Chapter Summaries

After learning that Belgium had imprisoned François Englert to stop him from moving to China, Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu decided to secure his release and contact Belgium's leaders. Belgium's Prime Minister faced an emergency meeting as the dispute threatened to escalate into a confrontation with Tenzhi Technology.

• After the Chinese military delegation left, Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that several countries were blocking researchers from coming to China and some had imprisoned them.
• Zhao Wanyu reported that Belgium had detained François Englert, and Chen Mengchuan recognized him as a key member of the subatomic particle beam weapon project.
• Chen Mengchuan said they had to get François out and suggested pressuring Belgium, while Zhao Wanyu ordered Achen to arrange talks with Belgium's prime minister and king.
• King Philippe learned that Belgium's Upper House had isolated François and that Zhao Wanyu had requested negotiations.
• Belgium's Prime Minister convened an emergency Upper House meeting and worried that the detention had put Belgium in direct conflict with Tenzhi Technology.

After Belgium released François, Tenzhi Technology brought the Tiansuo to his home and offered him a chance to go to Huaxia. François left with his wife and one grandson, while Belgium’s leaders were left waiting for a visit that never came.

• Belgium’s Prime Minister ordered the Upper House to release François after Tenzhi Technology threatened to cut off all its products to Belgium.
• François told his students that he planned to move his family to Huaxia, and the Prime Minister received notice that the Tiansuo would visit Belgium.
• The Tiansuo emerged from a blue source-point ring above Belgium, and Chen Mengchuan, Zhao Wanyu, Möbius, and Puslin arrived at François’s home.
• François welcomed the visitors and decided to go to Huaxia with his wife, while his children planned to follow later.
• The Tiansuo departed with François, his wife, and one grandson, leaving Belgium’s leaders to learn that it had not visited them.

Chen Mengchuan learned that Toni’s team had successfully tested Space Folding over 23,760 kilometers and upgraded the Tiansuo, but he argued that even faster travel was needed to explore the universe freely. The chapter ended with Chen Mengchuan imagining a future in which opening a door could take them anywhere in the universe.

• Tenzhi Technology and China prepared to announce a super graphene solar power station in mid-Earth orbit, prompting countries to seek state visits to China.
• Toni told Chen Mengchuan that the Space Folding tests had succeeded and that the optimized Tiansuo could make a space jump every nineteen seconds.
• Chen Mengchuan said surpassing the speed of light was only the beginning of humanity’s exploration of the universe.
• Toni recalled Zhao Wanyu’s words about Chen Mengchuan’s loneliness and the ambition that had driven Tenzhi Technology forward.
• Toni encouraged Chen Mengchuan by pointing out how far the team had advanced, and Chen Mengchuan pictured opening a door to reach anywhere in the universe.

Three days later, Tenzhi Technology and the Huaxia government prepared to unveil their infinite-energy cooperation at a major press conference attended by reporters and foreign leaders. Before the event began, Huaxia offered Tenzhi Technology a vast new science park, and Zhao Wanyu and Chen Mengchuan were called to the stage.

• Mikey told Miss LeFulan that he trusted Tenzhi Technology to develop infinite energy.
• Foreign leaders gathered at Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park after receiving hints about the announcement and attractive cooperation terms from Huaxia.
• Leader Xu presented Zhao Wanyu and Chen Mengchuan with a draft agreement granting Tenzhi Technology a roughly fifteen-kilometer-radius science park around its existing industrial park.
• Zhao Wanyu welcomed the land expansion, which would give Tenzhi Technology room to plan its facilities and potentially create a docking area for the Tiansuo.
• Zhao Wanyu's assistant announced that five minutes remained before she went onstage, and Leader Xu invited her and Chen Mengchuan to proceed.

At a Tenzhi Technology press conference, Chen Mengchuan announced a partnership with the Huaxia authorities to build 12 orbital power stations that would provide energy to Huaxia and neighboring countries. Reporter Mikey realized that the project had already begun to rewrite the order of human civilization.

• Mikey prepared notes as reporters gathered at the venue and Tenzhi Technology staff set up the equipment.
• Chen Mengchuan took the stage with Zhao Wanyu and Huaxia representatives, welcomed the attendees, and announced cooperation with the authorities.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that 12 power stations in Earth orbit would convert solar energy into electricity for Huaxia and dozens of neighboring countries.
• Chen Mengchuan said the stations' graphene would come from the Martian base and carbonaceous asteroids captured by Tenzhi Technology.
• As viewers reacted online and reporters sought to ask questions, Mikey wrote “Order!” and concluded that human civilization's new order was already being rewritten.

