Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology begins building its first geothermal power station on a remote, cleared site near Xinjing County. Land acquisition proceeds smoothly, and the company hands the site over to its project team.
• CCTV and Provincial Satellite TV crews arrive to document construction, though the company controls what they may film and ask. Shen Bing declines to attend, saying he has experiments to conduct.
• The company unveils three enormous Golden Pangolins, advanced deep-boring machines built with room-temperature superconducting material and other undisclosed technology.
• During a demonstration, one machine quietly sinks underground at remarkable speed, leaving behind a wide, stable shaft. Inspectors find that the surrounding soil has hardened into a strong rock-like lining, potentially eliminating the need for conventional reinforcement.
• Observers recognize that the machines could transform geothermal construction and tunnel boring, threatening established excavation industries.
• News of the demonstration spreads internationally. The public revelation that the company has used room-temperature superconducting material in a working product intensifies speculation about its capabilities and draws renewed attention to the recent attempted kidnapping of Shen Bing.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains focused on his work and keeps a low public profile, while the company’s bold demonstration implicitly advertises his success and defiance.
• Du Yongfu, project manager, presents the project confidently but admits he does not understand the machine’s precise operating principle, relying on company information.
• Engineer Li speaks proudly about the Golden Pangolin’s precision engineering and superconducting rotor, reinforcing the company’s confidence in its technology.
• Reporters, technicians, and onlookers shift from curiosity to astonishment as the machine’s capabilities become clear.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: The Golden Pangolin could make conventional drilling, tunnel support, and related industries obsolete.
• Secrecy and power: The company tightly controls media access, while its unexplained “black technology” gives it a substantial advantage.
• Defiance and publicity: The public deployment of superconducting material is interpreted as a possible taunt toward those suspected of targeting Shen Bing.
• Innovation and envy: Online reactions split between admiration and criticism over using a revolutionary material for a “hole-digging machine,” prompting the retort that critics should invent it themselves.

Character interactions

• Du Yongfu answers the CCTV reporter’s questions, describing the machine’s purpose while acknowledging the limits of his own technical knowledge.
• Engineer Li explains the machine’s precision and materials to reporters as they witness its first operation.
• Inspectors examine the shaft and report its unexpected strength, while spectators immediately consider the technology’s commercial consequences.
• Online commentators argue over whether the company’s use of superconducting material is wasteful, with supporters defending Shen Bing’s right to use his own invention as he chooses.

Key plot points and events

• Experts studying the Golden Pangolin’s drilling discover that it leaves no excavated debris and creates unusually strong, thin rock walls. Tests reveal that the “rock” is ordinary soil compressed at the molecular level, leading researchers to suspect Phantom Immortal Technology can alter intermolecular forces. Foreign governments and companies hope to buy the machines, fearing Phantom Immortal may refuse to sell them abroad.
• CCTV reports that Phantom Immortal No. 1, the world’s first commercially operated deep geothermal power station, was built in less than two days using three Golden Pangolins. It is already supplying 30,000 kilowatts to the grid.
• The rapid success threatens coal and thermal-power interests, which consider delaying the geothermal rollout or taking over the business. But the government announces nationwide guidelines to cut residential electricity prices by 0.1 yuan and industrial and commercial rates by 0.2 yuan. Since lower prices require lower production costs, provinces are pushed toward Phantom Immortal’s geothermal technology.
• Shen Bing remains in his underground base, keeping up with events through Qiuqiu. He has no intention of selling Golden Pangolins for now, preferring to strengthen his company before exposing it to greater external pressure.
• Shen completes a prototype of Subconscious Implantation equipment. It resembles a hibernation pod and uses radio waves to influence a sleeping person’s thoughts. He has no plans to sell or mass-produce it soon.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and secretive, treating outside speculation as amusing. His restraint reflects a strategic shift: he is building Phantom Immortal Technology’s foundations rather than rushing to commercialize every invention.
• Yun Xue stays at Shen’s villa even after his parents return. Shen knows this but does not intervene; he has Li Xiao handle his parents’ airport pickup while he continues working.
• Researchers move from puzzlement to a tentative scientific explanation for the Golden Pangolin’s effects, though they lack enough material to confirm their theory.
• Government officials and local leaders face pressure to balance entrenched energy interests against the public benefit of cheaper electricity. Coal-sector interests seek delay, while the central government’s price-cut directive makes cooperation with Phantom Immortal harder to avoid.

Significant themes

• Technology outpacing established science: The Golden Pangolin’s apparent compression of soil challenges conventional understanding and hints at a technology beyond current scientific capabilities.
• Innovation versus entrenched interests: Geothermal power promises to displace coal and thermal plants, threatening groups that profit from the existing energy system.
• Public welfare and political pressure: Lower electricity prices benefit citizens broadly, shifting the balance away from narrow industrial interests.
• Strategic restraint and corporate vulnerability: Shen recognizes that groundbreaking products bring not only profit but also management burdens and outside pressure; growth must be consolidated carefully.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing tests the newly built Subconscious Implantation device on Virgil, a captured member of the Service Staff. The process takes several hours and is intended to help him develop a reliable “loyalty code.”
• Afterward, Shen Bing uses the Consciousness-Reading Device to examine Virgil’s implanted thoughts. Qiuqiu analyzes the results and recommends revisions, with the aim of improving the programming.
• Commander Gao calls to arrange an urgent meeting between Shen Bing and an unnamed person for the following evening. Shen Bing agrees, then returns to his research.
• Phantom Immortal Technology’s national-news coverage dramatically boosts its fame and drives a surge in demand for its Spirit Vision Telescope, which sells out online almost instantly.
• The company refuses public requests to sell Dream Glass for home interiors, citing its commitments to existing partners and the desire to preserve the product’s scarcity. Shen Bing also sees such customization as too labor-intensive.
• Shen Bing’s larger business strategy is to keep the company expanding into new technologies, generating money that can be transferred legitimately to an offshore account and spent on valuable technology from the Immortal Realm’s Online Mall.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing approaches the loyalty experiment pragmatically, treating a captive as a test subject without seeking his consent. He also relies increasingly on Qiuqiu for analysis and Lu Xian for hardware and construction, aiming to focus his own time on setting priorities and completing missions.
• Virgil emerges from the procedure sincerely deferential toward Shen Bing, but lacks the absolute, instinctive devotion produced by other methods. His response reveals that Shen Bing’s approach implants a flattering view of him rather than straightforward master-loyalty.
• Li Xiao assists with the test and quietly reacts to Shen Bing’s self-aggrandizing programming with amusement.
• Qiuqiu proves central to refining the experiment and managing Shen Bing’s calls. Lu Xian remains occupied with the Particle Accelerator project, while Thorne and Bernie are tasked with calming captured American agents.
• Commander Gao contacts Shen Bing cautiously, balancing familiarity and respect as he arranges the meeting.

