Chapter Summaries

At Ma Dong’s wedding, Chen Mi realized Wang Yi was the powerful head of World Company, not merely a renowned Master. Meanwhile, Ma Dong’s management company confronted him over leaving, and Manager Liu pressed him to answer despite efforts to postpone the dispute.

• Wang Yi sampled the banquet food while guests watched Liu Xiaoke and speculated about her powerful backer.
• Director Zhang and Chen Mi joined Wang Yi and Liu Xiaoke at their table, and Chen Mi deduced Wang Yi’s identity from his name and connections.
• Chen Mi reconsidered her plans and decided to focus on maintaining her relationship with Liu Xiaoke.
• Manager Liu confronted Ma Dong at the wedding over his apparent plan to leave the company, while Ma Dong’s father-in-law and other guests tried to defer the discussion.
• Manager Liu ignored their appeals and offered Ma Dong a top-tier A-level contract, demanding his answer.

At Ma Dong’s wedding, Manager Liu tried to pressure him into signing a new contract, but Zhang Ming confronted him and Qian Yayan’s calls triggered a collapse of Liu’s company. Ma Dong’s wedding continued, Liu became a deadbeat, and Starry Sky’s box office passed four billion as its overseas success kept growing.

• Manager Liu pressured Ma Dong to sign an A-level contract and threatened to make a scene when Ma Dong resisted.
• Zhang Ming insulted Manager Liu and defended Ma Dong, prompting Liu to threaten the wedding and call reporters.
• Qian Yayan made phone calls, after which Manager Liu learned that investors and business partners were withdrawing support and freezing accounts.
• Manager Liu apologized with three cups of baijiu and left, while Wang Yi told the tense guests to keep eating.
• Ma Dong’s wedding continued, and news later spread that Liu’s company had collapsed and its artists had terminated their contracts.
• Starry Sky’s box office surpassed four billion, while its overseas earnings continued to set records.

Wang Yi traveled to Seoul with mathematicians and Umbrella security for the World Mathematicians Conference, where he was expected to receive the Fields Medal. The chapter ended with Four Star’s eldest princess, Lee Jin-hee, personally greeting him at the airport.

• Qian Yayan asked to accompany Wang Yi to Seoul, but he declined and discussed Umbrella’s plans for batteries, phones, and manufacturing capacity.
• Wang Yi boarded his private plane with domestic mathematicians, Kim Yeon-hyun, and Umbrella bodyguards, while Lin Shiqin’s warning about a possible incident explained why he had not brought Qian Yayan.
• Wang Yi and the mathematicians discussed Magic Mathematics during the flight.
• Wang Yi arrived in Seoul for the World Mathematicians Conference and was surprised to find Lee Jin-hee waiting to greet him.

Wang Yi arrived in Seoul for an international mathematics conference and learned that visa restrictions had kept African scholars away because of Ebola and an unknown virus. After Lin Shiqin uncovered evidence that the outbreak might be connected to the Sackler family’s former laboratory, Wang Yi examined a photo suggesting an infected person had also contracted Ebola.

• Lee Jin-hee welcomed Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun, apologized for Four Star’s past actions, and tried to connect them with girl group members and trainees.
• Wang Yi declined Lee Jin-hee’s offer of entertainment for the evening and accepted her secretary Jang Na-young’s help with his belongings.
• At the hotel, Wang Yi noticed Black protesters demanding equal treatment for African scholars and the lifting of visa restrictions.
• Lee Jin-hee explained that Ebola and an unknown virus had prompted South Korea to refuse visas to travelers from Africa, and Wang Yi suspected the outbreak might relate to the Sackler family’s laboratory in Somalia.
• Lin Shiqin reported that information about Africa had been systematically blocked and sent Wang Yi encrypted photos, including one of an Ebola victim whose rigid appearance suggested the unknown virus had also infected them.

Wang Yi met with Bosen Sackler, who sought his help using a magical plant to pursue longevity, but Wang Yi refused to cooperate without samples and access to its growing environment. The plant’s connection to the Abyss left Wang Yi wary, while Bosen concluded that the two sides could no longer be friends.

• Wang Yi left his room to meet Bosen Sackler after the Sackler representative invited him to the presidential suite.
• Scholars and students from Africa boarded a plane to South Korea, and Maka endured menstrual cramps without asking for medicine.
• Bosen showed Wang Yi two women and described the Sackler family’s research into a plant that might hold the secret to immortality.
• Wang Yi recognized the purple flower as a magical plant associated with Abyss entrances and asked for samples and information about its growing environment.
• Wang Yi rejected Bosen’s offer, asked whether he could take the two women, then left without them.
• Bosen learned that a sniper had been knocked unconscious, likely by Umbrella’s people, and decided they could no longer be friends.

