Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• Shen Bing persuades Haiwei Company vice chairman Gong Qinghua to cooperate on an ambitious intelligent-security system. Shen describes a nationwide—and eventually global—platform that could automatically locate people, far beyond current security technology.
• Shen asks Gong to sell him his villa at Dragon Lake Ring Island. Gong offers it for free, though Shen insists the purchase is part of his plan to buy all five villas in the area. Fang Yuanming confirms the other two deals are ready for contracts.
• Gong proposes Haiwei’s Smart City Platform, which combines traffic management, public security, and emergency response. Shen agrees to put it forward to Rongcheng officials and promises Phantom Immortal Technology will work with Haiwei to improve it.
• Secretary Li joins the group and asks about their proposals. Fang reveals that his company is partnering with Shen’s to enter the display-equipment industry and challenge established Japanese and Korean competitors.
• After Gong explains Haiwei’s smart-city system, Secretary Li points out that it cannot fully solve urban problems because of current technological limits. Shen says his company’s AI work can help overcome those limits. Secretary Li then promises a rapid government evaluation and says the project can begin if the technology proves viable.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing uses bold promises and business partnerships to advance several goals at once: developing smart-city technology, building ties with Haiwei, buying nearby villas, and supporting a new display-equipment venture. His confidence persuades others to take plans seriously.
• Gong Qinghua begins skeptical but becomes eager to cooperate, recognizing that Shen’s company may have far greater capabilities and influence than it reveals. The partnership may also help Haiwei secure support for its smart-city proposal.
• Fang Yuanming supports Shen’s plans and facilitates the villa purchases and display-industry partnership, though he is modest about his own role.
• Secretary Li treats Shen’s assurances as credible and quickly offers government backing, impressing Gong and prompting him to infer that higher authorities are closely watching Phantom Immortal Technology.

Significant themes

• Ambition and technological leap: Shen’s plans extend far beyond existing AI and security capabilities.
• Business and government cooperation: Private companies seek official support, while officials look to technology to address economic and urban challenges.
• Influence and unequal credibility: Shen’s reputation gives his claims unusual weight, while Gong realizes that Phantom Immortal Technology’s true power may be greater than it appears.
• Mutual advantage: The characters pursue different interests—market access, contracts, investment, and civic improvements—through cooperation.

Plot points and events

• After meeting Gong Qinghua, Shen Bing develops a plan for a global intelligent-security network. Cameras equipped with Phantom Immortal Technology chips would analyze what they see, while a central platform would gather data and support smart-city services. The system could also help Shen monitor threats, though he intends to conceal its surveillance capabilities.
• Shen plans for Phantom Immortal Technology to focus on advanced chips and software, leaving routine camera manufacturing and lower-end chip production to partner companies.
• He checks the rewards from Monkey Sun’s quest and finds three thousand immortal jade—generous, but not enough to advance the game’s quest count toward its next upgrade.
• Shen finally pays two thousand immortal jade to teleport a bottle of Spirit Water out of the Gate to the Immortal Realm. When he removes its stopper, Li Xiao notices the air becoming fresher.
• At home, Shen waters the Immortal Peach Tree. A drop of Spirit Water produces a cloud of mist, and a small stream surrounds the tree in lingering vapor. The tree absorbs much of the spiritual energy, while some spreads through the yard and improves its vitality.
• Meanwhile, news of the US military’s failed Western Pacific exercise reaches the American public. People condemn the waste of tax money and question whether the country’s costly missile-defense system can protect them.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen emerges as both an ambitious entrepreneur and a strategic planner, imagining Phantom Immortal Technology’s expansion from security into smart-city development. He is also privately focused on protecting himself and the company.
• He jokes with Li Xiao about his own strength and promises to give his employees body-strengthening potions once his current work is done. Li Xiao is excited but remains deferential.
• Shen hides the Spirit Water’s true nature when Li Xiao senses the improved air, dismissing it as a problem with Li Xiao’s nose.
• Taibai Jinxing notices Shen’s sudden return from meditation and questions it. Shen invents an excuse, and Taibai lets the matter drop.

Significant themes

• Ambition and technology: Shen sees security infrastructure as a path to both commercial success and far-reaching influence.
• Secrecy and surveillance: His plans depend on powerful capabilities being hidden beneath legitimate services.
• Wonder and comedy: Shen’s frustration at the teleportation fee contrasts with the Spirit Water’s extraordinary effects.
• Public trust and accountability: The US backlash shows how military failures can undermine confidence in institutions and their claims of protection.

Plot points and events

• A disastrous U.S. military exercise sparks nationwide protests demanding answers about military spending. The President faces public anger over a missing Global Hawk, the fleet’s failed missile interception, and humiliating footage circulating online.
• Investigators confirm that U.S. radar, satellites, and the Global Hawk detected nothing as a Huaxia missile crossed the area. With no evidence of equipment failure, the missile’s apparent ability to evade detection alarms the administration.
• Defense Secretary Kleizer suggests publicizing the incident to stir concern about Huaxia and win support for increased military spending. Navy Commander Barton warns that claiming Huaxia can evade detection would also undermine confidence in America’s missile-defense system. The President opts to accuse Huaxia of shooting down the Global Hawk and demand the wreckage, while avoiding further military escalation.
• The next morning, Gao Jingchuan visits Shen Bing with the military’s thanks and gifts: two pistols, ammunition, and a firearms license. He also arranges to buy 100 kilograms of stealth material and coating equipment for a substantial fee.
• Gao conveys the military’s conditions: keep the technology secret and never sell it abroad unless other countries develop comparable products. In return, Shen may request compensation.
• Shen asks for a company satellite, saying his planned smart-city and cybersecurity businesses will need one. He claims existing satellites are inadequate and casually suggests building a more powerful one. Gao promises to report this and asks Shen to make satellites for the military too.

