Chapter Summaries

Wang Yi released evidence of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin scandal to the media and the FBI, triggering a crisis that forced the Sackler family to abandon the company and pay a $4.5 billion settlement. Afterward, Wang Yi prepared to pursue international approvals for Umbrella’s vaccines and immunoglobulin, then turned his attention to an upcoming mathematics symposium about his work.

• Wang Yi told Lin Shiqin to send her dossier on Purdue Pharma to media outlets and the FBI.
• The revelations about OxyContin’s addiction risks and Purdue Pharma’s misleading claims sparked a major public scandal and an FBI investigation.
• The Sackler family discussed the crisis, decided Purdue Pharma could be sacrificed, and arranged to protect Eighth.
• Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy and restructured, while its executives faced arrest and the Sackler family paid a $4.5 billion settlement without anyone in the family being prosecuted.
• Wang Yi dismissed the settlement as a costly return for the Sackler family’s earlier kidnapping attempt and ordered applications for Umbrella’s vaccine and immunoglobulin in multiple countries.
• Lin Shiqin reminded Wang Yi about the coming mathematics symposium, and he eagerly agreed to attend.

Wang Yi agreed to consider funding Ning Mu’s planned science-fiction film, then faced leading mathematicians at the Science Institute’s Zero Point Conjecture symposium. He answered their challenges, and they unanimously accepted his proof that the Landau-Siegel zero did not exist.

• Wang Yi met Ning Mu on Zhang Ming’s drama set and agreed to discuss supporting Ning Mu’s next film with Wen Yu, telling him to prepare the script and finish his current project.
• Wang Yi went to the Science Institute, where mathematicians announced they had prepared difficult questions to challenge him over his Zero Point Conjecture proof.
• At the symposium, Wang Yi answered the mathematicians’ questions using modern mathematical theory while students and reporters watched.
• The mathematicians unanimously accepted Wang Yi’s proof, establishing that the Landau-Siegel zero did not exist.

Wang Yi introduced mathematicians to his new Magic Mathematics system, then spent time with Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke before returning to the Mage Tower laboratory. He prepared to pursue deeper lens research through experiments with Umbrella.

• Wang Yi taught a group of mathematicians his complete Magic Mathematics system and kept them at the Science Institute for a week with lessons and meals.
• The mathematicians left mentally exhausted but inspired, while the Science Institute published Wang Yi's proof in domestic and overseas editions.
• Qian Yayan asked Wang Yi to watch a movie with her, and he suggested they wait for Liu Xiaoke to join them.
• Wang Yi watched a movie with Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke on Valentine's Day, while TT removed videos of them and suspended the uploaders' accounts.
• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that another hundred tons of silver were on the way, and Wang Yi planned to announce experiments with Umbrella to advance his lens research.

Wang Yi advanced his magical lens research and realized that his work might lead to a way to simplify nuclear fusion, though both applications remained theoretical. He then checked on Umbrella’s biology teams and arranged for them to receive his research materials and magical culture medium.

• Wang Yi pushed resin’s light-transmission limit to around 150 nm and shifted his approach toward empowering electrons to transmit even higher-energy light.
• Wang Yi calculated that gently stripping electrons with magic power might make nuclear fusion easier, but concluded that controlled fusion was still far beyond his current research.
• Wang Yi asked Lin Shiqin about Umbrella’s biology experts, and she reported that four teams had begun research using resources obtained from TT.
• Wang Yi approved the teams’ independent work and told Lin Shiqin to send them his materials so they could discuss and test them.
• Wang Yi planned to provide magical culture medium that could accelerate growth and improve the teams’ research efficiency.

Ma Dong faced a coordinated backlash after a pan he promoted appeared cheaper in Ya Ya’s livestream, and he apologized to buyers and offered to cover refunds and shipping. Liu Xiaoke publicly defended him, prompting Ya Ya to dismiss her as an insignificant actress while relying on the powerful interests behind her.

• Paid trolls attacked Ma Dong in his livestream after Ya Ya sold the same nonstick pan for less.
• Ma Dong apologized, offered refunds with shipping covered, and tried unsuccessfully to call the brand.
• Ya Ya’s fans and trolls overwhelmed Ma Dong’s supporters in his livestream room.
• After Xia Mei explained the dispute, Liu Xiaoke posted a video accusing the brand and Ya Ya of acting dishonestly.
• Ya Ya mocked Liu Xiaoke’s role in Zhang Ming’s drama and believed Shark Baby and Ali would protect her from the challenge.

