Chapter Summaries

Chen Mengchuan and the others toured Tiansuo’s main control room, where Zhao Wanyu showed them the ship’s gravity, traversal, and communication systems. The tour highlighted Tiansuo’s progress toward reaching Mars and maintaining contact with Earth as Chen Mengchuan considered how humanity might treat weaker alien civilizations.

• Xu Shuwei and the others entered Tiansuo’s main control room and saw its crew monitoring the ship on graphene photonic displays.
• Zhao Wanyu introduced the Gravity Department and explained that the main control room could operate all nine Eternal Universe Particle shuttles.
• Zhao Wanyu said Tiansuo needed forty-eight Space Folding jumps across forty thousand meters to establish the basic conditions for traveling to Mars and building a base.
• Chen Mengchuan reflected that humanity would likely destroy a weaker alien civilization if it felt threatened by it.
• Xu Shuwei learned that Tiansuo’s six Eternal Universe Particle Communication signal locators connected to twelve at headquarters, forming a network for communication with Earth.
• Xu Shuwei noticed that Tiansuo’s communication systems outperformed the laboratory’s, and Zhao Wanyu explained that the ship used independent triple-crystal graphene photonic supercomputers.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu visited the graphene project department, where Konstantin Novosholov revealed that Andrei’s team was close to completing graphene single-crystal transistor technology. The team prepared to demonstrate humanity’s first graphene single-transistor test chip within an hour.

• Chen Mengchuan asked Zhao Wanyu about the graphene project department, and she took him to see its expanded facilities and staff.
• Zhao Wanyu explained that the department had grown fourfold and was supplying curved graphene photonic screens to the Tiansuo.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu met Konstantin Novosholov, who said Andrei’s team was in the final stage of developing graphene single-crystal technology.
• Konstantin led Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu through security doors to the core laboratory, where they found Andrei and his team working.
• Andrei announced that his team was about to complete humanity’s first graphene single-crystal transistor application, a single-transistor test chip, and asked Chen Mengchuan to wait an hour for the demonstration.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed Tianzhi’s projects and gave Sun Zhongyong responsibility for commercializing gravity products. The laboratory team then completed a graphene single-transistor chip, and Zhao Wanyu asked Andre about mass production and its data architecture.

• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that gravity public transit had begun pilot operations in Su City and that the Moon explorers would soon return because they were running low on supplies.
• Zhao Wanyu explained that Sun Zhongyong felt dispensable, so Chen Mengchuan proposed putting him in charge of commercializing gravity products with A-Chen’s help.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed the company’s other projects, including A-Chen’s upgrade, wireless power transmission, steel development, and metal bonding technology.
• Andre and the laboratory team celebrated completing a graphene single-transistor chip, which Constantine showed Chen Mengchuan.
• Zhao Wanyu asked Andre how soon the chips could be mass-produced and what their data architecture would be.

Chen Mengchuan learned that the graphene single-transistor chip could soon enter small-scale production and celebrated with his research team. He said his team would prove the absolute independence of Eternal Universe Particles within a week, leaving the researchers looking toward the potential of their five characteristics to help Earth face an approaching extraterrestrial civilization.

• Andre showed Chen Mengchuan that the new graphene single-transistor supercomputer was much smaller and nearly ten times faster than the three-transistor model, and said small-scale production could begin within a week.
• Zhao Wanyu took Chen Mengchuan to the Eternal Universe Particle Science department, where he treated the team to takeout and announced the graphene chip’s success.
• Toni asked about the proof of particle independence, and Chen Mengchuan said his team expected to verify it within a week.
• Toni joked that Chen Mengchuan would lose mangoes for a month if his team missed the deadline, while Xu Shuwei offered to eat them in his place.
• Chen Mengchuan considered how proving the five characteristics of Eternal Universe Particles could enable advanced spatial technologies and help humanity confront or escape the six approaching extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed cooperating with the Huaxia National Space Administration while delaying sensitive technology sharing until the Tiansuo was ready. With production and systems nearing completion, they looked toward a Mars launch in about a month and a theoretical fourteen-day journey.

• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that the Huaxia National Space Administration wanted to cooperate with Tenzhi Aerospace, and Chen agreed to begin gradual cooperation through a joint venture focused on gravity satellites.
• Chen Mengchuan said his team was close to completing its research verification and testing, which would allow other application projects to move forward.
• Zhao Wanyu reported that Andre's team had begun small-scale production of Tiansuo replacement parts and expected to finish in around twenty days, with installation taking about another ten days.
• Zhao Wanyu said Earth and Mars would draw closer in a month and that the Tiansuo could theoretically reach Mars in fourteen days if its space-time traversal and folding technology reached the planned specifications.
• Chen Mengchuan considered Achen's calculations, which projected 43,200 space-time traversals at one every 27.5 seconds for the journey to Mars.

Chen Mengchuan’s team verified the independence of Eternal Universe Particles, and he went to welcome Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying as they prepared to leave the Moon. After taking commemorative photos and planting a red flag, the explorers returned to Tenzhi 1 and began preparing for the journey home.

• Chen Mengchuan’s team completed the verification of Eternal Universe Particle independence, and Achen confirmed the results against the project departments’ data.
• Chen Mengchuan instructed Achen to help the other teams verify the particles’ remaining major properties, then accepted Zhao Wanyu’s invitation to greet the returning explorers.
• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying sealed the Multi-Arm Crab compartment, took a photo together, and planted a small red flag in a lunar rock.
• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying took one final photo beside the flag before returning to Tenzhi 1 and embracing inside the spacecraft.
• Xu Zhenglin told Ayu to begin preparing Tenzhi 1 for the return journey.

Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying spoke with Tenzhi Technology’s leaders and Huaxia Official Media TV from the Moon. Chen Mengchuan then visited the Space-time Traversal and Space Folding teams, where he shared new formulas and entrusted the Second Tier Team with advancing the projects.

• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying accepted a video call from Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu, who praised their lunar achievements and promised to celebrate with them after they returned to Earth.
• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying began a video interview with Huaxia Official Media TV, which had gathered questions from viewers in Huaxia and overseas.
• Chen Mengchuan went to the Space-time Traversal and Space Folding Department and found that the teams had advanced traversal to nearly 20,000 meters and verified up to twenty-two theoretical folds.
• Chen Mengchuan gathered the new Second Tier Team members and explained revised origin-point formulas based on the proof of the Eternal Universe Particle’s independence.
• Chen Mengchuan asked the team to verify and test the formulas, then urged them to push traversal distances and test more layers of Space Folding.

Tenzhi Technology unveiled a plan to return Tenzhi 1 from the Moon to Su City in eleven hours, reaching a peak speed of 160,000 km/h. As the spacecraft neared Earth, Chen Mengchuan learned that Zhao Wanyu had helped oversee its modifications and safety assessment.

• The Gravity Application Department and the Multi-Arm Crabs equipped Tenzhi 1 with high-intensity gravity nodes and an anti-gravity barrier for its return journey.
• Tenzhi Technology announced that Tenzhi 1 would accelerate to 160,000 km/h and return to Su City within eleven hours, drawing skepticism from overseas media and excitement in Huaxia.
• Huaxia media scheduled a live broadcast of Tenzhi 1's atmospheric passage and return to Su City, while viewers sent Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying their support.
• Chen Mengchuan saw the return broadcast at home and asked Zhao Wanyu how Tenzhi 1 could already be nearing Earth.
• Zhao Wanyu explained the spacecraft's gravity-system modifications and its 99.99% safety assessment, and Chen Mengchuan praised her growing competence.