Character developments and interactions

• The U.S. President is frustrated and politically cornered, while his advisers debate how to manage the crisis without damaging their own missile-defense ambitions. Barton’s suggestion to send carriers near Huaxia is quickly dismissed as reckless.
• Shen remains confident and commercially minded. He treats satellite construction as routine and sees a potential military contract as an opportunity to earn far more than from his existing products.
• Gao is impressed but bewildered by Shen’s sweeping technical claims. Their exchange moves from secrecy and compensation to a possible satellite project, with Gao eager to involve the military.

Significant themes

• Technological imbalance and uncertainty: Huaxia’s missile exposes a potentially profound gap in U.S. detection capabilities.
• Politics and public perception: U.S. leaders weigh truth, propaganda, military spending, and public confidence.
• Secrecy and national security: The stealth material’s value brings strict limits on disclosure and overseas sales.
• Innovation as commerce and leverage: Shen turns a request for compensation into an opportunity for a satellite business and a military partnership.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing checks the Immortal Peach Tree, which has grown to about a meter overnight. A pink-tipped bud already looks like a flower bud, suggesting the tree may bloom—and perhaps bear fruit—far earlier than expected.
• Yun Xue and Yuan Wei admire and photograph the tree and its two resident sparrows before leaving for work. Shen Bing is fond of the birds but worries they might damage the new bud.
• Shen Bing walks around the lakeside compound to inspect five luxury villas he plans to buy and renovate.
• He encounters the young man Li Xiao beat up at a reception the previous night. The two trade taunts, and the young man challenges Shen Bing to spar.
• Shen Bing offers to let him attack first, but instead lands a single fast side kick that sends him flying and leaves him temporarily incapacitated.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is pleased by the peach tree’s remarkable growth and hopeful about its fruit, while his affection for the sparrows makes him reluctant to disturb their home.
• Yun Xue’s teasing, irreverent nature contrasts with her genuine conscientiousness at work; Yuan Wei is quieter and more easily startled.
• The young man is boastful when Li Xiao is absent, underestimating Shen Bing and challenging him. Shen Bing responds with calm confidence, revealing physical ability far beyond what the young man expects.
• Wei Yu and Tian Youde watch from nearby as Shen Bing’s bodyguards, though they do not intervene.

Significant themes

• The extraordinary defies ordinary expectations: The Immortal Peach Tree grows and forms a flower bud at an impossible pace.
• Overconfidence invites consequences: The young man’s arrogance leads directly to his defeat.
• Hidden power and appearances: Shen Bing looks unassuming, but his kick exposes his formidable strength.
• Everyday humor amid the fantastic: The characters’ banter and Shen Bing’s wry thoughts lighten the chapter’s supernatural and action-filled events.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing’s recent display of strength attracts a persistent young martial-arts enthusiast, who begs to become his disciple. Shen Bing insists he knows nothing worth teaching and tries to send him away, but the man keeps following him and even clings to his leg.
• Shen Bing summons his security guards, Tian Youde and Wei Yu, who pin the would-be disciple down so Shen Bing can leave.
• Later, the United States claims Huaxia shot down an American Global Hawk drone near Huaxia’s waters and demands the wreckage.
• Huaxia responds with clear, unedited footage showing the drone suddenly exploding on its own. Rather than directly acknowledge American ownership, Huaxia condemns the act of flying a drone into its airspace to self-destruct.
• The footage makes the American accusation look foolish, and officials are embarrassed. Observers then speculate that Huaxia recorded the event using advanced telescope technology developed by Phantom Immortal Technology, adapted into a powerful aerial-surveillance system. Unlike radar, however, this system can monitor only a single plane rather than a full three-dimensional zone.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains dismissive and sarcastic, treating the disciple’s dramatic pleading as absurd. Though irritated, he recognizes that the man’s persistence and cheerful sincerity make him hard to confront directly, so he ultimately relies on his guards.
• The young man is revealed as comic, stubborn, and deeply admiring of Shen Bing. He mistakes Shen Bing’s enhanced physical ability for profound martial-arts mastery and refuses to take a hint.
• Tian Youde and Wei Yu act efficiently when Shen Bing calls, restraining the admirer without hesitation.
• Huaxia and the United States engage in a tense public confrontation: America makes a serious accusation, while Huaxia counters with evidence that undermines it and shifts public embarrassment onto the accuser.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The young man interprets a single powerful kick as proof of martial-arts wisdom; similarly, governments and observers must infer the capabilities behind Huaxia’s footage.
• Humor amid tension: The disciple’s melodramatic persistence and online jokes contrast with the potentially grave risk of military escalation.
• Information as power: Huaxia’s footage turns a diplomatic accusation against the United States and hints at a surveillance technology that could transform border defense.
• Escalation and face-saving: The drone dispute shows how provocative actions and public claims can heighten international tensions—and how evidence can make retreat embarrassing.

