Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology stages a spectacular starry-sky presentation, then Shen Bing appears and reflects on humanity’s need to advance in response to the alien threat.
• He clarifies that his remarks were personal rather than the event’s main subject, and turns the audience’s attention to transportation as a prerequisite for humanity’s future in space.
• After the crowd complains about cars—especially traffic and pollution—Shen Bing announces the company’s first new-energy vehicle, named Skyflying.
• The vehicle appears on-screen without wheels. Shen explains that it does not drive on the ground: it flies. The audience is left stunned and skeptical, unsure how a wingless, rotorless vehicle could take off.

Character developments

• Shen Bing presents himself as both a visionary focused on humanity’s future and a showman who carefully steers the audience toward his announcement. He uses their complaints about cars to set up the reveal.
• The audience shifts from admiring the spectacle to confusion and disbelief, though many remain impressed by the company’s reputation.

Significant themes

• Humanity must innovate to survive and eventually meet alien civilizations as equals.
• Transportation technology reflects human progress.
• The chapter contrasts bold technological promises with public skepticism: Skyflying’s capabilities sound extraordinary, but the audience has yet to see how they are possible.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing addresses the audience directly, inviting their thoughts on the stars and transportation.
• Audience members respond with jokes, complaints about cars, and questions about the wheel-less vehicle.
• A reporter asks how Skyflying is driven; Shen postpones the explanation, then reveals that it flies rather than travels on the ground.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing unveils Phantom Immortal Technology’s Skyflying sedan, explaining that its anti-gravity system lets it rise without propellers.
• He details its extraordinary specifications: a compact battery storing 500 kWh, an 8,000-kilometer range, and a highly durable, shape-memory γ-1 titanium-alloy body.
• A Washington Post reporter challenges the car’s safety, arguing that an unusually rigid body could make collisions more dangerous. Shen responds that AI-powered autonomous driving can detect hazards a kilometer away, evade collisions, and slow the car to a safe speed—even at relative speeds below 2,000 km/h.
• The reporter compares Shen’s confidence to the Titanic’s “unsinkable” reputation, raising doubts among the audience. Shen suspects the reporter is deliberately trying to undermine him and quietly puts him on his blacklist.
• Watching the livestream, Huaxia’s Chief and senior officials discuss the launch. They expect Phantom Immortal Technology can address technical concerns, but realize the country has no regulatory framework for widespread flying cars. Without new rules, the vehicles may be unable to take off legally.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing presents the car with confidence and showmanship, but remains composed under criticism. The reporter’s attack makes him wary, though he restrains himself rather than reacting openly.
• The reporter acts as a skeptical antagonist, raising a legitimate collision-safety concern but then escalating to a pointed Titanic comparison.
• The Chief, Old Liu, and Old Zhou reveal their shared investment in the project and in Huaxia’s hopes for its automotive industry. Old Liu worries about public trust, while Old Zhou redirects their attention to the practical problem of air-traffic regulation.

Significant themes

• Innovation versus skepticism: Extraordinary technological claims need convincing proof, especially when human safety is involved.
• Technology outpaces regulation: The flying car’s biggest obstacle may not be engineering, but the laws and infrastructure needed to support it.
• Confidence and accountability: Shen’s assurances impress some observers but do not automatically resolve public concerns.
• National ambition: The officials’ reactions show how closely the car’s success is tied to hopes of advancing Huaxia’s automotive industry.

Key plot points and events

• At a Phantom Immortal Technology press event, Shen Bing confronts a Washington Post reporter who accuses the company of misleading consumers about the safety of its Skyflying car.
• Shen rebukes the reporter for taking his earlier remarks out of context, then declines to dwell on the dispute, saying his focus is on developing technology—including weapons to defend Earth from alien invaders.
• He explains that Skyflying has a substantial energy-absorbing structure designed for relative collision speeds of 2,000–3,000 km/h, joking that collisions above that range would be unavoidable.
• Asked about the car’s top speed, Shen reveals three versions: 400 km/h for the standard model, 800 km/h for the premium model, and 1,200 km/h for the luxury model.
• Reporters and online commenters immediately imagine the disruption to road, rail, and air transport, as well as the risk of widespread job losses. Public speculation shifts to the car’s eventual price and availability.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains composed and confident under hostile questioning. He uses precise wording and humor to counter the accusation, while reinforcing Phantom Immortal Technology’s role in protecting the world.
• The American reporter maintains that his challenge is about consumer safety and defends journalists from Shen’s criticism. Shen portrays him as deliberately distorting his earlier statement.
• The press and public move from skepticism about Shen’s safety claims to shock at the car’s announced performance. Online reactions reveal both excitement and anxiety about its social and economic consequences.