Wang Yi intervened after Ya Ya’s fans and paid trolls attacked Liu Xiaoke, and his pointed remarks about tax payments exposed Ya Ya’s tax evasion and the non-stick pan company’s false invoices. Ya Ya’s career collapsed, Liu Xiaoke and Ma Dong gained public support, and Liu Xiaoke began suing the accounts that had spread rumors about her.

• Ya Ya’s trolls and fans flooded Liu Xiaoke’s social media with abuse and rumors, while the non-stick pan company threatened legal action.
• Wang Yi questioned why Ya Ya could sell products at such low prices after her fans attacked him, prompting Ya Ya to apologize and rein in her fans.
• Wang Yi’s comments drew attention to Ya Ya’s taxes, and authorities investigated her and the non-stick pan company for tax violations.
• Ya Ya was heavily penalized and lost Shark Baby’s support, while Ma Dong and Liu Xiaoke’s popularity surged and World Company was praised for withholding taxes and treating employees well.
• Liu Xiaoke sent lawyer’s letters to the Official Accounts and self-media outlets that had spread rumors, then pursued lawsuits against those that failed to publish pinned apologies.

Wang Yi read a Lancet paper praising Umbrella’s stone-dissolving medicines and learned that an earlier paper by Director Hu and his colleagues had been rejected. He publicly accused academia of discrimination, and Dr. Mason backed his criticism, leaving the controversy to spread online.

• Wang Yi read Mason’s Lancet paper, which praised the stone-dissolving medicines as safe and effective for patients with stones.
• Lin Shiqin told Wang Yi that Director Hu and his colleagues had submitted similar findings earlier, but their paper had been rejected.
• Wang Yi posted on Mote about academic discrimination and suggested that he might publish some future papers in domestic journals.
• Wang Yi’s post sparked an online uproar, with critics blaming The Lancet for rejecting the earlier research.
• Dr. Mason reposted Wang Yi’s comments and agreed that refusing to test easily replicated findings could amount to discrimination.

Umbrella announced its domestically approved thirteen-valent cervical cancer vaccine, and public attention surged as creators explained how it compared with Merck’s vaccine. The chapter ended with A Yuan discovering that her friend could get Umbrella’s vaccine at home, just as a Black man approached her in a quiet street and eyed her designer bag.

• Wang Yi rejected Lin Shiqin’s proposal to leak news for profit, while demand for Umbrella’s stone-dissolving medicines continued to grow.
• Umbrella received domestic approval to build a vaccine factory and announced its cervical cancer vaccine on Weibo.
• A TT science creator explained the differences between Merck’s virus-shell technology and Umbrella’s inactivated-virus process, promoting Umbrella’s thirteen-valent vaccine.
• Zhang Min, already infected with HPV and unable to get vaccinated, considered leaving her profession and pursuing livestreaming as she posted filtered selfies to TT.
• A Yuan told A Li she had traveled to Beautiful Country for a cancer-prevention vaccine, then learned that A Li had already booked Umbrella’s thirteen-valent vaccine domestically.
• A Yuan walked into a quieter street while distracted by the call, where a Black man approached and commented on her bag.

Li Yao and Lin Shiqin discussed Umbrella’s plan to let spies steal culture medium as a distraction, while learning that Sackler was developing dangerous enhancement drugs and pursuing ancient formulas in Africa. Wang Yi gave Wen Yu authority to negotiate a release window and screening slots for Medicine God, which had finished filming and passed review.

• Lin Shiqin relayed Wang Yi’s instruction to let spies steal some culture medium so Umbrella could misdirect them and later sell them the real product.
• Cheng Xue proposed using violence against Umbrella’s rivals, but Lin Shiqin warned that escalating the conflict could provoke more underhanded tactics while Umbrella had too few people.
• Lin Shiqin told Li Yao that Sackler’s operatives were using a drug that suppressed pain and fear but caused severe aftereffects, and that the company had sent a team to investigate something found in Africa.
• Lin Shiqin refused Cheng Xue’s offer to lead the African investigation and told her to stay and guard headquarters.
• Wen Yu told Wang Yi that Medicine God had passed review and needed a release date and theater screenings, and Wang Yi authorized him to consult the development team during negotiations.

Wang Yi used a comparison between World Company and Umbrella Corporation to promote Umbrella’s technological strength, prompting Google to publicly ask him for guidance on World’s algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. He promised to publish a paper, while speculation spread online that World Company might already have an AI.

