Chapter Summaries

After a long return trip from Mars, Taiwei, Jason, and Jones endured confinement aboard the Rosy Glow before it reached the Moon Palace spacecraft. The Rosy Glow docked in orbit, where its crew received a warm welcome home.

• Taiwei complained to Jason about the cramped cabin and asked Liu Biao for a game console, while Liu Biao explained that the crew were confined because they might carry Martian microorganisms.
• Taiwei worried that they could be treated as lab rats, and Jones reflected that the Ares Program’s outcome might have stemmed from the reckless decision to travel to Mars.
• Around the fiftieth day of the return journey, the Rosy Glow reached the Moon Palace spacecraft and requested navigational support.
• Jason stared in awe at the enormous Moon Palace spacecraft as the Rosy Glow approached it.
• Captain Xu Zhenghong reported that the Rosy Glow had entered orbit and requested docking, and the Moon Palace crew welcomed them home.

The Rosy Glow docked effortlessly with the Moon Palace station, leaving Jason astonished by Hua Nation’s technology. Tests on the Mars colonists’ samples revealed unusual bacterial spores, and Xu Zhenghong told them their return home would be delayed.

• The Rosy Glow extended landing gear and docked with the Moon Palace station, shocking Jason with how easily it connected.
• Liu Biao escorted Jason, Taiwei, and Jones to the airlock for medical examinations and sample collection.
• Professor Leslie and Zhao Shuxuan examined the colonists’ samples and discovered unusual anaerobic bacterial spores.
• Zhao Shuxuan warned that the discovery might cause a problem, though Leslie found it exciting.
• Xu Zhenghong arrived and told the colonists their trip home would have to be delayed.

After the three New Virginia colonists returned from Mars, suspected Martian bacteria were found in their waste, triggering public alarm and fierce criticism of NASA. Hua Nation decided to keep them in lunar quarantine while building an internationally accessible research facility.

• Director Carson learned that suspected Martian bacteria had been detected in the three colonists' metabolic waste.
• News of the bacteria spread worldwide, and Jamie and other North American media turned against NASA and the Ares Program.
• Scientists hailed the bacteria as a major research discovery while warning that they could endanger Earth's ecosystem.
• Hua Nation's Lunar Orbital Construction Committee said the colonists would not return to Earth until the bacteria's risks were understood or the bacteria could be eliminated.
• Hua Nation announced plans for a Lunar Surface Research Facility to house the colonists and study them, with international participation available at a cost.

After receiving an emergency mission about the Martian bacteria found on the Ares Program colonists, Lu Zhou chose to study the organism and seek a way for it to coexist with Earth’s ecosystem. He secured authority to lead the response and prepared to travel to the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center.

• Lu Zhou discovered the System’s 90-day emergency mission and found that it had locked his other missions.
• Lu Zhou rejected killing the colonists and other high-risk options, choosing to study the bacteria and find a way to coexist with it.
• Lu Zhou warned the Lunar Orbit Committee chairman that the bacteria’s effects and risks to Earth’s ecosystem were unknown.
• Lu Zhou requested postponing the colonists’ handover to the United States and establishing an international research organization.
• The chairman granted Lu Zhou the highest decision-making authority, and Lu Zhou called Wang Peng to take him to the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center.

The United Nations adopted the Hua Nation’s plan to keep the three Ares colonists aboard the Moon Palace spacecraft while a lunar research facility was built to study the Martian bacteria. During a routine examination, Zhao Shuxuan noticed that Taiwei’s persistent sleepiness supported his suspicion that the Martian lifeforms were affecting the colonists.

• At an emergency United Nations meeting, countries debated how to contain the Martian bacteria and protect the three Ares colonists.
• The Hua Nation representative defended the lunar research facility plan, and the United Nations ultimately adopted it while discussing funding and international research participation.
• Owens told Feilian that contributing 1.2 billion euros was worthwhile for the opportunity to develop the Moon and study Martian life.
• Aboard the Moon Palace spacecraft, Zhao Shuxuan examined the colonists, while Taiwei complained about their isolation and said he felt sleepy much of the time.
• Zhao Shuxuan noted Taiwei’s persistent sleepiness and concluded that the Martian lifeforms were not simple.

