Chapter Summaries

After upgrading his Tracking Technique to the Mythical level, Lin Chen used his enhanced senses to investigate the kidnapping scene and vehicles but found no useful lead. He then went to inspect the hotel hosting the upcoming Annual Meeting, where he detected a familiar body odor.

• Lin Chen spent Enhancement Points to raise his Tracking Technique to the Mythical level, greatly improving his senses and ability to notice abnormalities.
• Lin Chen left home and asked Sirius to take him to the building where Zhang Yang's fingers had been cut off.
• Lin Chen detected faint body odor and perfume in the room but found no matching scent among the vehicles that had left during the incident.
• Lin Chen told Sirius he would attend the Annual Meeting and went with him to inspect the hotel venue.
• Lin Chen detected a familiar body odor inside the hotel.

Lin Chen tracked two kidnappers to a residential compound, discovered they had planted bombs, and arranged a rainy night to approach them without drawing attention. He paralyzed them with Spiritual Power needles and entered their apartment, where he began disarming their traps.

• Lin Chen used Little Bei’s surveillance search and his sense of smell to identify a blonde woman and locate the compound where she and her companion were hiding.
• Lin Chen learned the kidnappers had planted remotely detonated bombs around the compound and sent a child robot to inspect one before withdrawing.
• Lin Chen ordered Sirius to arrange artificial rainfall, then returned to the compound after dark and flew to the kidnappers’ apartment on the thirteenth floor.
• Lin Chen shot two needles through the window with Spiritual Power, paralyzing the kidnappers as they lay in bed.
• Lin Chen broke through the balcony grilles, entered the apartment, and stored the C4 explosives by the front door in the System Space.

Lin Chen captured and hypnotized two agents who had planted bombs in Xinyuan Residential Community, learning that the Moye Family had ordered the assassination attempt. After handing them and the bombs over to Sirius, he returned home and learned the family controlled about one trillion US dollars in assets, leaving him confident that he could deal with them.

• Lin Chen used Silver Needles and Hypnosis Skill to question Joseph and Anna, confirming that they had planted seven bombs in the residential community and had no other companions.
• Joseph revealed that the Moye Family, a powerful member of Skull and Bones, had backed them and that he and Anna had attempted to kill Lin Chen with poison gas before.
• Lin Chen hypnotized Joseph and Anna into forgetting their interrogation, knocked them unconscious, and called Sirius to arrange their capture and bomb disposal.
• Sirius and his team arrived, and Lin Chen told them where to find the seven bombs before returning home to his family.
• Lin Chen told Xu Mengyao that the Moye Family was behind the attack, and Little Bei estimated that the family controlled about one trillion US dollars in actual assets.
• Lin Chen told Xu Mengyao to keep his use of hypnosis secret and said he would deal with the Moye Family.

Lin Chen explained that Joseph’s strong Spiritual Power made him difficult to interrogate, while Xu Xiangyang assured him that National Security would continue trying. The next day, Lin Chen brought his family to the company’s Annual Meeting, where employees welcomed them at the hotel.

• Xu Xiangyang told Lin Chen that National Security had gained little information from Joseph and Anna, and Lin Chen advised wearing Joseph down over time.
• Lin Chen explained how Spiritual Power affected resistance to hypnosis and told Xu Xiangyang that his own Spiritual Power exceeded Joseph’s.
• Xu Xiangyang said the second batch of submarines would be ready in a month, bringing the total to sixty Dragon Tooth Type B Submarines.
• Lin Chen brought Xu Mengyao, Lin Xiaoqian, and Lin Dongyao to the Annual Meeting after National Security secured the hotel and its surroundings.
• Zhang Yang welcomed Lin Chen’s family at the hotel, where more than a thousand selected employees had gathered for the Annual Meeting.

At the annual meeting, Lin Xiaoqian overcame her nerves and performed piano for the first time in public, while Lin Dongyao grew more diligent afterward. Lin Chen then upgraded his Explosives Technology to the Mythical level and considered secretly making a new type of Mushroom Bomb for the country as a deterrent.

• Lin Xiaoqian performed a piano piece at the annual meeting after Lin Chen and Xu Mengyao encouraged her, and the audience applauded enthusiastically.
• Lin Xiaoqian's performance video spread online, where viewers were astonished by her Master Level piano skill.
• Half a month later, Lin Chen noted that the annual meeting had made Lin Xiaoqian more confident and Lin Dongyao more diligent.
• Lin Chen spent thirty-six Enhancement Points to raise his Explosives Technology from Legendary to Mythical level and learned how to make extremely powerful Mushroom Bombs.
• Lin Chen decided he could keep some bombs in reserve and considered giving the country a secret New Type Mushroom Bomb to strengthen Dongfeng Express's deterrent power.