• A streamer named Four Seas as Home compared Umbrella Corporation’s products, research, and security force with World Company’s software and Internet services, arguing that Umbrella had greater potential.
• Wang Yi reposted the comparison on Weibo and said that Umbrella’s research and technological foundation surpassed World Company’s.
• Google’s domestic branch publicly asked Wang Yi to discuss World Company’s big data, algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence capabilities.
• Wang Yi replied that algorithms and Artificial Intelligence were within his field and promised to publish a paper in his alma mater’s journal.
• Google thanked Wang Yi and said it would study his work, while online spectators began spreading rumors that World Company already had an Artificial Intelligence.

Wang Yi’s paper on AI algorithms stunned major technology companies, which recognized the threat posed by his expertise and World Company. Wang Yi had released it to draw attention away from his other capabilities, and he remained unconcerned as Google considered trying to acquire or license his algorithms.

• The Science Institute journal published Wang Yi’s AI algorithms paper without review after inquiries and volunteers to review it flooded in.
• Apple’s R&D team saw the algorithms as a way to improve Siri, while executives reconsidered their stalled efforts to involve Wang Yi.
• Google’s engineers realized Wang Yi’s examples surpassed much of their own AI work and connected his algorithms to World Company’s anti-cheat, recommendations, compression, and translation features.
• Google’s staff discussed contacting Wang Yi to optimize or license algorithms, while hoping hardware improvements and their resources could help them catch up.
• Wang Yi treated the paper as a way to draw attention away from his other capabilities and privately joked that companies using his algorithms would only help Lin Shiqin.

Wang Yi’s new paper and his public apology from The Lancet renewed public attention, which he used to promote World Company’s film “Medicine God.” The film became a major hit, and Wang Yi watched it with Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke.

• The Lancet apologized and suspended publication for an issue after Wang Yi’s new paper reignited criticism of its treatment of him.
• Wang Yi reposted the “Medicine God” teaser, and Wen Yu secured the film a March release with little competition.
• Pharmaceutical professionals promoted “Medicine God,” and it earned over 200 million on its opening day as audiences praised it.
• Celebrities and former TT collaborators supported the film, while Lu Zhen’s repeated posts led fans to joke that he was trying to impress Wang Yi.
• Official media praised “Medicine God” and announced new measures, while Wang Yi watched it with Qian Yayan and Liu Xiaoke.

Wang Yi traveled to Africa after an Umbrella special operations team sent a distress signal about monsters and intense signal interference. He reached Dubai under the identity Liu Zuo and prepared to fly to Mogadishu to investigate.

• Wang Yi told Liu Xiaoke and Qian Yayan he was leaving on business as Hepatitis B specific immunoglobulin advanced toward approval and mass production.
• Wang Yi learned that an Umbrella team monitoring a Sackler family expedition in Africa had reported losses, monsters, and a distress call before losing contact.
• Wang Yi traveled to Northern Myanmar, adopted the identity Liu Zuo arranged by Liu Te, and received his passport, phone, SIM card, and flight itinerary from Lin Shiqin.
• Wang Yi flew to Dubai while the other two special operations teams arranged separate routes and local weapons.
• Wang Yi arrived at his transfer gate and found that his next flight to Mogadishu was aboard an old propeller plane.

Wang Yi flew toward Somalia on an old, crowded plane while posing as a travel vlogger, and chatted with journalist Alphonse. After most passengers got off at Hargeisa, Wang Yi revealed that his real destination was Somaliland, though he had reached it by a detour through Mogadishu.

• Wang Yi boarded an old Short 330 with Alphonse, another reporter, and their two bodyguards.
• Alphonse interviewed Wang Yi, who claimed he was a travel vlogger from Johor heading to Mogadishu.
• Alphonse wrote a sensational account of Wang Yi’s supposed struggle to pay for his adoptive mother’s medical treatment.
• At Hargeisa, the other passengers disembarked, and the flight attendant explained that the city was in Somaliland.
• Wang Yi warned Alphonse that Mogadishu was dangerous and got off the plane after it landed there.
• Wang Yi’s actual destination was Somaliland, which he planned to reach by taking a detour.

Wang Yi arrived in Mogadishu, learned more about the Sackler family’s operations in Somalia, and was abducted from his hotel by a well-trained team. He suspected the abductors were connected to the Sacklers and that STARS’s Alpha team had made them wary.

