Chapter Summaries

Three Purities sent its new cardiovascular drugs to help a ninety-year-old war hero suffering from cerebral infarction, after Wei Kang agreed to support his treatment. When Du Cheng sang the Volunteers' battle song at the hospital, the old man responded to the familiar melody by raising his hand and moving his fingers.

• Three Purities announced its new antihypertensive, anticoagulant, and anti-thrombotic drugs, prompting Du Cheng to ask Wei Kang whether they could help a paralyzed veteran.
• Wei Kang agreed to provide the clinical trial reports and do what he could for the ninety-year-old hero, who had earned two First-Class Merit Citations and two Second-Class Merit Citations.
• Du Cheng brought samples of the three drugs and their trial reports to the hospital, where Director Fang judged the results promising enough to try.
• Du Cheng visited the veteran's ward and sang the Volunteers' battle song, which the old man recognized as he raised his hand and moved his fingers to the rhythm.

Du Cheng and Director Fang saw Song Zhi Xing begin recovering after five days on Sanqing Pharmaceutical’s trial drug, and the old soldier responded to his unit numbers with a salute and the word “Present.” The sight of Du Cheng’s uniform stirred Song Zhi Xing’s memories of the brutal battle where he had lost his comrades.

• Du Cheng recalled Song Zhi Xing’s concealed wartime service and vowed to do everything he could to help cure him.
• Song Zhi Xing’s family agreed to try Sanqing Pharmaceutical’s experimental drugs after Director Fang warned them about the risks.
• After five days of treatment, Director Fang found no adverse reactions and saw signs of improvement on Song Zhi Xing’s CT scan.
• When Director Fang said Song Zhi Xing’s unit numbers, Song Zhi Xing saluted and managed to say, “Present.”
• Du Cheng saluted Song Zhi Xing, whose response to the military uniform brought back memories of freezing conditions, grievous wounds, and comrades lost in battle.

Old Song’s condition improved dramatically with medication and rehabilitation, allowing him to walk again after a month. He reunited with three surviving comrades from his regiment, and the old soldiers clasped hands after decades apart.

• Director Fang reported that Old Song was conscious and stable, and outlined his treatment and rehabilitation plan.
• Du Cheng visited Old Song, who recalled his wartime service after hearing that military leaders and former comrades would visit him.
• After a week of medication, Director Fang found that Old Song’s paralysis had improved to hemiplegia and arranged rehabilitation training.
• Old Song’s family helped with his exercises, and a month later he was walking with their support.
• Du Cheng and Director Fang were astonished by Old Song’s recovery as three elderly comrades arrived to see him.
• Old Song recognized the three men, and the four surviving comrades reunited after half a century apart.

News of Old Song’s recovery spread nationwide, drawing patients to 301 Hospital and prompting Director Gao to seek access to Sanqing’s drugs. After reviewing the clinical trial report, Wang Guiqing decided to support expanding the medicines’ Phase III trials to speed approval while verifying their safety.

• Media reports celebrated Old Song’s recovery and his wartime service, and viewers identified 301 Hospital as the place that had treated him.
• Patients with cerebral thrombosis and their families flocked to 301 Hospital after learning of Old Song’s recovery.
• Director Fang told Director Gao that Sanqing’s three cardiovascular and cerebrovascular drugs had restored Old Song’s health in a month.
• Director Gao reviewed Old Song’s records and left to seek a clinical partnership with Sanqing.
• Wang Guiqing read Sanqing’s clinical trial report and decided to help expand Phase III trials for the medicines.

Prince Salman received Gene Drug treatment from Sanqing and was told his Thalassemia had been cured, prompting news of the cure to spread across the Desert Peninsula and China. The chapter ends with actor Chen Yong seeing the announcement and realizing he and his wife might be able to have a child without fearing the disease.

• Prince Salman learned that Sanqing had developed a Gene Drug tailored to his mutated gene and underwent treatment at a partner hospital.
• Prince Salman felt stronger after treatment, resumed swimming and eating freely, and later learned his hemoglobin had returned to normal.
• Prince Salman returned to Desert Country, where Crown Prince Mohammed publicized his recovery and news of the cure spread among people with Thalassemia.
• Three Purities announced its successful Thalassemia Gene Drug, drawing attention from Chinese patients and carriers.
• Chen Yong saw the announcement and told his wife that there was hope for his illness and their plans to have a child.

Wei Kang and Three Purities established the Sanqing Charity Foundation to fund Thalassemia Gene Drug trials, requiring wealthy applicants to donate for clinical-trial priority. The chapter left Solomon paying more and more to climb the waiting list, only to find himself back in last place after a month.