Key plot points and events

• Huaxia’s apparent use of the upgraded Spirit Vision Telescope raises international alarm. Other nations believe its ability to detect objects visible to the naked eye could make stealth aircraft and border intrusions ineffective.
• The U.S. President becomes determined to obtain the telescope’s technology, but a CIA report suggests Huaxia may have detected the earlier kidnapping of Shen Bing and possibly allowed events—including an explosion—to unfold as a countermeasure. The U.S. has no proof, and its own role in the kidnapping leaves it unable to complain.
• With relations between the U.S. and Phantom Immortal Technology badly damaged, the President sees few viable options: kidnapping Shen Bing again, espionage, and reverse-engineering have all failed. He plans to consult advisers.
• Other countries also take interest. Some want to reproduce the telescope; others consider buying large numbers of the commercially available model for more limited surveillance.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing finishes the intelligent core for a new security program. Unlike Qiuqiu, the company’s super AI, it can act only through predefined interfaces and cannot freely roam the internet.
• Shen Bing installs the program on his phone and asks Chen Wanhua, the Network Department’s deputy manager, to prepare the cybersecurity team for a test. At the office, he gives them permission to attack his phone and try to install a Trojan. The team quickly creates a hostile virtual network and connects the phone to it.

Character developments and interactions

• The U.S. President shifts his focus from room-temperature superconductors to the Spirit Vision Telescope, driven by frustration at Huaxia’s apparent strategic advantage and America’s recent failures.
• Shen Bing remains confident and practical, turning the security software’s launch into a live stress test rather than relying on theory.
• Chen Wanhua confidently reports that Qiuqiu’s training has made the team potentially one of the world’s best. He and the other technicians eagerly accept Shen Bing’s unusual challenge.
• Qiuqiu is presented as the Network Department’s nominal manager and hidden technical authority. Its interventions against hackers have earned the team’s admiration.

Significant themes

• Surveillance and strategic power: The telescope could change the balance of military security by undermining stealth and surprise.
• Uncertainty and political helplessness: The U.S. suspects Huaxia orchestrated events but lacks evidence—and its own wrongdoing limits its options.
• Technology as leverage: Phantom Immortal Technology’s products attract both commercial interest and international efforts to seize or reproduce them.
• Security versus human error: Shen Bing’s test highlights that even strong protection can be defeated by careless users, while the controlled attack will test the new software under deliberate pressure.

Plot and events

• Shen Bing oversees tests of his new security program, Doudou. It detects a newly written Trojan, warns Chen Wanhua aloud, and confines the malware so it cannot transmit data. It also flags Chen’s test scam call, correctly identifying it as fraudulent.
• Shen explains that Doudou uses advanced artificial intelligence and works across platforms. Though he downplays its full capabilities, the employees are amazed.
• Shen plans to commercialize the program as Dragon Scale. He approves a proposal to publicize it with a bounty for anyone who can breach the company website, and directs Chen to coordinate the launch with Sales and Legal.
• Shen then updates General Manager Wang Sheng about a potential smart-city partnership with Rongcheng. He stresses that smart cities will require exceptionally strong cybersecurity, since attacks could endanger transport, utilities, and public safety.
• Wang reports that geothermal power-station contracts have been signed with 21 cities. Shanghai’s planned 50-million-kilowatt station is intended to support a major expansion of new-energy vehicles. Shen recognizes this as a promising industry but wonders what Shanghai is planning.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing demonstrates confidence in Doudou’s capabilities and turns a technical test into a commercial opportunity. He also thinks strategically about how cybersecurity, smart cities, geothermal energy, and electric vehicles might connect.
• Chen Wanhua is initially frustrated and baffled when Doudou defeats his tests, then becomes enthusiastic about Dragon Scale’s commercial potential. He sees the product as a chance to give his underused Network Department a major role.
• The employees quickly place great faith in Shen’s claims because they regard him as a genius, and they become excited by the prospect of genuine AI.
• Wang Sheng provides updates on the company’s power projects and helps Shen connect rising energy demand with the growth of new-energy vehicles.

Significant themes

• AI and technological advantage: Doudou’s unusual intelligence distinguishes it from ordinary security software and gives Phantom Immortal Technology a potentially decisive edge.
• Cybersecurity as public safety: A connected city’s systems could be weaponized, making robust defenses essential rather than optional.
• Commercial ambition and strategic foresight: Shen seeks a bold launch for Dragon Scale while considering how the company’s existing energy projects could support future industries.
• Trust and loyalty: The employees’ confidence in Shen shapes how readily they accept his claims and commit to his plans.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing discusses the pressure on Phantom Immortal Technology’s Machinery Manufacturing Plant with Wang Sheng. The plant is expanding rapidly to meet demand for geothermal power stations, but full national rollout will take years.
• Shen Bing wants the company to spend its growing revenue on expansion and materials, keeping its cash reserves—and its profits—at a level that reassures both the company and the country.
• Wang Sheng proposes using the company’s most valuable technical documents as bait to test its new Dragon Scale Security Software. Shen Bing agrees, and the company publicly announces that its room-temperature superconducting and other technology files are stored on its Official Website’s server.
• The announcement spreads online, attracting intense attention and tempting hackers worldwide to try to access the files.
• Secretary Jiang calls Shen Bing in alarm. Shen Bing explains that the documents are part of a security test—but confirms they are the real documents. Jiang erupts, while Shen Bing remains confident in the software.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows strategic confidence and a willingness to take bold risks. He sees the security test as both a technical challenge and publicity, and calmly manages Jiang’s growing panic.
• Wang Sheng proves eager and imaginative: he worries about production delays, then devises the daring “big draw” of exposing valuable documents to hackers as a test.
• Secretary Jiang is protective of the company’s and country’s interests. His relief at first turns to outrage when he learns the files are genuine.
• Shen and Wang share an easy, teasing rapport; Shen jokes about a past kidnapping attempt, while Wang corrects him. Shen and Jiang, by contrast, clash over risk: Jiang emphasizes the potential losses, while Shen trusts the company’s defenses.