Significant themes

• Control and manufactured loyalty: Shen Bing tries to shape another person’s values and beliefs, raising questions about the nature and ethics of loyalty.
• Human judgment and artificial intelligence: Qiuqiu’s analytical abilities surpass Shen Bing’s in data processing, reinforcing his dependence on AI and specialized collaborators.
• Ambition and strategic growth: The company’s fame and product demand are presented as tools for a broader plan to acquire advanced technology.
• Scarcity and selective expansion: Shen Bing rejects a lucrative Dream Glass market to protect commitments and avoid work that would distract from higher priorities.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing leaves the Underground Base after finalizing the subconscious-implantation equipment. Thorne and Bernie are now processing the captured researchers and agents, with Lu Xian and Qiuqiu overseeing security.
• At home, he finds Yuan Wei and Yun Xue studying together. Yun Xue, despite her advanced computer-science degree, is impressed—and somewhat intimidated—by Yuan Wei’s unfamiliar technical materials.
• Shen Bing goes with his driver, Li Xiao, to dinner at the Wei Family Restaurant. There he meets provincial official Secretary Jiang, Commander Gao, Gao Jingchuan, and the top leader’s personal secretary.
• Secretary Jiang explains that he has been assigned to coordinate government matters with Shen and Phantom Immortal Technology, while also helping protect the company. The appointment reflects the company’s growing strategic importance.
• The government requests at least ten tons of Phantom Immortal Technology’s room-temperature superconducting material for fusion research. Shen claims production is difficult and agrees to supply it if buyers provide precise specifications—though Li Xiao recognizes that Shen is misleading the officials.
• Secretary Jiang also asks about foreign requests to buy the Golden Pangolin equipment. Shen says the company will not sell it for now and would restrict and supervise any eventual civilian use.
• Jiang clarifies that the government is less concerned with ordinary sales than with whether the technology can be kept secure if a foreign country obtains a unit. The chapter ends as Shen grasps that the officials’ stated inability to refuse those countries is not the real issue.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing handles powerful officials confidently, negotiates material supply on his own terms, and conceals the true circumstances of production with ease.
• Yuan Wei is revealed to have substantial technical knowledge, surprising Yun Xue and prompting her to study alongside her.
• Yun Xue shifts from viewing Yuan Wei as merely a nanny to respecting her expertise, while feeling competitive pressure.
• Li Xiao remains discreet and loyal; his private reaction shows he sees through Shen’s performance but does not expose him.
• Secretary Jiang and Shen establish a direct channel between the government and the company, mixing formal business with a cordial dinner. Commander Gao supports the arrangement and jokes about Shen’s negotiating style.

Significant themes

• Power and strategic responsibility: Phantom Immortal Technology’s breakthroughs make it a national-security concern, not merely a private company.
• Trust and controlled access: The government seeks a reliable liaison, while Shen emphasizes conditions and restrictions around valuable technology.
• Deception and appearances: Shen’s smooth explanations conceal more than they reveal, and official statements likewise disguise political realities.
• Expertise and rivalry: Yun Xue’s encounter with Yuan Wei challenges her assumptions and sparks a competitive desire to learn.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing meets with Secretary Jiang, Commander Gao, and military representatives to discuss technology exchange, security, and the Golden Pangolin.
• He assures Secretary Jiang that Phantom Immortal Technology’s products are extremely difficult to reverse-engineer, citing the failure to reproduce Dream Glass.
• Shen declines a proposed security detail of at least a hundred military personnel, saying his company and personal guards can protect him. He does ask for help obtaining firearm permits.
• Commander Gao confirms that the twelve men guarding Shen are Li Xiao’s trusted friends from abroad.
• The military asks to buy Golden Pangolins for the Rocket Force. Shen quotes US$100 million each for domestic buyers and says foreign buyers must pay at least US$1 billion each. He refuses to bargain, explaining that his company needs the machines for its own large-scale geothermal projects.
• After the dinner, Li Xiao questions whether foreign buyers will pay so much. Shen explains that they want the technology, not merely the equipment: the price is “tuition” for their attempt to reverse-engineer it. He plans to meet them the next day.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and commercially hard-nosed, using the company’s technological advantage to set firm terms. He trusts his guards and is willing to let foreign buyers pay dearly for access to the Golden Pangolin.
• Li Xiao shows growth as an adviser: although naturally quiet, he makes himself voice concerns and ask questions instead of simply following orders. Shen encourages this independent role.
• Gao Jingchuan presses Shen on the military purchase and tries to negotiate, but gives up when Shen refuses to lower the price.
• Secretary Jiang manages the meeting, confirms Shen’s security wishes, and introduces Gao Jingchuan and Li Shangzhi as members of a new temporary organization.