• Wang Yi met his guarantor, who agreed to help him travel to Somaliland after he spent his first day in Mogadishu at a secure hotel.
• Wang Yi spoke with Lin Shiqin, who reported that two teams had entered Somalia, Alpha team had gone silent, and one Sackler group had headed to Kapu.
• Wang Yi sensed six attackers killing the two reporters’ bodyguards and breaking into the hotel rooms.
• The attackers drugged Wang Yi and the two reporters, carried them past the hotel defenses, and drove them away in a van.
• Wang Yi recognized the kidnappers’ Texas-accented American English and suspected they belonged to the Sackler family.

Wang Yi let the armed team interrogate him and the two reporters until he located their hidden sniper position. He broke free, overpowered the team, caught a sniper round, and rushed toward the sniper.

• The armed men drove Wang Yi, Alphonse, and another captive to an abandoned site and tied them to chairs.
• The team questioned the three and concluded they were reporters, then their captain ordered them to be disposed of.
• Wang Yi broke his tactical restraints and attacked the armed team, knocking most of them unconscious.
• A sniper fired at Wang Yi, who caught the round and praised the shot.
• Wang Yi charged toward the sniper's position.

Antoine tried to escape after Wang Yi overwhelmed his squad, but Wang Yi intercepted him and used the Deification Technique to make him reveal the organization’s activities. Antoine disclosed that the organization was conducting biological experiments in Somaliland, leaving Wang Yi aware that its research involved stolen materials and dangerous test subjects.

• Antoine injected himself with Sublimation Potion Type I and shot at Wang Yi, who caught the anti-materiel rifle bullet with his bare hand.
• Antoine killed his spotter, staged the death as a suicide, and fled, but Wang Yi intercepted him and offered to spare him in exchange for information.
• Under the influence of Wang Yi’s Deification Technique, Antoine explained that his squad had been monitoring the area while another team operated in the rainforest.
• Antoine revealed that the organization had split its rainforest team, sending materials to headquarters and setting up a laboratory in a Somaliland town for research and on-site experiments.
• Antoine said the organization had handled dangerous test subjects and used investments in games and films such as Resident Evil to conceal real incidents.
• Wang Yi realized that the organization had stolen his culture medium and was studying a special plant found in the rainforest.

Wang Yi transformed Antoine into a spirit body and enslaved him, promising him a chance at a much longer life. After Wang Yi left, Alphonse and his companions woke among the ruins and fled in terror.

• Wang Yi killed the surviving operations-team members except Antoine and two men he kept as spare shells.
• Antoine begged Wang Yi to spare him, and Wang Yi offered him a chance to gain a lifespan beyond that of humans if he survived the transformation.
• Wang Yi used a magic array to extract Antoine’s soul, marked and repaired him, then returned him to his strengthened body.
• Antoine accepted his enslavement and vowed loyalty to Wang Yi in exchange for continuing to exist.
• Alphonse and his companions woke among the corpses and ruined surroundings, then fled the site.

Wang Yi left Mogadishu disguised as Matthew and used Antoine to learn about the Sackler family’s experiments and its network of allies. After Antoine reported their escape, his superiors ordered them to join another squad hunting Alpha team, giving Wang Yi a chance to intervene while making the Sacklers wary of Umbrella’s strength.

• Wang Yi disguised himself as Matthew and left Mogadishu with Antoine, who explained that the Sacklers were conducting biochemical experiments in Somalia with help from other powerful families.
• Antoine told Wang Yi that the experiments had produced infected creatures and that the organization intended to continue testing them in Somalia.
• Antoine contacted his superiors by satellite and reported that only he and Matthew had escaped after their squad was defeated.
• Antoine’s superiors ordered him to join Yellow Sand III and help hunt Alpha team’s remaining members in Somaliland.
• Wang Yi had Antoine exaggerate the report to suggest Umbrella had sent high-level operatives, hoping to deter the Sacklers and protect the fleeing Alpha team members.

Wang Yi and Antoine joined Nubo’s Yellow Sand III squad in Somaliland, where the Sackler family controlled communications, money, and Carter grass. As the squad set out on a mission, its members tried to force Wang Yi through a humiliating newcomer ritual.

• Antoine explained to Wang Yi how the Sackler family controlled Somaliland through mobile payments, communications, and Carter grass.
• Nubo arrived and mocked Antoine, then assigned him to provide sniper support and Wang Yi to serve as an assault trooper.
• Wang Yi and Antoine traveled with the squad through towns and villages that depended on the Sackler family’s influence.
• Four lower-ranking squad members surrounded Wang Yi in the pickup and told him to run along the rough road as a newcomer’s endurance test.
• Wang Yi considered their demand and agreed.