Chapter Summaries

Chen Feng and his family reached Mexico, where he swung from fearful submission to reckless defiance after encountering Umbrella Security personnel. The armed men beat and humiliated him, then left his wife and son with food as they returned to their work.

• Chen Feng and his family followed the highway after tattooed men let them go, but gunfire broke out behind them and a fleeing man used them as cover before escaping into a river.
• Umbrella Security personnel asked whether the family was all right, and Chen Feng erupted at them, filmed them, and accused them of endangering civilians.
• Chen Feng taunted the armed men and demanded they shoot him, so one kicked him, fired around him, and pressed a hot gun barrel against his face.
• The hot-tempered man warned Chen Feng not to forget his face, gave his wife two field-ration biscuits, and left with his senior to return to the farm.

Chen Feng tried to expose Umbrella after expensive medical treatment, but the Tattooed Arms man mistook him for an informant and dragged him outside. When he noticed the Umbrella-branded biscuits the family had received, he backed down and offered to help them reach a refugee camp.

• Chen Feng refused dental implants, paid for treatment, and prepared an online post accusing Umbrella of causing his injuries.
• The Tattooed Arms man and his companions confronted Chen Feng at the hospital, and Chen Feng claimed they were friends to avoid trouble.
• The men dragged Chen Feng into an alley and threatened him, while his son tried to defend him.
• The Tattooed Arms man noticed the Umbrella-branded biscuit packet and realized the family had received Umbrella's help, so he apologized and left.
• Worried that the family might be harmed on the way, the Tattooed Arms man returned and offered to take them to a nearby refugee camp.

Chen Feng crossed into the Beautiful Country expecting a prosperous new life, but detention, separation from his family, and brutal work quickly shattered his hopes. After losing his money and ending up exploited in San Francisco, he was dragged into an alley, while Umbrella continued expanding its control over Mexico’s farms and mines.

• Chen Feng crossed the border with his family, was arrested after objecting to the detention center’s rules, and spent fifteen days in solitary confinement.
• Chen Feng learned that his wife and son had been released without leaving contact information, then left detention alone and contacted the agent who had arranged his journey.
• The agent took Chen Feng to San Francisco, where a restaurant boss spent his remaining ten thousand US Dollars on travel and fees before giving him a cramped room and exhausting work.
• Chen Feng went out to buy necessities, but a Little Black dragged him into an alley and threatened him with a knife.
• Umbrella drove international grain merchants out of Mexico’s farms and expanded its reach toward the country’s mineral resources.

Umbrella consolidated its influence across Mexico through premium acquisitions, investment, and public support while Wang Yi used an aero-engine project to build Lin Shiqin’s industrial proficiency. The chapter ended with Wang Yi heading to calibrate the Seastead’s reinforcement materials, with its enormous hull intended to reach aircraft-carrier-like speed.

• Umbrella acquired most of Mexico’s water, agricultural, and mineral resources, while deepening its ties with legislators and earning public support through investment and improved public security.
• Wang Yi inspected the assembled turbofan engine and found that advanced materials let it surpass the F110 despite major manufacturing flaws.
• Wang Yi explained that the engine project was meant to train Lin Shiqin and build experience for future propulsion systems, including the Seastead’s controllable nuclear fusion core.
• Wang Yi learned that Cheng Xue and Mori Ryuichi had finished the Seastead’s reinforcement materials and went to perform the final calibration.
• Wang Yi aimed for the nearly twenty-million-ton Seastead to withstand extreme damage and reach speeds of sixty kilometers per hour.

Wang Yi and Bob’s team successfully built the first practical fusion reactor, which could power the Seastead’s construction and run for years on a small amount of fuel. Wang Yi named it the Solar Furnace, while Umbrella prepared to scale up production and expand the Seastead’s energy system.

• Bob praised Wang Yi after the First Generation Fusion Reactor achieved an energy output ratio of roughly 1:10.
• Wang Yi credited Bob’s team and Lin Shiqin for helping build the prototype and explained that it could run for ten years on a tiny amount of fuel.
• Wang Yi set the next research goals as regulating the reactor’s output and replacing deuterium and tritium with protium.
• Bob agreed to pursue the new designs, and Wang Yi named the reactor the Solar Furnace.
• Wang Yi left Umbrella’s heavily guarded laboratory and directed the company to expand production of reactor materials while preparing the Seastead’s construction and workforce.

