Chapter Summaries

Lin Qi’s rugby club dominated the York State Amateur Rugby Professional League final, earning promotion to the second-tier professional league and bringing a rare celebration to Sabine City. After the victory, Kane and Head Coach Moore asked Lin Qi to approve investments in professional equipment and star players.

• Lin Qi attended his club’s match as the team overwhelmed its opponents and won the final.
• Lin Qi and a State Sports Association official presented the trophy to the team manager, while Kane thanked Lin Qi and the players celebrated their promotion.
• Lin Qi, Kane, and Head Coach Moore met to discuss the club’s needs in the professional league.
• Moore requested advanced equipment to monitor players’ health, and Kane argued that developing star players would strengthen the team and bring in revenue.
• Lin Qi reviewed Kane’s proposal and asked how much money they planned to request.

Lin Qi set new financial and contractual rules for the club as it returned to professional competition. After meeting Mayor Mark about city funding, Lin Qi revealed he understood Mark’s unexpected question about Nagaril.

• Kane told Lin Qi the club needed 350,000 for equipment, staff, promotion, and player wages, but Lin Qi questioned raising salaries by convention.
• Lin Qi agreed to higher wages and benefits only if the club paired rewards with punishments to keep players competitive.
• Lin Qi ordered new contracts, including a Training Contract for athletes receiving the club’s best training, and said players could leave only if the club’s price was paid.
• Lin Qi told Kane and Moore that funding would arrive with an accountant and then left to meet Mayor Mark.
• Mark said the city and the United Sports Association would provide funding and asked whether they had a chance; Lin Qi answered that he meant Nagaril.

Mayor Landon sought Lin Qi’s help in gaining political influence from Nagaril’s development, and Lin Qi considered supporting him as an interest representative. Lin Qi proposed an overseas labor-export business for Nagaril’s unemployed population, pointing to high wages in Gefra’s Ameria construction boom.

• Mayor Landon approached Lin Qi after his mentor urged him to seek political resources through the Nagaril affair.
• Lin Qi considered backing Landon because he needed a political representative to speak for his business interests.
• Lin Qi told Landon that Sabine City should abandon industries where it had no advantage and seek new development opportunities in Nagaril.
• Landon suspected Lin Qi was proposing human trafficking, but Lin Qi clarified that he meant organizing Nagaril’s surplus laborers to work abroad legally.
• Lin Qi explained that many Nagaril People lacked stable work and revealed that Gefra was paying workers sixty-seven gepu an hour in Ameria.

Lin Qi explained to the mayor how importing Nagaril labor could enrich the Amelia Region, help Federation businesses compete, and support local workers. He urged the mayor to guide the public toward overseas labor and small-scale family production as Sabine City’s workshops gained popularity.

• Lin Qi showed the mayor how low Nagaril wages could make labor recruitment highly profitable and argued that defeating Gefra’s Royal Navy would secure the Federation’s share of the market.
• Lin Qi proposed disguising labor exports as voluntary employment through a company partly owned by Nagaril’s ruling class, with wages and subsidies benefiting both workers and rulers.
• Lin Qi explained that Nagaril workers could reduce costs and help skilled Federation workers revive local factories, while the mayor asked how local businesses and people would benefit.
• Lin Qi urged the mayor to encourage people to cross borders for work and to adopt small workshops and factories as the next stage of production.
• Families in Sabine City embraced Lin Qi’s sewing-machine and materials program, and he envisioned them eventually hiring Nagaril laborers to produce goods.

Lin Qi returned to his parents’ home and confronted Neil about his affair before ordering him to lead the company’s road-building work in Nagaril. Neil learned the project could keep him away for years, and Lin Qi revealed that he had lent the Nagaril People the money for it.

• After meeting with Lin Qi, the mayor weighed whether to secure a political arrangement or win back public support before the next election.
• Lin Qi visited Sera and waited with her for Neil to return home from work.
• When Neil arrived late and smelling of alcohol, Lin Qi confronted him about fooling around and warned him against marrying another woman or having illegitimate children.
• Lin Qi told Neil that he would lead the company’s road-building project in Nagaril and had to leave with the company’s people by July.
• Neil questioned how the poor Nagaril People could afford roads, and Lin Qi said he had lent them the money.