After Tenzhi Technology’s unlimited-energy announcement, countries sought cooperation with Huaxia while global mining stocks plunged amid its acquisition of asteroid resources. Chen Mengchuan explained that the resources would not be dumped onto Earth and discussed plans to expand Mars’s smelting and manufacturing capacity, as a gravity sphere drifted toward them.

• Countries approached the Huaxia government for details and cooperation after Tenzhi Technology entrusted it with authority to negotiate on the company’s behalf.
• Sun Zhongyong oversaw Tenzhi Technology’s acquisition of mineral resources worldwide as mining shares fell and companies suspended trading.
• Chen Mengchuan told Sun Zhongyong that Tenzhi Technology would not bring M-type asteroid metals to Earth because doing so could destabilize the global economy.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that Mars’s metal smelters and machinery manufacturing capacity were insufficient, and that trained reserve personnel would help expand asteroid processing.
• Sun Zhongyong refused to reveal his next plans, and a gravity sphere drifted toward the two men.

Chen Mengchuan and his companions prepared to leave Earth for Mars aboard the Tiansuo, joined by Huaxia officials. The ship departed, and its passengers paused to look back at Earth before beginning the journey.

• Zhao Wanyu explained that her team would secretly extract resource deposits from around the world, and Chen Mengchuan decided they should finish preparations and return to Mars.
• Chen Mengchuan said Huaxia officials would join the trip, and he and Sun Zhongyong discussed the possibility of finding a living planet.
• The Tiansuo was loaded with supplies and equipped with improved Space-time Traversal technology, allowing it to reach Mars from Earth in twenty-five and a half hours.
• Zhao Wanyu stayed with Chen Mengchuan and their family as the Tiansuo departed from Tenzhi Technology Industrial Park with the Mars-bound passengers aboard.
• After leaving Earth, the Tiansuo opened its observation chamber, and the passengers gazed at the planet as a Huaxia official representative said humanity was insignificant.

After arriving on Mars, Chen Mengchuan and the others established weapons research centers far from Earth to reduce the danger of accidents. The chapter leaves the plasma weapons team ready to begin work on a spacecraft-mounted medium Plasma Cannon.

• Sun Zhongyong traveled to Mars with his wife and child aboard the crowded Tiansuo, alongside nearly a hundred thousand reserve personnel bound for metal smelters.
• Xu Shuwei coordinated the personnel transfers, and after two days Chen Mengchuan and the others began planning their work on Mars.
• Chen Mengchuan decided to establish the weapons research bases on Mars, and research centers for several dangerous weapons were laid out across the planet.
• Toni told Chen Mengchuan that Thomson, Crux, and Langmuir had agreed on a plan for four plasma weapon specifications.
• The plasma weapons team chose to begin with the medium Plasma Cannon for large gravity spacecraft, leaving the planet-class cannon and smaller weapons for later development.

Chen Mengchuan and his colleagues established the weapons research departments, with Xu Shuwei leading the effort to build a Solar System-wide early warning and defense system. The chapter ended with the group sharing a late meal and teasing Xu Shuwei about his enormous appetite.

• Chen Mengchuan and his colleagues finalized the research sites and leaders for the weapons research departments.
• Xu Shuwei took charge of the Cosmic Particle Optical Conversion Communication Early Warning Defense System, which would track celestial bodies and provide warnings across the Solar System.
• Chen Mengchuan required the system to detect and identify alien spacecraft within one second, explaining that it was essential to humanity's security.
• Chen Mengchuan, Toni, Xu Shuwei, and the others ate together after their meeting, and Xu Shuwei shared braised pork with Chen Mengchuan.
• Toni took a chicken wing from Xu Shuwei's basin, and Xu Shuwei tried to protect the rest of his food as everyone laughed.

Chen Mengchuan and Toni expanded Mars’s energy plans and prepared to extend Tenzhi Technology’s development beyond the planet. Chen chose Europa as the first target for exploring Jupiter’s moons, hoping to test a low-temperature exploration ship and investigate whether life existed beneath its ice.

• Toni told Chen Mengchuan that Mars needed six additional nuclear power plants and was preparing 128 orbiting graphene solar photovoltaic power stations to meet rising energy demands.
• Chen Mengchuan reviewed the growing asteroid-capture and smelting operations on Mars and agreed that energy infrastructure was essential to the planet’s development.
• Chen Mengchuan and Toni agreed to begin exploring Jupiter as part of the Solar System development plan.
• Chen Mengchuan selected Europa for the first exploration, planning to test a low-temperature-resistant ship and investigate its subsurface ocean for life.
• Chen Mengchuan recalled that human governments had withheld information from past Europa explorations and wondered whether the moon truly harbored life.