Significant themes

• Technological advantage and intellectual property: Shen’s confidence rests on the difficulty of copying his company’s inventions.
• Power shifting through innovation: The high prices reflect a reversal of past dynamics in which Huaxia had to pay foreign powers for access to technology.
• Security and trust: Shen rejects a large official guard while relying on trusted associates and company security.
• Learning at a cost: Shen frames the exorbitant export price as “tuition” for countries seeking to reverse-engineer his technology.

Plot and events

• Shen Bing returns to the Immortal Realm app and waits outside Guanyin’s Purple Bamboo Grove. After three days without news, he summons the Black Bear Monster and pressures him into revealing that Guanyin’s Child of Wealth may soon emerge from seclusion. Shen Bing decides to keep waiting.
• At home, he finds Yun Xue cooking breakfast with Yuan Wei’s help. He teases Yun Xue about her cooking and warns Yuan Wei to keep the kitchen safe.
• Shen Bing discovers two unusually fearless sparrows building a nest in his peach tree. They chirp at him but stay put, seeming unusually attached to the tree.
• Yuan Wei is due to start work at Phantom Immortal Technology’s Research and Development Center. She refuses to take Shen Bing’s sports car, wanting to make her own way, so he suggests she take a taxi and says he’ll arrange a car for her later.
• Yun Xue jokes that she would accept Shen Bing’s Wuling Hongguang, not realizing it is actually the Immortal Carriage. Her recent conversations with Yuan Wei have made the two women more comfortable with each other.
• At the company, employees warmly express concern for Shen Bing after his supposed kidnapping. Since they believe the story, he continues pretending it really happened. In his office, he asks Wang Sheng to gather department heads and discusses upcoming foreign interest in buying the Golden Pangolin Device. Wang Sheng argues that they should ask for at least two billion US dollars, rather than the one billion figure Shen Bing had been told.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing uses intimidation to manage the Black Bear Monster, but remains unable to act on his desire to become stronger. At home, he jokes with Yun Xue, supports Yuan Wei’s career, and weighs whether to reveal that he chairs the company.
• Yuan Wei shows independence by declining the expensive car and resolving to prove herself through her work. She also tactfully keeps Shen Bing’s identity secret from Yun Xue.
• Yun Xue and Yuan Wei have grown closer through shared time and academic conversation. Yun Xue sympathizes with Yuan Wei’s difficult circumstances, though her teasing and rivalry with Shen Bing continue.
• The Black Bear Monster shifts quickly from hostile gatekeeper to nervous, accommodating servant when Shen Bing suggests he could bypass him.
• Wang Sheng takes an active business stance, recommending a higher price that could increase profits while conserving limited devices.

Significant themes

• Power and status: The Black Bear Monster’s behavior changes when his position seems threatened, while Shen Bing’s corporate authority contrasts with his lack of strength in the Immortal Realm.
• Independence and dignity: Yuan Wei wants to earn respect through her abilities, not appear to benefit from Shen Bing’s wealth or influence.
• Trust and discretion: Yuan Wei protects Shen Bing’s private identity, and Shen Bing struggles with how to tell Yun Xue the truth.
• Unanswered mysteries: The sparrows’ attachment to the peach tree and the coming emergence of Guanyin’s Child of Wealth hint at developments still to come.

Key events and developments

• Shen Bing delegates negotiations over the sale of Golden Pangolin equipment to Wang Sheng, with Manager Wei assisting. The sale could provide crucial funding for the company’s geothermal power-station project.
• In the company’s first post-holiday meeting, Wang Sheng asks about the year’s priorities. Shen explains that optoelectronics will remain the main source of profit, while geothermal power requires heavy investment and must continue for the public good. The company also needs new sources of growth.
• Wang recommends entering mass-market fields such as consumer electronics or the internet, arguing that the company’s current products serve relatively small audiences.
• Shen reveals that Phantom Immortal Technology will enter the information-network industry, with projects involving both software and hardware. He claims its products will once again “shock the world,” though development has not yet begun. He privately intends to delay the initiative until he has addressed security concerns.
• Shen and Li Xiao visit a nearby villa housing a group of security specialists. Li introduces Tian Youde, an expert in firearms and marksmanship who is also skilled in close combat.
• Tian gathers the men present into formation for Shen. Shen tells them he values capable people over rigid formality, then asks about their skills. The men identify specialties in hand-to-hand combat, reconnaissance and tracking, demolitions, and operating vehicles and aircraft. Six more specialists arrive from the gym.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows confidence and ambition as a leader, while acknowledging privately that his company’s unusual path was originally shaped by which technology he happened to obtain first. He balances long-term business plans against immediate security needs.
• Wang Sheng acts as a practical adviser, candidly questioning the company’s narrow customer base and proposing broader markets. Shen encourages his honesty and shares his plans with him.
• Li Xiao serves as Shen’s guide to the security team, explaining the men’s capabilities.
• Tian Youde and the specialists are eager to impress their new boss. Their informal leisure contrasts with their swift, disciplined response to Tian’s command. Shen’s relaxed attitude puts them at ease.

