Chapter Summaries

Zhao Wanyu began recruiting scientists for Tenzhi Technology’s new weapons division and organized a Mars research gathering. Braz learned that he had been invited, giving him a chance to return to scientific work.

• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan she would launch all the weapons projects and recruit the researchers needed for them.
• Zhao Wanyu ordered Achen to find leading scientists and invite them to a forty-two-day academic trip to the Martian base.
• Braz returned home from his waste-treatment job and learned that Kamik had called him about Tenzhi Technology’s Mars invitation.
• Kamik urged Braz to check his email, and Braz found an invitation from Tenzhi Technology that brought him to tears.

Chen Mengchuan reviewed Mars projects with his colleagues and learned that mineral exploration and metal smelter construction were progressing more slowly than expected. He agreed to arrange Tiansuo’s return to Earth so researchers could travel to Mars for a science summit, while teams continued working through the obstacles.

• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that Tiansuo could return to Earth and bring 18,000 researchers to Mars, and Chen agreed to arrange the trip.
• Simba told Chen Mengchuan that the Space Folding department had completed 124 folds across 80 kilometers and was close to reaching 120 kilometers.
• Xu Shuwei reported that exploration Multi-Arm Crabs had surveyed 72% of Mars, but mineral prospecting remained difficult because Earth’s geological methods did not apply well there.
• Chen Mengchuan learned that Xu Shuwei’s team had contacted geologists from various countries, some of whom planned to attend the Martian Science Summit.
• Möbius told Chen Mengchuan that seven metal smelter sites were under construction, while four additional sites lacked enough ultra-large gravity working platforms for construction.

Chen Mengchuan reviewed the progress of the Martian metal smelting and nuclear power projects, then described plans to supply the plant with glacier ice and capture asteroids for resources. The asteroid survey had identified sixty-two candidates, and the team was targeting valuable M-type metallic asteroids in the main belt.

• Chen Mengchuan urged Möbius to maintain progress so trained metal smelting employees could return to Mars aboard the next Tiansuo trip.
• Toni reported that the nuclear plant site surveys were incomplete and that choosing a suitable location would take time.
• Chen Mengchuan showed Toni and Puslin a glacier already cut free and said it could be delivered once the nuclear plant site was confirmed.
• Chen Mengchuan said the team had preliminarily detected sixty-two asteroids, including C-type, S-type, and M-type candidates.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that the team aimed to capture M-type metallic asteroids in the main belt and described how vast and sparsely populated the belt was.

Chen Mengchuan explained the asteroid survey and capture plans, while Xu Shuwei announced that a Mars mining robot had found signs of radioactive minerals. The group suspected the southern equatorial region held a pitchblende uranium deposit.

• Chen Mengchuan said their telescopes had identified sixty-two target asteroids, and capture ships were already heading toward them.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that the largest target was about 350 kilometers wide and described plans to develop Spatial Source Point Circle technology for extracting asteroid resources.
• Xu Shuwei received a message and announced that a QS10086 multifunctional Multi-Arm Crab had detected abundant alpha particles in rocks in Mars's southern equatorial region.
• Puslin explained that the readings most likely indicated a pitchblende uranium mine.

Chen Mengchuan and his team discussed a pitchblende deposit on Mars and decided to prioritize further exploration over mining it for now. As Tenzhi Technology’s Mars Science Summit approached, Earth’s scientific community eagerly anticipated the event despite resistance from many governments.

• Puslin explained pitchblende’s composition and history, and suggested it might contain technetium useful for nuclear batteries.
• Xu Shuwei asked Chen Mengchuan whether to send mining-exploration QS10086 multifunctional Multi-Arm Crabs to survey the deposit more thoroughly.
• Chen Mengchuan decided to keep searching for Mars’s mineral deposits and postpone extracting the uranium until it was needed.
• Tenzhi Technology’s upcoming Mars Science Summit stirred controversy among governments while invited experts and scientists looked forward to attending.
• Tenzhi Technology’s scientific resources, advanced technology, and expanding wireless-power services had made it increasingly influential and attractive to people around the world.

As the Mars Science Exchange Summit invitees toured Tenzhi Technology, Zhao Wanyu showed them the company’s work and Mars projects. Meanwhile, Chen Mengchuan and the others planned a vast power and smelting network on Mars and tested a method for cutting transported ice.

