Chapter Summaries

Lu Ao and Song Zhou helped Lin Man Zhang haul up glass jars and catch octopuses, sharing a peaceful day on the sea. After sorting their catch, they prepared to reset the jars before moving to the next spot.

• Song Zhou pulled up strings of glass jars while Lu Ao checked them and found octopuses inside.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou used bamboo strips to scoop octopuses from the jars, setting aside one that was stuck and letting the others fill the livewell.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou chatted about becoming fisherman husbands as they worked through a row of five hundred jars.
• Lu Ao decided to release the octopuses that were too small, while Lin Man Zhang reported catching about five or six jin.
• Lin Man Zhang told Lu Ao and Song Zhou to watch as he put the jars back into the sea before they moved to the next spot.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou finished laying and retrieving glass bottles, while Lin Qiyan organized the sale and shipment of Lu Ao’s squid meat. On September 21, Lu Ao went with Song Zhou to buy Ghost Festival offerings, and Weng Qian called to ask for more squid meat.

• Song Zhou tossed glass bottles into the sea as Lu Ao steered the boat, and they marked the drop site with a buoy.
• Lu Ao and Lin Manzhang retrieved glass bottles, and Lin Manzhang offered Lu Ao some of his octopus catch.
• Lin Qiyan arranged the squid meat orders, packaging, ice, and shipping, and the parcels were sent out by the following evening.
• Weng Qian received and tasted his squid meat, then praised its quality and asked Lu Ao to sell him more.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou bought a duck and other offerings for the Ghost Festival while people at the crowded market kept their distance and stared.
• Weng Qian called Lu Ao and offered up to eight hundred yuan for any squid meat he still had.

On the Ghost Festival, Lu Ao honored his deceased family and mourned that their souls had already reincarnated. Song Zhou comforted him through the day, but Lu Ao still lay awake that night with a restless mind.

• Lu Ao ended his call with Weng Qian and told Song Zhou that he missed his family on the Ghost Festival.
• While folding gold ingots, Lu Ao learned from Song Zhou that his parents' souls had dispersed and reincarnated, and Song Zhou promised to stay with him.
• Lu Ao wrote his ancestors' names on envelopes, added duck blood, and burned the offerings with Song Zhou at dusk.
• Lu Ao saw lingering souls gathering near the neighbors' fires, then returned home with Song Zhou after burning his family's offerings.
• Song Zhou comforted Lu Ao through the evening, but Lu Ao remained awake and told him that thoughts kept circling in his mind.

Song Zhou took Lu Ao through the oppressive dreams of criminals who had once harmed him, and Lu Ao decided to let the nightmares continue a few more days. In a prison in Western Liang Prefecture, Ruffled Hair woke in terror after more than a month of dreams in which he was hunted and killed.

• Song Zhou led Lu Ao into a prisoner’s dream, where they watched Ruffled Hair being chased, beaten, and mutilated.
• Lu Ao recognized Ruffled Hair as the thug who had once chased him into a river and asked Song Zhou to take him away from the violent dream.
• Song Zhou showed Lu Ao several other criminals’ dreams, including one depicting an old man’s troubled life and death.
• Lu Ao said the criminals had already faced legal punishment, but agreed they could endure the dreams for a few more days.
• Ruffled Hair woke in a prison in Western Liang Prefecture at 3:41 a.m., terrified after more than a month of nightmares about being hunted and killed.

Lu Ao learned that Liao Hekang had been arrested, and he and Song Zhou decided to leave the punishment to the law. Lin Gongshang invited them to his wedding and asked Lu Ao to serve as a groomsman, and Lu Ao agreed.

• Officer Ye told Lu Ao that Liao Hekang had been arrested after someone reported him.
• Song Zhou checked with You Li, who said their people had not reported Liao Hekang, and Lu Ao chose to let the law handle the case.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou discussed dinner before Lin Gongshang arrived with an invitation to his wedding the day after tomorrow.
• Lin Gongshang asked Lu Ao to be a groomsman after his cousin was injured, and Lu Ao agreed to wear his own suit.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou prepared for an upcoming wedding by ordering custom suits in New Luzhou, and Lu Ao mentioned that he wanted Song Zhou to accompany him to a public commendation ceremony. After Song Zhou revealed he had several tens of billions in human-world wealth and far more beyond it, Lu Ao was left stunned.