Significant themes

• Media conflict and framing: The exchange turns on whether Shen’s earlier claims were misrepresented, and on the tension between scrutiny and sensationalism.
• Technological disruption: Skyflying’s speed and low operating costs could undermine existing transport industries.
• Progress and social cost: The public anticipates convenience and innovation, but also unemployment and industrial upheaval.
• Power and responsibility: Shen invokes Phantom Immortal Technology’s broader role in defending humanity, while the reporter insists that consumer safety still deserves scrutiny.

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Key plot points and events

• At the Skyflying launch, a Frankfurt Daily reporter challenges Shen Bing on the political and regulatory obstacles to operating flying cars internationally.
• Shen explains that the cars use autonomous flight and a global management system to assign safe routes and airspace. He argues that governments will eventually support the technology, adding that history crushes whatever blocks progress—a remark the audience takes as an implicit threat.
• Attendees recognize that Phantom Immortal Technology has leverage over governments through its powerful technology and important products, including cancer treatment, Dragon Scale Intelligence, and Charged Particle Cannons.
• A Huaxia Daily reporter, apparently speaking after receiving official guidance, signals Huaxia’s support and asks about production and pricing. Shen says capacity is still uncertain, but the basic model will be sold below cost while premium versions will be luxury vehicles.
• Shen abruptly declares the launch finished, then surprises the audience by announcing a second product. He calls it “Skyflying” too, describing it as the ultimate edition of the flying-car series. The confused reporters press him to explain what makes it different.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains confident and unruffled, presenting regulation as manageable and hinting that his company has the power to overcome opposition. He also keeps the audience off balance with the abrupt ending and unexpected second announcement.
• The reporters shift from skepticism to intense curiosity. They doubt the flying car’s plausibility, but Phantom Immortal Technology’s record makes them reluctant to dismiss it outright.
• The Huaxia Daily reporter acts as a channel for his country’s supportive stance, then helps keep the awkward presentation moving by asking for clarification.

Significant themes

• Technology versus political power: A breakthrough may be technically ready while regulation and vested interests remain major barriers.
• Corporate influence and coercion: Shen’s optimism about progress carries an undertone of intimidation because his company can withhold essential products and possesses formidable military technology.
• Public doubt versus proven capability: The audience struggles to reconcile an extraordinary claim with the company’s history of delivering disruptive innovations.
• Access and class: Selling the basic model below cost suggests broad adoption, while premium versions remain luxury goods.

Character interactions

• The Frankfurt reporter confronts Shen over policy; Shen answers with technical safeguards and a forceful appeal to historical progress.
• The Huaxia reporter offers a supportive counterpoint and questions Shen about supply and affordability.
• The audience and livestream viewers react with growing confusion when Shen abruptly ends the launch, then announces another product with the same name.
• The Huaxia reporter attempts to restore order by asking how the “ultimate edition” differs, and Shen promises the differences are substantial.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing reveals that the premium “Skyflying” is not merely an upgraded aircraft: it is a spacecraft with different engines, power, and capabilities from the standard model.
• He claims it can travel from Earth to the Moon in four hours, is powered by a miniature nuclear-fission unit, and can make five round trips per refueling. The company says a prototype has already been tested and the spacecraft is in mass production.
• Reporters react with disbelief and excitement, asking about the price, who can buy it, and whether Phantom Immortal Technology will offer lunar-tourism services.
• Shen says the company will announce the price later and places no general limits on buyers, but trips beyond the atmosphere require approval from both the customer’s country and the company. Phantom Immortal will not run tours itself, though travel companies may buy spacecraft for that purpose.
• He then announces the day’s third project: real estate, linking it to the company’s interest in space development. The announcement leaves the audience wondering whether he means property in space—and whether the company can actually deliver it.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains composed and self-assured under intense scrutiny. His extraordinary claims and playful presentation show both confidence in his technology and skill at commanding an audience.
• The reporters shift from professional skepticism to open excitement as the possibility of civilian space travel becomes tangible. One reporter directly challenges Shen’s claim, but Shen answers without taking offense.

