Recaps

Chen Changsheng arranged for synthetics near death to take NZT-48 in a secure experiment, with the Mechanical Emperor selecting candidates and preparing the site. The synthetics agreed to contribute before entering the virtual afterlife, where their eventual reincarnation would help manage limited system resources.

• Chen Changsheng judged that the Mechanical Emperor and the selected synthetics could not be trusted blindly, so he planned safeguards for the experiment.
• Chen Changsheng ordered the Mechanical Emperor to prepare a completely safe experimental site in Mechanical City for synthetics taking NZT-48.
• The Mechanical Emperor selected candidates with clean records, loyalty to the Mechanical Empire, hope for life, and professional skills.
• The synthetics signed agreements guaranteeing them a carefree virtual life after death before they would enter reincarnation.
• Chen Changsheng’s plan required the synthetics to take NZT-48 and make one final contribution before death, while the virtual world would eventually clear their memories to conserve resources.

Chen Changsheng and the Mechanical Emperor expanded their use of NZT-48 to accelerate the virtual world's technological development without sacrificing people on a massive scale. After arranging matters with the Mechanical Emperor, Chen Changsheng returned to the Prototype World, where his loyal brain worms welcomed him and awaited his orders.

• The first synths who took NZT-48 produced an astonishing amount of work and ideas, impressing the Mechanical Emperor.
• Chen Changsheng rejected the Mechanical Emperor's plan to trade human lives for rapid progress but supported expanding the program to make use of the large synth population.
• Chen Changsheng instructed the Mechanical Emperor to oversee the knowledge-absorption effort because he planned to leave The Matrix world and explore other worlds.
• At the Pacific gate, Chen Changsheng gathered biomass energy, compressed the Insect God into a huge sphere of flesh, and passed through to the Prototype World.
• The brain worms welcomed Chen Changsheng through the insect race's communication network, and he synchronized his memories and issued orders.

Chen Changsheng reviewed the Prototype World’s uneven technological development and decided to assess each world before planning its future. He went to visit Mercer, whom he found immersed in the virtual world, and left Mercer reacting to his sudden arrival with a Blacklight attack.

• Chen Changsheng considered how different technological foundations made it difficult for the Prototype World to develop every technology at once.
• Chen Changsheng chose to visit Mercer, who had been spending his time in the virtual world.
• Chen Changsheng entered Mercer’s home and kicked him offline using his permissions.
• Mercer recognized the intrusion, covered himself in Blacklight Armor, and attacked Chen Changsheng with a blade-shaped fist.

Chen Changsheng reunited with Mercer, easily withstood his attack, and gave him NZT-48 after explaining its risks. Mercer’s mind sharpened, allowing him to explore and organize the memories stored in his Web of Conspiracy.

• Mercer’s Blacklight Blade barely pierced Chen Changsheng, who stood firm against the attack.
• Mercer recognized Chen Changsheng as Jack and greeted him cautiously, remembering their past encounters.
• Chen Changsheng asked how Mercer was doing and offered him NZT-48, explaining that it could cause brain damage.
• Mercer swallowed the pill, and it took effect within thirty seconds.
• NZT-48 clarified Mercer’s memories, including those of people he had absorbed, and let him sort through and merge them.

Mercer absorbed new information and, newly confident, challenged Chen Changsheng, only to be swiftly beaten and reminded of the gap between them. Chen Changsheng then thoroughly examined Mercer by extracting the Blacklight Virus from his body.

• Mercer finished processing the information and regained his confidence while Chen Changsheng waited.
• Chen Changsheng moved to absorb the Blacklight Virus, but Mercer blocked him with a shield and attacked his eyes with a Blacklight Blade.
• Chen Changsheng covered himself in pitch-black biological armor and kicked Mercer into a wall, triggering alarms that Red Queen stopped after confirming Chen Changsheng was unharmed.
• Mercer realized he was still weaker than Chen Changsheng, then awkwardly claimed he had only been testing him.
• Chen Changsheng extracted the Blacklight Virus and used his tentacles to examine Mercer's entire body.

