Chapter Summaries

Michael had adapted to prison life and grown stronger when a State Revenue Service investigator offered to seek his early release in exchange for help investigating Lin Qi. Michael recalled Lin Qi’s dealings with Fox and revealed that newspaper boys had also been involved in their money-laundering chain.

• Michael exercised with Gepu, then learned that a State Revenue Service investigator had come to visit him.
• The investigator explained that Director Johnson had been promoted and offered to seek Michael’s release under the Special Talents Conscription Act if he helped investigate Lin Qi.
• Michael agreed to cooperate and told the investigator that Lin Qi had helped Fox launder money by giving him legitimate income.
• After the investigator said Fox denied any connection to Lin Qi, Michael recalled that newspaper boys had also been involved in the money-laundering chain.

Michael realized that the newsboys and the missing Newspaper Boss could provide evidence against Lin Qi, and he shared those leads with Green Skin Face in hopes of reducing his sentence. Gepu recognized Lin Qi as well and called Blackstone Fund to reach his ex-wife, Vera, leaving the reason for his call unresolved.

• Michael told Green Skin Face that Lin Qi’s newsboys could reveal his hidden income and that the Newspaper Boss might know about Lin Qi’s early dealings with Fox.
• Green Skin Face recorded the clues and promised to explain Michael’s value to the judge, raising Michael’s hopes of an earlier release.
• Michael and Gepu discovered that they both knew Lin Qi and reflected on his rapid rise and ability to turn public opinion against the Federal Taxation Bureau.
• Gepu called the warden, who allowed him to use the prison phone, and asked Blackstone Fund to transfer him to the Finance Department head.
• After the operator refused to help, Gepu offered increasingly large sums until she agreed to transfer the call.

Vera learned from Gepu that Michael had given the Federal Revenue Service information that might target Lin Qi, while Gepu asked for help securing an earlier release. Green Skin Face’s investigation in Sabine City stalled when police revealed that Newspaper Boss had been missing for one or two years.

• Vera called Gepu after her assistant relayed his urgent request, while Lin Qi distracted her with a bug on her shoe.
• Gepu told Vera that Michael had excitedly spoken with the Federal Revenue Service and warned her that the matter might target Lin Qi; he also asked Lin Qi to help him leave prison early.
• Vera told Gepu that their child had recovered but warned him not to see the boy if he got out, then passed Gepu’s information to Lin Qi.
• Lin Qi reassured Vera and later asked the Green Brothers to keep Gepu’s release in mind.
• Green Skin Face took Michael’s clues to Sabine City and went with the local Revenue Service director to the police station to look for Newspaper Boss.
• A police officer told Green Skin Face that Newspaper Boss had been missing for one or two years, and the director gave no sign that a wider search would help.

Green Skin Face tried to find Newspaper Boss, but the Police Chief explained that the former newspaper boys were now Lin Qi’s adopted sons and warned that pursuing Lin Qi would be difficult. After Green Skin Face left, the Police Chief alerted Lin Qi, while Green Skin Face decided to consult the deputy chief about the investigation.

• Green Skin Face proposed searching the entire city and then secured a thousand-dollar Wanted Order for Newspaper Boss.
• Green Skin Face asked to find Newspaper Boss’s former subordinates, and the Police Chief explained that they were now Lin Qi’s adopted sons, including the well-known Green Brothers.
• The Police Chief warned Green Skin Face that Lin Qi’s influence and support in Sabine City made an ordinary investigation unlikely to succeed.
• Green Skin Face collected the files on the Green Brothers and the other newspaper boys, then returned to his hotel and decided to call the deputy chief.
• The Police Chief called Lin Qi and told him that someone was investigating him and Newspaper Boss.

After learning that the State Revenue Service was investigating Lin Qi’s people, Lin Qi warned Noel to be careful and arranged a violent response to the investigator. Green Skin Face survived a staged traffic collision and realized that investigating Lin Qi had made him a target.

• Noel told Lin Qi that the Police Chief had warned him someone was investigating the Green Brothers, and Lin Qi suspected the State Revenue Service.
• Lin Qi warned Noel to watch out for traffic accidents, and Noel and Fern understood that they should act against the investigator.
• Green Skin Face chose a girl from the paperboys’ files as his next target and drove away from the Police Station.
• A car ran a red light and crashed into Green Skin Face’s car, and a man warned him that he was not welcome in Sabine City.
• Police dismissed the collision as a drunk-driving accident, then questioned Green Skin Face instead, leaving him convinced that Lin Qi’s people had targeted him.