• Zhao Wanyu guided the summit invitees around Tenzhi Technology and described its humanitarian work, environmental projects, and plans for Mars.
• Chen Mengchuan and the others directed Martian operations aboard the returning Tiansuo, which was on track to reach Earth in about three days.
• Toni and the others selected a stepped crater 190 kilometers from the Martian base as the site for a 24-unit nuclear power plant and planned 60 relay stations across a region 2,000 kilometers wide.
• Chen Mengchuan and the asteroid capture division transported a large polar ice block to the power plant site for a cutting test.
• The team pushed the ice block through a source-point ring, then severed the ring and split the ice into two pieces with smooth cut surfaces.

The crew successfully used the Source Point Ring to cut a Martian iceberg into cubes and began forming an artificial lake while planning the construction of a nuclear power plant. After sixty hours of travel, the Tiansuo reached Earth, and Chen Mengchuan led the crew through a final Space-time Traversal toward home.

• Xu Shuwei announced the first large-scale Source Point Ring cutting experiment had succeeded, and gravity swarms stabilized the two halves of the iceberg.
• The crew spent a day cutting the glacier into forty-eight-meter cubes, which melted into a prepared basin and began forming an artificial lake.
• Toni explained that heating rods would melt the ice quickly, while Puslin described the Rankine cycle and said the nuclear power plant would take over twenty days to begin testing.
• After sixty hours of travel, the Tiansuo slowed as Earth came into view.
• Chen Mengchuan said it was time to go home, and the Tiansuo entered a pale-blue Source Point Ring.

The Tiansuo returned from Mars and landed above Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park in Su City, drawing worldwide attention. Huaxia resolved to support and cooperate with Tenzhi Technology, while other nations debated how to respond and the public speculated about Mars.

• The Tiansuo passed through the Source Point Circle and arrived over the East China Sea, and Chen Mengchuan ordered Huaxia and Tenzhi headquarters to be notified.
• Tenzhi cleared its facilities, and the Tiansuo emerged above Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park and returned to Earth.
• Media around the world reported the Tiansuo's return as Huaxia officials, including Li Zhongxia and Second Uncle Zhao, discussed how to respond.
• Huaxia adopted resolutions to support Tenzhi Technology, encourage its development, expand cooperation, and put its advances to public benefit.
• American officials split over whether to destroy, cooperate with, or guard against Tenzhi Technology, while other nations also began planning responses.
• People worldwide speculated about the Tiansuo's discoveries on Mars and the prospects for Martian settlement.

The Tiansuo returned to Earth, and Zhao Wanyu welcomed Chen Mengchuan and the crew back to Tenzhi Technology. After discussing their family and the leukemia treatment’s promising results, Chen Mengchuan reaffirmed his support for research into precise DNA sequencing and hinted at his ambitions for DNA editing.

• Zhao Wanyu watched the Tiansuo arrive at Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park and flew to meet it in a gravity sphere.
• Achen connected with Yue'er, guided Zhao Wanyu to Chen Mengchuan and the others, and the group returned to the industrial park for a welcoming gathering.
• Zhao Wanyu gave the returning crew time off and scheduled the Tiansuo to depart for Mars again in five days.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed their daughter Zhihui and his regret over spending so little time with his family.
• Zhao Wanyu reported that the leukemia patients were recovering well, and Chen Mengchuan promised to support precise DNA sequencing research once the treatment’s success was confirmed.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed supporting human evolution and recruiting scientists for Tenzhi Technology. Chen revealed a future treatment that cured Alzheimer's disease and could extend human lifespans, and Zhao Wanyu asked whether he had already mastered it.

• Chen Mengchuan told Zhao Wanyu he wanted to support precise DNA sequencing research to improve humanity's abilities and prepare for space and alien threats.
• Zhao Wanyu explained that most of the invited experts and scholars had attended the science summit and that Tenzhi Technology planned to recruit senior theoretical scholars to strengthen its research foundation.
• Chen Mengchuan asked Zhao Wanyu to arrange a meeting with Xu Mingsheng and asked whether Tenzhi Technology had medical research institutions studying Alzheimer's disease.
• Chen Mengchuan described a future treatment that cured Alzheimer's disease and extended elderly people's lifespans by one to thirty years.
• Zhao Wanyu asked Chen Mengchuan in astonishment whether he had mastered the treatment technology.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed plans to cure Alzheimer's disease, the progress of Plan: Gate of Another Dimension, and the new Matrix computing center. The six traversal sites were built and their shuttle parameters were being fixed, while Matrix began serving Tenzhi Technology and a pilot program for Jiangsu Province.