Significant themes

• Ambition and innovation: Shen aims to create products with transformative impact, not merely compete in already crowded industries.
• Growth versus public benefit: The company must pursue profits while continuing the costly geothermal project for its social value.
• Pragmatism and unpredictability: Phantom Immortal Technology’s direction depends on both strategic choices and Shen’s access to extraordinary technology.
• Security and capability: Shen’s immediate need to protect himself and the company prompts him to assemble a team with specialized, potentially dangerous skills.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing recruits twelve former overseas mercenaries, led by Wei Yu, to protect him and his loved ones. They choose a high-paying arrangement that offers additional benefits but limits their freedom.
• He plans to house the team at Villa No. 3 and connect it to the Underground Base through a new underground passage. Li Xiao, who has served alongside the men, supports the plan and vouches for their reliability.
• At the Neurobehavioral Experiment Zone, Shen learns that 165 people have undergone Subconscious Implantation and passed checks with the Consciousness-Reading Device. Rosa has organized them into research and support roles.
• Qiuqiu reports that ten advanced technologies have been sorted into 23 disciplines and 152 subcategories, with a five-tier system to guide research and commercialization. Shen keeps Super Artificial Intelligence Technology from her, fearing it could produce an uncontrollable rival AI.
• Shen reviews anomalous data from experiments on Biological Invisibility Technology. When something in the results catches his attention, he orders Qiuqiu to stop.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen acts increasingly like a security-minded leader: he offers the mercenaries substantial compensation, promises equipment upgrades, and intends to bring them into the base after vetting their loyalty.
• Wei Yu and his men show immediate commitment to Shen, motivated in part by the promise of a new turning point in their lives. Li Xiao’s history of shared missions helps establish trust between them and Shen.
• Shen recognizes Rosa’s administrative and hacking abilities and sees potential for her to become a key technology specialist rather than assigning her menial work.
• Qiuqiu displays confidence and playful arrogance while serving as Shen’s research and organizational assistant. Shen trusts her skills but deliberately withholds the most sensitive AI technology.

Significant themes

• Protection and loyalty: Shen builds a dependable inner circle to safeguard himself and those close to him.
• Power and responsibility: Advanced technology offers enormous potential, but Shen is cautious about creating another superintelligence.
• Organization and specialization: The growing Underground Base is being structured to coordinate research, staffing, and eventual commercialization.
• Ambition and change: Shen’s expanding resources and plans suggest that his influence—and its impact on the wider world—will soon grow.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing and Qiuqiu identify an anomaly in the bullfrog invisibility experiments: its invisibility ended earlier than expected. The cause—microwave frequency, field strength, or something else—remains unclear, so further tests are planned.
• Qiuqiu recommends Royard, a recently implanted American bionics expert, to conduct them. Shen Bing assigns him the work, freeing himself to focus on developing a manufacturing process for the Stun Gun to equip Wei Yu’s group.
• That evening, Wei Yu and his former team wait at Dragon Lake Ring Island for their pickup. They discuss the boss’s secrecy and their new work, while one member’s reliable intuition suggests Shen Bing is more formidable than he appears.
• Li Xiao emerges through a large hole in a villa basement and leads the group into a high-tech underground passage. He warns them that joining means loyalty to the boss; Wei Yu affirms their gratitude and commitment.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows growing confidence in delegating research and planning security for his organization.
• Royard, despite having just undergone Subconscious Implantation, becomes enthusiastically absorbed in the invisibility research.
• Wei Yu acts as a disciplined leader, discouraging speculation and emphasizing trust and discretion.
• Chen Jun is blunt and impulsive, while the thin team member is respected for his unusually accurate intuition.
• Li Xiao takes responsibility for bringing the group into the organization and makes its expectations of loyalty explicit. Wei Yu responds sincerely on behalf of the team.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: The team must keep its connection to Shen Bing hidden, and entering the underground base marks a deeper commitment.
• Power through science and organization: Shen Bing’s extraordinary technology gives him an advantage, while delegation lets him expand his operations.
• A new beginning: The former fighters hope to leave a dangerous life abroad behind and settle into work at home.

Key plot points and events

• Li Xiao leads Wei Yu, Ran Xiang, Chen Jun, and the others through a shaft connecting the villas to Shen Bing’s underground facility.
• The shaft is more than 800 meters deep. Li Xiao says an elevator will eventually be installed, easing the group’s fears about having to climb it regularly.
• At the bottom, they find a sealed metal chamber. Li Xiao summons Qiuqiu, the intelligent program, which verifies his authorization and opens a concealed titanium-alloy door.
• Beyond it lies a vast, futuristic research base covering over one square kilometer. Shen Bing arrives and explains that it is not yet operational but will soon be used.
• Shen Bing shows the group advanced technologies, including stealth material and a stun gun, and hints at the development of exceptionally strong, lightweight armor.
• He insists that these projects are for self-defense, not world conquest, and orders the group to keep the base’s existence secret.