Chen Mengchuan and Li Xiaosong discussed the possibility of life on Europa while the Martian base prepared a probe to explore it. Sun Zhongyong became hopeful about life beneath Europa’s ice and learned about water bears, as Li Xiaosong confirmed they could survive in outer space.

• Sun Zhongyong admitted he had never heard of Europa and asked whether life could exist on the icy world.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that Europa might host extremophiles, and Li Xiaosong described anaerobic organisms and their different types.
• Li Xiaosong said Europa’s possible subsurface ocean and low temperatures could support life, though an expedition would be needed to confirm it.
• Sun Zhongyong imagined a colorful underwater world beneath Europa’s ice and asked about organisms that could survive in space.
• Sun Zhongyong’s daughter said she knew about water bears from The Octonauts, and Li Xiaosong confirmed that tardigrades could survive in outer space.

Chen Mengchuan inspected Tenzhi Technology’s Europa exploration spacecraft and its cold-resistant Multi-Arm Crab machines. The mission was being prepared to investigate Europa’s ice shell and determine whether a vast subsurface ocean existed.

• Chen Mengchuan asked Qian Jianghai how well the spacecraft’s insulation could withstand Europa’s extreme cold, and Qian explained that it had been tested down to -250 degrees Celsius.
• Chen Mengchuan examined the enlarged, insulated Multi-Arm Crabs, which had been equipped with heating units and graphene heat-conducting filaments.
• Tenzhi Technology’s exploration plan included using a nuclear-powered drilling machine to bore into Europa’s ice and measure its thickness.
• Tenzhi Technology and NASA’s image-analysis teams estimated Europa’s ice shell was 10 to 30 kilometers thick, potentially covering an ocean up to 100 kilometers deep.

Chen Mengchuan explained the Europa mission’s travel distance and four-day projected journey to Sun Zhongyong and his daughters, while discussing the need for faster space travel. As the Europa spacecraft prepared for departure, Zhao Wanyu arranged the return to Earth and collected Martian gifts.

• Chen Mengchuan taught Sun Zhongyong and his daughters how astronomical units measured distances between planets, and Toni noted that the calculation oversimplified their orbits.
• Chen Mengchuan showed that Edge of Sui Star No. 1 was expected to reach Europa in 96.9 hours using the latest space-folding technology.
• Chen Mengchuan told Sun Zhongyong that he wanted humanity to travel faster and eventually explore beyond the Solar System, and Sun Zhongyong encouraged him to keep pursuing that goal.
• Chen Mengchuan provided gravity mechas so Sun Zhongyong and the others could explore Mars, and Sun Zhongyong flew around the planet.
• Zhao Wanyu began preparing to return to Earth, speeding up the unloading of Tiansuo and gathering Martian gifts, including a two-ton diamond.

Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed the Martian base’s growing operations, plans to expand its mines and satellite bases, and the establishment of the Martian Academy of Sciences. Zhao Wanyu agreed to recruit professors and talented students on Earth as the couple prepared to continue developing Mars.

• Chen Mengchuan watched supplies move from the Tiansuo into the Martian base, coordinated by Achen and Yue'er through the supercomputer network.
• Zhao Wanyu told Chen Mengchuan that the diamonds had been transported, including a nearly intact mass from an asteroid that might weigh more than ten tons.
• Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu discussed assigning reserve personnel to existing metal smelters while new plants were under construction.
• Chen Mengchuan proposed expanding the mines and twelve satellite bases to supply the growing Martian operations and weapons research institutes.
• Chen Mengchuan explained that Mars needed stronger foundational research and a science and technology university, and Zhao Wanyu agreed to recruit professors and gifted students on Earth.
• Chen Mengchuan embraced Zhao Wanyu and thanked her for her hard work.

Zhang Dongyu and the observation team prepared Edge of Sui Star No. 1 to land on Europa and search for extraterrestrial life. The spacecraft deployed its exploration robots and began its landing approach, with the team awaiting the historic mission's outcome.

• Zhang Dongyu told Chen A'ao to turn on the cameras and notify the others that Edge of Sui Star No. 1 was nearing Europa.
• Xu Shuwei, Toni, and other team members gathered in the control center and watched Jupiter on the screen.
• Zhang Dongyu explained the spacecraft's plan to land on Europa's equator on the side facing away from Jupiter.
• The control center received images of Europa and checked the spacecraft's distance, temperatures, and landing equipment.
• Zhang Dongyu ordered the six Multi-Arm Crabs deployed, then gave the command to land.

