordered the hackers to capture Emperor Four within ten days and bring down China if necessary, while concealing their ties to European Nation and blaming a small country.
• Skull told Hoover Walker that Emperor Four's IP could not be traced and argued that the hacker was an amateur who had merely used basic techniques to infiltrate radar computers.

Skull organized the Geek Legion to provoke Emperor Four by attacking Chinese hacker forums, prompting Chinese hackers led by Scorpion Dragon to mount a counterattack. The two sides began fighting for control of the forums, and the cyberwar was underway.

• Skull persuaded Minister Hoover Walker to launch escalating cyberattacks to force Emperor Four to respond, while Hoover Walker promised the hackers a five-million-euro reward.
• The Geek Legion breached Chinese hacker forums, seized posting privileges, and flooded them with insults aimed at Chinese hackers and Emperor Four.
• Drunkard and other Chinese hackers gathered in a secret chatroom to discuss the attacks and whether anyone knew Emperor Four.
• Scorpion Dragon appeared, declared that he was acting as a Chinese person rather than for the authorities, and took command of the response.
• More than three hundred Chinese hackers divided up the work and began counterattacking by cracking firewalls, removing trojans, and tracing IPs.

The Geek Alliance escalated its attack from Chinese hacker forums to major internet companies, using a phishing email to breach Penguin Group’s internal network. The chapter ended with Teng Hualong ordering engineers and white-hat hackers to respond as the virus stole user data.

• Chinese hackers led by Scorpion Dragon fought the Geek Alliance to reclaim the forums, but neither side gained lasting control.
• At the abandoned school, Skull told Minister Hoover Walker that the forum attack was meant to distract Chinese hackers, then ordered Team Three to attack major Chinese internet companies.
• Team Three sent a Mid-Autumn Festival phishing email to Penguin Group employees, and one employee opened it, letting a hidden program infiltrate the company’s internal network.
• The virus spread across Penguin Group’s computers, disabled them, and began packaging user data.
• Teng Hualong learned of the breach and ordered engineers and white-hat hackers to assemble and fix the system.

Liu Di left his hometown after Sun Dongming summoned him to help defend China’s internet from an international hacker attack. At the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau, he joined the response as Penguin had already fallen and Gemini appeared to be the next target.

• Sun Dongming called Liu Di while he was catching shrimp with Little Liu and warned him that international hackers had paralyzed Penguin and threatened Gemini.
• Liu Di told his mother he had bought her factory and arranged for A Jia to invest in it, then left town with his companions.
• Liu Di’s mother was secretly protected by a special operations squad, Black Fox Gang members, and FIC enhanced humans.
• Liu Di arrived at the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau’s command room, where Sun Dongming urged him to contact his company and help set up defenses.
• Liu Di recognized Scorpion Dragon and Lin Yi among the experts, then saw that Penguin had fallen while Gemini was not yet under attack.

Liu Di joined the defense against the cyberwar, entered the hidden Chinese hacker command chatroom as Emperor Four, and announced he would launch a counterattack. As the attackers turned toward Gemini, its firewall held firm against their probing.

• Sun Dongming urged Liu Di to check Gemini, and Teng Hualong pleaded with him to protect Penguin’s user data.
• Magic Child began Sequence Seven, an upgrade designed to increase Liu Di’s computing power and let him control ten thousand PCs.
• Liu Di cracked into the hidden hacker command chatroom, introduced himself as Emperor Four, and called on China’s hackers to prove the strength of their network.
• Liu Di announced he would launch the first counterattack himself, then went offline as the hackers waited for his message.
• The Geek Legion redirected its attack toward Gemini, but a ten-person team could not find a weakness in its firewall even after two hours of probing.

The Geek Alliance failed to breach Gemini and launched a script attack that threatened China’s national network and transportation systems. As Sun Dongming called for Emperor Four, Liu Di revealed that he was Emperor Four.

• The European Nation hacker’s Drill attack was swallowed by Gemini’s firewall, and Skull ordered Teams Two and Three to attack China’s civilian networks.
• Scorpion Dragon and Lin Yi asked Liu Di whether he had created Gemini’s firewall, but an alarm announced a widespread script attack.
• Lin Yi reported that the virus had planted plugins on thousands of websites and was reaching the national network’s traffic control system.
• Scorpion Dragon warned Sun Dongming that removing the virus would take at least four hours, prompting Sun Dongming to demand that they find Emperor Four.
• Liu Di told Sun Dongming that he was Emperor Four.