Lin Chen raised Meditation to Mythical level, greatly increasing his Spiritual Power and improving Lin Dongyao’s meditation talent. He then demonstrated a city-destroying bomb to officials and secured an agreement for more Dragon Tooth Type B Submarines.

• Lin Chen used his remaining Enhancement Points to raise Meditation to Mythical level, expanding his Spiritual Power’s range and allowing him to store a pebble from five hundred meters away.
• Lin Dongyao woke crying as his meditation talent surged, and Lin Chen soothed him until he fell asleep again.
• Lin Chen showed Old Man Li, Old Jiang, and the others an All Beings Equal Bomb and explained that it could destroy a city without producing pollution.
• Lin Chen asked for ten Dragon Tooth Type B Submarines, citing Zhang Yang’s kidnapping and the need for stronger protection.
• Old Man Li and Old Jiang agreed to give Lin Chen ten submarines from the second batch and build thirty more in the third batch at Lin Chen’s expense.

Lin Chen gave China a more powerful, pollution-free Mushroom Bomb after intelligence revealed that East Sakura Country had acquired one. China test-detonated Lin Chen’s bomb, confirmed its enormous yield and lack of radiation, and announced the new weapon publicly.

• Old Jiang received intelligence that East Sakura Country had acquired a Mushroom Bomb, and Lin Chen and Little Bei assessed that Israel was a likely source.
• Lin Chen replaced the smaller bomb with a stronger device and urged Old Jiang to test it as a warning to anyone threatening China.
• East Sakura Country’s leaders celebrated their bomb, discussed using it to support their Gene Experiment and pressure Lin Chen, and ordered the acquisition kept secret.
• China test-detonated Lin Chen’s bomb, which measured 523,000 tons and produced no detectable radiation.
• Old Jiang ordered China’s announcement that it had developed a pollution-free New Type Mushroom Bomb, prompting online comments about its power and supposed use in construction.

East Sakura Country and the United States reacted with alarm to China’s powerful new pollution-free Mushroom Bombs, while Putin decided Bear Country should renew talks with China. Mekav’s delegation arrived in the Imperial Capital to discuss access to the sea and meet Lin Chen, who had not yet arrived at the welcoming banquet.

• East Sakura Country’s leaders ordered their sole Mushroom Bomb hidden and forbidden its use except in the face of national annihilation.
• The President of the United States and his advisers concluded that China’s new bombs had undermined American nuclear deterrence, but rejected expanding their costly arsenal.
• Putin acknowledged China’s growing military lead and sent Mekav to renew talks about access to the sea and Far East development, and to learn Lin Chen’s view of Bear Country.
• Mekav’s delegation arrived in the Imperial Capital, where Old Man Li welcomed them at the same hotel and banquet hall as their previous visit.
• Mekav asked why Lin Chen had not attended, and Old Man Li said Lin Chen was on his way.

Lin Chen met with Mekav and rejected discussion of cooperation after Bear Country delayed an agreement over access to the sea. He then announced plans to deploy One Hundred Thousand New Model Mechanical Leopards in Northeast for cold-weather testing, leaving Mekav concerned about the force’s threat to Bear Country.

• Lin Chen told Mekav he would not discuss bilateral cooperation and said that strength, rather than negotiating-table agreements, was reliable.
• Mekav explained that issues surrounding Access to the Sea had delayed the agreement, but Lin Chen dismissed its importance.
• Lin Chen told Old Man Li he wanted to deploy One Hundred Thousand Mechanical Leopards to Northeast for low-temperature testing, prompting Mekav and his delegation to object.
• Lin Chen said the Mechanical Leopards could withstand minus thirty degrees Celsius and that the latest models were about three times as powerful as the previous ones.
• Mekav calculated that the proposed force could equal three million elite soldiers, more than Bear Country's Two Million Four Hundred Thousand soldiers.

Lin Chen demanded that Bear Country sell him Haiwai City and the surrounding land, using the planned deployment of one hundred thousand Mechanical Leopards as leverage. Bear Country rejected the sale but offered to consider a long-term lease, leaving negotiations unresolved.

• Mekav objected to Lin Chen’s plan to send one hundred thousand Mechanical Leopards to the border, and Lin Chen said the tests could be conducted in a sealed area.
• Mekav and his advisers discussed Lin Chen’s influence, his possible possession of New Type Mushroom Bombs, and the need to avoid making him an enemy.
• Lin Chen told Mekav he wanted to buy Haiwai City and the land within two hundred kilometers for one hundred billion dollars, while keeping it as his private property.
• Voltaire refused to sell the port and surrounding land, so Lin Chen threatened to send the Mechanical Leopards to the Northeast and left the conference room.
• Mekav told Old Man Li that Bear Country might consider leasing the area for thirty to fifty years instead of selling it.