Significant themes

• Calculated risk and confidence in technology: Shen deliberately exposes valuable assets to prove the strength of the security software.
• Publicity and spectacle: The provocative announcement turns a technical test into a global event.
• Wealth, power, and national interest: The company’s growth brings both extraordinary opportunity and concern about how its resources and technologies affect the country.
• Control through balance: Shen believes that spending profits on expansion can help prevent the company’s wealth from becoming politically unsettling.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing reassures Secretary Jiang that Phantom Immortal Technology’s Dragon Scale security software and encryption will protect the technical files placed on the company’s website server. He even invites the government to try breaking in, promising to decrypt the files for them if they succeed.
• China’s Chief accepts the offer as an opportunity to test and train the country’s cybersecurity teams, while also expressing interest in future cooperation with the company. He jokes that Phantom Immortal Technology’s excuses for its actions are terrible.
• The company’s announcement sparks fierce debate on Chinese social media. Critics accuse it of arrogance and disrespecting national research; supporters argue that Shen Bing’s record of major inventions gives him reason to trust his judgment.
• In the United States, the President and advisers conclude that Shen Bing is testing his security software and assume that his confidence reflects conceit. They order hackers to target the server.
• Governments, corporations, and professional hacker groups around the world prepare to attack. The unprecedented concentration of cyber forces waits for someone else to make the first move. A betting site even opens a market on how long the company will hold out.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and playful, using the challenge to invite Chinese government participation while keeping his true motives private.
• Secretary Jiang shifts from anxiety about the exposed files to cautious reassurance, then promptly reports Shen Bing’s offer to the Chief.
• The Chief shows trust in Shen Bing and sees the crisis as a useful national training opportunity, while signaling that closer cooperation may follow.
• The U.S. President and advisers misread Shen Bing’s confidence as arrogance and underestimate the situation, prompting the coming attack.
• Online, Shen Bing’s supporters and critics clash over whether his achievements justify his boldness.

Significant themes

• Confidence versus arrogance: Shen Bing’s confidence is interpreted very differently by allies, critics, and foreign officials.
• Cybersecurity and national rivalry: The server becomes the focus of a global contest involving governments, companies, and hackers.
• Public reputation and misjudgment: Outsiders make assumptions from incomplete information, while Shen Bing’s actual capabilities remain uncertain.
• Opportunity in conflict: China’s leadership treats the impending attack not only as a threat but also as a chance to develop its cybersecurity expertise.

Plot points and events

• Betting markets frame Phantom Immortal Technology’s challenge to hackers worldwide as nearly impossible. Most people expect its server to fall quickly, while an anonymous bettor wagers a million dollars on the company to win.
• Phantom Immortal Technology is inundated with calls from concerned people urging it to shut down or remove its server. The callers and even the phone operators suspect management has made a reckless decision.
• Naga, a gifted French university student and elite hacker, sees the challenge as a chance to steal the company’s valuable technical data—especially its room-temperature superconducting material—and become enormously wealthy. He plans to take the files and erase the originals.
• At 2 p.m. on March 3, hackers worldwide begin attacking the company’s website. They coordinate carefully enough to avoid overwhelming the server, while also worrying that the company might simply disconnect it.
• Naga and the other intruders discover that every route into the server leads to an elaborate honeypot: a simulated environment filled with endless folders and no apparent exit. Even the CIA’s cybersecurity division becomes involved and considers trying to destroy the trap with a DDoS attack.

Character developments

• Naga is introduced as a rapidly rising, highly confident hacker who has avoided criminal theft until now. The prospect of immense wealth pushes him toward a major ethical and professional risk; his confidence falters when he realizes he has been fooled by the honeypot.
• Phantom Immortal Technology’s management remains unseen but appears committed to letting the global attack proceed, despite widespread public concern.
• The telephone operators endure the callers’ criticism with patience, though the repeated accusations eventually make them question management themselves.

Character interactions

• Concerned members of the public repeatedly call the company and warn its operators, who politely explain that the decision came from senior management.
• Naga competes with hackers around the world, each trying to infiltrate the server without letting fellow attackers crash it first.
• The CIA team shares information and debates how to respond after discovering that its own personnel have been trapped in the same environment.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and deception: Naga’s confidence blinds him to the possibility of a trap, while the honeypot turns the hackers’ assumptions against them.
• Greed and ethics: The valuable technology tempts Naga to cross a boundary he previously respected.
• Scale versus skill: The worldwide attack emphasizes how sheer numbers can challenge even skilled defenders—though the honeypot changes the contest.
• Public judgment and uncertainty: Outsiders see the company’s decision as irrational, but the chapter hints that management may understand the situation better than they do.

Key plot points and events

• Naga is the first attacker to breach a honeypot, but finds himself trapped in another layer of deception. His commands and a powerful hacking utility produce no response.
• American hackers enter the same system as guests. They and the other intruders discover that the only way to access meaningful data is to obtain super-administrator privileges.
• The attackers turn on one another in a chaotic contest for those privileges. Naga proves formidable, crashing two attackers’ computers with viruses before becoming the focus of the remaining hackers.
• Phantom Immortal Technology’s Network Department watches the fight calmly, recognizing that the attackers are still caught in the company’s layered honeypots. Chen Wanhua explains that the company may commercialize the security software and urges her colleagues to study it.
• An underground betting site has taken in $2 billion, with most bets predicting the website would fall within five minutes. Since the attack has already lasted much longer, its operators expect enormous profits—unless Phantom Immortal Technology unexpectedly wins.
• After half an hour, the server remains secure, while the attackers have destroyed data on at least 10,000 computers. Four main groups remain: the Americans, Naga’s coalition of independent hackers, the European Union team, and Huaxia’s team.
• Huaxia has survived by targeting rival hackers rather than concentrating on breaching the server. Korea and Japan have been eliminated by Huaxia, while the Americans and Europeans jointly eliminated Russia.
• With the surviving factions still unable to gain control, they consider working together—but Huaxia’s presence makes cooperation uneasy.