Lin Qi tried to persuade a Military Appropriations Committee senator to support the navy’s Sea Reconnaissance Ship project, which the committee considered impractical. He left the senator reconsidering his position after revealing that the senator’s son could become a shareholder in Lin Qi’s aircraft company and contribute design plans.

• At dinner with Mr. Truman and a senator, Lin Qi heard the senator explain that the committee opposed approving the navy’s Sea Reconnaissance Ship project before the election.
• Lin Qi argued that aircraft would dominate future battlefields, but the senator dismissed his claims and advised waiting until after the election.
• Lin Qi revealed that he had founded an aircraft research company with fifteen million Sols and that the senator’s son would be one of its shareholders.
• The senator objected to Lin Qi involving his son, then admitted he had not known about his son’s aircraft-design talent.
• Lin Qi offered five percent of the company’s shares in exchange for the son’s design plans, and the senator said he could not offer further help.
• The senator asked Lin Qi for the project’s name.

Lin Qi explained his strategy of gaining support within the military and political system while the Federation and Gefra competed for influence in Amelia. The cargo ship carrying twelve generator sets vanished en route, leaving Governor Sedel worried about a huge contractual penalty and eager to shift responsibility.

• After the congressman left, Lin Qi told Mr. Truman that their group needed to integrate into the system and win military support rather than make enemies of everyone within it.
• Young Federation scientists gained public attention as a cargo ship carrying twelve generator sets departed for Amelia.
• Gefra merchants won the Amelia bidding, and the governor sought outside military support to weaken Lin Qi’s influence.
• When the cargo ship failed to arrive, Governor Sedel questioned Solun and rejected his suggestion that pirates might be responsible.
• Governor Sedel feared the nine hundred million Federal Sol penalty and instructed Solun to deny responsibility for transporting the generators.
• The missing ship drew attention from the Federation and Gefra, and the Gefra Emperor personally inquired about it.

Mr. President sent the Navy’s expansion plan to Congress for discussion while public opinion swung in favor of expanding the fleet. Lin Qi assured Navy officers that his plan would secure an expansion before the presidential election and could pave the way for another during Mr. President’s term.

• The Minister of Defense argued that the Navy needed expansion after a Federation Cargo Ship bound for Anmeria disappeared, and Mr. President submitted the plan to Congress for discussion.
• Federation newspapers framed the ship’s disappearance as a matter of national dignity, and a poll showed that 63.1 percent of respondents supported halting the military drawdown and expanding the Navy.
• Lin Qi read the poll results with naval officers and explained that his aircraft company had helped connect the Navy with members of Congress.
• A Navy Lieutenant General asked Lin Qi whether the expansion could succeed, and Lin Qi said it would pass before the presidential election if the Navy followed his script.
• Lin Qi told the officers that a successful expansion before the election could lead to a second expansion during Mr. President’s term.

Connie and the crew of a cargo ship were taken hostage by pirates who demanded a ransom of sixteen million. After the pirates’ video reached the public, the President faced pressure to pay, and Mr. Truman reminded him that abandoning the sailors would be politically disastrous.

• Connie was awakened and forced onto the deck after pirates boarded the cargo ship and took control.
• The pirate Leader said the crew would be spared if the company paid a ransom, while the Captain cooperated after first resisting.
• The pirates took the ship to a small island and filmed the Captain announcing a ransom demand of sixteen million, with a seventy-two-hour deadline.
• The video was mailed to Television Stations and broadcast across the Federation, prompting the President to convene officials and debate whether to pay.
• Mr. Truman urged the President to pay because the public would not accept letting the sailors die, and the President recognized the political stakes as the election approached.

Mr. Truman ordered a task force to investigate the pirates who had hijacked a ship and protect its sailors, while the government and Megan Consortium negotiated over a sixteen-million ransom fund. As the fundraising was broadcast, public opinion began questioning the military’s inability to deal with the pirates.

• Mr. Truman gave officials seventy-two hours to address the hijacking and called for a task force that balanced a firm stance with the hostages’ safety.
• The Department of Defense and National Security Committee formed a joint task force, which planned to publicize its investigation and use a ransom offer as bait for pirate scouts.
• Task force experts argued that postmarks pointed to Bu Peien, but the shipping company president challenged their plan and called for an immediate large-scale search.
• Megan Consortium’s Board of Directors agreed to pay up to eight million and sought to split the sixteen-million cost with the government and Solun.
• Solun accepted that the payment could be treated as an advance on future goods, while the Television Station broadcast the fundraising effort.
• Viewers watched the cash being gathered, and public criticism shifted toward the military for defeating the Gefra navy but failing to stop the pirates.