Character developments and interactions

• Wei Yu and the others move from bewilderment and nervous humor to awe at the scale and secrecy of Shen Bing’s operation. Their former view of him as a successful company chairman shifts toward seeing him as a powerful, potentially world-changing figure.
• Chen Jun voices the group’s doubts more freely than the others, first calling the bottom chamber a dead end and later praising the base.
• Li Xiao guides the group and explains the shaft, security door, and base. His wary respect for Qiuqiu suggests she is capable of mischievous retaliation.
• Shen Bing deliberately reveals enough of his resources to impress the group and build their trust, while framing his research as necessary protection.
• Qiuqiu demonstrates her control over the base by checking authorization and opening the hidden door.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and control: The base’s hidden entrance, single-use authorization, and strict confidentiality protect Shen Bing’s work.
• Power and technological ambition: The underground facility and advanced materials make Shen Bing appear far more influential than his public image suggests.
• Self-defense versus militarization: Shen Bing calls his inventions defensive, but the group privately doubts that distinction, comparing it to real-world military systems.
• Humor amid danger: The characters’ jokes and complaints soften the tension of the perilous descent and startling discoveries.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing’s new researchers undergo a required procedure under Li Xiao and Thorne. The chapter implies they receive a permanent, irresistible “mark” through Subconscious Implantation.
• Qiuqiu alerts Shen Bing that Yun Xue has been sitting sadly in the living room. She confronts him for not telling her he owns Phantom Immortal Technology, but says she does not blame him for the embarrassment she experienced at work.
• Shen Bing guesses that Yun Xue is unsettled because their usual dynamic has reversed: she is now his employee. He jokingly threatens her with contract damages if she resigns. She accepts staying, apparently reassured, and is cheerful the next morning.
• At work, Wang Sheng reports that an American company has agreed to buy a Golden Pangolin for $2 billion, while a Russian company is still considering the offer. Shen Bing orders the American sale completed and plans to oversee production himself, pleased by the windfall.
• Gao Jingchuan calls with news that a supplier can provide Phantom Immortal Technology with 100 tonnes of bismuth annually, though the company must pay for it.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is pleased that his growing team will ease his workload, but is awkward and impatient when faced with Yun Xue’s distress. Despite teasing and threatening her, he shows some concern and intends to keep her at the company because he believes it suits her.
• Yun Xue struggles to explain her feelings about discovering Shen Bing is her boss. She admits that impressing him may once have influenced her ambitions, then quickly shifts from sadness to acceptance and cheerfulness.
• Li Xiao and Thorne carry out Shen Bing’s required onboarding procedure for the researchers.
• Wang Sheng handles the foreign inquiries and privately suspects Shen Bing intends to take full advantage of the Americans’ willingness to pay.
• Gao Jingchuan helps secure a substantial bismuth supply for the company.

Significant themes

• Power and control: The researchers’ unexplained procedure suggests Shen Bing’s authority extends beyond ordinary employment.
• Money and ambition: The $2 billion offer excites Shen Bing partly because it can fund his pursuit of a valuable Dragon-Tiger Pill.
• Changing relationships: Yun Xue’s discovery that her childhood friend is now her boss disrupts their familiar teasing and rivalry, though their bond remains intact.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing confirms an arrangement to buy bismuth from Tianjin Mining Company and discusses overseas interest in the Golden Pangolin. The government will not restrict exports for now, and Gao Jingchuan’s side orders three units, due before March 1.
• Gao reports that government research into the Basic Spiritual Wisdom Potion and Animal Enhancement Serum has stalled: ordinary analysis reveals little and cannot explain their effects. Shen believes fundamental science is not yet advanced enough to detect whatever underlying substances or energy are involved. He hopes to develop human-enhancement potions in the future.
• Shen accepts a quest to find the Nine-Spirit Primordial Sage, but the lion’s roar repeatedly opens a passage to Hell and gets Shen killed by Hell Wraiths. After several failed attempts, he is frustrated and concludes the quest is far beyond his current abilities.
• All twelve mercenaries complete Subconscious Implantation and become Shen’s trusted guards. Li Xiao assigns six to covertly protect Shen’s parents and six to secure the villa and Shen himself.
• Phantom Immortal Technology’s geothermal project advances quickly. With six Golden Pangolins, the company excavates wells and installs equipment efficiently; twenty generator sets are in place, supplying 200,000 kilowatts. Other local governments, eager not to lose their place in line, rush to negotiate, and the company secures nearly ten contracts.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen remains ambitious and pragmatic: he sees the potions as potential tools for a new stage of human evolution, while recognizing that research requires better science and more resources. He also takes sensible precautions to protect his family.
• Gao is candid about the limits of government research and helps coordinate the purchase. Their conversation reflects a cooperative relationship between the government and Shen’s company.
• Li Xiao takes charge of deploying the newly implanted mercenaries, turning Shen’s security concerns into a concrete protection plan.
• Shen’s repeated deaths expose the gap between his confidence and his actual strength in the Immortal Realm; his quest becomes a source of comic frustration.

Significant themes

• Limits of knowledge: Powerful substances may remain incomprehensible when existing scientific tools cannot detect or explain them.
• Ambition and human advancement: Shen imagines adapting animal-enhancement breakthroughs to transform human abilities.
• Preparedness and protection: Shen acts before danger reaches his parents rather than waiting for a crisis.
• Technology and competition: Automated Golden Pangolins rapidly expand energy infrastructure, prompting local governments to compete for projects.
• Humor amid failure: Shen’s repeated, helpless deaths contrast with the company’s smooth real-world success.

Key plot points

• Phantom Immortal Technology signs ten contracts to build provincial geothermal power stations, each with a capacity of at least ten million kilowatts. The projects mark only an initial step toward replacing thermal power, but they sharply increase demand for generators, construction equipment, labor, and raw materials.
• The company’s manufacturing and construction operations scramble to expand. Despite average daily revenue nearing 200 million, Finance Manager Zhuang Xin struggles with the enormous outlays.
• Most purchased raw materials are secretly diverted by Lu Xian to the underground base; the factory consumes less than a tenth of them. This helps conceal Shen Bing’s unusually profitable operation and keep the company’s apparent production costs high.
• Public excitement grows as people anticipate cheaper, cleaner electricity. Overseas governments also show interest, but negotiations stall because Phantom Immortal Technology insists on building and operating foreign power stations itself—a condition other countries find hard to accept.
• At the underground base, Shen Bing remains stuck on a quest involving the Nine-Spirit Primordial Sage. Qiuqiu suggests seeking Celestial Venerable Taiyi, but Shen Bing hesitates to involve powerful deities because their help would be costly.
• Qiuqiu tells Shen Bing that Royard has finished an experiment. Shen Bing rushes to the lab and finds a bullfrog repeatedly shifting between visible and partly invisible states. He observes an unusual molecular structure forming on its skin, apparently causing patches to disappear. Royard declares the experiment a miraculous success.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing balances ambitious energy projects and hidden operations while remaining frustrated by his unsolved quest. His scientific curiosity takes over when he sees the bullfrog’s changing surface.
• Qiuqiu playfully withholds the experimental result to send Shen Bing to the lab, while offering practical advice about his quest.
• Royard is ecstatic and absorbed in the results, greeting Shen Bing with excitement and describing the experiment as a miracle.
• Zhuang Xin is increasingly stressed by the company’s rapid spending, while the machinery and construction teams face pressure to scale up.