Lin Qi explained how he planned to profit from Nagaril’s debt and sent Neil to oversee the investment. Before Lin Qi left Sabine City, Mr. Truman called with news that Councilor Welsh was trying to limit the President’s powers and that he had a way to tie Welsh to the Henghui scandal.

• Lin Qi told Neil that Nagaril’s unpaid debts would let their businesses collect road tolls and take land, mineral deposits, and forests as repayment, while a private armed force protected their interests.
• Neil accepted that he would have to go to Nagaril, and Sera urged him to help Lin Qi because he had no siblings and trusted only their family.
• Mr. Truman called Lin Qi about his connection to the Listoan case and asked whether he knew Gepu; Lin Qi said he knew Gepu’s wife.
• Mr. Truman told Lin Qi that Councilor Welsh was rallying support for a bill to restrict the President’s powers after President ignored his public criticism.
• Mr. Truman revealed that Welsh had once been implicated in the Henghui scandal and intended to use that history to implicate him again.

Mr. Truman traced the Heng Hui and Listoan Group scandals to a shared political backer and recruited Lin Qi to question Mr. Gepu. Lin Qi received National Security Committee credentials for the mission, while Mr. Gepu learned that his cellmate Michael’s wife was pregnant by someone else.

• Mr. Truman found that Mr. Gepu, a former Listoan Group auditing accountant, might know about the companies’ financial dealings and asked Lin Qi to make him talk.
• Lin Qi realized that Heng Hui and Listoan had shared a backer, whose connection to Listoan had been cut after Heng Hui’s scandal.
• Two National Security Committee members arrived at Lin Qi’s villa, gave him consultant credentials, and had them verified by his security chief.
• Mr. Gepu studied law in prison as he planned to earn qualifications that could help him live more comfortably.
• Michael returned from visiting his family and told Mr. Gepu that his wife was pregnant; Mr. Gepu comforted him.

Michael accepted his wife’s decision to keep or end her pregnancy and chose to focus on supporting Little Michael, whose school harassment and psychological distress required money. He began studying law with Gepu in prison, where Gepu was then summoned to meet an unidentified visitor who greeted him as an old acquaintance.

• Michael recalled how his wife’s dependence and financial needs had left the family with few options, and he respected her choice about the pregnancy.
• Michael broke down over the bills and Little Michael’s struggles at school, then resolved to pull himself together for his child.
• Michael asked Gepu to lend him legal books so he could study and avoid repeating the mistakes that had worsened his situation.
• Gepu encouraged Michael, and the two prisoners began supporting each other in their studies.
• A guard took Gepu to the warden’s office, where a tall figure greeted him, saying they had met again.

Lin Qi questioned Gepu in prison about financial benefits the Listoan Group and former Heng Hui Group had provided to Bu Peien. He threatened Gepu into considering cooperation and offered a possible reduced sentence and transfer to a private prison, leaving Gepu weighing the deal.

• Lin Qi used his National Security Committee authority to question Gepu about whether the Listoan Group and former Heng Hui Group had provided benefits to Bu Peien.
• Gepu claimed he had only verified transactions and did not know where the money went, but Lin Qi accused him of lying.
• Lin Qi dismissed the agent so he could speak to Gepu alone and warned that Gepu could die in a staged escape attempt if he refused to cooperate.
• Gepu asked what he would receive for telling the truth, and Lin Qi offered the possibility of conscription under the Special Talents Conscription Act, a sentence reduction, and transfer to a private prison.

Lin Qi persuaded Gepu to reveal records of suspicious fund transfers in exchange for a reduced sentence and a place in a private prison, then visited Catherine at her university. The chapter left Lin Qi and Catherine reconnecting as they spent time together.

• Lin Qi offered Gepu a reduced sentence and a private-prison placement, and Gepu agreed to disclose a second set of account books showing unusual transfers to three foundations.
• Gepu asked Lin Qi to send him newspapers about current events, then asked whether Vera was doing well; Lin Qi assured him she was.
• Lin Qi reported Gepu's information to Mr. Truman, unaware that one of the foundations, Healthy Federal People, would bring him a major problem.
• Lin Qi went to Kurilan State University and surprised Catherine, who rushed to greet him in front of her classmates.
• Lin Qi told Catherine's classmates that they had once been lovers and were now friends, then took her away to spend time together.

Lin Qi prepared to leave for Bentley Fashion Week while encouraging Catherine to focus on her studies, then boarded a southbound train. Meanwhile, Truman’s investigation into three foundations sparked calls from powerful lobbyists, and he realized the backlash was only beginning.