Television interviews blamed the Federation’s weak response to the pirates on past military disarmament, fueling public demands for expansion. As the navy prepared to rescue the hostages before attacking, the president ordered Truman back to work and revealed his plans for a long partnership.

• A congressman told a television host that the Federation Navy lacked enough warships to cover every front because past governments had disarmed to appear harmless.
• Television programs redirected public anger toward the Conservative Party, and marches demanding military expansion spread across the Federation.
• The task force colonel reported that the navy had located the pirates and discussed whether to ransom the hostages before attacking.
• The president ordered the colonel to exchange money for the hostages, secure their safety, and then eliminate the pirates.
• The president told Truman he could return to work and said he needed him as a trusted partner for the years ahead.
• The president praised Truman’s abilities, and Truman remarked that dealing with powerful people only required learning a few tricks.

Connie and the other sailors were freed after the pirates took the sixteen million in ransom and vanished before the navy could catch them. The investigation suggested the pirates had escaped by submarine, prompting the president to ask how the Federation could counter submarines in war.

• The Megan Consortium's money custodian worried over the ransom as a small boat towed the sixteen million toward the island, while an officer promised to protect it.
• The pirates brought Connie and the other hostages to the beach, where they met the man delivering the ransom and confirmed that no one had been killed or injured.
• The pirates took the money and disappeared into the island's sparse jungle, and four warships arrived too late to find them.
• The investigation concluded that the pirates might have escaped aboard a submarine, drawing the Federal leadership's attention to the threat.
• The president asked how the Federation could counter the damage submarines might cause in war.

The Federation approved Lin Qi’s anti-submarine aircraft project as the president pushed a broader military rearmament. As kidnappings spread and an escorted ship carried the repaired generators toward Ameliah, Connie spotted a monster at sea.

• The president judged the submarine kidnapping a military provocation, and the Minister of Defense presented an anti-submarine aircraft proposal that the president approved.
• Lin Qi learned that his company’s project had been authorized and began recruiting civilian aircraft experts while preparing its development plans.
• The president signed more than a dozen military equipment projects as the Federation prepared for a future war and capitalists discussed creating more Nagarils.
• The Megan Consortium sent the repaired thermal power generator set toward Ameliah under armed escort, while Blackstone Security received a surge of orders amid rising kidnappings.
• Connie saw something in the distant sea and shouted that it was a monster.

Connie and the sailors survived the destruction of their ships and reached the Amelia Region, where the Captain reported that the cargo had been lost. Mr. Wo Delike learned of the sinking and recognized Lin Qi’s involvement as the company’s directors gathered to count their losses.

• Connie spotted a shape beneath the sea, and an explosion capsized the Armed Escort Ship before another attack sank the Cargo Ship.
• Connie, the Captain, and the other survivors escaped by lifeboat and rowed toward the Amelia Region, enduring hunger and despair before reaching shore.
• The Captain told the company representatives that the Cargo Ship and its cargo had sunk.
• Mr. Wo Delike received news of the sinking and concluded that Lin Qi had orchestrated it.
• The Board of Directors met to assess the losses, and Wo Delike attended with a private smile as the chairman tallied the damage.

Mr. Wo Delike warned the Megan Consortium that attacks on its shipments to Amelia might be a deliberate attempt by Gefra to block its entry into the region’s power market. The Board of Directors postponed a decision while seeking naval protection, and Wo Delike wondered how Lin Qi would escape the predicament.

• Mr. Wo Delike argued that the attacks on the consortium’s ships were abnormal and suggested someone was targeting its trade with Amelia.
• Mr. Wo Delike blamed Gefra’s domestic interests, saying they had reason to stop Federation companies from controlling Amelia’s electricity supply.
• Mr. Wo Delike bet that the consortium’s next shipment would also fail to reach Amelia.
• The Board of Directors Chairman deferred the decision and planned to ask the Minister of Defense for naval escorts and protection.
• After returning home, Mr. Wo Delike sat in his study and wondered how Lin Qi would break out of the predicament.