Chen Mengchuan and the Eternal Universe Particle researchers went to welcome Tenzhi 1 as it returned to Su City from the Moon. The spacecraft landed safely, and Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying were welcomed home before preparing for medical assessments and an afternoon press conference.

• Chen Mengchuan learned that the elders preferred to watch Tenzhi 1’s return broadcast at home, then visited the Eternal Universe Particle research department.
• Chen Mengchuan invited the researchers to welcome Tenzhi 1 and explained that gravity technology had brought it back at 160,000 kilometers per hour, below its theoretical critical speed of 7.2 million kilometers per hour.
• Chen Mengchuan and the researchers traveled to the crowded landing site and joined the close-viewing area with Zhao Wanyu.
• A-Yu guided Tenzhi 1 down safely into the landing zone as crowds and viewers celebrated its arrival.
• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying emerged from Tenzhi 1, were embraced by Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu, and then underwent medical examinations and psychological assessments ahead of their press conference.

After the press conference, Chen Mengchuan visited the graphene project department and learned that its single-transistor chips were entering production and would greatly boost Tiansuo's performance. Andre and Constantine then revealed that they had completed the graphene photonic quantum supercomputer and wanted Chen to meet people behind a new project proposal.

• Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying answered reporters' questions at a four-hour press conference about their return from the Moon and Tenzhi 1's speed.
• Chen Mengchuan received word that a gathering would be held that evening, then went to inspect the graphene project department's small-scale chip production line.
• Andre told Chen Mengchuan that graphene single-transistor chips would replace Tiansuo's existing chips and increase its performance by more than two hundred times.
• Andre and Constantine told Chen Mengchuan that the graphene photonic quantum supercomputer was complete and asked him to consider their new project plans.
• Constantine brought three people to Andre's office, and Chen Mengchuan recognized that two of the older men were from the Island Nation and addressed them in their language.

Chen Mengchuan heard Xu Mingsheng’s team propose using graphene nanopores for rapid electronic DNA sequencing, a step that could eventually enable free DNA editing. After discussing the potential and risks with Andre, he left the decision unresolved.

• Andre introduced Chen Mengchuan to Xinxiao Huaxing, Fujita Daisuke, and Xu Mingsheng as collaborators on a new project.
• Xu Mingsheng explained the team’s plan to detect DNA bases by measuring how they changed graphene’s conductivity as they passed through a nanopore.
• Chen Mengchuan realized rapid sequencing could lead to humanity controlling its own evolution, but said he needed time to consider the proposal.
• Andre argued that graphene nanopore sequencing was feasible and urged Chen Mengchuan to support the research despite its uncertainties.
• Chen Mengchuan smoked a cigar with Andre and remained deep in thought about the proposal.

After Tenzhi Technology celebrated Xu Zhenglin and Zhang Ying’s successful mission beyond Earth, Chen Mengchuan gathered the company’s core members to discuss a graphene project that could enable rapid DNA sequencing and gene editing. He remained evenly divided over whether the technology should be pursued.

• Chen Mengchuan drank heavily at Tenzhi Technology’s celebration and slept until dawn after vomiting.
• Chen Mengchuan summoned Tenzhi Technology’s core members to hear their advice about the graphene department’s new project.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that graphene nanopores could identify DNA bases and potentially enable free DNA editing.
• Möbius warned that gene editing could open a dangerous Pandora’s Box, while Puslin argued it could improve human health and longevity.
• Toni and Xu Shuwei discussed the medical promise and unpredictable risks of altering DNA, and Lü Jianglan asked Chen Mengchuan what he thought.
• Chen Mengchuan said his feelings about the technology were fifty-fifty.

Chen Mengchuan approved Tenzhi Technology’s gene-editing research into curing leukemia without bone marrow transplants and established the Graphene Biological Devices Department to pursue it. The chapter ended with Chen explaining the dangers and limitations of transplants as he and Zhao Wanyu hoped the new research would succeed.