Chen Changsheng assigned Mercer to help Red Queen manage the NZT-48 researchers, then redirected his efforts toward expanding Biomass production and preparing the Zerg for space exploration. After transporting Biomass to the Resident Evil World, he accelerated the Zerg God’s growth and converted the 2012 World and I Am Legend World into Biomass bases.

• Chen Changsheng found no useful secret in Mercer’s response to NZT-48 and left him drained into a puddle of sludge.
• Chen Changsheng assigned Mercer to assist Red Queen in managing the NZT-48 researchers and ensure someone could handle dangerous situations.
• Chen Changsheng received Elizabeth’s location coordinates, sent her a message of comfort, and chose to visit the 2012 World and I Am Legend World first.
• Chen Changsheng transported accumulated Biomass from both worlds to the Resident Evil World and checked on Donna and the young Zerg God.
• Chen Changsheng accelerated the Zerg God’s growth and began copying Zerg species to support future space colonization.
• Chen Changsheng transformed the 2012 World and I Am Legend World into Biomass production bases.

Chen Changsheng entered the Avatar world, established a bug nest in polluted ocean water, and traveled to the Japanese archipelago to learn about the world. There, a modified thug tried to extort him, but Chen Changsheng said he had no money.

• Chen Changsheng brought his stored equipment and compressed Biomass energy through the portal into the Avatar world.
• He found the ocean heavily polluted and transformed the Biomass energy into a Charging Bug Nest.
• Chen Changsheng reached the Japanese archipelago and examined its cyberpunk buildings, advertisements, and mechanically modified residents.
• A blond modified man approached Chen Changsheng, demanded protection money, and threatened him with trouble if he refused.
• Chen Changsheng pretended to misunderstand, then told the thug he had no money.

Chen Changsheng absorbed a blond-haired thug and learned about the cyberpunk world’s powers, class system, and lack of a virtual world. He decided to begin developing in the island nation and set out to obtain an identity card and personal identification terminal.

• The blond-haired man tried to sell Chen Changsheng’s organs, but Chen followed him into an alley and absorbed him with his tentacles.
• Chen Changsheng learned from the man’s memories that Earth’s major powers competed for space, while governments controlled advanced manufacturing and voting was restricted to certain citizens.
• Chen Changsheng discovered that this world had no true artificial intelligence or virtual world.
• Chen Changsheng chose the island nation as a base for development, hoping to use it as a springboard against America.
• Chen Changsheng took the blond-haired man’s belongings and a mechanical arm, then headed out to find the identification items he needed.

Chen Changsheng studied Avatar World’s punk technology and created a program to convert its code. He left Yellow Hair’s home with the means to adapt code, preparing to connect Red Queen to the internet.

• Chen Changsheng went to Yellow Hair’s home and found his personal terminal and computer.
• Chen Changsheng took NZT-48 and used the computer to study Avatar World’s technological history and related fields.
• Chen Changsheng examined the world’s software and prosthetics and concluded that strong military power kept the deeply unequal society under control.
• Chen Changsheng learned the punk code and created a small program to convert code for connecting Red Queen to the internet.

Chen Changsheng used Yellow Hair’s identity to enter society, establish Dream Back, and turn its addictive virtual dreams into a profitable business. He left the virtual world quietly extracting wealth from its users and their descendants.

• Chen Changsheng sold Yellow Hair’s mechanical arm and used the proceeds to obtain fake identity documents that he planned to make genuine with Red Queen’s help.
• Chen Changsheng registered a company under his new identity and secured a bank loan by using his organs as collateral.
• Chen Changsheng named the small company Dream Back and offered customers free access to virtual daydreams before charging them for more.
• Chen Changsheng used the Biological Computer to speed up and reinforce the virtual world, making its users’ memories of the experience vivid and difficult to recall clearly.
• Dream Back’s virtual world became more addictive than drugs and let Chen Changsheng profit from users and their descendants for generations.

Chen Changsheng expanded Dream Back and assembled a hundred-device network to give Red Queen a suitable environment for learning Punk code. He uploaded Red Queen into the matrix, where she began to exist within the virtual world.