Lu Zhou visited Professor Liu Zuobing to learn about the X-0172 bacteria and their effects on the Ares Program colonists. Their findings suggested the bacteria induced beneficial active dormancy, and Lu Zhou learned that the drowsy colonist might have antibodies against them.

• Lu Zhou noted that eighty-seven days remained and went to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study after hearing a report about X-0172.
• Professor Liu Zuobing showed Lu Zhou the samples and explained that the bacteria's secretions during spore formation likely caused the colonists' drowsiness.
• Professor Liu Zuobing said the bacteria might induce active dormancy to help their hosts survive harsh conditions, making their relationship closer to mutualistic symbiosis than parasitism.
• Professor Liu Zuobing outlined two possible triggers for the bacteria's spore formation: the host's immune response or hostile physical conditions.
• Lu Zhou inferred that the symptomatic colonist might have antibodies against X-0172, and Professor Liu Zuobing cautiously agreed.

The Hua Nation successfully tested its Pioneer automated lunar mining device, alarming Jason and Jones, who mistook the dust cloud for a possible weapons test. Zhao Shuxuan then told Jason that research on the Martian Bacteria had made some progress and asked him to cooperate with experiments.

• Pioneer landed on the Moon, deployed its stabilizers, and successfully drilled and crushed titanium-bearing lunar rock before being shut down.
• Jason and Jones watched the dust cloud from Moon Palace and wondered whether the Hua Nation was testing weapons or building on the lunar surface.
• Jones asked when they could go home and worried that she and Jason might have been infected after hearing Taiwei had contracted the Martian Virus.
• Jason recalled learning from NASA that resilient Martian Bacteria lived in their bodies and that they might eventually be transferred to lunar research facilities.
• Zhao Shuxuan entered the habitation module with two astronauts, told Jason that research had made a little progress, and asked him to cooperate in experiments.

Jason took an experimental treatment made from an extract of the third colonist’s metabolites, and researchers confirmed that it contained antibodies against X-0172. The antibodies could kill some bacteria but not their resilient spores, and Lu Zhou took a sample to study.

• Jason swallowed three capsules made from a metabolite extract and soon fell asleep as the researchers confirmed their hypothesis.
• Researchers aboard the Moon Palace spacecraft reported that both colonists’ metabolites contained traces of spores.
• Professor Liu Zuobing told Lu Zhou that the antibodies could eliminate some X-0172 bacteria but not the spores, which could later germinate.
• Lu Zhou asked Professor Liu for a sample of the antibody-containing extract and took it to study.

Lu Zhou used the system to obtain a method for stopping X-0172 bacteria from forming spores, then wrote a paper describing it. He uploaded the paper to arXiv under the single-letter alias “Z.”

• Lu Zhou asked the system for a way to eliminate X-0172 bacteria and learned that a complete solution would cost 10,000 points.
• Lu Zhou narrowed his question to preventing the bacteria from producing spores and exchanged 2,500 points for the solution.
• Lu Zhou learned that a special pheromone could keep the bacteria from forming spores and make them vulnerable to antibodies.
• Lu Zhou drafted a paper on preparing the pheromone, citing research by Professor Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan.
• Lu Zhou removed his name from the paper, signed it “Z,” and uploaded it to arXiv.

The international experts aboard the Moon Palace spacecraft debated how to stop the X-0172 bacteria spores threatening the Ares Program colonists, but Professor Zhao Shuxuan refused to send samples to Earth. Professor Stephen then read an arXiv paper claiming to inhibit spore formation and was stunned to recognize the author’s name.

• Professor Ian Crawford and Professor Stephen discussed lunar mining and the Ares Program before Professor Zhao Shuxuan called the experts back to work.
• Zhao Shuxuan reported that colonists one and two were recovering, while the experts agreed that the X-0172 spores remained the central problem.
• Professor Stephen proposed sending bacterial samples to Earth for research, but Zhao Shuxuan rejected the idea as too risky.
• After dinner, Professor Stephen’s assistant told him about an arXiv paper claiming to inhibit X-0172 spore formation.
• Professor Stephen read the paper, became increasingly shocked, and froze when he saw the author’s name.

