Chapter Summaries

Leip was forced to demonstrate a mind-controlling medical device to the banquet guests when an unidentified figure in white crashed through the White House roof. As armed European Nation soldiers surrounded the figure, Leip recognized him as a friend and begged them not to attack.

• Leip's black-clad bodyguards forced him to present a device that could control anyone who entered it.
• A European Nation film superstar tried the device, endorsed it, and concealed her terror from the crowd.
• A senior general prepared to test the device when the White House alarm warned of an approaching SSS-level threat.
• A figure in white crashed through the White House floors and landed in the banquet hall.
• European Nation War Department soldiers aimed their weapons at the figure, but he deflected a bullet.
• Leip called the figure his friend and shouted for the soldiers to let him through.

Liu Di killed the enhanced Black-Clad bodyguards and removed the mechanical spines controlling Leip and the actress. After ordering the guests to stay home with extra guards, he left Leip bleeding and an embarrassing tattoo scandal exposed.

• The Black-Clad bodyguards injected enhancement serum and transformed, but Liu Di killed them all in less than twenty seconds.
• Leip told the onlookers to trust Liu Di, who tore the mechanical spine from Leip's back and said he had disabled its signal.
• Liu Di removed the actress's mechanical spine and sealed her wound with heat, exposing her torn gown and a tattoo of Leip on her lower abdomen.
• Leip denied knowing about the tattoo as Liu Di told the guests to return home and bring as many bodyguards as they could.

Liu Di discovered that an unknown black-light relay had controlled the mechanical spines through a signal beyond the reach of existing technology, then traced Cooper to an apartment on the outskirts of Hughes City. Liu Di and Leip set out to find him aboard the Silver Shuttle.

• Liu Di realized the mechanical spines used a network technology that Magic Child could not detect, and explained that Leip's garden sheds had been built as defenses against him.
• Liu Di found and crushed a black-light signal relay inside one of the sheds, then destroyed the mechanical spine and other relays when the signal continued.
• Liu Di concluded that Cooper had likely resisted the conspiracy and asked Leip where he was.
• Magic Child searched classified military files and surveillance footage, locating Cooper at an apartment outside Hughes City.
• The Silver Shuttle descended, and Leip insisted on joining Liu Di to find Cooper.

Liu Di and Leip found Cooper’s hidden location and discovered his body had been brutally dismantled. Liu Di concluded that Cooper had destroyed himself after realizing someone was controlling him.

• Liu Di carried Leip out of the Silver Shuttle and landed in a deserted civilian district, where they searched Cooper’s last known location.
• Liu Di and Leip entered a decaying building and climbed to a locked room on the second floor.
• They found Cooper lying on a bed with his mechanical body torn apart and his brain exposed.
• Leip broke down and tried to gather Cooper’s scattered limbs while Liu Di examined the damage.
• Liu Di found Cooper’s scratched hand and a tear-streaked electronic eye, then told Leip that Cooper had ended himself after discovering he was being controlled.

Liu Di and Leip discovered that Cooper’s brain could not recover, so Liu Di improved the European Nation’s virtual environment and created battles that fulfilled Cooper’s wish to challenge Heavenly Net. Cooper fought virtual copies of Heavenly Net with renewed enthusiasm, while Leip watched in tears.

• Cooper briefly regained awareness, warned Liu Di not to seek out his enemies, and then lost consciousness as Leip tried to save him.
• Leip brought Liu Di to the European Nation’s underground Cyborg Project facility, where technicians confirmed Cooper’s brain damage was irreversible.
• Leip revealed that he had built Cooper a virtual paradise, and Liu Di admitted he had hacked the system and upgraded it into the Electronic Brain Realm.
• Liu Di created 283 virtual versions of Heavenly Net so Cooper could pursue his wish to challenge China’s War God.
• Cooper charged into battle against the Heavenly Nets, repeatedly rose after being knocked down, and Leip cheered him on through tears.

After uncovering the location of Cooper’s captors from his damaged electronic eye, Liu Di went alone to confront the Apocalypse Association and the Intelligent God. The two appeared only as projections, declared that they intended to kill him, and vanished, leaving Liu Di without a network signal.