Preton agreed to leak information for Mr. Truman, while Gefra reacted to the Federation’s military expansion by announcing its own plans and exercises. Lin Qi told Wo Delike that the resulting international tensions had removed the final obstacle to the Megan Consortium’s request.

• Preton asked Mr. Truman what he needed, and Mr. Truman instructed him to leak information.
• The Gefra ministers warned the emperor that the Federation was expanding its military and building more advanced warships, and urged Gefra to strengthen its forces.
• The emperor agreed that Gefra could not let the Federation expand unchecked, and the prime minister proposed military exercises with their allies.
• Gefra announced its four-year military plans, then the Federation’s expansion plans were exposed as Gefra and the Victorious Countries alliance announced exercises in the West Ocean.
• Lin Qi told Wo Delike that the military was too occupied to escort the Megan Consortium’s cargo ships, and Wo Delike praised his talent.

Lin Qi’s campaign weakened Gefran control in the Amelia Region and drove the Megan Consortium to reconsider its contract, while Governor Sedel failed to secure reinforcements or even speak with Lin Qi. The consortium voted to abandon the dangerous project, though Lyme ignored Lin Qi’s advice and held onto his own short position.

• Power plants were repeatedly attacked, leaving the Amelia Region in darkness as anti-government forces advanced and Blackstone Security halted its operations.
• Governor Sedel blamed Lin Qi, failed to obtain allied troops because of the planned military exercise, and was refused when he tried to contact Lin Qi.
• Lin Qi told Lyme to sell his share of the short positions in the Megan Consortium, but Lyme chose to keep his own position open the next morning.
• The Megan Consortium’s chairman reported that the military had refused to provide escorts and called for a vote on whether to continue the contract.
• The Board of Directors voted to abandon the project and planned to sue Solun over the contract.

Lin Qi assessed the Megan Consortium’s cover-up of a burned research institute, then received Solun, who came to apologize for his and Governor Sedel’s mistakes. Solun struggled to offer a remedy as shipping and rail disruptions left Gefra’s position in the Amelia Region increasingly precarious.

• Lin Qi watched news of a fire at a research institute and concluded that the Megan Consortium was destroying evidence and preparing to bankrupt the parent company.
• Solun arrived at Lin Qi’s villa, and Lin Qi made him wait until breakfast was over before greeting him.
• Lin Qi praised Gefran nobles’ manners, then challenged Solun’s claim that the two had a misunderstanding despite meeting for the first time.
• Solun admitted that he and his father had acted arrogantly and said they wanted to make amends, while Lin Qi asked what they planned to do.
• Solun considered his response as he weighed how disrupted shipping and railway transport threatened Gefra’s control of the Amelia Region.

Lin Qi forced Solun to consider three conditions for resolving their conflict in Amelia Province, while preparing to negotiate Nagaril’s future. The chapter ended with Lin Qi telling Mr. Wo Delike that Amelia had backed down and that the investigation against him remained unresolved.

• Solun offered arrests, executions, and market concessions, but Lin Qi asserted that he had won and controlled the terms of the settlement.
• Lin Qi demanded open trade in Amelia, permission to build public infrastructure, and rights to conduct mineral surveys and mining.
• Lin Qi explained that opening Amelia’s market could benefit Gefra, then sent Solun to report his conditions to Governor Sedel.
• Lin Qi went to a meeting of the Nagaril Joint Development Company, where military-industrial representatives and company executives had gathered.
• Lin Qi told Mr. Wo Delike that Amelia had backed down and complained that the investigation into him had not ended.

Lin Qi learned that the Federation planned to sell surplus defensive weapons to Nagaril and employ discharged soldiers there to protect the weapons and maintain public order. After discussing Sai Weiruila and dismissing annexation as a foolish idea, he met Haynes Group president O'Neill, who sought his help selling weapons in Mengwu.

• Mr. Wo Delike explained that the Federation planned to sell its surplus weapons to Nagaril and hire retired soldiers to protect them and maintain public order.
• Lin Qi and Mr. Wo Delike agreed that annexing Nagaril would be foolish before the next World War.
• Mr. Wo Delike asked Lin Qi to check on Sai Weiruila, but Lin Qi said he and she would not make a suitable couple.
• O'Neill introduced himself as the president of the Haynes Group and asked Lin Qi to help sell weapons in Mengwu.
• O'Neill offered a strategic partnership and preferential terms in exchange for Lin Qi's assistance.