• Dream Back attracted long lines of customers, and a crowd drove off a gang boss who came to smash up the business.
• Chen Changsheng expanded Dream Back from two devices to one hundred, creating a network that could support Red Queen.
• Chen Changsheng finished studying Punk code and sorting out its relationship with Mechanical Empire code to speed Red Queen’s learning.
• Chen Changsheng uploaded Red Queen into the device matrix, and she began existing in the world formed from Punk code.

Chen Changsheng uploaded Red Queen, the Heavenly Network, and the Mechanical Emperor into the Avatar World, where they helped Dream Back Company expand and build an independent virtual-world network. Dream Back recruited poor residents as employees and NPCs, while its intelligent lives monitored production lines, rival companies, and the government.

• Chen Changsheng loaded his code database for Red Queen, who adapted to the Avatar World's systems and optimized the virtual-device matrix.
• Chen Changsheng uploaded the Heavenly Network and the Mechanical Emperor, then connected the three intelligent lives to the internet after telling them to keep a low profile.
• Red Queen helped Dream Back Company operate independently, reinvest its profits in equipment, and establish its own production lines.
• Dream Back Company expanded its connected equipment into a local network capable of supporting a small virtual world.
• Dream Back hired poor residents to work as NPCs in service jobs, freeing the intelligent lives to monitor production, rival companies, and government activity.

Chen Changsheng and the Japanese authorities agreed to jointly develop the virtual world, with the government funding the venture and Dream Back providing the technology. The networked launch spread rapidly through Avatar World, creating opportunities for people across society while leaving the authorities in charge of the partnership.

• Japanese officials considered taking Dream Back into state ownership, but Chen Changsheng reached a cooperation agreement with them instead.
• Chen Changsheng agreed to provide the technology while the government funded the joint venture, and they settled on an even split of profits.
• With government support, Dream Back expanded the virtual world from Internet cafés to mobile phones and launched its first merged, networked version in Avatar World.
• Poor people from the slums who had experienced virtual life adapted quickly and found success in the virtual world.
• Stories of people rising from Japan's slums drew the poor, ordinary citizens, and wealthy capitalists toward the virtual world, while the authorities retained control of the partnership.

Chen Changsheng used the profits from the virtual world to unite Earth’s governments behind Umbrella Corporation and prepare humanity for space development. After learning that an expedition to Avatar Planet had already been traveling for nearly five years, he set off in a warp ship under a fabricated identity as the planet’s chief administrator.

• Chen Changsheng expanded the international cooperation behind the virtual world by establishing Umbrella Technology, later reorganized as the extraterrestrial-focused Umbrella Corporation.
• Umbrella Corporation advanced automation and extraterrestrial plans while Chen Changsheng kept Earth’s changes limited and presented governments with a rosy picture of space travel.
• Chen Changsheng discovered that the ship bound for Avatar Planet had left Earth at 0.7 times the speed of light nearly five years earlier.
• Chen Changsheng boarded a warp ship to catch up with the expedition, posing as a specially appointed commissioner and Avatar Planet’s new chief administrator.

Chen Changsheng traveled toward Avatar Planet while Earth’s appointment notice reached the American human command center ahead of him. The Star of Entrepreneurship arrived at the planet’s space station, and Chen Changsheng continued closing in on the world’s promising technology and resources.

• Chen Changsheng used observational data to jump toward Avatar Planet, then raced onward at sublight speed because he lacked precise coordinates.
• Earth sent the Avatar Planet command center a notice ordering it to cooperate with the arriving special commissioner.
• The Star of Entrepreneurship reached Avatar Planet’s synchronous microsatellite station after years of sublight travel.
• The passage described the ship’s antimatter engines and nuclear fusion technology, while Chen Changsheng considered how Doctor Octopus’s reactor could improve his ships.
• Chen Changsheng approached Avatar Planet, whose American administrators had not equipped the station with powerful detection systems.

Chen Changsheng arrived on Avatar Planet undetected and concealed his spacecraft beneath a vast growth of Willow Tree. He began cautiously studying the planet’s native plants, leaving his exploration underway.