At the Mars Plasma Weapons Research Center, Chen Mengchuan approved assembling a prototype Plasma Cannon for testing. Meanwhile, the Edge of Sui Star No. 1 approached Europa and detected an oxygen-rich trace atmosphere, leaving the expedition team watching the spacecraft descend toward the moon’s smooth, brown-marked surface.

• Thomson told Chen Mengchuan that the Plasma Cannon design was ready for assembly, and Chen agreed to begin testing.
• Langmuir and the researchers debated plasma behavior and weapon parameters while A-Chen ran calculations and simulations.
• The Edge of Sui Star No. 1 descended toward Europa as twelve cameras relayed views of its soil-filled valleys and surface.
• Zhang Dongyu’s team detected oxygen in Europa’s trace atmosphere, exciting the control center.
• Toni explained to Xu Shuwei that Europa’s oxygen likely came from radiation and charged particles breaking apart surface ice, not from life.
• The spacecraft continued its descent as the team monitored its atmosphere and admired Europa’s clear, smooth surface.

Edge of Sui Star No. 1 landed on Europa, where its Exploration Multi-Arm Crabs began testing the surface and preparing to explore. As Earth watched the landing live, scientists debated whether Europa’s subsurface ocean could support life, leaving the expedition’s central question unanswered.

• Zhang Dongyu ordered the spacecraft’s audio on and directed Edge of Sui Star No. 1 to land on Europa.
• Observers reported Europa’s temperature, atmospheric composition, low gravity, and frozen surface as the Exploration Multi-Arm Crabs began exploratory flight.
• Toni told Xu Shuwei that Earth had been notified and that Chinese media were broadcasting the landing live.
• Scientists on Earth explained the challenges of life’s origins and debated whether Europa’s conditions could support life.
• Two Chinese scientists proposed that a warm belt in Europa’s subsurface ocean might be suitable for a diverse ecosystem.

Chen Mengchuan discussed possible explanations for why humanity had not detected extraterrestrial civilizations, while privately recalling a vision of aliens annihilating humanity. He left the conversation worried that humanity’s broadcasts into space could have drawn the civilization that destroyed Earth in his vision.

• Chen Mengchuan told Crux, Thomson, and Langmuir that extraterrestrial life likely existed, though intelligent life might be rare and separated by vast distances.
• Chen Mengchuan and the others discussed possible reasons humanity had not made contact with aliens, including the short duration of human searches and the difficulty of interstellar travel and communication.
• Chen Mengchuan proposed that civilizations might be unable to cross star systems, broadcast signals only briefly, pass through a technological singularity, or be difficult to distinguish from natural phenomena.
• Thomson raised the Dark Forest Hypothesis, and Langmuir mentioned the Zoo Hypothesis as possible explanations for humanity’s isolation.
• Chen Mengchuan recalled his vision of aliens wiping out humanity in nine hours and wondered whether human signals had attracted them.
• Chen Mengchuan smoked and resolved himself as he considered the possibility that humanity had brought about its own destruction.

After landing on Europa, Chen Mengchuan watched Zhang Dongyu’s team prepare to drill through the ice shell toward the underground ocean in search of life. New survey data suggested Europa had multiple ice layers and tectonic activity, but the shell’s thickness remained uncertain as drilling began.

• Chen Mengchuan visited Zhang Dongyu at the remote control center as the team prepared its drill and extraction equipment.
• Zhang Dongyu ordered the drilling procedure to begin, and the drill rapidly bored into Europa’s ice.
• Zhang Dongyu explained that the drilling system could operate continuously, while the ice shell’s estimated thickness of twenty-seven thousand meters still had a margin of error.
• Zhang Dongyu told Chen Mengchuan that researchers had identified multiple ice layers, differences in salt content, and evidence of tectonic subduction on Europa.
• Chen Mengchuan learned that these findings strengthened researchers’ hopes of life in the underground ocean as the drilling continued.

Chen Mengchuan visited the antimatter beam weapon research center, where Marshall revealed that the team had successfully captured antiprotons and developed a preliminary weapon concept. The researchers expected to build the first generation within six months to a year, bringing Chen Mengchuan’s antimatter weapon goal closer.

• Chen Mengchuan left the Europa control center and traveled to the antimatter beam weapon research center to hear Marshall’s report.
• Marshall explained antiprotons and described how the Nucleon Organization isolated them in a vacuum using a high magnetic field.
• Marshall revealed that the team had captured antiprotons, and Chen Mengchuan celebrated the breakthrough.
• Marshall told Chen Mengchuan that the team had a preliminary antimatter beam weapon concept and expected to develop a first-generation weapon within six months to a year.