• Lü Jianglan, Zhao Wanyu, and Chen Xiaoyun supported pursuing the project, while Puslin was moved by the prospect of helping children with leukemia.
• After listening to the group’s discussion, Chen Mengchuan decided Tenzhi should open the Pandora’s Box of DNA editing.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu approved Andre and Tangstading’s proposal, created the Graphene Biological Devices Department, and launched a feasibility study for treating leukemia without bone marrow transplants.
• Chen Mengchuan assigned Xu Mingsheng, Xinxiao Huaxing, and Fujita Daisuke to develop rapid DNA sequencing and in-vivo DNA modification, promising Tenzhi’s technological and financial support.
• Chen Mengchuan explained to Zhao Wanyu that bone marrow transplants were difficult to obtain and carried serious risks, and she expressed hope that the new treatment would succeed.

After completing the handover of the Eternal Universe Particle research, Chen Mengchuan visited Zhao Wanyu and spent time with her in her office. They discussed preparations for the Mars mission, including metal smelters and asteroid capture ships, leaving Chen Mengchuan excited by the plan.

• Chen Mengchuan assigned the original research group to teams studying the Eternal Universe Particle’s connectedness, equidistance, and stability, then visited Zhao Wanyu’s office.
• Chen Mengchuan saw Zhao Wanyu handling hundreds of documents and waited while she finished her work.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu took a break together in her office lounge.
• Chen Mengchuan asked about the Tiansuo’s construction and the asteroid capture plan.
• Zhao Wanyu showed Chen Mengchuan plans for twenty-four metal smelters and 128 asteroid capture ships equipped with Particle Shuttles and gravity bee swarms.

Chen Mengchuan explained how asteroid capture ships would haul asteroids to Mars and how the material could be cut, processed, and smelted. He directed Zhao Wanyu to recruit and train a large workforce for Mars’s smelting plants, while describing a future when workers could commute between Mars and Earth.

• Chen Mengchuan reviewed the Gravity Department’s bowl-shaped asteroid capture ship and heard how it would anchor to an asteroid and use gravity drones and Space-time Traversal to haul it toward Mars.
• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu that source point rings could cut captured asteroids into sheets, strips, and blocks for Multi-Arm Crabs to process before the material was separated and smelted.
• Chen Mengchuan judged the metal smelting plants too small and agreed with Zhao Wanyu that experienced human managers would improve their efficiency.
• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu to recruit as many qualified personnel as possible, without nationality restrictions, and prepare humane management rules for Mars’s smelting plants.
• Chen Mengchuan predicted that improving Space-time Traversal could eventually let workers commute between Earth and Mars, and Zhao Wanyu was stunned by the prospect.

Tenzhi Technology recruited 160,000 people from around the world for mysterious long-term offsite assignments and began training them in metal smelting. As speculation mounted that the jobs involved mining on the Moon or Mars, the company announced a press conference for three weeks later.

• Zhao Wanyu announced Tenzhi Technology’s worldwide recruitment drive, drawing tens of millions of applications and speculation about the assignments’ locations.
• Zhao Wanyu deflected Huaxia officials’ questions and said the company would reveal details at a press conference one month later.
• Tenzhi Technology used Achen and the Spider Web System to screen applicants, ultimately selecting 160,000 candidates from across the world.
• Zhao Wanyu sent the selected candidates acceptance notices and arranged for them to report to Su City for training.
• Zhao Wanyu and HR grouped the new hires by factors including language and dietary needs, then began intensive training in metal smelting.
• Tenzhi Technology announced a press conference for three weeks later but did not respond to speculation that the workers would mine on the Moon or Mars.

Chen Mengchuan’s team demonstrated all five major properties of Eternal Universe Particles, while the Tiansuo completed its computer upgrades and ecological systems. With the ship nearly ready for a Mars journey, the team calculated a far more ambitious space-folding test and prepared to see if the Tiansuo could set sail.