After revealing that he was Emperor Four, Liu Di launched a program that repelled the Geek Alliance’s attack on China’s traffic system. The attackers withdrew after realizing his defense could trace them, and Liu Di named his programs Zhang Fei and Dian Wei.

• Sun Dongming recognized Liu Di as Emperor Four but let him try to stop the cyberattack, promising to explain the situation to his superiors.
• Liu Di deployed his program, which took the form of Zhang Fei and destroyed the XXS Script Virus attacking the China Traffic Command System.
• Skull ordered the Geek Alliance hackers to retreat when they realized Liu Di’s program could trace their IP addresses.
• Liu Di told Scorpion Dragon and Lin Yi that the traffic-system defense was Zhang Fei and Gemini’s firewall was Dian Wei.
• A Geek Alliance hacker found Liu Di’s message and signature, and Skull learned that Emperor Four had fought back using programs named after Chinese figures.

Liu Di’s Guan Yu program traced and destroyed twenty Geek Alliance computers, while Minister Hoover Walker forced Skull to help launch a Worm Virus attack against China. Hoover then revealed that the fugitive hacker Left Shoulder was remotely controlling a computer inside the Geek Alliance base.

• Scorpion Dragon told the hackers that Liu Di had defeated the Geek Alliance’s XXS Script Virus and ordered them to clear the battlefield and prepare for a counterattack.
• Liu Di wrote a program depicting Guan Yu, which tracked the Geek Alliance’s retreat and crashed twenty computers in Groups Three and Four.
• Minister Hoover Walker arrived as Skull considered escaping, and his men seized the exposed hackers from Groups Three and Four.
• Hoover ordered Skull to obtain Penguin’s data packet and spread Worm Virus code targeting 900 million Chinese citizens, threatening him with death if he refused.
• Hoover revealed that a powered-on computer at the base was writing Worm Virus code remotely and identified its controller as Left Shoulder, a fugitive hacker wanted by eighteen countries.

Liu Di recovered Penguin’s stolen user data and launched a counterattack against the Geek Alliance and European Nation hackers. He left their websites displaying a defiant message as the cyberwar escalated.

• Skull agreed to help Minister Hoover Walker attack China in exchange for money and cleared criminal records.
• Teng Hualong pleaded with Liu Di to recover Penguin’s intercepted user data, while Lin Yi began tracing the hackers’ routes.
• Liu Di released his Zhao Yun program, which dismantled the traps, uncovered seven escape routes, and retrieved all seven data packets.
• Liu Di ordered Scorpion Dragon to block the escape routes and sent his Lu Bu attack program against European Nation hacker websites.
• Lu Bu changed nearly a hundred hacker websites’ homepages to display Emperor Four’s message: “Those who offend us shall be punished!”

Liu Di retaliated against the European Nation’s cyberattack by targeting its military and security systems, then unleashing a self-evolving Trojan horse inspired by Sun Wukong. The European Nation’s hackers failed to stop the virus as it multiplied across the country’s networks.

• The European Nation’s hackers saw Lu Bu take down their webpages, and Skull ordered them to research Chinese history while awaiting the return of Penguin’s data packet.
• Liu Di launched Wen Yang at the European Nation’s national security and military systems, and the leaders at the Sea City Security Bureau tacitly allowed the attack to continue.
• Liu Di told the leaders that Wen Yang was a feint intended to warn the European Nation, and Zhao Tianhui and the other officials said they had seen nothing.
• Liu Di unleashed a Sun Wukong Trojan horse that spread through civilian websites and devices, while Skull’s antivirus program failed to stop its self-iteration.
• Liu Di made the Trojan horse split into countless independent viruses, and Skull realized it had become an inexhaustible Mother Nest Virus.

Liu Di led Chinese hackers in using millions of computers to destroy the Geek Alliance’s defenses and expose its headquarters. As the European Nation retaliated against the exposed hackers, Wen Yang completed a massive cyberattack that redirected missiles and battleships toward the White House.