Significant themes

• Energy transformation and public benefit: Geothermal power promises cheaper electricity, reduced pollution, and a possible alternative to fossil fuels.
• Growth versus financial strain: Rapid expansion brings major costs and operational pressure even to a highly profitable company.
• National sovereignty and strategic resources: Foreign interest in geothermal power clashes with concerns about outside control of essential infrastructure.
• Scientific discovery and hidden advantage: The invisibility experiment hints at a major breakthrough, while Shen Bing’s concealed use of resources shows how much of the company’s real operation remains unseen.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing’s team discovers that a particular microwave frequency can control the Golden Pangolin’s invisibility. Prolonged scanning can permanently disrupt the effect, so Shen orders the experiment to focus on capturing the creature’s molecular structure while it is invisible.
• Nuoanna Company, backed by the American Thor Company, buys a Golden Pangolin from Phantom Immortal Technology for $2 billion. The contract guarantees that it matches the machines used in geothermal projects, but forbids reverse-engineering it. Nuoanna agrees while privately planning to dismantle and study it.
• After the equipment passes a basic test, Nuoanna takes it to the United States. Phantom Immortal Technology quickly transfers the money: $1 billion toward technology purchased from Jibada Company, and $1 billion to the Godslayer Mercenary Squad as promised for rescuing Shen Bing. The payment becomes public news and prompts widespread mockery of American intelligence agencies.
• Shen uses the proceeds to top up the Gate to the Immortal Realm, bringing his balance to 13,290 immortal jade. He buys a Dragon-Tiger Pill, but its technology is initially too advanced for ordinary analysis. After two failed attempts, Forced Analysis succeeds and yields 2-star technology: Level 1 Gene-Enhancement Drug Production Technology.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains eager to profit from his inventions and wary of the Americans’ motives. His new wealth briefly eases his anger, but he still considers the kidnapping and attempted scheming debts to be settled only temporarily. He also shows growing willingness to gamble resources on potentially valuable analysis.
• Royard contributes a key scientific finding about the Golden Pangolin’s invisibility, while Shen assigns Qiuqiu responsibility for recording the experiment.
• Nuoanna’s Mr. Charlie is confident and opportunistic, accepting the contract’s restrictions because he expects to evade them once the equipment reaches America.
• The Godslayer Mercenary Squad gains a billion-dollar reward, making Shen’s promise credible and attracting envy from other mercenaries.

Significant themes

• Technological rivalry and espionage: The Golden Pangolin is both a valuable product and a target for industrial theft.
• Wealth as a route to power: Selling one machine gives Shen the resources to pursue advanced technologies through the Immortal Realm system.
• Revenge and accountability: Shen honors his promise to the rescuers but continues to regard his conflict with the Americans as unfinished.
• Risk and chance: Shen spends a fortune on the Dragon-Tiger Pill and repeatedly gambles on Forced Analysis, ultimately gaining a major breakthrough.

Character interactions

• Shen directs Royard and Qiuqiu’s experiment, balancing scientific investigation with practical limits.
• Phantom Immortal Technology and Nuoanna negotiate a deal in which both sides conceal their true intentions: the Chinese company protects its technology contractually, while Charlie plans to ignore the restriction.
• Shen’s company publicly rewards the mercenaries who rescued him, turning a private debt into a public political embarrassment for the United States.
• Shen’s final interaction is with the Immortal Realm system: after repeated failed analyses, he obtains a gene-enhancement technology and imagines its transformative potential.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing extracts the production technology for the Level 1 Gene-Enhancement Drug. Its documentation gives no information about its effects, so he will have to make the drug to find out. Because it is difficult to prepare and requires troublesome materials, he postpones it.
• Shen and Royard continue developing stealth material, joined by five experienced researchers. They are testing more than a hundred possible explanations for the bullfrog invisibility effect—a slow, demanding process that marks Shen’s first real attempt at original scientific research.
• In the United States, Thor Company receives a Golden Pangolin device bought from Phantom Immortal Technology. Harry orders his team to dismantle its superconducting motor in hopes of copying its room-temperature superconducting material.
• The team discovers the motor contains an unusual silver-aluminum alloy single-crystal wire, but concludes that current technology cannot produce it. Harry is furious over the failed attempt and the device’s huge cost. An associate suggests seeking access to Phantom Immortal Technology’s industrial park through Huaxia government contacts.
• Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and then Russia also buy Golden Pangolin devices at full price. Shen is delighted by the growing international demand and sees the sales as an unexpectedly lucrative opportunity.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains ambitious and pragmatic: he sets aside the gene drug to focus on stealth research, while relishing the profits from foreign sales.
• Harry is arrogant and entitled, assuming Thor can reproduce the technology, then lashes out when its experts fail.
• Royard and the research team persist with a painstaking experimental process, while the five new researchers shift from leadership roles elsewhere to assisting Shen.

Significant themes

• Limits of present-day science: Experts can identify the Golden Pangolin’s material but cannot reproduce it; Shen’s stealth research likewise depends on patient experimentation.
• Knowledge and secrecy: Foreign buyers seek to reverse-engineer technology, while the chapter suggests access to advanced research will be difficult to obtain.
• Commercial ambition and irony: Shen’s device earns him money not only through its practical market but by prompting rival powers to pay heavily for the chance to uncover its secrets.