• Chen Mengchuan’s research team demonstrated connectivity, equidistance, and absolute stability, completing the five major properties of Eternal Universe Particles.
• Zhao Wanyu reported that the Tiansuo had upgraded its supercomputers and completed its ecological zones, allowing it to support more than 24,000 people for a theoretical twenty years.
• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan and the others that the Second Tier Team had made strong progress in space-time traversal and space folding.
• Chen Mengchuan assigned some researchers to continue particle science research and sent the rest back to their departments to apply what they had learned.
• Simba set a target of sixty-six space foldings across 60,000 meters, and Chen Mengchuan’s team completed the calculations with help from the Tiansuo’s new supercomputer.
• Simba asked whether the Tiansuo could set sail for Mars if the test succeeded, saying he wanted to see what Earth looked like.

Chen Mengchuan and his team tested an ultra-long-distance Space-time Traversal from Su City to Xinjiang, aiming to complete a key step toward sending the Tiansuo to Mars. The test succeeded, with Gravity Mech No. 1 reaching Yikannilike Reservoir, and the team celebrated.

• Chen Mengchuan began preparations for the first Space-time Traversal test spanning a 3,960-kilometer straight-line distance.
• The team activated Eternal Universe Particle Shuttle No. 4 and calibrated the target source point in the Kashgar region with Achen's assistance.
• Chen Mengchuan ordered the team to open the source point circle, and the crew successfully created a thirty-six-meter blue ring.
• Gravity Mech No. 1 passed through the circle, and the Gravity Department confirmed it had arrived at Yikannilike Reservoir in Xinjiang, 4,057.34 kilometers from Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park by surface distance.
• The team confirmed the traversal matched the test data, and the laboratory erupted in celebration.

Wen Tianshui successfully completed a space-time traversal to Xinjiang, and Chen Mengchuan announced that Tenzhi Technology would use its technology to launch the Plan: Gate of Another Dimension. He described a network of fixed-point portals that could transport huge numbers of people between cities and ease Huaxia’s Spring Festival travel rush.

• Wen Tianshui reported that his space-time traversal had taken him from Su City to the area around Yikannilike Reservoir in Xinjiang.
• Zhao Wanyu, Sun Zhongyong, and Gu Xiaoxiao congratulated the team as the other mechs also traversed, and Toni marveled at their achievement.
• Chen Mengchuan said space-time traversal could become a new mode of transportation and bring Tenzhi Technology another source of revenue.
• Chen Mengchuan declared that Tenzhi Technology would cast off external constraints and lead humanity into a new age of civilization.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that the Plan: Gate of Another Dimension would use the Eternal Universe Particle space traversal machine to establish fixed routes between cities.
• Sun Zhongyong realized that the portal network could transport people in batches and solve Huaxia’s Spring Festival travel problem.

Tenzhi Technology completed key tests that gave Tiansuo space-time traversal capability, including a 24-kilometer remote origin ring and a 4,800-meter ring. Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu planned Tiansuo’s public debut at a press conference in three days, while the team continued preparing the ship and organizing the event.

• Toni directed tests that successfully opened an origin ring 24 kilometers away and another with a diameter of 4,800 meters.
• Chen Mengchuan told Sun Zhongyong that Tiansuo’s traversal could eventually take less than five seconds, making a journey to the Moon theoretically possible in under nine minutes.
• Chen Mengchuan agreed with Zhao Wanyu to unveil Tiansuo at a press conference three days later, held at the Silverfish Graphene Solar Photovoltaic Power Station.
• The research team continued refining Tiansuo and synchronizing new data with the ship and Zhao Wanyu’s asteroid capture ship.
• Zhao Wanyu met her Second Uncle and the governor of Su Province to seek higher-ranking Chinese leaders’ attendance at the press conference.
• Sun Zhongyong invited 3,200 media outlets and more than 4,200 online influencers and streamers to cover the event in Su City.