During the World Mathematicians Conference, Wang Yi expanded Umbrella’s South Korean partnerships and laid groundwork for an offshore base. The conference turned into a crisis when Maka became a bloodthirsty monster and an outbreak trapped attendees at Seoul University.

• Wang Yi discussed Magic Mathematics with conference attendees and gained new ideas for simplifying high-energy spells.
• Wang Yi arranged for Umbrella to acquire battery departments from LG and Four Star, pursue semiconductor cooperation, and work with South Korean shipbuilders.
• Maka became violently hungry and supernaturally strong in her dormitory, attacked her roommate, and appeared to spread a zombie-like infection.
• On August 21st, armed South Korean forces entered the conference hall and announced that Ebola and a mysterious zombie-like virus had appeared on campus.
• Gunfire and screams erupted outside as infected figures attacked the soldiers, and Wang Yi realized the outbreak might be blamed on Umbrella.

At a mathematics conference in Seoul University’s auditorium, Wang Yi and the others faced a sudden outbreak of rapidly transforming infected people and tried to hold the building. The chapter left the crowd divided over evacuation, while Wang Yi argued that a helicopter rescue could draw the infected toward those left behind.

• An infected attacker killed a special forces soldier, then the soldier transformed almost immediately before the other soldiers shot him and shut the auditorium doors.
• Wang Yi assessed the infection as a magically enhanced virus that rapidly hijacked the central nervous system, while Lieutenant Park calmed the crowd and organized barricades.
• Wang Yi noticed that communications had been cut off and suspected Seoul’s authorities were jamming the area to contain the outbreak.
• Conference attendees protested the loss of phone service and demanded outside contact or helicopter rescue, while Academician Li promised to protect Wang Yi.
• Several professors and students from the Beautiful Country demanded evacuation, but Wang Yi warned that a helicopter could attract the infected and endanger everyone left behind.

As infected swarmed the auditorium, Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun took over defense from Lieutenant Park’s KSF squad, picking off attackers with remarkable accuracy. Their stand gave the trapped professors hope that they could hold out for rescue rather than risk escaping to the roof.

• Professor Mona urged the group to use the approaching helicopters to evacuate, while Wang Yi warned that reaching the roof and protecting those left behind would be difficult.
• An infected climbed to an auditorium skylight and smashed through it, prompting the KSF squad to shoot it and Wang Yi to warn that the noise would draw more attackers.
• Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun approached Lieutenant Park despite his warnings, then disarmed him and took control of the defense.
• Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun shot infected climbing through the skylights with exceptional accuracy, killing them before they could enter.
• The Umbrella bodyguards told Lieutenant Park to supply the two with loaded magazines, and the professors gained confidence that they could wait for rescue inside.

KNP868 reinforcements reached Seoul University and found Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun holding back the infected, allowing the auditorium’s survivors to remain in place until rescue was organized. Authorities quarantined the survivors and concealed the outbreak from the public as Ebola, while Umbrella issued a pointed announcement that discouraged anyone from blaming the company.

• KNP868 arrived by helicopter, learned the KSF squad was trapped in the auditorium, and used gunfire and grenades to slow the infected attacking through the skylights.
• Two KNP868 squads entered the auditorium and were stunned by the piles of infected corpses Wang Yi and Kim Yeon-hyun had killed with precise gunfire.
• Lieutenant Park had the newcomers swap weapons and stay to defend the auditorium, while Mona and the other survivors chose to remain rather than risk crossing the campus.
• South Korean officials thanked Wang Yi, ordered all survivors into isolation, and arranged for the bodies to be burned and the area disinfected.
• South Korea announced that Ebola had infected over a thousand people at Seoul University and kept the zombie outbreak secret from the public.
• Umbrella published an announcement titled “We really do have it~,” prompting potential critics to abandon plans to smear the company.

While the Seoul University outbreak remained contained, Wang Yi heard that Umbrella's lithium metal batteries had drawn huge orders and considered ways to secure lithium supplies. He then sensed a Resentful Spirit in the dormitory and found a burned woman hanging in the storage room.

• Researchers found that the Seoul University virus could hijack the central nervous system but was vulnerable to sunlight, while world powers agreed to contain the outbreak in Africa.
• Lin Shiqin reported that Ningya's lithium metal battery orders had filled half a year's production, and Wang Yi planned to announce acquisitions and develop lithium recycling.
• Wang Yi joked with online users about fighting zombies while quarantined in a Seoul University dormitory.
• After sunset, Wang Yi sensed a Resentful Spirit inside the dormitory building and followed its aura to a storage room by the stairwell.
• Wang Yi opened the storage room and saw an ordinary-looking female student spirit hanging from the ceiling, her limbs covered in burns.