Jiang Bo livestreamed the trial run of a sewage treatment plant using Umbrella's filtration technology and drank its purified water. He vomited after learning that the outlet channel had not yet been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

• Jiang Bo told viewers that his dispute with Principal Qin was resolved and explained why he had accepted game currency for giving up territory in Starry Sky World.
• Jiang Bo took his livestream to a sewage treatment plant that had installed Umbrella's filtration membranes.
• A staff member showed Jiang Bo test reports indicating that the treated water met bottled purified-water standards.
• Jiang Bo drank a cup of the clear, warm treated water during the plant's trial operation.
• After viewers prompted him to ask, Jiang Bo learned that the outlet channel had not yet been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and he vomited on the livestream.

Athletes and patients began receiving Umbrella’s artificial hearts, revealing major performance and health benefits while overwhelming doctors with demand. As patient testimonials spread, interest in the implants surged and Umbrella’s reputation grew, while its custom ships and platforms headed toward the Pacific.

• A Black track-and-field athlete in Beautiful Country received an artificial heart and found that higher output improved his athletic metrics, though his lungs struggled to keep up.
• Artificial organ implant procedures spread in China, where Doctor Little Sheep explained that hospitals faced a huge backlog and not every heart patient needed the operation.
• Doctor Little Sheep interviewed an elderly patient who praised his new heart and said he felt ten years younger, prompting viewers to share more positive postoperative accounts.
• A fitness influencer with drug-related heart failure showed off stronger bench-press results after his implant, while warning that his body could still be injured by pushing too hard.
• Videos about successful implants, including Governor’s operation, drove widespread interest in Umbrella’s artificial hearts and led military personnel to consider them for special soldiers.
• Online commenters discussed Umbrella’s custom ships and platforms being towed toward the Pacific and Big Pineapple’s plans to follow them and livestream.

Boston Little Fatty revealed that Umbrella planned to assemble its offshore platforms, totaling nearly twenty million tons, into a vast seastead, sparking intense speculation around the world. Jiang Bo then set out with fellow streamers to follow the platforms into the Pacific and witness the assembly.

• Boston Little Fatty used satellite images to show how Umbrella's platforms could fit together around three core platforms to form an inverted-V-shaped seastead with a shipbuilding area.
• Viewers and commentators worldwide debated what Umbrella intended to do with the enormous floating city and how it would be held together.
• Boston Little Fatty noted that Umbrella had trained sailors and machine-tool operators in Mexico and hired experienced workers.
• Jiang Bo and several other streamers chartered an ocean-going yacht from Lian Port and followed Umbrella's platforms toward the Pacific.
• Jiang Bo livestreamed the voyage and explained that the group would switch to satellite streaming as they traveled farther offshore.

Jiang Bo and other streamers watched Umbrella assemble its massive Seastead as drones captured the platforms joining into a vast automated harbor. Umbrella announced that the completed city was named Penglai, and upper-level construction would begin next.

• Jiang Bo and the other streamers observed Umbrella's offshore platforms from a yacht while reporters and spectators gathered nearby.
• Jiang Bo launched drones that revealed a sprawling chain of platforms as Umbrella's tugboats began guiding them into position.
• Umbrella's three million-ton core platforms interlocked into an 入-shaped center and moved together without visible deformation.
• Artificial Intelligence coordinated the remaining platforms as they assembled into modules and moved toward the center.
• By sunset, the platforms had formed a roughly twenty-million-ton Seastead with floating dry docks, automated harbor facilities, and cranes.
• Umbrella announced that the Seastead had completed assembly, named it Penglai, and would begin building its upper levels.

Penglai City was completed and began receiving supplies, while the Beautiful Country's leaders discussed using a pretext to inspect and seize it. Wang Yi arrived to oversee the city’s conversion into Umbrella’s independent base, which he knew would need defenses before it could be secure.

• Cargo Ships delivered construction materials and fuel to Penglai City as the world watched its assembly.
• Officials in the Beautiful Country assessed the city as a potential overseas base and planned to use a prohibited-goods inspection as a pretext to board it.
• Wang Yi arrived in Penglai City and surveyed the newly connected steel platforms from the central tower.
• Wang Yi reviewed the city’s staffing and ongoing plans to build the Mage Tower, install a fusion reactor, and replace fuel-powered systems.
• Wang Yi planned defensive weapons production and recognized that Penglai City still needed to survive a monster siege before it could establish a firm foothold.

Umbrella promoted Penglai City as a civilian research facility with plans for tourism, showing off its futuristic design and defenses. The company secured a major Boeing cargo-plane deal but failed to find a willing seller for armed helicopters, so it bought civilian helicopters and anti-materiel rifles instead.