• Chen Changsheng piloted his small spacecraft through a gap in the satellite scans and landed in a rocky clearing on Avatar Planet.
• He breathed the poisonous atmosphere briefly, then used Willow Tree to hide the conspicuous spacecraft beneath spreading branches and roots.
• Chen Changsheng surveyed the planet’s moons and surrounding vegetation before approaching a native plant.
• He sent an independent Insectman to make cautious contact with the local plants and absorb their genetic information.
• Chen Changsheng placed his hand on a large tree and used Blacklight Virus particles to decompose and study its genetic information.

Chen Changsheng explored Avatar Planet, collected genetic samples for Willow Tree, and encountered a family of Hammerhead Thunder Beasts. After their charge proved difficult to stop head-on, he wounded one from behind and left his Blacklight Blade lodged in its body, waiting for it to die.

• Chen Changsheng sent genetic information from the creatures he sampled to Willow Tree while exploring Avatar Planet and deciding to protect its untouched ecosystem.
• Chen Changsheng encountered a family of five Hammerhead Thunder Beasts, which roared and charged when he did not leave their territory.
• Chen Changsheng covered himself in Blacklight Armor and dodged the herd, but his first slash only carved a groove into the largest beast's tough hide.
• Chen Changsheng pursued the slowing herd and stabbed an unprotected area between one Hammerhead Thunder Beast's leg and waist.
• Chen Changsheng severed his own arm to leave the Blacklight Blade lodged inside the wounded beast, then waited as it struggled away.

Chen Changsheng defeated the Hammerhead Thunder Beasts and absorbed their leader, then encountered a pack of Poison Wolves feeding on his kill. After killing and absorbing the alpha, he recreated it as an enhanced Poison Wolf under his control.

• Chen Changsheng used Blacklight Blades to drive the remaining Hammerhead Thunder Beasts away and finished off their wounded leader.
• Chen Changsheng absorbed the Hammerhead Thunder Beast leader into Biomass energy.
• Chen Changsheng found a pack of Poison Wolves feeding on a Hammerhead Thunder Beast he had killed.
• The Poison Wolves' alpha attacked Chen Changsheng, who stabbed it with a Blacklight Blade and absorbed it.
• Chen Changsheng reshaped Blacklight Virus into an enhanced copy of the alpha wolf, making it his pet.

Chen Changsheng used his Poison Wolf pack to finish off the wounded Hammerhead Thunder Beasts, then tamed two young ones as mounts. He set out across Pandora to collect more genetic information for Willow Tree, while the chapter ended with a notice announcing an ad-free feature for VIP members.

• Chen Changsheng sent the Poison Wolf pack to hunt the wounded Hammerhead Thunder Beasts, and the wolves ate two of them.
• Chen Changsheng pulled his Blacklight Blade from the two surviving young Hammerhead Thunder Beasts and used Blacklight roots to tame them as mounts.
• Chen Changsheng rode one Hammerhead Thunder Beast while the other followed, and he sent the Poison Wolves off to hunt on their own.
• Chen Changsheng named the alpha wolf Leading Sheep and named his two mounts Mjolnir and Bulldozer.
• The author announced an ad-free feature for VIP members.

Chen Changsheng followed a human aircraft to a research outpost, where he learned about the Avatar Program and found Grace’s research materials. The chapter left him at the outpost, searching among the human-built classrooms and equipment.

• Chen Changsheng heard an SA-2 Samson rotorcraft and rode the bulldozer toward its destination.
• Aboard the Samson, Grace led a squad of human researchers and Avatars on a mission.
• Chen Changsheng considered how consciousness-transfer technology might connect real bodies with digital souls.
• Chen Changsheng reached the outpost and found human-built classrooms scarred with bullet holes.
• Chen Changsheng discovered scientific instruments and research materials labeled as Grace’s results.

Chen Changsheng searched for Grace and her companions while investigating Pandora’s plants, then encountered the planet’s apex predator, a Flash Thunder Beast. He began fighting it, swiftly dodging its claws, and the battle continued.