• Lu Ao and Song Zhou discussed getting suits made for a wedding and for a possible commendation ceremony, which Lu Ao said he wanted Song Zhou to attend as family.
• Song Zhou took Lu Ao to a tailor in New Luzhou, where they each ordered three custom outfits and arranged to collect one early.
• Lu Ao balked at the price of the suits and wondered whether Song Zhou's salary card could cover the bill.
• Song Zhou told Lu Ao that he had several tens of billions in human-world wealth and enough total wealth to buy another plane like theirs, leaving Lu Ao dumbfounded.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou prepared to attend Lin Gongshang’s wedding, where they were both groomsmen, and Qi Yan photographed them together. The chapter left them welcomed by the villagers as the wedding party prepared to pick up the bride.

• Lu Ao and Song Zhou discussed Lu Ao’s wealth before time passed and Lin Gongshang’s wedding day arrived.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou got ready at home, and Song Zhou kissed Lu Ao after admiring him in his black suit.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou arrived at the wedding in contrasting suits, where Qi Yan took photos of them and suggested the pictures could be useful for their own wedding.
• Lin Gongshang’s sister-in-law welcomed Lu Ao and Song Zhou and offered them food before the guests left to pick up the bride.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou helped Lin Gongshang at his wedding, impressing the bride’s family and bringing the groom prestige. Little Du later told Lu Ao that the Outstanding Youth awards ceremony would be held on October 2, and Lu Ao arranged to attend with Song Zhou.

• Lu Ao and Song Zhou visited Lin Gongshang as he got ready for his wedding, and Lin Guixiao teased them about when they would marry.
• Lu Ao drove Lin Gongshang to pick up the bride and helped with the wedding alongside Song Zhou, while the bride’s family wondered about their background and suitability as matches.
• Little Du called Lu Ao to confirm that the Outstanding Youth award ceremony would take place on October 2 and asked him to give a speech as the recipients’ representative.
• Lu Ao declined to speak but registered Song Zhou as his guest for the ceremony and banquet.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou set out for Qianyong City, but their flirtation delayed them until Song Zhou teleported their car and passengers there. They arrived at the Qianyong City Maritime Shipping Public Security Bureau, where Little Du prepared them for the event and reporters.

• Lu Ao and Song Zhou got up early on October 2nd and planned to drive to Qianyong City.
• Lu Ao coaxed Song Zhou into wearing a suit, then the two became distracted by an intimate encounter and nearly ran late.
• Song Zhou teleported the car and its passengers to Qianyong City, where Little Du hurried them toward the bureau event.
• Little Du warned Lu Ao and Song Zhou that reporters might interview them and led them to seats in the front row.
• Police officers, military personnel, professors, business owners, and volunteers greeted Lu Ao and Song Zhou as other attendees wondered about them.

Lu Ao attended a commendation ceremony with Song Zhou, where he received an Outstanding Youth award and openly showed affection for his boyfriend. Afterward, they planned to join Xiang Xingchang and the volunteers for late-night food, while Lu Ao was exhausted and hungry.

• Xiang Xingchang invited Lu Ao and Song Zhou to a volunteer-team dinner, and Lu Ao agreed to meet the group for late-night food after the celebration banquet.
• Lu Ao attended the commendation ceremony with Song Zhou, and the cameras repeatedly focused on him.
• When Lu Ao’s name was called, he hugged Song Zhou before going onstage to receive his Outstanding Youth award, drawing loud applause and cheers.
• Lu Ao returned to his seat, and Song Zhou held his hand and praised how widely accepted and respected he was.
• The ceremony ended after five in the afternoon, leaving Lu Ao exhausted and hungry.

After the meeting, Lu Ao and Song Zhou heard Professor Huang Ningna’s proposal to join a project restoring China’s damaged coral reef ecosystems. Huang Ningna explained the scale of reef loss and said his team had young corals ready for transplantation.

