Chapter Summaries

Carlo Rubbia announced CERN had measured a 4.7 eV neutrino, far heavier than known neutrinos, and revealed that it had a Majorana mass term. Lucas recognized that the result fit the Seesaw mechanism, indicating CERN had discovered a right-handed neutrino.

• Carlo Rubbia opened CERN's press conference shortly after Kamioka released its findings, signaling CERN's challenge to Atsuto Suzuki.
• Carlo Rubbia explained how neutrino oscillation had raised questions about neutrino mass and the possible existence of right-handed neutrinos.
• Carlo Rubbia presented CERN's experimental results, which showed a neutrino mass of 4.7 eV.
• Lucas questioned Lars about the result, and Lars confirmed the discovered neutrino had a Majorana mass term.
• Lucas concluded that the heavy neutrino fit the Seesaw mechanism and had to be a right-handed neutrino.

At CERN, Carlo Rubbia announced the discovery of a right-handed neutrino and proposed that such neutrinos might connect ordinary matter and dark matter, while insisting Asia was unlikely to discover dark matter first. Lucas’s plans for leave were canceled when Angus told him Huaxia had apparently discovered true Cold Dark Matter.

• Carlo Rubbia presented evidence that CERN had discovered a right-handed neutrino, which was not a sterile neutrino.
• Carlo Rubbia proposed that right-handed neutrinos might connect ordinary matter and dark matter and predicted dark matter could be found within ten years.
• Carlo Rubbia dismissed Asia’s chances of discovering dark matter and declared he would eat the axe on Maxwell’s bronze statue if an Asian made the discovery.
• After the press conference, Lucas called Fermi Lab to submit his report and request ten days of leave.
• Angus canceled Lucas’s leave and ordered him to fly to Huaxia, where true Cold Dark Matter had apparently been discovered.

After the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced it would reveal a discovery of cold dark matter, physicist Lucas decided to travel to China, while scientists and the public debated whether the claim was credible. The next morning, Lucas encountered Lars at the hotel restaurant before his flight.

• Angus told Lucas that China had discovered cold dark matter, and Lucas checked the Academy's announcement before deciding to leave for China.
• Lucas read reactions from physicists, including David Pulitzer's skepticism and Anton Zeilinger's support, and felt reassured enough to treat the trip as a vacation as well as a chance to investigate.
• The announcement surged across Chinese social media, where commenters argued over the discovery and debated whether it might be warm dark matter instead.
• Lucas and two colleagues received plane tickets from Fermi Lab, spent the night at the hotel, and prepared to fly from Geneva to Paris the next morning.
• Lucas arrived at the hotel restaurant with his colleagues and saw Lars sitting near the entrance.

Lucas and Lars traveled to Rongcheng for the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ press conference, where Lucas met biologist Morten L. Grobe on the plane and learned that young scientist Xu Yun had impressed him. At Shuangliu International Airport, Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang joined a major delegation preparing to welcome prominent physicists from around the world.

• Lucas met Lars at breakfast, and Lars defended his boast that he would eat the axe on Maxwell’s statue if CJPL produced comparable results.
• Lucas and Lars traveled through Geneva and Paris before boarding a direct flight to Rongcheng.
• Lucas met Morten L. Grobe aboard the plane and learned that Grobe had reviewed Xu Yun’s paper and expected to attend the press conference.
• Grobe told Lucas that Xu Yun was a highly capable young scientist and expressed enthusiasm about meeting him in Rongcheng.
• Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang waited with a large delegation at Shuangliu International Airport to welcome the arriving physicists.

Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang watched the arrival of the first distinguished guests at the Chinese Academy of Sciences gathering in Rongcheng. Alexander Polyakov arrived to a warm welcome, followed by David Gross and Gerard 't Hooft, as the reception continued.

• Lu Chaoyang told Xu Yun that the gathering had drawn major figures and that Rongcheng had won the right to host it after intense competition.
• Alexander Polyakov arrived first, and the reception party and other scientists welcomed him enthusiastically.
• Polyakov recognized Lu Chaoyang, embraced him, and learned that Xu Yun was Lu's junior fellow student and a doctoral student at the University of Science and Technology of China.
• Lu Chaoyang privately anticipated Polyakov's reaction when he learned Xu Yun was the source of the trouble.
• David Gross and Gerard 't Hooft arrived with two other senior physicists, and Xu Yun recognized the two renowned scientists.

Xu Yun watched a steady stream of prominent scientists and academicians arrive in Rongcheng, then thanked Anton Zeilinger for helping Huadun Biotech enter the European cockroach-pesticide market. As Xu Yun was introduced to Zeilinger, another foreign scientist recognized him as the person behind fifth-generation Imidacloprid and made a startling claim.