Researchers in Tiangong’s laboratory module debated Dr. Z’s anonymous paper and agreed to test its proposed Amino-Acid-Like Derivative against X-0172. After the compound was given to three patients, initial results showed it worked, leaving the researchers celebrating their success.

• Professor Stephen asked the six other researchers whether one of them was Dr. Z, but Ian, Zhao Shuxuan, and the others denied writing the paper.
• Ian proposed testing Dr. Z’s method to stop X-0172 from producing spores, and the researchers voted to proceed.
• Professor Stephen wondered how Dr. Z had derived the compound’s molecular formula without extensive experimentation.
• Zhao Shuxuan reported that the synthesized Amino-Acid-Like Derivative had been injected into three patients and was under observation.
• Professor Leslie announced that Colonists One and Two had rising metabolic levels, reduced spore content, and no allergic reactions, confirming that the compound worked.

After waking from a 27-day coma, Jason learned that the Martian Bacteria had been cleared from his body and that he could soon return home. Taiwei remained dormant, and Jason reflected on the failed Mars mission as he described the experience as awful.

• Jason woke after about twenty-seven days and found that his muscles had not weakened during the coma.
• Zhao Shuxuan told Jason that the Martian Bacteria had been cleared from his body, while Taiwei remained dormant because his immune response prevented the spores from awakening.
• Professor Stephen visited Jason and said the crew could return to the International Space Station aboard the returning Queqiao spacecraft, then go home on a dedicated spacecraft.
• Professor Stephen asked Jason about Mars, and Jason said the experience had been absolutely awful.

After X-0172 was eliminated from two colonists, the world celebrated the breakthrough and speculated about the anonymous Dr. Z. Lu Zhou secretly continued research on the bacteria and redirected the team toward cryogenic hibernation, leaving Taiwei’s recovery to international experts.

• News outlets worldwide reported that Jason and Jones had recovered after experts eliminated X-0172, while Taiwei remained comatose.
• UN Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson praised the international response and expressed confidence that Taiwei would recover.
• Professor Stephen credited Dr. Z’s research with helping experts stop X-0172 from forming spores, prompting public speculation about the author’s identity.
• Professor Liu Zuobing showed Lu Zhou research on X-0172’s hibernation pheromone and proposed using the bacteria to develop a protein that preserved cells during hibernation.
• Lu Zhou approved Professor Liu’s plan with safety precautions, then denied knowing Dr. Z and told him to respect the researcher’s anonymity.
• Lu Zhou disbanded the X-0172 project team, transferred its research materials to the Cryogenic Hibernation Project Team, and left Taiwei’s care to international experts.

After the X-0172 crisis was resolved, Lu Zhou received a Civilization Savior Medal and 300,000 Physics experience, then learned that the bacteria’s genome might have been artificially arranged. The chapter ended with Lu Zhou and Professor Liu Zuobing considering that X-0172 may not have evolved naturally.

• Lu Zhou received an A+ Emergency Mission reward that included a Civilization Savior Medal and a random experience package.
• Lu Zhou examined the medal’s description and learned it could grant someone from a lower civilization citizenship in a higher civilization under certain conditions.
• Lu Zhou opened the experience package and received 300,000 Physics experience, then confirmed that the locked mission chain was active again.
• Professor Liu Zuobing reported that his team had successfully produced the proteins and derivatives needed for their project.
• Professor Liu Zuobing told Lu Zhou that X-0172’s genome looked as if it had been artificially arranged, prompting Lu Zhou to consider that possibility.

Lu Zhou recorded Professor Liu’s speculation that the Martian bacterium might have been engineered, while waiting for the Crawler rover to find clues. In October, he was elected to both national academies, and Han Mengqi wondered whether to pursue academia or help her mother after graduation.

• Lu Zhou wrote Professor Liu’s hypothesis about X-0172 in his notes and hoped the Crawler rover would find evidence of an ancient Martian civilization.
• The 2021 election results named Lu Zhou an academician of both the Hua Academy of Sciences and the Hua Nation Academy of Engineering.
• Jinling University posted a congratulatory notice, and its faculty and students celebrated Lu Zhou’s double election.
• Han Mengqi told her roommates that Lu Zhou was easygoing, then reflected that she had finished her thesis and still had not decided what to do after graduation.