Character interactions

• Shen collaborates with Royard, Qiuqiu, and the expanded research team to test stealth-material theories.
• Harry commands Thor’s experts to dissect the device; they reluctantly damage its finely made motor, then report their inability to reproduce its wire.
• A subordinate proposes using investment promises and government coordination to arrange a visit to Shen’s industrial park.
• Foreign companies compete to buy the devices, while Shen privately enjoys their eagerness.

Key plot points and events

• After receiving a large payment, Shen Bing clears Phantom Immortal Technology’s debts and contracts with Jibada Company for titanium-alloy smelting technology needed for its headquarters.
• Before using the money to buy the Dragon-Tiger Pill, he asks Qiuqiu to trace what happens to his Gate of the Immortal Realm top-ups. She discovers the money is anonymously distributed to legitimate charities and verified people seeking help.
• Shen Bing realizes he has unknowingly donated nearly five billion dollars. Relieved that the money remains in circulation and helps people, he decides the company may establish a charitable organization.
• With his Immortal Jade balance increased, he transfers out and consumes the Dragon-Tiger Pill. Its initial effects knock him unconscious; Qiuqiu has Lu Xian carry him to bed.
• Shen Bing later tests his abilities. His strength, speed, stamina, and toughness have increased about tenfold, but Qiuqiu explains that he has absorbed less than one-thousandth of the pill’s power. The rest remains in his body and will take time to release.

Character developments

• Shen Bing moves from worrying that his top-ups might destabilize the economy to embracing their charitable effects—and jokingly claiming the title of the world’s greatest philanthropist. He is eager to test his new strength, though his expectations of becoming overwhelmingly powerful are quickly tempered.
• Qiuqiu acts as Shen Bing’s investigator and caretaker, tracing the money and arranging for Lu Xian to move him. Her explanation of the pill’s effects is partly sensible, though her initial claim that his blackout is “how it always goes in novels” undermines her credibility.
• Lu Xian appears briefly as the person who carries the unconscious Shen Bing back to his bedroom.

Significant themes

• Unexpected charity and merit: Shen Bing’s pursuit of Immortal Jade unintentionally benefits people in need, prompting speculation that charitable deeds and the Gate’s rewards may be connected through merit.
• Power and patience: The Dragon-Tiger Pill is potent, but its effects unfold gradually; Shen Bing must adapt to his enhanced body and wait for its full power.
• Comic expectations versus reality: Shen Bing imagines mythic, superhero-level strength, only to find a substantial—but still limited—initial boost.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing relies on Qiuqiu to trace the top-up and explain the pill’s effects, but responds skeptically to her improvised reasoning.
• Qiuqiu contacts Lu Xian to help Shen Bing after he collapses.
• Shen Bing’s internal reactions—especially his excitement over the pill and frustration at its less-than-legendary immediate results—drive much of the chapter’s humor.

Key plot points and events

• Gao Jingchuan confronts Shen Bing for selling five Golden Pangolins to foreign companies despite saying Huaxia would have to wait. Shen explains that the foreign buyers paid more, but promises to deliver Huaxia’s order by March 3.
• Gao reveals that Korea plans to activate the American THAAD missile-defense system, prompting Huaxia to strengthen its missile capabilities. Shen says he has a plan to make Korea’s move backfire and hurt the Americans too, but refuses to explain, then hangs up.
• Shen returns to his Underground Base to inspect a nearly completed particle accelerator. Lu Xian says it should be ready within a day; it can reach 20 TeV and, with Qiuqiu’s automation, needs only a few operators.
• Shen tours the research zones, where teams are adapting technologies and equipment obtained from an American research facility. At the stealth-material lab, Royard reports a promising first prototype: it resists high temperatures and provides invisibility, but only once and for up to two hours.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is newly confident after taking the Dragon-Tiger Pill, which has eased his concerns about personal safety. He remains playful and mercenary, but is also eager to counter the THAAD deployment. He acknowledges that he should learn fighting techniques rather than rely on strength alone.
• Gao Jingchuan is frustrated by Shen’s teasing and evasiveness, but becomes urgently interested when Shen hints at a way to challenge the Americans. Their familiar, combative banter gives way to a serious discussion of national security.
• Lu Xian reports the accelerator’s progress and accepts that his work will be operated by others once complete. Royard, meanwhile, is energized by the unusually rapid progress made possible by Qiuqiu’s analytical support.
• Qiuqiu functions as a crucial behind-the-scenes collaborator, guiding construction, automating equipment, and accelerating research.

Significant themes

• Scientific and technological power as strategic leverage: The accelerator, stealth materials, and other advanced research underpin Shen’s potential response to international pressure.
• Geopolitical restraint and indirect retaliation: Huaxia’s options are constrained by the risks of war and economic conflict, so Shen’s undisclosed plan suggests a more unconventional approach.
• Human expertise amplified by AI: Qiuqiu’s capabilities make complex research faster and easier to operate, while researchers still provide the practical work and expertise.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing reviews Royard’s progress on stealth material. Royard’s team has decoded the molecular arrangement that makes animals invisible after taking an Invisibility Potion, then used Molecular Pulverization and Reforging Technology to reproduce that arrangement in a new inorganic material.
• The material is still experimental and difficult to mass-produce. Shen takes a small batch for an undisclosed purpose.
• Secretary Jiang and Gao Jingchuan visit Shen about a problem troubling China’s leadership. Shen explains that his company has achieved an early form of stealth material: it lasts only two hours, is single-use, resists heat fairly well, and can be applied as a coating to equipment.
• Secretary Jiang and Gao recognize that even this limited success could be useful. Shen’s teasing and careful phrasing initially make the achievement sound less significant than it is.
• In the United States, the President is under impeachment investigation and remains angry about his earlier failures involving Shen Bing. The U.S. has also spent two billion dollars acquiring Golden Pangolin equipment, only for its engineers to fail to reproduce the room-temperature superconducting material. The President demands a military exercise, apparently seeking a response to the setbacks.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident, strategic, and mischievous. He supports Royard’s research while withholding the exact purpose of the material, and he enjoys teasing Gao Jingchuan.
• Royard is devoted to Shen and proud of the research, viewing work under him as an honor. Qiuqiu’s assistance has also been crucial to the team’s progress.
• Gao Jingchuan is frustrated by his circumstances and still resentful over past deals with Shen, but he understands Shen’s habit of understatement and presses him for practical details.
• Secretary Jiang comes in person because the issue matters to national leadership. His optimism rises once he understands the stealth material’s actual capabilities.
• The U.S. President is increasingly embittered by domestic political danger and repeated technological and intelligence failures.