• Lu Ao checked Huang Ningna’s credentials after the professor approached him about a research project.
• Song Zhou agreed to let Lu Ao hear Huang Ningna out for half an hour before they attended the celebration banquet.
• Huang Ningna showed Lu Ao the project documents and explained how coral reefs support marine life and fish populations.
• Huang Ningna described widespread coral bleaching and other threats, saying China had less than twenty percent of its coral reefs compared with thirty years earlier.
• Huang Ningna said his team planned to protect and restore coral ecosystems by transplanting young corals grown in a nursery.

Lu Ao investigated Professor Huang Ningna’s coral restoration project and considered sponsoring it after learning Huang was trustworthy but short on funding. He then joined the volunteers’ late-night gathering with Song Zhou, where they drank with the group and listened to divers talk.

• Huang Ningna asked Lu Ao to connect him with local diving teams and help transplant ten thousand coral fragments, and Lu Ao agreed to look into it.
• Lu Ao questioned Huang Ningna’s motives, but Song Zhou sensed no problem, and Little Du explained that Huang had spent years on coral conservation and had come using his own time and resources.
• Lu Ao considered sponsoring Huang Ningna’s project, and Song Zhou supported the idea based on Huang’s Merit Golden Radiance.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou went to the volunteers’ gathering, drank with the group, and listened as the divers discussed their field.

Lu Ao told local volunteers about Professor Huang Ningna’s coral-planting project, and the group enthusiastically offered to help despite the work’s physical risks. After a drunk volunteer called Huang Ningna, the professor set off to meet them and discuss the plan.

• Lu Ao told the group that Huang Ningna, a credible marine-conservation professor, wanted to plant coral and collect samples.
• The volunteers discussed how deep-water coral planting was exhausting and could make divers sick, but Xiang Xingchang and others supported helping Huang Ningna.
• A tipsy volunteer called Huang Ningna and announced that the group would help, while Xiang Xingchang took the phone and arranged to discuss details later.
• Huang Ningna said he had already left his hotel and was coming to meet them, and Xiang Xingchang told Lu Ao to handle the discussion without feeling pressured.

Lu Ao and Xiang Xingchang agreed to help Professor Huang Ningna with his experimental reef-building Coral propagation project. After returning home with Song Zhou, Lu Ao reflected on his responsibility to protect the ocean as the plane’s last Dragon.

• Xiang Xingchang welcomed Professor Huang Ningna, who explained his work cultivating heat-tolerant zooxanthellae and propagating reef-building Coral.
• Huang Ningna described his limited funding and contrasted his work with a state-funded South China Sea project involving thirteen universities and 250 million in funding.
• After hearing the project details, Xiang Xingchang decided that the group would help Huang Ningna plant Coral in the Qianming Waters.
• Xiang Xingchang arranged rides for the drunken volunteers and saw Huang Ningna off, while Song Zhou and Lu Ao teleported home.
• Song Zhou made hangover soup for Lu Ao, who said he felt responsible for protecting the ocean, and Song Zhou affirmed that it was his territory as the last Dragon in the plane.

Song Zhou explained that Lu Ao shared a symbiotic relationship with the ocean, and Lu Ao decided to protect it as much as he could. The next day, Lu Ao discussed Coral planting with Lin Qiyan and agreed to ask whether he could join the underwater filming.

• Song Zhou told Lu Ao that their well-being was linked to the ocean and encouraged him to do what he could to protect it.
• Lu Ao refused to let Song Zhou inspect his injury, then fell asleep after Song Zhou reassured him.
• Lu Ao woke late, ate the breakfast Song Zhou had left, and remembered their planned lunch with Xiang Xingchang.
• Lin Qiyan asked Lu Ao about Coral planting and whether he could participate; Lu Ao said he would ask about an underwater filming role.
• Song Zhou returned at eleven thirty and took Lu Ao to meet Xiang Xingchang for lunch.

Xiang Xingchang, Huang Ningna, and Lu Ao finalized plans for a coral restoration project, and Lin Qiyan joined as its volunteer photographer. The team reached the offshore reef with 12,361 coral fragments, ready to begin planting.