• Wei Kang and Chen Yiqing, Wenren Long, and Tang Que discussed the limited capacity for customized Thalassemia treatments and agreed to establish a charity foundation funded by wealthy patients seeking trial slots.
• Three Purities launched the Sanqing Charity Foundation, announced Prince Salman's ten-million-dollar donation, and began ranking applicants by their contributions.
• A Camel Country tycoon donated ten million dollars and rose into the top three on the clinical-trial waiting list.
• Solomon initially objected to the one-million-dollar entry donation, then contributed more after learning that an acquaintance had secured a trial slot by donating eight million dollars.
• Solomon raised his donation to five million dollars and reached the top fifty, but after waiting a month, he found he had fallen back to last place.

Three Purities raised five billion yuan to fund Thalassemia trials, prioritizing severely ill children and giving wealthy donors earlier access through donations. After patients began recovering, a report criticizing the foundation drew public backlash, and people began exploring its transparent charity records and donation portal.

• Three Purities raised five billion yuan in donations and began a 500-slot Thalassemia trial, reserving most remaining slots for severely ill patients, especially children.
• After customized Gene Drugs were produced, patients received gene-edited bone marrow transplants, and many showed strong recovery after a week.
• Chen Yong described donating three million yuan for a trial slot and defended Sanqing’s free treatment for poor children when a reporter challenged the donation system.
• A report accused Sanqing of coercing patients into donations, but netizens defended the foundation and criticized the article.
• People examined Sanqing Charity Foundation’s public records, and one user discovered that ordinary people could donate through its website.

Brother Jiazhen exposed a woman who faked a medical fundraiser and demonstrated how easily fraudulent appeals passed review on several platforms. He contrasted those failures with the strict checks on Sanqing’s Longtu APP, leaving viewers more confident in Sanqing and prompting donations to its charity foundation.

• Brother Jiazhen showed viewers a fundraiser claiming a woman’s father had stomach cancer, then found her Langbo posts flaunting luxury shopping and travel.
• Brother Jiazhen revealed that he had tested Shuidichou, Aixinchou, and Qingsongchou with fake medical documents and successfully launched and withdrew funds.
• Brother Jiazhen described how Sanqing’s Longtu APP rejected his fundraising applications after checking his documents, assets, income, and eligibility.
• Viewers praised Sanqing’s strict review process, and Brother Jiazhen’s investigation spread online and inspired netizens to donate to the Sanqing Charity Foundation.

At Syngenta's Lu Province agricultural base, Wang De and the seed team harvested three gene-edited soybean varieties, and GD001 yielded more than 1,000 jin per mu, breaking the domestic record. The results raised hopes of reducing China's dependence on imported soybeans, and Wang De celebrated the prospect of eventual self-sufficiency.

• Wang De ordered the soybean harvest in the rapid-breeding plant workshop.
• An expert weighed GD001 and calculated its yield at 517 kilograms per mu, equivalent to more than 1,000 jin per mu.
• The team weighed the other two varieties, finding that one yielded more than 800 jin per mu and the other more than 900.
• Wang De considered how the high yields could help close China's soybean production shortfall and laughed with the team.

Wang De sent experts to test Super Soybeans in varied regions to determine their real-world yields and address the challenges of scaling up cultivation. Meanwhile, experts inspected Three Purities’ other gene-edited crops, whose successful trials could lead to a broad wave of new varieties reaching the market.

• Wang De arranged for soybean experts to plant Super Soybeans in test fields across China, including bases in Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and the Yellow River-Huai River-Hai River region.
• The experts estimated that Super Soybeans could yield over 800 jin per mu in high-yield regions and around 500 jin per mu elsewhere, pending trial results.
• After the soybean experts left, the remaining experts inspected genetically modified crops growing in the planting facility.
• The experts saw peanuts resistant to aflatoxin, non-toxic potatoes, and other improved rice, corn, and vegetables developed with Three Purities’ agricultural division.
• The chapter described Gene Editing Technology as a way to create improved crops without introducing foreign genes, and noted that the new varieties could reach the market if their trials succeeded.

News about Super Soybean’s experimental yield of 1,000 jin per mu sparked patriotic support for domestic products and renewed attention to China’s soybean industry. At Sanqing Headquarters, Wei Kang welcomed the publicity campaign as a strong start to promoting the seeds and expanding their supply chain.

• Reports about Super Soybean’s record experimental yield spread online, prompting netizens to discuss foreign control of the soybean trade and call for support of domestic products.
• Self-media articles recounted how international grain traders had gained control of China’s soybean-processing industry and declared that Super Soybean could help China win the food war.
• Consumers rushed to buy domestic cooking oil, Fortune Gate’s sales surged, and Golden Dragon Fish faced a sharp backlash.
• At Sanqing Headquarters, Wei Kang praised General Manager Wang’s publicity campaign for making Super Soybean widely known.
• Wei Kang expected Syngenta to promote Super Soybean with downstream processors, while growers, grain traders, and national policy support helped build the industry chain.