Lin Chen negotiated with Mekav and Voltaire to lease a vast area of Bear Country for fifty years or for the rest of his life, offering one billion US dollars annually. He left the deal pending while Bear Country sought approval from its higher-ups.

• Mekav rejected selling the land and proposed a fifty-year lease for one billion US dollars per year, which Lin Chen called too expensive and too short.
• Lin Chen offered to lease an area with a six-hundred-kilometer radius for one billion dollars annually, with the land returning to Bear Country after the lease and its infrastructure left behind.
• Lin Chen said residents could stay and that the region would become a neutral zone, while he retained land ownership and the right to levy taxes.
• Lin Chen agreed that Bear Country could reclaim the land without refunding the upfront rent if more than one thousand Mechanical Leopards invaded its territory.
• Mekav requested time to consult his government, and Lin Chen gave him two hours before treating the delay as a refusal.

Lin Chen finalized a thousand-year land lease with Bear Country, securing control over the territory and a provision that it would become his permanently if Bear Country collapsed before the lease ended. After the contract was signed and announced, he prepared to visit the land despite Xu Mengyao's concerns about enemies gathering there.

• Old Man Li told Lin Chen that Bear Country had agreed to the lease, and Lin Chen celebrated the news with Xu Mengyao.
• Lin Chen negotiated the lease details with Mekav, insisting that he would control crime and approve Russian-school textbooks.
• Lin Chen proposed that the land become his permanently if Bear Country broke apart before the lease expired, and Mekav and his team agreed while warning him against subversion.
• Lin Chen, Old Man Li, and Mekav signed the contract, and media in both countries reported the lease and its terms.
• Lin Chen told Xu Mengyao he needed to visit the newly leased territory to keep it stable, and he dismissed her fears about enemies with confidence in his strength and Mushroom Bombs.

Lin Chen reassured Lin Xiaoqian and Lin Dongyao before leaving for Haiwai City with a military convoy to inspect the land he had bought. As his aircraft departed, hidden spies reported his trip and saw it as an opportunity to assassinate him.

• Lin Xiaoqian and Lin Dongyao clung to Lin Chen and begged him not to go, so he flew them around the villa to show them he could protect himself.
• Lin Chen told Xu Mengyao that he had packed thousands of Mechanical Leopards, Simulation Robots, and drones for the trip, and Xu Mengyao urged him to stay cautious.
• Lin Chen left early the next morning with Sirius, General Cheng Haisheng, and others aboard military transport aircraft bound for Haiwai City, escorted by Fighter Jets.
• Hidden spies in the Imperial Capital learned that Lin Chen was traveling to Haiwai City and planned to use the journey as a chance to assassinate him.

Lin Chen’s transport aircraft survived an attack by anti-aircraft guns and Stinger missiles, then landed in Bear Country. After General Kutsostan identified the Black Bear Gang as the likely attackers, Lin Chen sent a thousand Mechanical Leopards to destroy them.

• Anti-aircraft guns and Stinger missiles attacked the transport aircraft, but their Force Field Shields stopped the weapons, and escorting Fighter Jets destroyed the gun trucks.
• Sirius told the passengers that Master Lin had developed the Force Field Shields, and the aircraft landed safely at the airport.
• Lin Chen confronted General Kutsostan about the attack and warned him to reveal what he knew.
• Kutsostan identified the Black Bear Gang as the likely attackers and said its headquarters was in Haiwai City.
• Lin Chen ordered a thousand Mechanical Leopards, secretly controlled by Little Bei, to wipe out the Black Bear Gang.

After the Black Bear Gang attacked Lin Chen’s Chinese military aircraft, Lin Chen ordered a counterattack across Haiwai City and requested military drones from Old Jiang. The attack revealed that the aircraft had invisible shields, while Valentin chose to resist as Mechanical Leopards surrounded the gang’s strongholds.

• Lin Chen told Kuzostan that the Black Bear Gang had attacked the aircraft and ordered Sirius to bring more Mechanical Leopards and robots.
• Lin Chen told Old Jiang that the Force Field Shield had stopped the attack and requested ten military Large Drones equipped with Hives.
• Mechanical Leopards sent people back inside the airport for a security inspection while the rest headed into Haiwai City.
• The United States President learned that invisible shields had protected the Chinese transport aircraft and ordered an investigation.
• Mechanical Leopards surrounded Black Bear Gang strongholds and demanded surrender, but Valentin ordered his members to attack.