Character developments and interactions

• Naga is established as a highly capable hacker: he reaches the system first and retaliates effectively, but even his expertise cannot overcome the layered defenses. He becomes the temporary leader of a coalition of independent hackers.
• Chen Wanhua is confident in the security software and sees the attack as both proof of its value and a learning opportunity for the Network Department.
• The Network Department staff shift from casual amusement to focused study when Chen reminds them that the software is incomplete and their expertise will still be needed.
• The competing hacker factions repeatedly attack one another while pursuing administrator access. Their rivalry leaves them depleted and complicates any attempt to unite against the server.

Significant themes

• Deception and layered security: The attackers mistake one honeypot for the real system and remain trapped despite their skill.
• Overconfidence and reversal: A global attack meant to overwhelm a company instead exposes the attackers to heavy losses and public embarrassment.
• Competition versus cooperation: The factions’ struggle for control weakens them, even as the need to defeat a common target pushes them toward an uneasy alliance.
• Technology and human expertise: The software outperforms elite hackers, but the company still values its staff’s ability to understand and improve it.

Plot points and events

• The United States, the EU, and Naga’s hackers consider joining forces against Huaxia, but Huaxia warns that if they gang up on it, it can cut off Phantom Immortal Technology’s internet access and end the contest for everyone.
• The four sides agree not to attack one another directly while seeking the server’s Super Admin privileges. Huaxia also promises not to disrupt the contest if its team is eliminated.
• The Americans gain Super Admin control first, kick the other participants offline, and begin copying the server’s contents. After two hours of fighting, they secure government-level support and persuade the EU, Korea, and Japan to help drive Huaxia and the independent hackers out.
• After four hours, the Americans finish copying the data and plant viruses in the server. They quickly decrypt an archive, expecting to find superconducting-material technology, but discover Washington, D.C., traffic-management data instead.
• At the same time, Washington’s traffic systems have been hacked, its data and backups lost, and its traffic lights thrown into chaos, causing hundreds of accidents and at least three deaths.
• Logs show that the attack on the city’s systems originated from the U.S. Cybersecurity Office—the same office that had just raided Phantom Immortal Technology’s server. With reporters gathering and the scandal likely to break, the President orders his team to find a way to cover it up.

Character developments and interactions

• The President moves from eager confidence in an impending technological triumph to fury and humiliation when he realizes his own team has caused a catastrophe. He berates the CIA director and demands damage control.
• The CIA director and cybersecurity officials go from celebrating their apparent success to facing possible public blame and legal consequences. The director recognizes how damaging the evidence could be.
• Lucini, the President’s secretary, relays the worsening reports, connecting the stolen files to the traffic-system collapse and then revealing the evidence pointing back to the U.S. office.
• Huaxia’s leadership remains confident and accepts the agreement, while the Big Boss’s private call with Shen Bing leaves him anticipating Phantom Immortal Technology’s outcome and considering the value of its security software.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and mistaken intelligence: The Americans assume they have found valuable technical data, but their victory is built on a false premise.
• The danger of cyberwarfare: A contest over one company’s server spills into real-world infrastructure failures, casualties, and political risk.
• Power and brinkmanship: Huaxia’s threat to end the contest forces the other parties to negotiate rather than unite against it.
• Irony and reversal: The Americans believe they have defeated Phantom Immortal Technology, only to discover that their apparent prize is tied to a disaster caused by their own operation.

Plot points and events

• After the cyberattack on Phantom Immortal Technology accidentally disrupts Washington’s traffic-control system, the U.S. President rejects CIA director Darnell’s suggestions to blame Huaxia or the company. Both would be difficult to implicate credibly, especially since the U.S. attack itself left evidence. Instead, the President decides to pin the incident on a powerless individual.
• Darnell proposes Naga, a notorious hacker with a past record of attacking the U.S. Department of Defense. Officials believe the public will accept the accusation and that Naga will be unable to defend himself.
• On the underground platform Satan’s Hand, hackers who participated in the attack reveal that the attackers never actually reached Phantom Immortal Technology’s real website. The site’s leader realizes the betting outcome means a potential $10 billion payout. He wants to protect the platform’s reputation but cannot afford the prize.
• U.S. media promote the official story that Naga and accomplices attacked Washington’s traffic system. Some online voices challenge the account, but most people find the alternative explanation too implausible to believe. Huaxia’s authorities and Phantom Immortal Technology remain publicly silent.
• The next morning, Phantom Immortal Technology holds a press conference. General Manager Wang Sheng confirms that the sensitive technical documents really were placed on the company’s server and remain there, explaining that the company trusted its security and its chairman, Shen Bing. He says the company has made encouraging progress in cybersecurity.

Character developments and interactions

• The U.S. President takes charge of damage control, prioritizing a scapegoat who cannot effectively fight back.
• Darnell shifts from proposing obvious targets to recognizing the President’s strategy, then eagerly endorses framing Naga.
• Satan’s Hand’s leader goes from celebrating a successful betting event to facing a crisis over an enormous payout and the platform’s credibility.
• Wang Sheng acts as Phantom Immortal Technology’s public representative, calmly addressing suspicion and defending the company’s confidence in its security.
• The President and Darnell’s exchanges expose the officials’ awareness that blaming Huaxia or the company would invite scrutiny. The hackers’ posts, meanwhile, reveal to Satan’s Hand’s leader how thoroughly the attackers had been deceived.