• Xu Yun recognized Giorgio Parisi and learned that the wig-wearing John Ellis had brought a bronze axe that might be connected to the Wheat Easter Egg.
• A delegation of Chinese academicians led by Academician Ding arrived, followed by groups of international scientists, including Atsuto Suzuki, Hiroshi Amano, and African tribal chiefs.
• Anton Zeilinger arrived and embraced his former student Academician Pan, who introduced Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang as his outstanding students.
• Academician Pan told Xu Yun that Zeilinger had helped arrange Huadun Biotech's admission to the European cockroach-pesticide market, and Xu Yun thanked Zeilinger.
• An unfamiliar elderly scientist stopped Xu Yun, confirmed he was the person behind fifth-generation Imidacloprid, and laughingly claimed he had taken Xu Yun's first time.

Xu Yun welcomed several renowned scientists, including Morton L. Grob, before waiting through the night as Hou Xingyuan received Peter Higgs. The chapter ended with Yang Lao arriving in a wheelchair to spontaneous applause.

• Morton L. Grob clarified that he had reviewed Xu Yun's first paper, and Xu Yun greeted him warmly and met Lucas and Lars.
• Xu Yun and Academician Pan saw Anton Zeilinger and Morton L. Grob onto a bus, then Xu Yun messaged Tian Liangwei and returned to the welcoming delegation.
• Hou Xingyuan stayed at the airport late into the night, waiting for an especially important guest.
• Hou Xingyuan personally supported Peter Higgs as he arrived, and the exhausted Higgs was escorted away.
• A middle-aged man pushed Yang Lao into the terminal in a wheelchair, and the gathered scientists and reporters applauded and called his name.

Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang received Edward Witten at the airport after Yang Lao, while the chapter discussed the achievements and disputed rankings of both physicists. After several days of preparations, the symposium finally began.

• Yang Lao arrived at the airport, where Hou Xingyuan welcomed him before security personnel escorted him away.
• Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang waited for another physicist, and Xu Yun correctly guessed that Edward Witten was the next arrival.
• Edward Witten arrived alone and received an enthusiastic welcome from the physicists and reporters.
• Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang returned to The Murray Hotel after Witten left with the other guests.
• Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang spent the following days helping with receptions and proofreading reports before the symposium began.

Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang attended the Academy of Sciences conference in Rongcheng, where Xu Yun learned that bloggers involved in the public-opinion incident might soon go to trial. As he searched for the physicist Lisa Randall before the conference began, a young woman who resembled her caught him looking at her photos and confronted him.

• Academician Pan gave Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang passes and told them to look out for each other at the conference.
• On the shuttle bus, Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang met Chen Shanshan, who said the bloggers arrested after the press conference might soon go to trial.
• Xu Yun and Lu Chaoyang arrived at the convention center, entered the hall, and found their seats in the tenth row beside Lisa Randall’s nameplate.
• Xu Yun searched for Lisa Randall and browsed photos of her, including pictures from a topless photoshoot.
• A young woman resembling Lisa Randall appeared beside Xu Yun and asked whether he knew it was rude to look at a girl’s mother’s album in front of her.

Xu Yun met Lisa Kristine Randall, who had come to Rongcheng in place of her injured mother and discussed her team’s discovery of magnetic filaments in the Milky Way. As the press conference filled with scientists and viewers around the world, Academician Pan approached the podium to begin.

• Xu Yun met Lisa Kristine Randall, who introduced herself as Lisa Yotan Randall’s daughter and offered to sell him her mother’s photo collection.
• Christine told Xu Yun that her Harvard and Oxford research group had found new magnetic filaments at the Milky Way’s center and was investigating their possible connection to star formation.
• Xu Yun noticed the livestreams and busy group chats as the venue filled, while Lu Chaoyang lent him a tablet and keyboard.
• The audience applauded as Yang Lao, Witten, Higgs, Polyakov, Joseph Ikander, and Lugano Mayani entered and took their seats.
• Academician Pan picked up his document and walked toward the podium as the press conference was about to begin.

At an international press conference, Pan Jianwei announced that Huaxia researchers had discovered genuine Cold Dark Matter, explaining how Xu Yun and Zhao Zhengguo had identified the Isolated Point Particle. The hand calculations appeared to classify it as Cold Dark Matter, but Atsuto Suzuki challenged Pan to prove the figures were accurate.