• Catherine regretted that classes would keep her from joining Lin Qi in Bentley, and Lin Qi promised to bring back something suitable for her.
• Lin Qi visited Catherine’s apartment, signed a notebook for a security guard’s daughter, and left as Catherine resolved to catch up with him.
• Lin Qi boarded a southbound train to Bentley, where a girl was waiting for him.
• Truman mobilized the National Security Committee to investigate three foundations Lin Qi had identified, prompting calls from more than twenty lobbying groups and several brokers.

Mr. Truman’s investigation into Healthy Federal People was crushed by the powerful medical groups and their allies, forcing the President to retreat and the inquiry to end. After Truman returned home, an unnamed man called to claim the delivered goods were an apology and warned him to accept them, leaving Truman aware that he had gained another opponent.

• Medical groups and members of Congress pressured Truman to abandon his investigation into Healthy Federal People, and the President admitted he could not withstand the pressure.
• Truman apologized for his arrogance but vowed that he and the President would eventually defeat their hidden enemies.
• Truman submitted his resignation, but the President refused it; a Federal National Security Committee cadre was arrested, and the investigation was officially closed with all the foundation’s dealings declared legal.
• The President gave Truman three days of leave, and Truman returned home to find a truck delivering goods to his family that he had not ordered.
• An unnamed man called Truman, said the delivery was an apology, and told him he had better accept it; Truman recognized the caller as a new opponent.

Councilor Welsh sought Mr. Elson’s help to stop Truman’s investigation into two foundations, but Elson urged him to yield and warned that the President still had political support. After meeting with Elson, the President told Truman that Welsh had surrendered and ordered the investigation called off, then shifted attention to Gefra.

• Councilor Welsh invited former Vice President and political broker Mr. Elson to lunch and explained that Truman was investigating two foundations in which he held shares.
• Mr. Elson reprimanded Welsh for focusing on political infighting instead of the public’s economic concerns and offered to help if Welsh agreed to step back.
• Mr. Elson warned Welsh that the President still had a chance of winning and that foreign powers could exploit divisions among Federation politicians.
• Mr. Elson met with the President, and Truman later learned that Welsh had surrendered and that the investigation against him should be stopped.
• The President praised Truman for forcing Welsh to concede and redirected their attention to Gefra, but Truman struggled to feel pleased.

Lin Qi attended Bentley Fashion Week with Sai Weiruila, then revealed that he was a shareholder in a brand staging an unusually daring show. The show opened with real lions and other ferocious beasts in cages, introducing its theme, “Wild.”

• Lin Qi arrived in Bentley after a tiring two-day train journey and slept through his planned breakfast with Sai Weiruila.
• Lin Qi met Sai Weiruila late, and they visited Li Bao, where she ordered more than seventy thousand dollars’ worth of custom accessories.
• Lin Qi and Sai Weiruila attended fashion shows that showcased bold, avant-garde designs during Bentley Fashion Week.
• On the fifth day, Lin Qi told Sai Weiruila that he was a shareholder in the brand whose upcoming show he was eager to see.
• The show began with real lions roaring, frightening the audience, before caged lions and other ferocious beasts appeared behind the runway for the theme “Wild.”

Lin Qi’s animal-themed fashion ideas made Fashion Week a success and advanced his effort to influence Nagaril through Federal culture. After returning to Bu Peien, he proposed a compromise in negotiations over the circulation of Federal Sol.

• Sai Weiruila asked Lin Qi how the models’ animal tails were attached, and he whispered the indecent secret behind their design to her.
• The lead designer credited Lin Qi’s idea of connecting fashion with adventure and nature as the inspiration for the successful show.
• Lin Qi’s plan sought to increase Federal influence in Nagaril by encouraging travel, cultural exchange, and everyday use of Federal customs.
• Sai Weiruila returned to Bu Peien separately from Lin Qi at Mr. Wo Delike’s insistence, and Lin Qi arrived the next day as the third round of negotiations ended.
• Mr. Truman told Lin Qi that the Nagaril delegation had accepted two demands but rejected making Federal Sol a circulating currency.
• Lin Qi proposed dropping the demand that Federal Sol be official legal tender while requiring Nagaril authorities to acknowledge its lawful circulation.