Significant themes

• Scapegoating and propaganda: Officials choose a convenient target and use coordinated media coverage to shape public belief.
• Truth versus perception: The real attack differs sharply from the official account, yet the public struggles to distinguish credible evidence from competing claims.
• Reputation and responsibility: Satan’s Hand must choose between honoring its reputation and paying a prize it cannot afford.
• Confidence in technology: Phantom Immortal Technology presents its decision to expose valuable documents online as a deliberate act grounded in faith in its cybersecurity.

1. Key plot points and events

• At a press conference, Wang Sheng reveals that Phantom Immortal Technology’s Dragon Scale Security Software defended the company’s website against a coordinated attack by more than 10,000 hackers worldwide.
• He presents records of the attacks, including their sources and methods, and says the company will report offenders—including attackers from Korea—to the relevant authorities.
• Wang claims Dragon Scale was developed in three months and announces Phantom Immortal Technology’s entry into the information-security market.
• He argues that the failed attack on the company contrasts with the same-day collapse of Washington, D.C.’s traffic-management system, provoking an uncomfortable response from a CNN reporter.
• Wang says Dragon Scale works across servers, computers, and phones, and can block online scams. Reporters test the same software package on different devices and try to fool its fraud protections; the demonstrations succeed.
• International media give the company extensive publicity. The company leaves its technical documents online, explaining that they cannot be copied unless Dragon Scale’s core is cracked and that only chairman Shen Bing holds top-level permissions.
• The announcement alarms cybersecurity firms, which now see Dragon Scale as a threat to their survival.

2. Character developments

• Wang Sheng presents himself as a confident, forceful spokesman, using evidence, demonstrations, and provocative comparisons to promote the product. He also exaggerates its development history to make it seem more impressive.
• Shen Bing, though absent, is established as the sole holder of the system’s highest permissions and the person behind the company’s security capabilities.
• The reporters shift from confusion and skepticism to reluctant amazement after the software passes their tests. Some, especially the Korean and CNN reporters, are left unable to respond to Wang’s challenges.

3. Significant themes

• Technological disruption and industry upheaval: Dragon Scale’s claimed capabilities threaten to transform cybersecurity.
• Confidence, spectacle, and publicity: The company turns a hacker attack and a live product demonstration into global advertising.
• Security versus trust: The company’s public technical documents seem exposed, but Wang argues that the software makes them uncopyable.
• National rivalry and pride: The press conference frames the product’s success partly through comparisons with foreign attackers and systems.
• Bluster versus proof: Wang makes extraordinary claims, but the live demonstrations give the reporters visible results they cannot easily dismiss.

4. Character interactions

• Wang answers a skeptical Korean reporter by showing attack data and identifying Korean sources, leaving the reporter speechless.
• A British reporter asks whether Dragon Scale was developed in-house; Wang confidently claims it was.
• Wang’s comparison between Dragon Scale’s defense and Washington’s system failure silences the CNN reporter.
• A Huaxia reporter asks about the product’s intended users, prompting Wang to describe its broad compatibility and anti-fraud functions.
• Reporters test those claims themselves, and their successful demonstrations turn skepticism into astonishment.

Plot points and events

• The U.S. government is embarrassed by the failed cyberattack and by suspicions that American officials were behind both the attack on Phantom Immortal Technology and the disruption of Washington’s traffic system. The President worries that Dragon Scale Security Software could threaten U.S. industries and national security, and considers keeping it out of the country.
• Satan’s Hand, a betting site run by Mafia bosses, faces a ten-billion-dollar payout after someone bets $1 million at 10,000-to-1 odds on Phantom Immortal Technology. To avoid paying, the bosses claim hackers altered the site’s data, void the market, refund all bets, and offer the winner $1 billion instead.
• Shen Bing learns from Li Xiao that his million-dollar bet has been reduced to a billion-dollar compensation offer. Furious, he gives Li instructions to pursue the matter.
• Naga, a French university student and hacker who joined the attack on Phantom Immortal Technology, becomes a fugitive after the Americans expose him as a scapegoat. He disguises himself, abandons his electronics, and flees by bicycle to a prepared rural hideout.

Character developments and interactions

• The U.S. President shifts from frustration over public embarrassment to concern that Phantom Immortal Technology’s software could become a national-security threat.
• Satan’s Hand’s bosses prioritize protecting their reputation and profits, using refunds to win public support while shortchanging the lone bettor.
• Shen Bing reacts angrily to the attempted underpayment and appears determined to challenge it.
• Naga goes from carefree student to hunted fugitive, bitter at the Americans for abandoning him but aware that he is an easier target than a country.
• Li Xiao promptly informs Shen Bing of Satan’s Hand’s decision, while Naga’s thoughts contrast his personal vulnerability with the power of the American state.

Significant themes

• Power and scapegoating: The Americans shift blame onto Naga, who recognizes that individuals are easier to sacrifice than governments.
• Self-interest and reputation: Satan’s Hand manipulates public opinion with refunds while denying the winner most of his due.
• Technology as national power: Dragon Scale Security Software raises fears that commercial innovation can become a question of national security.
• Public perception and hypocrisy: Bettors celebrate getting their money back and overlook the winner’s loss, illustrating how self-interest shapes ideas of fairness.