• Umbrella released promotional videos presenting Penglai City as a scientific research facility that might later open to tourists.
• The videos showed plans for the city's four levels, including aircraft facilities, factories, cargo handling, and underwater cultivation.
• Umbrella announced plans to buy armed and rescue helicopters, transport aircraft, and other equipment for Penglai City.
• Boeing agreed to sell Umbrella ten Boeing 747-8 cargo aircraft in an order worth more than three billion US dollars, while Umbrella also pursued secondhand planes.
• Umbrella received no response from armed-helicopter suppliers, so it bought civilian helicopters and anti-materiel rifles for security against pirates.

Gang Zi defended the Beautiful Country’s fusion breakthrough and criticized Umbrella Corporation, but news about Xu Silong’s life as an illegal immigrant shook his admiration. In Penglai, Wang Yi ignited a new Solar Furnace, giving the city enough energy to operate its current machinery and continue construction.

• Gang Zi admitted to Bai Bing that Anxon worked well, then argued that Umbrella Corporation should share its technology and complained about its difficulty obtaining armed helicopters.
• Gang Zi celebrated the Beautiful Country’s controlled fusion announcement, but Bai Bing pointed out its low energy utilization and Umbrella Corporation’s role in Nikon’s technology.
• Old Liu told Gang Zi that Xu Silong had become a food courier, and Gang Zi found Xu Silong’s inflammatory posts and complaints about competing illegal immigrants.
• Wang Yi engraved the final Magic Pattern on Penglai’s Solar Furnace and ignited it, restoring power to the city’s machinery.
• Wang Yi left the site to Lin Shiqin, who prepared to oversee construction of the third-generation Mage Tower.

Wang Yi advised the authorities to keep their distance from Umbrella while giving them blueprints for a heat-resistant material. Umbrella then bought ten Ka-28 helicopters from the northern bears at an exorbitant price, drawing public attention as the Beautiful Country prepared to inspect Penglai City.

• Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke worried about the attention surrounding Magic Power, and Wang Yi reassured them that they were safe at home.
• Wang Yi urged three representatives to keep their distance from Umbrella and gave them original blueprints for a heat-resistant material.
• The northern bears approached Umbrella, and the two sides agreed on a one-and-a-half-billion-dollar deal for ten Ka-28 helicopters and related services.
• News of Umbrella's costly helicopter purchase spread online, prompting netizens to discuss its wealth and the price of the aircraft.
• The Beautiful Country's officials learned that Umbrella had bought ten Ka-28s and dismissed them as an inadequate defense for Penglai City.

Wang Yi and Qian Yayan dealt with corruption at World Company as it strengthened its dominance over China’s Internet industry. Wang Yi announced that Red Queen’s search-integrated system and Red Queen+ were launching, leaving World Company to handle domestic licensing as appliance makers sought cooperation.

• Four Seas as Home defended Umbrella’s extravagant helicopter bid by citing the company’s enormous Holographic Bracelet revenue.
• Qian Yayan told Wang Yi that investigators had arrested a World Company employee for economic crimes, and Wang Yi said anyone siding with him could be dismissed.
• World Company’s growth had allowed it to surpass Ali across livestreaming, video, short videos, delivery, ride-hailing, and online shopping.
• Wang Yi told Qian Yayan to prepare promotion for Red Queen’s search-integrated version and announced the Red Queen+ system for appliances.
• Wheat, Geli, and Hai'er approached World Company to seek Red Queen+ licensing and cooperation.

Wang Yi delegated negotiations with Wheat, Geli, and Hai'er to Qian Yayan while designing new weapons for Penglai. He ordered the Ka-28 helicopters to patrol in shifts, giving Penglai a visible armed presence as construction continued.

• Wang Yi realized that Li Group's new Umbrella distribution deal had helped draw major companies to negotiate with him.
• Qian Yayan offered to handle the visiting representatives, and Wang Yi left the decisions to her.
• Wang Yi completed electromagnetic cannon design adjustments and sent the materials to the Red Queen, asking Lin Shiqin to reward the team that had improved the preliminary designs.
• Lin Shiqin reported that the secondhand Ka-28 helicopters had arrived, and Wang Yi ordered them to patrol in groups of three.

Qian Yayan secured Red Queen+ licensing agreements with Geli, Hai'er, and Wheat, allowing the appliance makers to launch connected smart-home products. Wheat demonstrated how Red Queen+ could coordinate household appliances and improve robots, leaving the way open for more capable home-use robots.