Wang Yi heard Song Jin-yeon's story of being bullied and silenced in South Korea and agreed to help her take revenge. He considered arranging a body for her, leaving her poised to pursue Park Hye-kyo and her followers.

• Wang Yi found Song Jin-yeon hanging in the dormitory and asked what she wanted in exchange for his help.
• Song Jin-yeon recounted how Park Hye-kyo and her followers bullied her through high school, then escaped consequences after Song Jin-yeon died by suicide and her family accepted hush money.
• Wang Yi learned that Song Jin-yeon had been dead for several years and asked what revenge she wanted.
• Song Jin-yeon named Park Hye-kyo and her followers as targets and asked for a body so she could act against them herself.
• Wang Yi agreed to help and considered having Junichiro arrange a disguised body for Song Jin-yeon.

Song Jin-yeon received a beautiful new body and returned to her former high school reunion to confront the bullies who had driven her to suicide. After she threatened Park Hye-kyo, her husband warned her that Song Jin-yeon was Four Star’s guest and must not be offended.

• Song Jin-yeon accepted her new body and used Lin Shiqin’s information to identify Park Hye-kyo and her former followers.
• At the school anniversary gathering, Song Jin-yeon revealed herself to Park Hye-kyo, whose followers insulted her without knowing who she was.
• Song Jin-yeon warned Park Hye-kyo that they would meet again during the week and said she would work as a temporary kindergarten teacher at Jin Hong Kindergarten.
• Park Hye-kyo told her followers that Song Jin-yeon had died by suicide and insisted that she was the evil ghost who had haunted her.
• Park Hye-kyo’s husband ordered her to stop investigating Song Jin-yeon after learning she was Four Star’s guest.

Song Jin-yeon exposed Park Hye-kyo’s plot to kill her and turned the failed attack into a case that brought Four Star’s power down on Park Hye-kyo and her followers. After receiving compensation and company assets, Song Jin-yeon left with Junichiro to help expand the company’s business in South Korea.

• Park Hye-kyo forced Yan Zhen to try to kill Song Jin-yeon by promising money for her sick father and threatening her.
• Yan Zhen’s car missed Song Jin-yeon and crashed into a flower bed, killing Park Hye-kyo’s daughter; Song Jin-yeon confronted Yan Zhen and pointed out the consequences of the attack.
• Yan Zhen confessed to the plot, while Park Hye-kyo was treated as mentally ill when she insisted Song Jin-yeon was an evil ghost.
• Four Star’s chairman promised to handle the case, and pressure from Four Star ruined Park Hye-kyo’s family and followers; Song Jin-yeon received two-thirds of her husband’s family assets as compensation.
• Song Jin-yeon gave Junichiro transfer agreements for pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies, and he asked her to stay in South Korea and manage them.

Wang Yi returned home from Seoul with several South Korean girl group members, while Umbrella prepared to launch its first smartphone, the Red Queen-V1.0. The launch revealed that the phone combined an Android-based system with Red Queen’s intelligent services, and Umbrella planned to offer its voice service to other phone makers as well.

• Lee Jin-hee apologized to Wang Yi and agreed to send girl group members home with him to learn Chinese and debut in China.
• Wang Yi flew back to Shudian Airport with the group, where Xu Feng drove them away as Wang Yi’s followers crowded around him.
• Umbrella prepared a limited first stock of phones and decided to hold an online launch event for its new device.
• Online discussion focused more on Umbrella’s enormous shipbuilding orders than on its phone plans.
• Umbrella revealed the Red Queen-V1.0, an Android-based phone integrating Red Queen’s voice assistant and smart services.
• Li Yao explained that other phone makers could connect to Red Queen’s voice service, while Apple and Google watched the launch closely.

Li Yao unveiled Umbrella’s Red Queen-v1.0 phone, showcasing its predictive controls, seamless design, and exceptional durability. Apple decided to pay for Umbrella’s screens, cameras, and manufacturing process to compete, while also considering ways to limit Umbrella’s production.

• Li Yao demonstrated Red Queen-v1.0’s accurate gesture controls and responsive voice assistant.
• Li Yao revealed the phone’s seamless full-screen design, hidden cameras, and screen-wide fingerprint unlocking.
• Umbrella’s phone survived a forceful drop test and remained operational while submerged in water.
• Apple executives discussed the phone’s threat to its high-end market and sought to buy Umbrella’s screens, cameras, and integrated manufacturing process.
• Apple agreed to pay Umbrella’s licensing fees and considered limiting Umbrella’s production output.

Umbrella’s new Red Queen-powered smartphone sold out quickly, and streamers demonstrated its durability and advanced voice-controlled features. Rivals rushed to adopt Umbrella’s technology, while limited high-end chip capacity constrained further production and left competitors guessing about Umbrella’s plans.