• Liu Di rallied Chinese hackers to lend their zombie computers, then commandeered millions of idle computers to attack the Geek Alliance.
• The Geek Alliance’s zombie computers were destroyed, its headquarters was exposed, and Skull collapsed as Minister Hoover Walker arrived with armed men.
• Liu Di warned Hoover Walker that he had hacked the minister’s pacemaker, leaving him afraid to move.
• Wen Yang completed 1.78 billion attacks and broke through three European Nation firewalls.
• The missile command system altered an M-47 missile’s trajectory, while dozens of battleships received false GPS signals and headed toward the White House.

Liu Di’s cyberattack crippled the European Nation’s networks and seized control of its weapons systems, prompting Leip to dismiss the crisis as a bluff. Liu then gave Leip ten minutes to apologize to China, while the hacked minister’s artificial heart showed how far Wen Yang’s intrusion had reached.

• Wen Yang wiped out the European Nation’s 168 assembled hackers and took control of its networked weapons systems.
• Fighter jets repeatedly targeted the White House, but Hank Veil rescinded their orders while warning Leip that the national security system remained compromised.
• Leip rejected Hank’s suggestion to activate Zeus and decided to wait for the hacker’s demands rather than yield to what he called a bluff.
• At the China Sea City Security Bureau, Liu Di admitted responsibility for the attacks and insisted they had nothing to do with China.
• Liu ordered the European Nation to apologize to China within ten minutes, and Minister Hoover Walker arrived with his artificial heart under the hacker’s control.

Leip Wills faced a missile launched after Emperor Four paralyzed the European Nation’s systems, and he made major concessions to China to prevent a strike. The missile exploded harmlessly above the White House as fireworks, leaving Leip shaken by the power of Emperor Four.

• Hoover Walker told Leip Wills that Emperor Four’s seven programs had overwhelmed the European Nation’s network defenses.
• Leip dismissed the danger as Secretary Hank warned him that the countdown was nearly over.
• A hacked missile system launched a Tomahawk toward the White House, and the base commander calculated that it would arrive in 90 seconds.
• Hank told Leip that the missile was approaching and that the White House’s defenses had collapsed.
• Leip apologized to China and offered a cyber peace treaty, lower tariffs, and at least 500 billion euros in Chinese investment after Emperor Four demanded more.
• Emperor Four called Leip’s concessions barely acceptable, then let the missile explode harmlessly above the White House as fireworks.

Liu Di left the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau after forcing the European Nation to accept negotiations, while the officials recognized Emperor Four’s power and chose not to stop him. When a Worm Virus attacked the bureau, Liu Di identified the nearby hacker Left Shoulder and set out to confront him in person.

• A communications officer told Zhao Tianhui that Leip had promised to honor his commitments and pursue cybersecurity and trade agreements, while describing the White House missile explosion as a drill.
• Zhao Tianhui relayed the Huayang Leader’s criticism of Liu Di’s reckless operation and the Leader’s wish to meet Emperor Four, then warned that a cybersecurity treaty could limit future cyber warfare.
• Liu Di withdrew his three generals, restored the European Nation’s systems, and declared that Emperor Four would deter countries from targeting China.
• A researcher reported a Worm Virus attacking the bureau, and Liu Di traced it to Left Shoulder, a hacker within a thousand meters of the bureau.
• Zhao Tianhui and the other officials let Liu Di leave freely, and Liu Di walked out of the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau without obstruction.

After Emperor Four’s victory over the European Nation, Chinese officials moved to protect his identity and appointed Sun Dongming as a liaison. The European Nation discovered that Emperor Four had exposed its military deployments and left backdoors in its systems, leaving Leip furious and unable to repair them.

• Emperor Four told Chinese hackers that their collective efforts had won the battle, and the hackers saluted him and vowed to protect China’s cybersecurity.
• Zhao Tianhui warned Sun Dongming that many people would target Emperor Four, ordered his real identity classified, and offered him the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau deputy director position so he could maintain contact with Liu Di.
• Lin Yi asked Sun Dongming to help her meet Emperor Four, and Sun Dongming said he only knew Liu Di.
• Hank reported that Emperor Four had browsed White House files and leaked the European Nation’s military deployments, which would cost 150 billion euros to replace.
• Hank told Leip that Emperor Four had left backdoors in the European Nation’s systems that technicians could not close, and Leip threw a book at him in anger.