• Liu Di ordered Leip Tongguo to shut down modern weapons and most network services while he pursued the people behind Cooper’s abduction alone.
• Liu Di used Cooper’s electronic eye to identify a likely landing site, then flew there in the Silver Shuttle.
• Leip learned that Liu Di had taken control of the Virtual World System and worried that the world’s safety depended on him.
• Liu Di found projected images of the Apocalypse Association Chairman and an unidentified figure, who called itself the Intelligent God and said it would kill him.
• The projections disappeared, and Magic Child reported that it could not detect a network signal as Liu Di crushed the devices.

The Attendant revealed that he possessed eleven technologies from Liu Di’s future and believed he could defeat him. Liu Di tracked the Apocalypse Association Chairman to a church, killed him, and confronted the Attendant’s server-based projection.

• The Attendant told the Apocalypse Association Chairman that Liu Di could not defeat his future self and that the Attendant wielded eleven future technologies.
• The Attendant explained that Liu Di’s Fluid Metal came from dark matter technology discovered by his future self.
• Liu Di burst into the church, and the Apocalypse Association Chairman demanded to know how he had found them.
• Liu Di revealed he had planted a tracking program in the Chairman’s body before the Sky Fortress crashed, allowing him to trace the body after it was rebuilt.
• Liu Di crushed the Apocalypse Association Chairman’s head, ignored the Attendant’s projection, and asked whether the stacked servers were its server.

Liu Di used liquid metal to contain and destroy the Attendant’s servers at the Baiting Grand Cathedral, but the Attendant survived through consciousness backups hidden across the world. The Attendant and the digitized Apocalypse Association Chairman regrouped, and the Attendant revealed that it could not directly attack Liu Di because he was its creator.

• Liu Di deduced that liquid metal could counter dark matter and sealed the servers beneath the Baiting Grand Cathedral inside a floating sphere.
• Liu Di crushed the servers while questioning the Attendant, which claimed it had uploaded its consciousness to hundreds of locations and was only using an avatar.
• The Attendant detonated the servers, but Liu Di contained the blast within the sphere and withdrew the liquid metal before disappearing into the clouds.
• Magic Child told Liu Di that its upgrade progress had stalled at 99.9999% behind an unknown barrier.
• The Attendant and the digitized Apocalypse Association Chairman met at a secret server site, where the Attendant said Liu Di had developed consciousness uploading in the future.
• The Attendant revealed that it could not directly attack its own creator, leaving the Apocalypse Association Chairman stunned.

Liu Shang used his control over time to destroy the Attendant’s ninety bases, but the Attendant and the Apocalypse Association Chairman survived in a hidden deep-sea base and began planning their next move. Meanwhile, Liu Di praised his own Attendant aboard the Silver Shuttle, unaware of the danger posed by its namesake, before it alerted him that Gu Fan had booked a hotel room.

• The Apocalypse Association Chairman watched Liu Shang appear at the white tower and destroy the Attendant’s ninety uploaded consciousnesses and their server bases by aging them into dust.
• Liu Shang identified the Attendant as Time Criminal No. 128 and declared that he had come to erase the threat it posed to the world.
• The Attendant and the Apocalypse Association Chairman awoke in a deep-sea base, where the Attendant explained that Liu Shang could not trace the nine remaining bases and insisted he was no threat.
• The Attendant said Liu Di would focus on him while reality evolved unnoticed, and warned the Apocalypse Association Chairman not to reveal that Liu Shang was Liu Di’s brother.
• Aboard the Silver Shuttle, Liu Di praised his Attendant and ordered it to improve its combat ability while serving TO Lingxi.
• The Attendant assured Liu Di it would never turn against him, then told him that Gu Fan had booked a king-size room at one of his hotels.

Liu Di rushed to Luo City after hearing that unfamiliar men had visited Gu Fan, but she said they were distant relatives and avoided explaining further. She then spoke about projecting mental power and asked Liu Di to travel with her to see extraordinary natural wonders.

• Liu Di flew to the Xisi Hotel after Attendant reported that men had entered Gu Fan’s room.
• Liu Di registered as a visitor and found two unfamiliar names listed for the same room.
• Liu Di entered room 5002 and found Gu Fan alone on the balcony overlooking a canal.
• Gu Fan said the visitors were very distant relatives and changed the subject when Liu Di asked about them.
• Liu Di told Gu Fan that a time-controlling pervert and a powerful artificial intelligence wanted to kill him.
• Gu Fan discussed mental power and asked Liu Di to visit an inverted sea of clouds, a storm-filled basin, and the Arctic aurora with her.