Huang Qin reported Three Purities’ progress developing gene-edited crops, prompting Wei Kang to address the patent risks of CRISPR-Cas9. Wei ordered Tang Que to lead a search for an independent gene-editing tool while Huang continued improving Super Soybean production, and Three Purities began coordinating with the China Academy of Sciences and Syngenta.

• Huang Qin told Wei Kang and Tang Que that Three Purities had developed gene-edited soybeans, corn, rice, peanuts, and other crops in collaboration with Syngenta.
• Wei Kang raised patent concerns about CRISPR-Cas9, and Huang Qin explained why ZFN and TALEN were unsuitable for economical industrial-scale crop breeding.
• Tang Que proposed screening bacteria for new gene-editing proteases, and Wei Kang ordered him to form a dedicated team while Huang continued developing Super Soybean mass-production technology.
• Tang Que suggested searching Archaea as well as bacteria, and Wei Kang said he would seek help from the China Academy of Sciences.
• After the meeting, Wei Kang contacted Academician Chang and Wang De, and Three Purities’ Gene Laboratory began working with the China Academy of Sciences to develop an independent gene-editing tool.

Li Dong and Xiao Wang investigated counterfeit Syngenta seeds in Wan Province, where a shop owner revealed the cross-regional network behind seed relabeling and urged them to trace it to Ili. Meanwhile, Cargill and three other grain traders confirmed China’s Super Soybean was real and feared losing China’s soybean market.

• Li Dong identified counterfeit Heyu 187 seeds at a Lu City shop, but the owner replaced them with genuine bags after suspecting that Li Dong and Xiao Wang were Syngenta investigators.
• The shop owner asked whether Syngenta’s Super Soybean could yield a thousand jin per mu, and Li Dong confirmed the crop was real while clarifying that field results were still pending.
• The owner offered details about the counterfeit-seed supply chain, explaining that infringing seeds crossed regions and that their production bases in Ili needed to be targeted.
• At Cargill headquarters, Wallace asked his executives whether China’s Super Soybean was real, and ADM president Patricia confirmed it through information from COFCO and Yihai Group.
• Patricia told Wallace and the other grain-trader presidents that Syngenta and Sanqing Group had developed Gene Editing crops, and they agreed China’s Super Soybean threatened their market and would lead to a major conflict.

Huang Qin discussed gene-editing patents and research with Williams, who became convinced that Three Purities’ development software might be true artificial intelligence. Williams reported his suspicion to his contacts, who ordered him to obtain a copy of the company’s secrets at any cost, leaving him to realize he had become expendable.

• Huang Qin told Williams that Three Purities needed to explore alternatives to CRISPR-Cas9 because its patent fees could expose them to pressure from Eagle Country.
• Williams wondered why Three Purities’ research progressed so smoothly, and Huang Qin credited the company’s capable staff and dismissed the idea that its software was true artificial intelligence.
• Williams suspected the software was AI and, after work, sent the suspicion to his contacts using a hidden computer in his dormitory.
• Williams’s contacts ordered him to obtain a copy of Three Purities’ secrets at any cost, and he realized they were willing to sacrifice him.

Saul and Chris planned to exploit Three Purities’ gene-editing patents and lure the company into Eagle Country, while the FDA invited its thalassemia therapy for trials. Wei Kang agreed to consider the invitation only if the FDA lifted a painkiller ban and fast-tracked other drugs, and the FDA approved those conditions while retaining the right to reinstate the ban.

• Saul and Chris discussed verifying intelligence that Three Purities used advanced artificial intelligence and obtaining a copy for analysis.
• Saul urged Chris to find a way to retaliate against Three Purities over the Super Soybean matter, and Chris proposed suing over CRISPR-Cas9 patents.
• Chris explained that the Zheng Feng Laboratory held the patent and that Three Purities could not be sued unless it brought Super Seed to Eagle Country, so they agreed to first ask Mr. Pawn which gene-editing tools its therapies used.
• Wei Kang received the FDA’s invitation to conduct Eagle Country clinical trials for Three Purities’ thalassemia gene therapy and conditioned his agreement on lifting the painkiller ban and fast-tracking other drugs.
• Davis submitted Wei Kang’s conditions for approval, and the FDA agreed to lift the painkiller ban temporarily while keeping the option to restore it.

Three Purities began overseas trials for its new drugs after the FDA eased restrictions and fast-tracked approvals. In Eagle Country, patients welcomed a newly available non-addictive painkiller, while Solomon was finally invited to join the Thalassemia Gene Drug trial at Mayo Clinic.