• Pan Jianwei opened the press conference in Huaxia language and declared that Huaxia physicists had discovered and verified Cold Dark Matter.
• Pan described how Zhao Zhengguo discovered the 4685 Λ hyperon and how Xu Yun calculated its unusual probability orbit, which led Pan and Zhao to identify the Isolated Point Particle.
• Pan presented the particle’s properties, including its half-integer spin and 140 MeV interaction scale, prompting physicists to infer that it had the characteristics of dark matter.
• Pan displayed further data, and Edward Witten calculated an oxika value of 0.000193, which placed the particle within the Cold Dark Matter range.
• Atsuto Suzuki interrupted Pan and demanded proof that the figures were accurate.

At a press conference announcing the Isolated Point Particle, Atsuto Suzuki accused the Chinese Academy of Sciences of falsifying its data unless it could explain the Callan-Harvey anomaly inflow mechanism. Academician Pan answered by proposing an on-the-spot experiment that would let the gathered organizations verify the results themselves, leaving the audience stunned as preparations appeared onscreen.

• Atsuto Suzuki challenged Academician Pan to explain how the Academy had achieved the Callan-Harvey anomaly inflow mechanism and suggested its data was falsified if it could not answer.
• Evel Sex and representatives from several institutions backed Suzuki’s demand for an immediate explanation.
• Academician Pan asked whether the organizations’ laboratories were watching the livestream, then told them to prepare to power up.
• Pan revealed the first-stage materials and procedures for recreating the experiment at the venue, shocking the audience and livestream viewers.
• Xu Yun’s calculations and the 83.4% single-beam capture rate gave the Academy confidence that the visiting organizations could reproduce the results.

Academician Pan turned the press conference into a live, worldwide comparison by requiring participating laboratories to stream their verification work and report progress in real time. After 49 institutions agreed to take part and 42 prepared their equipment, the remaining laboratories also reported readiness, and the experiment was about to begin.

• Atsuto Suzuki agreed to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' proposal to run a dark matter verification experiment, and Academician Pan asked participating laboratories to connect their control-room feeds and display their progress live.
• Carlo Rubbia recognized that the Academy's plan would put the world's research institutions under public scrutiny and pressure them to work hard to protect their reputations.
• At Germany's Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Adolf Nantele redirected his team from its planned experiment to prepare equipment for the verification, while Oslyn asked whether the Huaxia scientists had discovered dark matter.
• Gao Hongwen reported that 49 of the 62 institutions had agreed to participate and that 42 were ready; the organizers gave the remaining laboratories fifteen more minutes.
• After the extra fifteen minutes passed, Gao Hongwen told Academician Pan that all the institutions were ready.

Academician Pan began the public verification of Dr. Xu Yun’s Isolated Point Particle by making 49 institutions run the experiments under timed, elimination-based rules. The first stage ended with one Malaysian laboratory cut off, and the remaining institutions began the harder ground-state test as the livestream audience grew.

• Academician Pan connected live feeds from 49 institutions, explained the timed elimination rules, and ordered them to begin the first experiment.
• Takaaki Kajita’s team at Kamioka Observatory detected an energy level of 134 MeV, ranked fourth, and confirmed that CERN ranked seventh.
• Chen Shanshan and Zhang Han explained the first verification stage on the livestream as institutions including Kamioka Observatory, CERN, and Fermilab reported success.
• Academician Pan removed the lone Malaysian laboratory that had not produced results before the deadline and announced the more difficult ground-state verification.
• Academician Pan presented the second-stage specifications and gave the institutions an hour and a half to complete the test.
• Zhan Kerén learned that domestic livestream viewership had risen to 24 million and then asked Little Wang about cybersecurity.

Wang Qingchen, Xiao Rong, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ cybersecurity team defended the livestream against a coordinated assault by veteran hackers from across the sea. After Setu’s massive DDoS attack was contained, Abbott considered escalating the covert campaign to cut the livestream and halt Huaxia’s growing momentum.

• Wang Qingchen told Zhan Kerén that he would protect the livestream, then defended its servers against SYN Flood and link-layer attacks.
• Wang Qingchen and Xiao Rong recognized the attackers’ methods as belonging to old adversaries from the 2001 China–US hacker war, including Kevin Poulsen.
• Setu launched a DDoS attack peaking at 0.11 Tbps, and Xiao Rong filtered and rerouted the traffic, reducing the livestream’s video quality.
• At the Pentagon, Setu identified Xiao Rong as his opponent and explained that the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ prepared defenses prevented the attackers from reaching the core nodes.
• Abbott concluded that the remaining chance to reverse Huaxia’s growing influence was to cut the livestream through a covert operation.

Abbott activated a long-planted hardware vulnerability to undermine the livestream defenses, leaving Wang Qingchen’s team struggling to protect the conference. Xiao Rong rallied Huaxia’s veteran hackers, and the chapter ended as the first-generation hackers began gathering to help.