After being elected to both academies, Lu Zhou returned to Jinling University and agreed to advise a pilot program for undergraduate academic education. He rejected a name centered on prizes and proposed the Youth's Light Class, leaving Principal Xu ready to adopt it.

• Lu Zhou returned to his office, found gifts from Professor Zhang and Professor Tang, and asked Lin Yuxiang to record them and return anything worth more than five hundred yuan.
• Lu Zhou began reviewing his students' master's theses before Principal Xu arrived to congratulate him on his election to both academies.
• Principal Xu asked Lu Zhou to serve as chief adviser for pilot classes designed to cultivate undergraduate academic talent, and Lu Zhou agreed.
• Principal Xu suggested naming the program the Nobel's Light Class, but Lu Zhou argued that students should be motivated by more than prestigious awards.
• Lu Zhou proposed the name Youth's Light, and Principal Xu agreed to call the program the Youth's Light Class.

Lu Zhou oversaw progress on lunar mining and other space projects while preparing to step down from the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee after one final major task. He told Director Li that he planned to build a lunar Mass Driver as the last link in the Earth-Moon transportation system.

• Lu Zhou contributed suggestions to the Youth's Light Class talent development program as he joined its teaching and research group.
• The Automated Vacuum Arc Smelting Unit landed on the Moon, docked with the Automated Mining Unit, and began producing titanium alloy materials.
• Construction of the Lunar Surface Research Facility was scheduled as funding arrived, while the second phase of the Moon Palace spacecraft project neared completion.
• Lu Zhou submitted a restructuring proposal for the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee to Director Li and said he would not step down until he completed one major task.
• Lu Zhou reminded Director Li of the Mass Driver and proposed building one on the lunar surface to complete the Earth-Moon transportation system.

After Jason returned to the United States, Lu Zhou finished a paper assessing the feasibility of a lunar-surface mass driver. He gave the paper to Wang Peng and asked him to deliver it to someone on Chang'an Street.

• Jason thanked Lu Zhou for rescuing him from Mars, then boarded his flight back to the United States.
• The American ambassador thanked Lu Zhou for his work, and Lu Zhou spoke of their shared identity as Earthlings.
• Lu Zhou returned to his hotel and completed and printed his paper on the lunar-surface mass driver.
• Wang Peng brought Lu Zhou roast duck, and Lu Zhou gave him the paper to deliver west of the Forbidden City on Chang'an Street.

After returning to Earth, Jason reunited with his family in Los Angeles before describing the Rosy Glow and Moon Palace spacecraft to the vice president and Director Carson. His account left them stunned, and he ended by questioning whether anyone could stop Hua Nation from advancing its space technology.

• Jason landed at Los Angeles International Airport and reunited with his wife, Julian, and their children.
• The vice president and Director Carson took Jason to a hotel instead of letting him leave with his family, so they could discuss his journey.
• Jason described the Rosy Glow’s comforts and the immense Moon Palace spacecraft to the vice president and Director Carson.
• The vice president reacted with disbelief as Jason pointed out the National Ignition Facility and suggested Hua Nation might move fusion reactors to the Moon before America finished building its artificial sun.
• Jason asked who could stop Hua Nation if it pursued that plan, and the vice president had no convincing answer.

Academicians Wang Rongjun and Li Qingquan attended a confidential meeting expecting discussion of the Super High-Speed Rail, but Director Li unveiled plans for a Lunar-Surface Mass Driver. The proposal was approved for construction alongside lunar research facilities, leaving the academicians struck by the project's scale and the influence behind its approval.

• Wang Rongjun and Li Qingquan met at a confidential Science and Industry Bureau meeting and speculated that it might concern the Super High-Speed Rail.
• Director Li began the meeting and showed the attendees a plan for a Lunar-Surface Mass Driver, surprising them.
• Director Li explained that the project would use a lunar crater for a circular electromagnetic acceleration track to launch propellant into lunar orbit.
• Director Li announced that construction would begin alongside the lunar research facilities, with a first-phase budget of 200 billion yuan and more than seventy participating organizations.
• Wang Rongjun warned that the Lunar Cannon would require enormous power, while Li Qingquan compared its swift approval with the years of discussion around the Super High-Speed Rail.