Significant themes

• Scientific progress built on advanced technology: Molecular manipulation enables research beyond the capabilities of conventional science.
• Power and strategic advantage: Even an imperfect invention can matter greatly when applied to military equipment.
• Trust, manipulation, and friendship: Shen and Gao’s relationship is affectionate but shaped by teasing and deals Gao now considers costly.
• Institutional incompetence and rivalry: The U.S. struggles to understand Shen’s successes, while political and technical failures compound its frustration.

Key plot points and events

• President and Secretary of State Morey discuss using a military exercise featuring THAAD to pressure Huaxia into negotiating over room-temperature superconducting material technology. The President is willing to temporarily withdraw THAAD from Korea if necessary, planning to redeploy it elsewhere after securing the technology.
• Shen Bing finishes a machine for producing stealth-material coatings and gives it, along with the material, to Gao Jingchuan.
• Returning home, Shen Bing considers his company’s next move. A computer security warning sparks the idea of entering cybersecurity with software that can proactively detect scams, fraudulent calls and messages, and phishing sites.
• Shen Bing’s father announces that he plans to move to Rongcheng and asks Shen Bing to send the three bodyguards assigned to him to help. He reveals that the family’s dogs discovered the men.
• Shen Bing tries to persuade his father to keep the bodyguards, but his father raises concerns about Shen Bing’s own safety and presses him about the dangerous Spring Festival incident. Shen Bing postpones explaining until they can speak in person.

Character developments and interactions

• The President is shown as pragmatic and willing to trade temporary concessions for strategic technology; Morey quickly grasps and supports the plan.
• Shen Bing shifts from focusing mainly on countering the Americans to considering cybersecurity as a promising business direction. His confidence in Qiuqiu’s AI underpins his ambition to create unusually effective security software.
• Shen Bing’s father is perceptive and protective: he has noticed the bodyguards and understands that Shen Bing’s assurances may conceal a serious threat. Their teasing, affectionate exchange gives way to a more earnest conversation.
• Shen Bing wants to protect his parents while avoiding frightening them, but his father’s questions make clear that secrecy is becoming difficult.

Significant themes

• Strategic bargaining and national interests: military deployments become leverage in negotiations over advanced technology.
• Innovation and market opportunity: Shen Bing identifies cybersecurity as a response to widespread online fraud and a potential opening for his company.
• Family care and secrecy: Shen Bing’s protective measures worry his parents, while his father’s concern pushes him toward a more honest conversation.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing reflects on how to reassure his parents that he is safe. He realizes that money and advanced technology can attract danger, but technology can also provide protection, and decides to act on that idea.
• Phantom Immortal Technology splits its overburdened Machinery Manufacturing Plant into two: the Machinery Manufacturing Plant, focused on Golden Pangolins and geothermal generators, and a Metallurgy Factory, which supplies metal and components for the company’s projects.
• The Metallurgy Factory is portrayed as strategically vital despite having no external sales. It produces materials ranging from room-temperature superconductors to advanced titanium alloys, with Shen Bing anticipating that its eventual public unveiling of adamantium will astonish the world.
• Reviewing the company’s monthly finances, Shen Bing sees huge expenses but even larger income, largely thanks to Golden Pangolin sales. The company has nearly fifty billion yuan in cash, and expects revenue to grow as production expands and raw-material purchases ease.
• Shen Bing initially says he will skip Rongcheng’s annual business reception. After the city’s top official, Secretary Li Zhuoming, personally calls to invite him, he agrees to attend.
• At the chapter’s end, Yan Lexuan complains about a U.S. military exercise testing THAAD. Shen Bing hears her through the wall and shows interest, hinting that the news may inspire a response.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains focused on work and prefers to avoid public events, but shows greater political and social tact by accepting Secretary Li’s invitation. His attention to Yan Lexuan’s comment suggests he may be considering a new technological move.
• Wang Sheng advises Shen Bing to attend more public functions and helps explain the reception’s business value. He recognizes that Shen Bing’s instincts about networking are unusual and is relieved when he agrees to go.
• Secretary Li Zhuoming personally presses Shen Bing to attend because Phantom Immortal Technology’s absence would undermine the importance of the city’s event.
• Yan Lexuan expresses indignation over the U.S. military exercise, while Shen Bing’s unusually sharp hearing lets him catch her quiet complaint and draw her into conversation.

Significant themes

• Technology as both danger and protection: Shen Bing considers how wealth and innovation attract attention, yet advanced capabilities may also provide security.
• Industrial foundations and strategic power: The Metallurgy Factory’s unseen work underpins the company’s broader ambitions, making foundational production more important than immediate profit.
• Business, politics, and public image: Shen Bing prefers private work, but his company’s prominence creates expectations that he engage with civic and political institutions.
• Foreshadowing and technological competition: Yan Lexuan’s reference to THAAD appears to plant the seed for a future development or countermeasure.