• Wei Kang was surprised that the FDA had lifted the painkiller ban, accepted Chinese clinical data, and bundled Three Purities' drug applications for fast-track review.
• Three Purities launched overseas trials, and the Thalassemia Gene Drug entered Phase III through the FDA's rare-disease green channel with only a few dozen participants needed.
• In West Virginia, Alexander asked his doctor for more painkillers, and the doctor prescribed a newly available non-addictive drug instead.
• Alexander learned the FDA had previously banned the new painkiller and angrily vowed to expose the agency online.
• In California, Solomon received a call inviting him to join the Thalassemia Gene Drug's Phase III trial in Eagle Country at Mayo Clinic.

Wei Kang reviewed the Thalassemia Gene Drug’s successful trials and the unresolved CRISPR patent dispute in Eagle Country, then Three Purities launched the drug there for $500,000. Saul prepared to use alleged CRISPR evidence and the patent dispute to sue Three Purities after patients completed treatment and paid.

• Wei Kang examined the trial results, confirmed the drug had cured patients, and checked Three Purities’ patent licenses amid the dispute between the University of California team and the Broad Institute.
• Wei Kang concluded Three Purities had acted legally and decided to wait for any patent challenge.
• Three Purities launched the Thalassemia Gene Drug in Eagle Country for $500,000, drawing praise from patients and netizens.
• Saul asked about evidence collection, and his contact said a hospital had withheld gene drugs containing CRISPR-Cas9 agents as evidence.
• Saul told his contact to wait until the first patients completed treatment and paid before filing suit, and said his patent club was ready to strike.

Syngenta celebrated record Super Soybean yields, but the Broad Institute’s patent lawsuit against Three Purities threatened to delay mass production. After learning of the dispute, Tang Que rallied the Gene Laboratory team to develop an independent gene-editing technology.

• Wang De celebrated a Heilongjiang Super Soybean yield of 938 jin per mu and learned that test plots in Xinjiang reached 956 jin.
• Syngenta reported the harvest results, prompting nationwide excitement and a surge of demand for Super Soybean seeds ahead of spring planting.
• Wang De learned from Wei Kang that the Broad Institute had sued Three Purities over its Thalassemia Gene Drug, creating patent concerns for commercialization.
• Wang De decided to sell Super Soybean domestically, initially focusing on the Northeast, and said Syngenta would contest the patent dispute.
• Wenren Long told Tang Que about the lawsuit, and Tang Que gathered the Gene Laboratory team and urged them to develop a new gene-editing technology by screening Archaea and wild bacteria.

Zheng Feng signed a $1.5 billion gene-editing partnership with Pfizer and plotted to use patent fees and a drawn-out lawsuit against Three Purities while developing a competing thalassemia treatment. After Durand approved the strategy and tied it to Eagle Country’s effort to preserve its scientific lead, Zheng Feng prepared to meet Wei Kang at the first settlement meeting.

• Zheng Feng reviewed and signed a $1.5 billion partnership contract with Pfizer’s Dostan to develop gene therapies for rare diseases.
• Dostan asked Zheng Feng to help advance treatments for Beta-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease, and Zheng Feng agreed to draw on Three Purities’ research.
• Zheng Feng proposed collecting patent fees from Three Purities while delaying the lawsuit until Pfizer and his company developed a competing drug.
• Zheng Feng recalled his rise from immigrant student to celebrated scientist and credited his mentor Durand’s influence for helping him win the CRISPR patent dispute.
• Durand approved Zheng Feng’s strategy against Three Purities and urged him to use any means necessary to protect Eagle Country’s scientific advantage.
• Zheng Feng told Durand he would meet Three Purities’ boss, Wei Kang, at their first out-of-court settlement meeting the next day.

Zheng Feng and Sanqing negotiated a settlement over the Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent infringement claims, with Wei Kang observing remotely. They reached a preliminary agreement for Sanqing to pay 25% of profits on Thalassemia Gene Drugs sold, but both sides expected the dispute to continue.

• Yang Haoran introduced Zheng Feng and Wei Kang at the start of the settlement negotiations.
• The Broad Institute accused Sanqing of patent infringement and demanded an apology, licensing fees, and up to two billion dollars in damages.
• Sanqing’s lawyers challenged the Broad Institute’s patent rights and argued that Sanqing had tried to negotiate a license, while Yang Haoran refused to apologize.
• Zheng Feng offered to drop the apology demand if Sanqing paid patent fees, and Wei Kang accepted the proposal.
• After bargaining over how the fees would be calculated, the sides agreed that Sanqing would retroactively pay 25% of profits on each Thalassemia Gene Drug sold.