• Apple adopted Umbrella’s technology, postponed the Apple 6, and accepted lower margins to protect its high-end brand and ecosystem.
• Four Star and Hanwei equipped their flagship phones with Umbrella’s technology, while Wheat selectively added a software feature to some models.
• Umbrella’s initial stock of three million phones sold out quickly, prompting Ma Dong to test the device’s durability and features on stream.
• Jiang Bo demonstrated Red Queen controlling games and apps by voice, including multitasking and split-screen operations, making the phone’s capabilities widely known.
• Apple integrated Red Queen with Siri and announced the upcoming Apple 6, while Four Star prepared its own flagship launch.
• Competitors secured high-end chip production capacity, limiting Umbrella’s ability to expand phone output, so Umbrella increased orders for other components instead.

After Qualcomm refused to supply Umbrella with Snapdragon 801 chips, Wang Yi ordered an in-house chip developed for Umbrella’s phones. As Umbrella prepared to launch the White Queen V1.0 Plus, a Red Queen phone’s protection from a bullet drew attention online.

• Qualcomm declined Umbrella’s request for more Snapdragon 801 chips and offered the Snapdragon 810 instead.
• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that Qualcomm had redirected Four Star’s production capacity to the 810, so Wang Yi decided to resolve the supply problem by developing Umbrella’s own chip.
• Wang Yi approved a chip based on ARM’s standard 64-bit architecture, and Lin Shiqin named it White Queen V1.0.
• Umbrella announced its Plus phone with the White Queen chip, prompting online discussion of its performance and Red Queen features.
• A young man posted from his hospital bed that his Red Queen phone had stopped a bullet, saving his life despite leaving him with two broken ribs.

Wang Yi reviewed Umbrella's growing talent pool and discussed Japan's theft of K-virus samples, while World Company prepared to expand into mapping and strengthen its entertainment business. The chapter ended with Qian Yayan asking Wang Yi to visit her hometown with her, and he agreed.

• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that Umbrella had recruited more scholars and research teams, while Wang Yi said time and good treatment would help new employees become loyal.
• Lin Shiqin reported that Japan had obtained K-virus samples from Seoul University, and Wang Yi said he would visit Japan later under a different identity.
• Wang Yi rejected outside investment in the Starry Sky sequel, approved more film funding for Wen Yu, and told Lin Shiqin to launch World Map.
• Qian Yayan welcomed the map project and Wang Yi praised her for building an online movie-ticketing feature that helped World Company gain influence in the entertainment industry.
• Qian Yayan invited Wang Yi to her hometown after things calmed down, and Wang Yi agreed.

Umbrella’s decision to skip tape-out and begin mass production of its White Queen chips shocked wafer fabs and the wider semiconductor industry. As CNN and Umbrella’s critics questioned the move, the first Red Queen-V1.0plus phones began shipping, setting up a comparison in which rival brands relied heavily on Umbrella’s components.

• Four Star and UMC engineers were startled that Umbrella had ordered mass production without a tape-out, but both fabs agreed to proceed while testing the chips.
• Qualcomm’s CEO considered mocking Umbrella for skipping tape-out, then chose not to provoke it and privately leaked the news to the media.
• CNN published a report calling Umbrella’s chip-industry move potentially reckless, prompting arguments between critics and Umbrella supporters.
• The first Red Queen-V1.0plus phones equipped with White Queen chips began shipping.
• Yao Zai reviewed five flagship phones and observed that rival manufacturers’ reliance on Umbrella’s components had turned the comparison into an internal contest.

Yao Zai’s phone review exposed severe overheating in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810, pushing manufacturers toward Umbrella’s White Queen chips and increasing Umbrella’s production capacity. Qualcomm then questioned how Umbrella had designed such a polished chip without a tape-out, while Wang Yi told Lin Shiqin to deflect inquiries about Umbrella’s EDA software; the chapter ended with Wang Yi visiting Liu Xiaoke on a film set.

• Yao Zai compared five phones and found the Red Queen-V1.0 Plus booted fastest, while the standard Red Queen initially lagged behind competitors.
• Yao Zai discovered that the LG and Four Star phones throttled during a demanding game, and his thermometer showed that the Snapdragon 810 ran extraordinarily hot.
• Buyers confirmed the Snapdragon 810 overheating problem, Four Star and LG sought White Queen chips, and Umbrella gained production capacity as Qualcomm lost orders.
• Qualcomm tested White Queen and wondered how Umbrella had produced a near-flawless chip without a tape-out, then contacted EDA software companies for answers.
• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that the three EDA giants had sent inquiry letters, and Wang Yi advised her to say Umbrella had gotten lucky and was not selling EDA software.
• Wang Yi visited Liu Xiaoke on set, praised her imperial gown, and told the director to use a stand-in for certain scenes with male co-stars.