• Chen Mengchuan said Tenzhi Technology could pursue an Alzheimer's treatment using its AI, quantum computers, and precision equipment, and Zhao Wanyu agreed to start assembling a research team.
• Chen Mengchuan said Xu Mingsheng and the other researchers would be needed for DNA sequencing and studies of brain proteins and acetylcholine.
• Zhao Wanyu reported that construction was complete at the six traversal sites and that the Space-time Traversal Department and Communications Department had calculated their parameters.
• Zhao Wanyu said China had asked Tenzhi Technology to fix the shuttle settings because its researchers were not yet ready to adjust them safely.
• Zhao Wanyu explained that the seventy-two-unit Matrix had begun operating and was supporting a pilot program for government services in Jiangsu Province.
• Chen Mengchuan praised Zhao Wanyu's leadership, and the two kissed.

Chen Mengchuan learned that the team had theoretically completed DNA editing and authorized them to begin testing with Achen’s cooperation. He assigned their first editing task to a new project aimed at curing Alzheimer’s disease, then went with Zhao Wanyu to meet Li Zhongxia.

• Chen Mengchuan woke to his daughter Zhihui slapping his face, made her cry with a kiss, and was scolded by Mother Chen and Father Chen.
• Xu Mingsheng showed Chen Mengchuan the team’s graphene-based DNA sequencing progress and explained that DNA editing was theoretically possible, though Achen kept the data sealed.
• Chen Mengchuan authorized the team to begin DNA sequencing tests with Achen’s cooperation.
• Chen Mengchuan assigned Xu Mingsheng and the researchers their first DNA editing task: cooperating on a new project to cure Alzheimer’s disease.
• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that Li Zhongxia had arrived to discuss further cooperation, and they flew to the Super Tenzhi Building to meet him.

Li Zhongxia asked Chen Mengchuan to help Huaxia expand wireless power transmission nationwide and proposed a new robotics collaboration. The chapter ended with Li revealing that Huaxia wanted Tenzhi Technology to help develop battle robots.

• Li Zhongxia met Chen Mengchuan and asked Tenzhi Technology to support a nationwide wireless power network.
• Chen Mengchuan agreed to have Wanyu, Ah Chen, and Tenzhi Technology's Gravity and Space-time Traversal departments work with Huaxia Electric Grid.
• Li Zhongxia explained that Huaxia and other countries had struggled to reproduce Tenzhi Technology's Multi-Arm Crab.
• Li Zhongxia asked Tenzhi Technology to help design industrial, research, and battle robots.
• Chen Mengchuan reacted with surprise when Li Zhongxia mentioned battle robots.

Chen Mengchuan and Li Zhongxia discussed Huaxia’s proposed collaboration with Tenzhi Technology on combat robots and gravity mecha. Chen agreed to cooperate, and Li planned to report Chen’s recommendations to the military.

• Li Zhongxia asked Chen Mengchuan to help Huaxia develop combat robots, and Chen agreed to cooperate while asking the military to lead most of the work.
• Chen Mengchuan distinguished gravity mecha from other war machines and recommended developing combat gravity mecha in light, medium, and heavy specifications.
• Chen Mengchuan proposed pairing flexible, AI-assisted gravity mecha with spindle-shaped multidirectional gravity aircraft as a future warfare combination.
• Li Zhongxia said he would report the proposal to the military and pursue cooperation with Tenzhi Technology, then shook hands with Chen Mengchuan.

Chen Mengchuan discussed the Mars Science Summit and plans for Tenzhi Technology to develop combat gravity mechs with China. He revealed that the mechs were intended to prepare for possible extraterrestrial civilizations and asked Xu Shuwei to prioritize Lingkong 5.0, leaving its target transmission range undecided.

• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that more than twenty thousand people had arrived in China for the Mars Science Summit and that boarding the Tiansuo would close in three days.
• Chen Mengchuan outlined a plan for Tenzhi Technology and China to develop combat gravity mechs, with China leading core development and Tenzhi supplying materials and artificial intelligence support.
• Chen Mengchuan told Puslin and the others that the mechs were meant to protect against extraterrestrial civilizations, and Toni and Puslin agreed to find suitable personnel for the joint project.
• Chen Mengchuan asked Xu Shuwei to resume leading wireless power transmission work and prioritize completing Lingkong 5.0 for the Mars base and future Earth projects.
• Xu Shuwei asked what transmission range Lingkong 5.0 should achieve, and Toni replied that technological advancement had no end.