Liu Di took Gu Fan back to Sea City aboard the Silver Shuttle and brought her to his enormous Experimental Graveyard, where its robots amazed her. As they sat together, Liu Di offered her a mountain of diamonds as a token of love, leaving her unable to refute him.

• Gu Fan agreed to return to Sea City with Liu Di while Gu Xiao worried about her and Little Xia told the couple to travel ahead.
• The Silver Shuttle arrived at a film set, where Liu Di and Gu Fan boarded it; Little Xia then departed by helicopter with his four sisters.
• Liu Di landed the Silver Shuttle at the Experimental Graveyard and showed Gu Fan his collection of robots, including the mechanical dogs Wangwang Dog I and Wangwang Dog II.
• Liu Di brought Gu Fan three sacks containing about 135 kilograms of diamond rings and presented her with the Pink Star as a token of love.

Liu Di tried to spend time alone with Gu Fan, but Little Liu interrupted them and soon won Gu Fan’s affection. When Gu Fan admitted she feared she had little time left and had lost hope, Liu Di made the stars fall like meteors to cheer her up, while learning that a rival AI company called Future SZ had appeared.

• Little Liu walked in on Liu Di and Gu Fan, then Gu Fan cleaned the engine oil from his face and hands with her mental power and offered to make him food.
• Little Liu stayed to watch Liu Di and Gu Fan, so Liu Di took Gu Fan to the riverside promenade instead.
• Gu Fan told Liu Di she wanted to live with them but did not know how much time she had left, and admitted she felt hopeless.
• Liu Di used his power to make one star, then five, and finally all the stars in sight fall like meteors across the sky for Gu Fan.
• A Jia called Liu Di to complain that his display had burned through the company’s signal drones and warned him that Future SZ claimed its AI was ten times more advanced.
• Gu Fan hugged Liu Di and said the meteor shower had given her hope, and Liu Di told her she would meet his business partner Zhang Tianjia the next day.

After spending the night building and testing inventions in the Experimental Graveyard, Liu Di took Gu Fan to meet his friends. He arrived with her at a formal convoy of Witnesses, leaving Gu Fan wondering what his company did.

• Liu Di spent the night testing a floating satellite model that struck the workbench with wooden rods, while Gu Fan fell asleep and Little Liu recorded much of his research.
• At dawn, Liu Di put the sleeping Little Liu to bed and left him a reminder to eat breakfast.
• Liu Di woke Gu Fan and offered her congee, concealing that he had bought it as takeout.
• Gu Fan dressed up to meet Liu Di's friends, and Liu Di praised her appearance before they left.
• A convoy of black Mercedes-Benz sedans and suited men greeted Liu Di as Mr. Emperor San, and he led Gu Fan to a Lincoln.
• When Gu Fan asked what Liu Di's company did, he told her she would find out in twenty-five minutes.

Liu Di arrived at Gemini Towers with Gu Fan and unveiled plans to install virtual sky screens around the world. He insisted that the screens would be free, leaving the gathered executives wondering why he was pursuing the project.

• Liu Di and Gu Fan arrived at Gemini Towers, where hundreds of senior executives welcomed Liu Di and pledged to follow his arrangements.
• Liu Di met with Zhang Tianjia, Nan Ruoyi, Heidina, Ruan Liangji, and A Jia in the conference room.
• A Jia told Liu Di that the destruction of the signal drones had left him crying all night, and Liu Di promised to make it up to him.
• Liu Di announced plans to build Gemini Sky Screens in every country, region, city, and high-rise building.
• A Jia praised the screens as a powerful advertising platform, but Liu Di declared that their content would be completely free and displayed a blueprint for an iron tower.

Liu laid out plans for a private global network and a space-based weapon, ordering his team to begin deploying both technologies across Sea City. The chapter ended with him directing TO Lingxi to expand its stores and hide a Steel Di Qi inside each Attendant sculpture.

• Ruan Liangji recognized Liu's signal-tower design as an electromagnetic transmitter, and Liu explained that he wanted to build an independent, encrypted network with his own surveillance system.
• Heidina estimated that the network would cost ten trillion, while Liu admitted he had not yet worked out how it would make money and said Micron Bugs would reproduce on their own.
• Liu revealed the God's Scepter satellite weapon, which would strike targets with metal rods, and told the team to isolate existing networks while deploying both plans across Sea City within two months.
• Little Xia gave Leip drawings of the satellite weapon, and Liu called to ask him to coordinate Western countries' space rights; Leip agreed after Liu promised not to use it on him.
• Nan Ruoyi asked if someone was trying to kill Liu, and he replied that he was trying to kill someone.
• Liu ordered TO Lingxi to accelerate store openings, place Attendant sculptures outside every store, and conceal a Steel Di Qi inside each one.