• Xiang Xingchang and Huang Ningna agreed to start coral planting in three days, with Lu Ao providing his boat and offering Lin Qiyan the photographer role.
• Lin Qiyan agreed to document the project for three months and traveled to Qianyong City to join Huang Ningna's team.
• Lu Ao brought his twenty-seven-meter fishing boat to Qianyong City, and Huang Ningna arranged to load the coral seedlings and planting equipment.
• Huang Ningna's team and the volunteers loaded all 12,361 coral fragments onto the boat late at night.
• Lu Ao sailed the team to the offshore reef, where Xiang Xingchang praised the planting location as the volunteers began bringing the corals onto the deck.

Lu Ao and the others surveyed a coral reef that had died after seawater temperatures rose, then compared it with footage of the reef when it was alive. Huang Ningna revealed that the coral had once become unusually vivid before it bleached and died, leaving the cause of that change in question.

• Lu Ao learned from Huang Ningna that rising seawater temperatures had killed the reef’s coral, and he prepared to dive and assess the seabed.
• Lu Ao and the other divers found a vast field of dead coral skeletons covered in yellow-green algae, with almost no fish or shrimp remaining.
• Back aboard the boat, Lu Ao gave Huang Ningna his photographs, and Huang Ningna compared the dead reef with footage of its former colorful abundance.
• Lin Qiyan asked Huang Ningna to replay the old footage, and Lu Ao noticed that the coral had become especially vivid partway through it.
• Huang Ningna confirmed Lu Ao’s observation and rewound the video to show the unusually vivid coral.

Huang Ningna explained that corals had tried to protect themselves from heat by producing chemical sunscreens, but they still died. Lu Ao and the volunteers worked through exhaustion to plant the corals, finishing the task by evening and celebrating Lu Ao’s contribution.

• Huang Ningna told Lu Ao and the others that corals had evolved chemical sunscreens to resist sunlight and heat, but the effort had failed.
• Lu Ao, Xiang Xingchang, and the volunteers installed metal frames underwater and began planting the corals, with Lu Ao quickly taking on most of the frame installation.
• Huang Ningna urged the group to rest at lunch, but Lu Ao and Xiang Xingchang insisted on continuing so the temperature-sensitive corals could be planted sooner.
• Lin Qiyan filmed the work underwater as Lu Ao kept working despite repeated calls to rest.
• Lu Ao glued the final coral onto a metal frame after seven in the evening, and the volunteers surfaced and celebrated their completed work.
• Xiang Xingchang praised Lu Ao for completing more than half the workload, and a volunteer grabbed Lu Ao’s hand and lifted him onto his shoulders.

After Coral was planted, Lin Qiyan stayed with Huang Ningna’s team to monitor its growth while Lu Ao returned home. Lu Ao learned that the Coral was doing well, refused to sell his goose eggs despite a fan’s offer, and the fan joined his auction group to contact him directly.

• The volunteers returned to their jobs after planting Coral, while Lin Qiyan remained with Huang Ningna’s team to monitor it.
• Worried about the unusually warm October weather, Lu Ao asked Lin Qiyan how the Coral was doing and watched a video showing it growing well among small fish.
• Lin Qiyan asked whether Lu Ao would sell goose eggs after a fan praised their effects, but Lu Ao refused because he wanted to keep them for his family.
• The wealthy fan obtained the number for Lu Ao’s Billionaire Auction Group, joined it with Weng Qian’s approval, and sent Lu Ao a friend request.

Lu Ao fed his geese, collected their eggs, and gave the developing goslings a small infusion of vitality. He left the eggs with their anxious mothers and continued upstream to feed the rest of the flock.

• Lu Ao declined a stranger’s request to add him as a friend while carrying feed to his geese.
• Lu Ao fed the flock, collected seventeen unfertilized eggs, and considered hatching one more batch before dealing with the male geese.
• Lu Ao checked the eggs beneath a mother goose and found that most of the goslings were close to hatching.
• Lu Ao infused the eggs with a little vitality, and the goslings inside responded by moving.
• Lu Ao left the eggs for the mother geese and headed upstream with his bucket.