Thomson, Langmuir, and Crux discussed plasma research at Tenzhi Technology and learned the company was planning super-giant plasma cannon emplacements. Thomson suspected the weapons were intended to defend against extraterrestrial civilizations, leaving Crux and Langmuir shocked by the possibility of aliens.

• Thomson recognized William Crux outside a research building and introduced him to Owen Langmuir.
• Crux and Thomson discussed plasma research, and Crux explained that his calculations exceeded his institute’s capabilities.
• Crux said he had come to Huaxia because Tenzhi Technology offered high-intensity computing and access to super-giant plasma experimental equipment.
• Thomson suspected Tenzhi Technology planned to build super-giant plasma cannon emplacements on Mars or in space.
• Thomson told Crux and Langmuir that the weapons were likely intended to target possible extraterrestrial civilizations.

Chen Mengchuan showed Xu Shuwei, Toni, and the others a range of plasma weapons and discussed plans to develop them for interstellar defense. The chapter ended with Xu Shuwei reacting uneasily to their extensive weapons list as Chen Mengchuan and Toni argued that humanity would need strong defenses beyond the Solar System.

• Chen Mengchuan explained how high-voltage plasma discharge could power weapons, including a planet-scale cannon that could blast a huge hole through Earth.
• Toni proposed placing thousands of planet-scale cannons around Earth, the Moon, and Mars, and Chen Mengchuan said he would recruit candidates after the Mars Science Summit.
• Chen Mengchuan outlined plasma cannons for the Tiansuo and gravity mechs, along with a handheld plasma gun, as four weapon specifications for interstellar defense.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that spatial-transit weapons remained limited because the Asymmetric Source Point Ring Technology could not yet redirect the exit point.
• Xu Shuwei examined Chen Mengchuan and Toni's extensive weapons list, while Toni argued that humanity would need abundant weapons when it encountered other civilizations beyond the Solar System.

Chen Mengchuan took the Tiansuo back to Mars with nearly thirty thousand science summit attendees, 3,200 metal-smelting plant workers, and enormous quantities of supplies. The ship arrived at the Six Flames Palace Martian base, where its passengers saw Mars and learned that construction and planetary exploration had made strong progress.

• Chen Mengchuan refused Xu Shuwei's proposal to hold a speech on Earth, and the Tiansuo departed from Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park under Zhao Wanyu's arrangements.
• The Tiansuo carried the science summit attendees, 3,200 selected preparatory workers, and extensive supplies for the Martian base.
• During the journey, the crowded passengers filled the ship's activity areas with lively discussions and debates.
• After more than sixty hours, the Tiansuo reached Mars, and the passengers were stunned by the planet's appearance.
• Chen Mengchuan and the others reviewed the progress on Mars and learned that Yue'er had produced a 3D map of the planet from exploration data.

Chen Mengchuan welcomed NASA head James Fletcher to Tenzhi Technology’s Martian base, where they discussed NASA’s struggles and analyzed strange temperature readings on Mars. As their shuttle approached the base, James said the visit would be the most memorable day of his life.

• James Fletcher praised Tenzhi Technology for surpassing NASA by landing on Mars and building a base there.
• James explained that Congress had redirected funding toward projects inspired by Tenzhi’s technology, leaving NASA underfunded.
• Chen Mengchuan assured James that Tenzhi would treat the more than 300 aerospace researchers recruited from NASA well.
• Chen showed James Mars thermal imaging data, and James identified isolated temperature anomalies that might warrant excavation.
• Chen said the exploratory Multi-Arm Crab was already on its way to investigate the anomalies, and James expressed envy of its capabilities.
• A broadcast announced that they would reach the Martian base in three minutes, and James called the day the most memorable of his life.

Chen Mengchuan welcomed the Mars Science Summit guests to Tenzhi Technology’s Martian base and discussed future exploration with Elon Musk. The summit began with plans for Solar System expansion and defenses against possible alien threats.

• Chen Mengchuan led the guests from the Tiansuo into the Martian base, where they viewed Mars through transparent graphene panels.
• Chen Mengchuan greeted Elon Musk, who admitted that Chen had reached Mars before him and realized a long-held dream.
• Chen Mengchuan described plans to develop Mars, explore the Solar System, and eventually send a mission to Proxima Centauri b.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that Tenzhi Technology aimed to improve Tiansuo’s speed and build spacecraft using resources from the asteroid belt.
• Chen Mengchuan and other Tenzhi representatives prepared to host thirty-two scientific exchange sessions and recruit people for future projects, including the armed division.
• Chen Mengchuan envisioned turning the Solar System into a defensive fortress and insisted humanity should resist any future alien invasion.