• Abbott ordered his team to activate the Titan vulnerability, and a hidden flaw in the conference center’s livestream equipment was triggered.
• Da Huang discovered that the zero-day vulnerability was embedded in hardware, and Wang Qingchen told Xiao Zheng to patch it while he investigated the equipment.
• Wang Qingchen explained to Zhan Kerén that the breach had exposed their defenses, and Zhan left to arrange replacement equipment.
• As attacks eroded the team’s defenses, Xiao Rong reminded Wang Qingchen that people—not faith—had carried them through the hacker war twenty-two years earlier.
• Xiao Rong said he had contacted Dean Hou, and veteran hackers began appearing online as a familiar voice called Wang Qingchen to offer help.

Huaxia’s legendary hackers regrouped to defend the country in a renewed cyberwar, while Ice River attacked The Pentagon and the main team fought to protect a high-profile press conference. The battle remained unresolved as Wang Qingchen’s defenses held under pressure, and a man leaving the State Administration of Cultural Heritage was unexpectedly struck by something warm.

• lion gathered the veteran hackers in their old chat room, distributed a defense plugin, and said it was time to settle the score from the battle twenty-two years earlier.
• Ice River and Juanzi received separate assignments, and Ice River used 1,400 computers to attack The Pentagon with support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Hayward and Godzilla identified Ice River, repelled his attacks, and taunted him, but Ice River regrouped and kept attacking to divert pressure from the main battlefield.
• Gao Hongwen told Hou Xingyuan that technicians were replacing a faulty converter node, while Wang Qingchen said the defense remained at a stalemate and the fix would not quickly undo the widespread breach.
• Hou Xingyuan worried that losing the cyber battle could weaken the press conference’s impact, as academicians and others watched the outcome.
• A middle-aged man from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage posted that a project had been approved, then felt something soft and warm hit his face and wondered if it was raining.

A gentle rain spread across Huaxia as Wang Qingchen and the other defenders fought off a major cyberattack, and the rain seemed to restore their focus. Caleb’s attack was repelled, leaving most of his team unable to continue.

• A warm rain fell across Huaxia, and Hou Xingyuan had Gao Hongwen open the windows in Rongcheng.
• Wang Qingchen and the defenders replaced a faulty signal converter while fighting attacks from Messiah and other hackers.
• Wang Qingchen helped Xiang Haihua stop Messiah from stealing core files from Tianhang, then ordered a switch to the backup system.
• Rain reached the network security center, and Wang Qingchen, Xiao Rong, Chen Sheng, and the other Huaxia defenders regained their focus and pushed back the attack.
• Caleb tried to exploit a change in defenses at the USTC upstream node, but the rain slowed him and Wang Qingchen drove him out.
• Caleb saw that a Level One zombie computer had been destroyed and realized that only about a third of his colleagues could still attack.

Wang Qingchen proposed exploiting Messiah’s packet traffic to infiltrate The Pentagon, and Hou Xingyuan approved the risky counterattack. The Zhong Kui task force sent a disguised packet through Messiah, and Ice River reported that the operation worked, while Takaaki Kajita saw success in an experiment at Kamioka Observatory.

• Wang Qingchen identified B626 as a recurring packet string and proposed tampering with packets to steal data from The Pentagon.
• Xiao Rong judged the plan feasible and said Ice River could receive the packets through his existing setup.
• Hou Xingyuan approved the counterattack, provided the team kept the livestream uninterrupted.
• The Red Alliance formed the Zhong Kui task force with seven experts alongside Wang Qingchen, Xiao Rong, and Ice River.
• Xiao Rong and the team disguised a packet, then let Messiah send it back to The Pentagon through proxy servers.
• Ice River reported that the operation worked, and Takaaki Kajita said the results at Kamioka Observatory had worked.

Takaaki Kajita shifted Kamioka Observatory’s strategy after Huaxia repelled an interference attempt, while Academician Pan learned the broadcast’s defenses had stabilized and more institutions completed their retests. Xu Yun realized the National Fortune reward’s second activation was likely triggered by the Cybersecurity Center, as the press conference’s verification results continued to arrive.

• Iimura Reo told Takaaki Kajita that the disruption plan from across the sea had failed and that its operators seemed to have lost their fighting spirit.
• Kajita ordered Kamioka staff to follow Huaxia’s experimental procedures, protect the laboratory’s reputation, and prepare congratulatory messaging for the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Gao Hongwen told Academician Pan that the Cybersecurity Center had secured a major vulnerability and intercepted data from across the sea, though the threat had not passed.
• More institutions reported successful second-round retests as the live broadcast remained stable.
• Xu Yun saw the National Fortune reward’s secondary effect activate and deduced that the Cybersecurity Center had likely triggered it by overcoming the attack as a group.
• Most platform indicator lights turned on, showing that institutions were completing their second verification rounds.