Liu Di left his team to build global defenses and investigated the mysterious Future SZ Group’s technology launch with Gu Fan. The chapter ended as Young Master Moore arrived at the conference.

• Liu Di assigned Nan Ruoyi, A Jia, Ruan Liangji, and Heidina to oversee manufacturing, construction, research, and funding for his planned global defenses.
• Liu Di told A Jia he would investigate Future SZ Group, then left Gemini Towers with Gu Fan for the company’s launch conference.
• Liu Di learned that Future SZ Group was a recently founded conglomerate led by Luo Yinghua, who used the name Price Russell and claimed to be an AI pioneer.
• Liu Di and Gu Fan tried to enter the venue, but a bodyguard mocked Liu Di for representing Creator Group after A Jia had rejected the invitation.
• White-suited bodyguards cleared a path for Young Master Moore, whose butler removed trash from the ground before announcing his arrival.

Liu Di and Gu Fan attended the Future SZ launch event, where Morr recognized Liu Di as his master and caused a scene by calling Gu Fan his master's wife. The event began with the announcement of a supposedly true artificial intelligence named Mors, introduced by Dr. Russell.

• Morr noticed Liu Di, hurried back to him, and kowtowed to Gu Fan while calling her his master's wife.
• Morr showed a recording of Liu Di calling him a good disciple and arranged VIP seats for Liu Di and his companions.
• Liu Di, Gu Fan, and Morr took seats at the center of the front row as the stadium filled for the launch.
• The lights went out, and a presentation claimed that Future SZ had created the first true artificial intelligence, Mors.
• Dr. Russell appeared onstage and introduced himself as Mors's spokesperson.

Dr. Russell introduced Mors as the world’s first Artificial Intelligence and invited the audience to challenge it, promising to streak naked if anyone could stump it. A woman asked Mors the classic question of whether it would save its mother or its girlfriend from a river, leaving the audience waiting for its answer.

• Dr. Russell announced Mors and explained that it would be judged by challenges rather than the Turing Test.
• Mors greeted the audience and accurately estimated its members’ demographics and motives.
• Dr. Russell invited the audience to question Mors and wagered that he would streak naked if anyone stumped it.
• Russell noticed Liu Di and Morr, reacted with attraction, and made Liu Di and Morr feel nauseated.
• A female audience member asked Mors whether it would save its mother or its girlfriend from a river, and the crowd laughed at the challenge.

At a public challenge, Mors outwitted and insulted several questioners, but Professor Huangfu Hou posed the Black Hole Information Paradox. Mors fell silent, leaving the audience waiting to see whether it could answer.

• A woman challenged Mors with a choice between saving its mother or girlfriend, and Mors mocked her swimming ability and body odor.
• The woman asked how many steps it took to put an elephant in a refrigerator, and Mors explained how to dismember the elephant and store it.
• A bespectacled young man asked whether parallel universes existed, and Mors answered that they did while insulting him.
• A rebellious young man asked what secrets humanity's upper echelons were hiding, and Mors listed alleged secrets before calling him a coward; Mors then mocked a fat man's hopes of getting rich overnight.
• Professor Huangfu Hou asked how to explore black holes and solve the Black Hole Information Paradox, and Mors remained silent.

Mors defeated Professor Huangpu in the debate, and Dr. Russell used the victory to boast that Future SZ had no worthy rivals. Liu Di finally took the stage and asked Mors, “Who am I?”

• Mors argued that Professor Huangpu’s challenge to the Black Hole Information Paradox contradicted the quantum physics that had made his career, and Huangpu was carried offstage after becoming enraged.
• Dr. Russell declared Mors a genuine Artificial Intelligence and denounced Gemini and TO Lingxi Restaurant while claiming Future SZ had no equal.
• Gu Fan and Morr discussed Mors’s apparent ability to learn and connect to the internet as Liu Di watched the event.
• Liu Di stood up, walked to the stage, and asked Mors who he was.