Lin Qi proposed using the Preton pirate threat to justify a larger Federal Navy presence in the East Ocean and a deep-water resupply port in Nagaril. Mr. Truman praised Lin Qi's concern for the country and urged him to enter politics, but Lin Qi declined for now.

• The Nagaril delegation abandoned the Central Government's plan to wait for a naval battle and decided to negotiate cooperation with the Bayer Federation on its own.
• Lin Qi met with Mr. Truman and proposed keeping Preton's death secret so the pirate threat could justify safe sea routes patrolled by Federal warships.
• Lin Qi suggested establishing a deep-water port in Nagaril, arguing that continued pirate raids could persuade one of its provinces to agree.
• Mr. Truman joked about Lin Qi's imperialistic proposal and praised his political skill, then asked him to consider entering politics.
• Lin Qi told Mr. Truman that he had not considered becoming a politician, at least for now.

Lin Qi refused Mr. Truman’s suggestion that he enter politics and proposed sending more people to Nagaril to seek opportunities, easing problems at home through wealth from abroad. He joined Mr. Truman at a technology exhibition, where a stockbroker approached him about a Radio Reconnaissance Array.

• Lin Qi firmly rejected the idea of becoming a member of Congress, and Mr. Truman accepted that they might discuss it again later.
• Lin Qi urged the Federation to encourage people to seek work and wealth in Nagaril, arguing that their migration and earnings could help relieve domestic problems.
• After talking for more than two hours, Lin Qi and Mr. Truman ate lunch and discussed Lin Qi’s plans for the afternoon.
• Mr. Truman invited Lin Qi to an exhibition showcasing inventors’ creations, and Lin Qi agreed to go.
• Mr. Truman and Lin Qi arrived at the lively exhibition in the outskirts of Bu Peien, where a stockbroker asked Lin Qi if he knew about a Radio Reconnaissance Array.

Lin Qi and Mr. Truman entered an invention exhibition after a stock broker tried to sell Lin Qi a Little Yellow Sheet. Mr. Truman brought Lin Qi to watch an aircraft demonstration, where he explained that inventors testing practical aircraft often died in crashes and other accidents.

• Mr. Truman rejected a stock broker's pitch, and Lin Qi gave the broker his business card.
• Mr. Truman explained that Little Yellow Sheets were risky, poorly regulated fundraising notes that let stock brokerages earn large fees.
• Lin Qi and Mr. Truman entered the exhibition, and Mr. Truman said he wanted to see an invention related to harpoons and a new aircraft.
• Mr. Truman told Lin Qi that aircraft invention was dangerous because many inventors had died testing their designs.
• Lin Qi and Mr. Truman reached a dirt runway and grandstand where an aircraft demonstration was expected, though few visitors had gathered.

At an aircraft exhibition, Mr. Truman and military evaluators watched inventors demonstrate planes that might help spot submarines. A fixed-wing aircraft flew but crashed on landing, and a promising rotor-wing aircraft failed to take off.

• Mr. Truman discussed the military’s need for aircraft that could help detect submarines and returned to Lin Qi as the exhibition began.
• A fixed-wing inventor explained his lighter, sheepskin-covered design and successfully flew it several kilometers.
• The fixed-wing aircraft burst a tire on landing, broke its landing gear, and crashed, prompting a military evaluator to reject it.
• Lin Qi suggested the runway might have caused the landing accident, but Mr. Truman did not pursue the idea.
• A rotor-wing aircraft resembling an early helicopter attempted to fly but failed to leave the ground.

After the aircraft demonstrations, Mr. Truman offered funding to two inventors to improve their designs, despite their failed tests. Lin Qi accompanied him to a fish-gun exhibition, then wandered among displays where a supposed mind-reading inventor fooled the crowd.

• Mr. Truman told Lin Qi to wait while he spoke with the aircraft inventors, then criticized their failed demonstrations and warned them about risking pilots’ lives.
• Mr. Truman offered each inventor an initial two hundred thousand from Military Expenditure, with a larger allocation for the first to achieve a breakthrough.
• Mr. Truman showed Lin Qi how a bamboo-copter’s spinning propeller had convinced him that vertical takeoff was possible.
• Mr. Truman and military representatives watched an inventor demonstrate a fish arrow that released compressed air as it entered the water.
• Lin Qi left the fish-gun demonstration and watched a helmeted inventor persuade a crowd that he could read people’s thoughts.