Plot points

• Shen Bing tests his first Level 1 Gene-Enhancement Drug on Thorne. The painful, feverish reaction lasts about half an hour, after which Thorne feels dramatically stronger.
• Gym tests show the drug has transformed Thorne’s physical abilities: his punch rises from roughly 600 kilograms of force to more than two tons, alongside improvements in speed, durability, and reflexes.
• Shen Bing orders Thorne to bring the rest of his team in for treatment. He plans to send the Godslayer Mercenary Squad to recover money owed to him and punish the debtors, but forbids them from killing anyone.
• Shen Bing and Lu Xian continue producing the drug, which is slow to make. Shen Bing then enters the Gate to the Immortal Realm and travels with Taibai Jinxing toward the Spirit Ruins.
• Taibai refuses to enter the Ruins because Heavenly Law bars Immortal Officials, but takes Shen Bing close enough to teleport. As Shen Bing arrives, a gigantic creature’s foot descends toward him, leaving him unable to escape.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is impressed by the drug’s effectiveness and begins planning to strengthen his team for an upcoming mission. He is pragmatic about testing the first dose on Thorne, while remaining protective of the team’s future and the mercenary squad’s reputation.
• Thorne endures the drug’s painful effects with discipline and responds to his newfound strength with fierce loyalty and enthusiasm. He eagerly accepts the mission.
• Lu Xian proves more efficient than Shen Bing at preparing the drug, producing two doses at once while Shen Bing can manage only one.
• Taibai Jinxing strictly follows the rules governing Immortal Officials, frustrating Shen Bing, who suspects Taibai is deliberately keeping him at a distance. Taibai’s alarm at the approaching creature prompts him to flee in the shuttle.
• Shen Bing’s encounter with the falling foot echoes an earlier death by trampling, ending the chapter on comic, ominous suspense.

Significant themes

• Power and its costs: The drug grants extraordinary strength, but only after a painful physical ordeal.
• Rules versus risk-taking: Taibai obeys heavenly regulations, while Shen Bing looks for a way around them.
• Fate and recurring misfortune: Shen Bing’s final remark suggests he may once again be doomed to be crushed before he can explore the Spirit Ruins.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing enters the Spirit Ruins but is immediately crushed by a Mountain Ogre descendant. He refuses to pay for an expensive in-place revival and returns safely to Illusory Void Island.
• Determined to make progress, he buys Teleportation Talismans and advances in five-kilometer jumps, running between landing points to conserve them. The Spirit Ruins proves lethally hazardous: he is killed by a giant leaf, a bird’s wing-driven wind, a carnivorous plant, and even bird droppings.
• After spending his first ten talismans, Shen Bing buys a hundred more. He covers several hundred kilometers before a gigantic, phoenix-like bird notices him and waits by his corpse. Repeated attempts to teleport away end in immediate deaths, so he logs off rather than spend a costly Nine Heavens Divine Talisman to fight it.
• The next day, the bird is still there. While waiting, Shen Bing checks his quest list and finds that the Immortal Peach pit he planted has sprouted, though its growth is slow.
• At the underground base, he receives six newly prepared bottles of Level 1 Gene-Enhancement Drug from Lu Xian. Shen Bing plans to give doses to Li Xiao and several combatants, and reserve one for researcher Royard to test its effects on intelligence.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing is frustrated and often self-deprecating about dying in absurd ways, but remains determined to cross the Spirit Ruins. He adapts by widening his map view, using teleportation strategically, and conserving his most powerful talismans.
• He balances persistence with caution: rather than waste a thousand-immortal-jade talisman on the enormous bird, he postpones the fight.
• Shen Bing’s thoughts about the peach reveal his hopefulness, even as its slow growth makes him impatient.
• Lu Xian is shown as exceptionally dedicated, working through the night to refine the drug before heading to the company to adjust new equipment. Shen Bing’s plans for Li Xiao, the combatants, and Royard show him coordinating the drug’s distribution and considering applications beyond physical enhancement.

Significant themes

• A hostile, indifferent world: The Spirit Ruins is dangerous not only because of powerful monsters, but because ordinary environmental hazards become lethal at Shen Bing’s scale.
• Persistence and resource management: Progress requires repeated setbacks, careful use of limited teleportation and combat resources, and willingness to keep trying.
• Humility and adaptation: Shen Bing’s deaths expose the gap between his abilities and the Spirit Ruins’ dangers, pushing him to change tactics rather than assume strength is enough.
• Hope and experimentation: The peach sprout and the gene-enhancement drug offer long-term possibilities, while Shen Bing’s plan to test the drug on a researcher reflects his curiosity about its wider effects.