• Qian Yayan told the representatives from Geli, Hai'er, and Wheat that Professor Wang would not meet them, then had Korean Succubi escort them out after they accepted the licensing terms.
• Geli, Hai'er, and Wheat announced that they had obtained World’s authorization for Red Queen+ and would develop interconnected smart homes.
• Lei Busi demonstrated Red Queen+ controlling household appliances based on environmental conditions and proactively asking whether to turn on the air conditioner as he headed home.
• Viewers noticed that the connected Robot Vacuum identified and cleaned up trash while avoiding a ring, and Lei Busi explained that Red Queen+ could use room cameras to guide it.
• Lei Busi said that connecting robots to Red Queen+ could enable more advanced household robots to handle chores and other tasks.

Umbrella’s Red Queen+ expansion made technology companies question the scale of its computing resources, while Google completed its Sycamore quantum-computer prototype and received new funding to compete. Google’s leaders believed advances in EUV lithography and quantum computing would let them overtake Umbrella.

• Geli and Hai'er announced upgraded products and began developing more appliances and robots for the Red Queen+ system.
• Major technology companies noticed Red Queen+’s broad capabilities and wondered how many chips and how much computing power Umbrella had stockpiled.
• Google researchers completed the 53-qubit Sycamore prototype and tested connecting it to a supercomputer using Wang Yi’s Magic Number Conversion Algorithm.
• Google’s person in charge announced that Congress had approved increased research funding, prompting researchers to push for more qubits and seek further help from Professor Wang.
• Google’s leaders argued that ASML’s new EUV lithography machines and stronger AMD and Nvidia chips would give them an advantage over Umbrella, whose DUV equipment they believed could not match EUV.

Wang Yi and Lin Shiqin assessed the threat posed by Google’s quantum-computing announcement and anticipated new sanctions against Penglai. Wang Yi ordered faster military modifications to prepare for possible interference with supply ships, leaving Penglai to strengthen its defenses with conventional weapons for now.

• Google announced that its Sycamore quantum computer had achieved quantum supremacy, and its stock price rose as media coverage fueled speculation about AI.
• A Hanwei engineer warned that Sycamore would need roughly 80 to 90 qubits to avoid reducing supercomputer performance, but an investor mocked the warning and defended his leveraged Google shares.
• Wang Yi and Lin Shiqin concluded that the Beautiful Country was preparing sanctions that could target supplies bound for Penglai and provide a pretext to intercept ships.
• Wang Yi ordered the Ka-28 helicopters and prototype drones to receive armed modifications, with traditional missiles and propellants used while new materials were developed.
• Lin Shiqin prepared to replace the Ka-28’s radar and armaments, while Penglai’s existing radar and manufacturing capabilities supported the defensive preparations.

Wang Yi accepted Qin Xiang's yacht-party invitation after learning that a luxury cruise ship and three fishing boats had vanished in Southeast Asian waters, possibly because of a massive unknown creature linked to a meteorite. He prepared to investigate the danger at sea and arranged protection for his family before leaving.

• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that a luxury cruise ship and three fishing boats had gone missing after a distress signal, and that a bloodied, damaged fishing boat had been found.
• Lin Shiqin connected the disappearances to the meteorite Wang Yi had asked her to monitor and the large creature discovered near Qiongzhou.
• Wang Yi accepted Young Master Qin's invitation to the yacht party because he was interested in investigating the disappearances.
• Qin Xiang worried about hosting Wang Yi but decided to follow through with the invitation and seek credit from his father.
• Qian Yayan asked to accompany Wang Yi, while Liu Xiaoke told him to be careful; Wang Yi declined and arranged local bodyguards to protect his family.

Wang Yi left for an overseas trip with Umbrella bodyguard Mo Bin, whose martial arts expertise eased the tension between them during their journey. They discussed Mo Bin’s training and internal power, while the danger awaiting them at sea remained ahead.

• Wang Yi said goodbye to Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke and left with Mo Bin, whom Umbrella had assigned to protect him.
• Qian Yayan stayed behind as Liu Xiaoke explained that Wang Yi had kept her home because he was worried about her safety.
• Wang Yi asked Mo Bin about his gun license and learned that Mo Bin came from a community whose security company had been acquired by Umbrella.
• Wang Yi and Mo Bin discussed traditional Chinese martial arts, and Mo Bin demonstrated how his internal power helped him deliver forceful strikes.
• Mo Bin warned Wang Yi to exercise restraint and offered to teach him boxing, but Wang Yi said he already knew a thing or two about martial arts.