Lin Chen’s third-generation Mechanical Leopards devastated the Black Bear Gang’s headquarters and began hunting its members throughout Haiwai City. Valentin and his trusted aides were killed, while the gang’s remaining members faced an expanding citywide sweep.

• The Mechanical Leopards breached Valentin’s heavily defended headquarters with tail bombs, then killed the gang members inside as they advanced through the building.
• Valentin and two trusted aides escaped a stalled elevator and tried to reach the underground passage, but the Mechanical Leopards shot them dead on the stairs.
• The Mechanical Leopards raided Black Bear Gang strongholds across Haiwai City, killing hundreds of members and spreading out to find the rest.
• A Mechanical Leopard identified a disguised Core Member at an intersection and shot him dead after confirming his identity in Russian.
• Mechanical Leopards continued tracking gang members who hid or tried to flee, and one warned a Core Member’s wife to make him surrender within an hour or face death and deportation.

Lin Chen publicly justified his campaign against the Black Bear Gang and promised prosperity for Yanhuang Territory. Turgenev, whose family secretly supported the gang, received Lin Chen’s invitation to a banquet and decided he had to attend.

• At Haiwai City Airport, Mechanical Leopards killed a Black Bear Gang spy who had taken a pregnant woman hostage, and the crowd applauded.
• Lin Chen addressed the airport crowd, condemned the Black Bear Gang, and promised jobs, schools, and development for Yanhuang Territory.
• Turgenev and his son discussed the danger Lin Chen posed to their family, which secretly supported the Black Bear Gang.
• An AI called Turgenev on Lin Chen’s behalf and invited him to a banquet in Haiwai City the following evening.
• Turgenev decided to attend, fearing that refusing Lin Chen’s invitation could lead to a purge.

After the attack on Lin Chen’s aircraft, he used the incident to justify raising the number of Mechanical Leopards in Yanhuang Territory to fifty thousand or more. The chapter ended with Mekav suspecting Lin Chen had arranged the attack and asking to attend Lin Chen’s banquet.

• More transport aircraft delivered four thousand Mechanical Leopards, and Lin Chen told Sirius to increase the force to fifty thousand because the aircraft attack counted as a special circumstance.
• Xu Mengyao video-called Lin Chen with Lin Xiaoqian and Lin Dongyao, and Lin Chen reassured them that he was safe.
• Overnight deliveries brought the Mechanical Leopard total in Yanhuang Territory to twenty thousand.
• Mekav confronted Lin Chen over exceeding the agreed limit of thirty thousand, but Lin Chen insisted on deploying fifty thousand and potentially more if the situation worsened.
• Mekav suspected Lin Chen had deliberately arranged the attack and asked to attend Lin Chen’s banquet, which Lin Chen agreed to.

Lin Chen gathered Yanhuang Territory’s influential figures and declared that Artificial Intelligence would control law enforcement and judicial rulings. After Little Bei exposed crimes among the guests, Lin Chen shot a chief justice and ordered implicated officials arrested, with three executed outside.

• Putin learned that Lin Chen could expand the Mechanical Leopards’ deployment and worried that Russia might not regain the Yanhuang Territory.
• China transported thirteen thousand more Mechanical Leopards to the Yanhuang Territory, bringing their total to thirty-three thousand.
• Turgenev and Solotu arrived at Lin Chen’s banquet, where influential figures from across the territory had gathered.
• Lin Chen ordered Little Bei to investigate invitees who had not attended, and it reported that they and their families had committed serious crimes.
• When chief justice Wagner objected to Artificial Intelligence judging cases, Little Bei exposed his crimes and Lin Chen shot him.
• Lin Chen ordered seven implicated guests arrested, and three were executed outside the banquet hall.

Lin Chen forced the powerful figures at the banquet to choose between surrendering most of their ill-gotten wealth and companies or facing death, with Little Bei judging their crimes and cooperation. By nine o’clock, Turgenev and another guest finally went upstairs to negotiate, while the rest still faced Lin Chen’s midnight deadline.

• Lin Chen announced that the Mechanical Leopards would increase to fifty thousand and demanded that the guests return most of their illicit wealth and hand over companies they controlled.
• Lin Chen warned that at least ten guests and other guilty family members would die by midnight, and allowed each guest to enter a monitored room up to three times to present their offer.
• Lin Chen left the banquet hall, telling Little Bei to carry out the elimination operation at midnight, while Mekav warned the guests against plotting to assassinate him.
• At nine o’clock, Little Bei warned that everyone could be killed if they performed poorly, and Turgenev went upstairs with another guest to make their case.