Key plot points and events

• Thorne arrives at Shen Bing’s laboratory with Bernie, Jack, and Rosa. The group is eager to receive the Level 1 Gene-Enhancement Drug after witnessing Thorne’s new strength.
• Shen Bing gives the drug to Bernie, Jack, and the others. Rosa offers herself as his devoted protector, but he assigns her to focus on managing the Underground Base instead.
• After taking the drug, the men recover within minutes and want to spar with Thorne. Shen Bing lets them go, then learns from Qiuqiu that he is late for a meeting about Dragon Scale Security Software.
• Shen Bing reaches his company around eleven. Representatives from the Internet Information Office, accompanied by Secretary Jiang, have been waiting. Gao Jingchuan is also present on behalf of the Military.
• After a friendly exchange, Director Zhao asks whether the state can buy the software’s source code for restricted government use. Shen Bing refuses, explaining that it contains the company’s core artificial-intelligence work.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows confidence in his technology and remains relaxed despite arriving late and facing senior officials. He also balances Rosa’s loyalty with practical responsibilities, keeping her focused on the Underground Base.
• Bernie and Jack express enthusiastic gratitude for the enhancement drug and eagerly anticipate testing their new abilities against Thorne.
• Rosa pledges fierce loyalty to Shen Bing; he appreciates her devotion but does not include her in the upcoming mission.
• Secretary Jiang smooths over Shen Bing’s lateness, while Director Zhao approaches the software negotiations respectfully. Gao Jingchuan teases Shen Bing, revealing the Military’s interest in the product.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and hierarchy: The enhanced group’s devotion contrasts with Shen Bing’s role in directing their duties.
• Power and responsibility: The drug promises a dramatic increase in capability, while Shen Bing decides how to deploy his people.
• Technology, secrecy, and national interest: The state wants access to the software, but Shen Bing protects its AI core as the foundation of his broader ambitions.
• Humor and informality: Shen Bing’s lateness, casual thoughts, and banter soften the formal setting of a high-level government meeting.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing introduces Phantom Immortal Technology’s Intelligent Core, claiming it can think at roughly the level of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old and could power highly capable robots. It already underlies the Dragon Scale Security Software and will support the company’s smart-security platform.
• Director Zhao is impressed and proposes testing the core, then exploring cooperation. Shen agrees to testing but refuses to disclose the core’s source code, while offering the security software’s external source code.
• The officials discuss buying customized, offline versions of Dragon Scale Security Software for critical government departments. Shen initially argues that the public version is already exceptionally secure, but agrees to tailor it after the officials present detailed specifications.
• Director Zhao raises the prospect of applying the Intelligent Core to sixth-generation fighter development. He explains that major powers are pursuing such aircraft and that advanced AI for pilot assistance and drone coordination is a key requirement.

Character developments

• Shen Bing moves from presenting a commercial cybersecurity product to revealing the much greater potential of his AI. Though willing to cooperate, he protects the core’s most sensitive technology. His enthusiasm for military aviation surfaces when sixth-generation fighters are mentioned.
• Director Zhao shifts his attention from purchasing security software to the strategic value of the Intelligent Core, seeing a possible national-defense application.
• Gao Jingchuan recognizes the core’s military potential early, suggesting its use in unmanned aerial systems and helping connect the discussion to fighter development.
• Secretary Jiang and the technical team begin cautiously, then respond pragmatically: they want customized security software and recognize that the AI may merit higher-level attention.

Significant themes

• Real AI versus marketing hype: The chapter contrasts data-driven software with the possibility of genuine flexible, humanlike reasoning.
• Technology as strategic power: The Intelligent Core’s potential extends beyond commercial security to robotics and advanced military systems.
• Secrecy and cooperation: Shen is open to testing and collaboration but draws a firm boundary around the core’s source code.
• Expectations versus reality: Officials arrive prepared to spend heavily, while Shen initially believes the publicly available software may already suffice.

Character interactions

• Shen and Director Zhao negotiate over what can be shared: the security software can be provided and customized, but the Intelligent Core remains confidential.
• The officials’ technical consultant explains why a general-purpose product does not meet their needs, prompting Shen to agree to customization.
• Director Zhao tests the room’s thinking by asking about the core’s greatest use. Gao proposes UAVs, and Shen identifies sixth-generation fighters as the larger possibility.
• The chapter ends with the group focused on the prospect of AI-assisted fighters, while Shen’s excitement signals that this opportunity appeals to him personally.

Key plot points and events

• Secretary Jiang, Director Zhao, Gao Jingchuan, and others discuss whether Phantom Immortal Technology’s Intelligent Core could support a sixth-generation fighter. Shen Bing confidently says it can, though Director Zhao cautions that AI is only one requirement and that major advances in materials, engines, and weapons are also needed.
• Shen Bing reveals that his company has developed new titanium alloys suitable for hypersonic aircraft. Secretary Jiang backs up the company’s credibility by reminding Zhao of its room-temperature superconducting material.
• In the server room, Shen Bing demonstrates the Intelligent Core. Director Zhao is astonished by its capabilities and urges strict protection of its code; Jiang and Gao assure him the company is exceptionally good at safeguarding secrets.
• After lunch, Gao stays behind and gives Shen Bing specifications for superconducting components needed by military departments and national laboratories. Shen agrees to supply ten tonnes for US$500 million, with delivery in a month.
• Gao invites Shen to his birthday gathering that evening. Shen initially refuses, then accepts once he learns the occasion. Gao says they will meet at an entertainment club and tells him not to bring a female companion, prompting Shen to wonder what sort of event is planned.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows confidence in his company’s technology while holding back claims about engine research, which he still needs to adapt for aircraft use. He is blunt and teasing with Gao, but agrees to attend his birthday once he understands the invitation.
• Director Zhao shifts from skepticism to amazement after seeing the AI demonstration, while remaining cautious about the technical challenges of fighter development.
• Secretary Jiang acts as an advocate for Shen and his company, reinforcing their reputation and helping build Zhao’s trust.
• Gao Jingchuan admires Shen despite their competitive banter. He negotiates the materials purchase and persuades Shen to join his birthday celebration.

Significant themes

• Technological ambition and national development: The Intelligent Core and new materials offer hope for advancing Huaxia’s defense capabilities, though progress will require more than AI alone.
• Trust, secrecy, and strategic value: The company’s breakthroughs are valuable enough that protecting them becomes a central concern.
• Friendship through teasing: Shen and Gao’s negotiation and invitation are marked by insults and playful rivalry, but also clear affection and trust.