Leip ordered Starweave Gene and Carmen’s Cobra Unit to enter China while secretly advancing the Hades mecha project. Meanwhile, Liu Di found Left Shoulder’s hideout, where the hacker boasted that Emperor Four could not locate him, just as someone knocked at his door.

• Leip told Secretary Hank to draft a Cyber Peace Treaty, send Starweave Gene into China, and arrange for Carmen’s Cobra Unit to infiltrate and support the company.
• Leip ordered his cyborg program and all Hades-related plans disconnected from the network, then asked Hank to find Chinese ancient books for him to study.
• Leip and Hank descended 150 levels beneath the White House and saw the twenty-meter-tall Hades mecha, while Professor Percy warned that its only pilot could die from the backlash.
• Leip told Professor Percy to complete Hades and produce more pilots, calling the mecha the next era after human evolution.
• Liu Di went to Fu’an Residential Complex, where Left Shoulder bragged about his defenses and claimed a Worm Virus could paralyze the Sea City Cybersecurity Bureau.
• Someone knocked at Left Shoulder’s door, and he told the visitor to leave the delivery outside.

Liu Di tracked down the modified hacker Left Shoulder, but a bomb in his brain killed him before Liu Di could learn more about the experiments behind his transformation. Back at the Experimental Graveyard, Liu Di dealt with Little Liu’s demands until General Black Mountain reported that Grandpa Tuo had been captured by Tanzanian Mercenaries, sending Liu Di rushing to the southern border.

• Liu Di broke into Left Shoulder’s apartment, destroyed his computer setup, and questioned him about his human modifications.
• A device in Left Shoulder’s brain detected his fear and exploded, killing him; Magic Child traced his past to a failed military experiment and identified Starweave Gene as a suspected human-modification researcher.
• At the Experimental Graveyard, Little Xia explained that Kun Sang had tried to attack Little Liu, and Liu Di warned Kun Sang before heading inside.
• Nan Ruoyi and Lisa Fei told Liu Di that Little Liu was on a hunger strike because Liu Di had refused to let him use the assembly line; Liu Di promised access if he scored a perfect test result.
• General Black Mountain told Liu Di that Tanzanian Mercenaries had captured Grandpa Tuo, so Liu Di, Little Xia, and Little Qiu departed for White Cloud Province.

Liu Di traveled to the Heavenly Net Group’s secret jungle base to find out what had happened to Grandpa Tuo and help rescue him. Little Qiu landed ahead of the helicopter, while the proud soldiers prepared to meet Liu Di and doubted whether an outsider could help.

• Liu Di flew toward the border jungle, where Grandpa Tuo had been captured while working with General Black Mountain on soldier enhancement research.
• Little Qiu jumped from the helicopter at high altitude carrying a massive metal case and landed safely in the jungle.
• Qiu Ming panicked at Little Qiu’s jump, but Liu Di reassured him that she was his sister and was unharmed.
• General Black Mountain assembled Heavenly Net Group’s 283 soldiers to await Liu Di, while Grizzly and Chi Mei questioned why the unit needed an outsider’s help.
• Little Qiu made a thunderous landing in the distant jungle, prompting the soldiers to suspect she was an enhanced human and intensifying their desire to compete with the newcomer.

Liu Di arrived at the Tian Luo Group's base expecting to rescue Grandpa Tuo, but learned the old man had deliberately gone into enemy hands and asked them to wait. Black Mountain explained that Grandpa Tuo also hoped Liu Di would challenge his soldiers, who rejected cyborg augmentation and wanted to prove their strength through training.

• Liu Di arrived with Little Xia, and Black Mountain showed him Grandpa Tuo's note saying to wait eight hours before attempting a rescue.
• Black Mountain told Liu Di that Grandpa Tuo was unlikely to be in danger and guessed he had summoned Liu Di to influence the Tian Luo warriors' views on augmentation.
• Liu Di agreed to help the warriors and recognized that they wanted to test their physical strength against him.
• Grizzly and Chi Mei, followed by several other warriors, challenged Liu Di's grip strength, but none could move his hand.
• Chi Mei invited Liu Di to compete at the training grounds, and Liu Di said he would face them after rescuing Grandpa Tuo.