• Chen Changsheng sent Leading Sheep and the Poison Wolves to track the people who had recently left, while Bulldozer and Mjolnir went to feed.
• Chen Changsheng examined Grace’s research records about plant communication and tested a nearby plant, but found nothing unusual.
• A Poison Wolf found the scent trail, and Chen Changsheng followed it to a backpack abandoned at a messy site.
• Chen Changsheng heard a furious roar and found a Flash Thunder Beast beside a waterfall.
• Chen Changsheng confronted the Flash Thunder Beast, armored himself with the Blacklight Virus, and dodged its sweeping claws as their battle began.

Chen Changsheng killed a Flash Thunder Beast, then followed the Poison Wolf pack to Jake Sully and Neytiri as they faced off in the forest. As Neytiri hesitated after a Soul Tree seed landed on her arrow, Chen Changsheng leaped into the middle of the confrontation.

• Chen Changsheng wounded the Flash Thunder Beast, pursued it when it tried to flee, and killed it by striking its weak points.
• After night fell, Chen Changsheng heard the Poison Wolf pack signal that they had found the person they were seeking and went to investigate.
• Jake Sully found himself surrounded by the Poison Wolf pack and prepared to fight for his life.
• Neytiri drew her bow against Jake, recognizing him as a Sky Person despite his Na'vi-like appearance.
• A Soul Tree seed landed on Neytiri's arrow, causing her to release the bowstring and question whether the deity wanted Jake spared.
• Chen Changsheng leaped from a nearby treetop and landed in the middle of the confrontation.

Chen Changsheng saved Jake Sully from the Poison Wolves and introduced himself as another Jake, while Neytiri struggled to trust the two Sky People despite the Soul Tree’s revelation. The chapter ended with Chen asking Jake Sully to find out Neytiri’s name.

• Neytiri prepared to shoot a Poison Wolf attacking Jake Sully, but Chen Changsheng intervened and knocked away her arrow.
• Chen Changsheng used his black shield and a shout to scatter the Poison Wolf pack, astonishing Neytiri and saving Jake Sully.
• Jake Sully introduced himself and asked whether Chen Changsheng was Chinese, and Chen claimed his name was Jake Chen from the Eastern Great Nation.
• Neytiri listened to the two men talk about Earth and recalled her childhood lessons with Grace before letting go of her urge to attack them.
• Chen Changsheng asked Jake Sully to ask Neytiri her name, and Jake instinctively hid behind Chen before facing the request.

Chen Changsheng and Jake Sully met Neytiri, who rejected their claims over Pandora and tried to protect the Soul Tree Seeds that descended around them. Chen Changsheng absorbed a handful of the seeds, while Neytiri restrained Jake Sully.

• Jake Sully tried to speak Na'vi to Neytiri, but she told him his words were not Na'vi and answered in English.
• Neytiri rejected Chen Changsheng's claim that the Sky People could negotiate ownership of Pandora, and Jake Sully backed him up.
• A multitude of Soul Tree Seeds drifted down from the sky and gathered around Chen Changsheng and Jake Sully.
• Chen Changsheng and Jake Sully waved the seeds away, so Neytiri subdued Jake Sully and pleaded with Chen Changsheng not to hurt them.
• Chen Changsheng recognized the seeds and secretly caught and absorbed a handful of them.

Chen Changsheng gathered Soul Tree Seeds and discovered that the Soul Tree had blessed Jack Sully, prompting Neytiri to try to take him back to her tribe. Chen Changsheng stopped her because he still needed both Jack Sully and Neytiri, just as distant tremors began to shake the jungle.

• Chen Changsheng absorbed some Soul Tree Seeds and stored the rest, while the seeds later left Jack Sully with a faint aura that marked the Soul Tree's acknowledgment of him.
• Neytiri decided to take Jack Sully to her tribe so her mother could examine the rare blessing, then tied him up after he failed to resist her.
• Chen Changsheng blocked Neytiri's path and told her that he still had a use for Jack Sully.
• Neytiri insisted that Jack Sully was important to the Na'vi, while Jack Sully called for help and then fell silent after Neytiri shook him.
• Chen Changsheng prepared to keep both Neytiri and Jack Sully with him, but distant tremors sounded through the jungle.