Significant themes

• Human ambition and exploration: Shen frames space travel as a continuation of humanity’s age-old desire to reach the stars.
• Technology transforming the impossible: Personal trips to the Moon are presented as a potential consumer reality rather than a state-run achievement.
• Trust, regulation, and risk: Shen insists the product is real while acknowledging that spaceflight requires official approval and safety controls.
• Commercial expansion: The sudden move from spacecraft to real estate hints at a possible new market tied to space development.

Character interactions

• Shen addresses the audience with a dramatic vision of humanity’s future, then fields reporters’ questions about the spacecraft’s credibility, availability, and uses.
• He reassures the skeptical reporter and gives practical answers to the crowd, while encouraging outside travel companies to explore space-tourism businesses.
• His abrupt real-estate announcement jolts the audience and ends the chapter on suspense about Phantom Immortal Technology’s next venture.

Key plot points and events

• At Phantom Immortal Technology’s launch, a Korean reporter challenges Shen Bing’s right to develop the moon, arguing that it belongs to all humanity. Shen counters that territorial claims often rest on being first to occupy a place, applying the same “first come, first served” logic to space.
• Shen outlines plans to make part of the moon habitable, with Earth-like air, gravity, and climate, then sell homes there. The Skyflying Spaceship would make travel between Earth and the moon possible in about five hours.
• The launch’s three major offerings—the Skyflying Car, Skyflying Spaceship, and lunar real estate—capture worldwide attention. The car draws the most interest because Shen promises it could be accessible to ordinary people, though many potential buyers plan to wait for proof of its quality and details about operating rules.
• Secretary Jiang calls Shen after the launch, worried that flying cars could disrupt automotive, transport, aviation, and related industries, threatening millions of livelihoods. Shen argues the transition will be gradual and shifts the discussion toward regulation.
• Jiang says the government plans to establish designated airspace and city flight routes, with guidance developed alongside Phantom Immortal Technology. Officials will meet Shen in Rongcheng that afternoon and aim to finalize rules by night and announce them the next morning.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen is confident and quick-witted: he deflects the reporter’s challenge with a pointed analogy, and calmly reassures Jiang about both the spaceship and the social impact of flying cars.
• The Korean reporter is put on the defensive when Shen’s reasoning turns the reporter’s own historical claim against him.
• Secretary Jiang’s concern reflects the government’s responsibility for workers and social stability. Though initially anxious and irritated, he reveals that the chief is moving quickly to support a regulatory framework.
• Shen is pleased by the government’s speed, but suspects the chief’s rapid deadline is based on knowing Shen already has a draft plan.

Significant themes

• First possession and ownership: The chapter questions who may claim territory, extending familiar arguments about land to outer space.
• Technological progress and social disruption: A major innovation promises convenience and new opportunities but threatens established industries and livelihoods.
• Public uncertainty and unequal access: The public is fascinated by flying cars and lunar living, yet many will wait before buying, while lunar property is likely to begin as a luxury for the wealthy.
• Government and corporate coordination: New technology requires rapid rules, and Shen’s company becomes central to shaping how it will be used.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing thanks the government for supporting Phantom Immortal Technology and promises to deliver proposed regulations that night. He also offers ten Skyflying Spaceships to transport government staff if Huaxia establishes administrative departments on the moon.
• The government accepts his offer. Shen Bing feels reassured that the regulatory framework will be handled, though he still faces a major challenge: scaling production. Gold Island can currently produce only about 20,000 Skyflying Cars, far short of the numbers needed for global demand.
• Shen Bing reflects that he launched the flying car without prior government consultation because time was short and official approval might have delayed the announcement. His plan is already in motion, and he is waiting for others to respond.
• Major automakers, including General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen, recognize that the Skyflying Car could make conventional cars obsolete. They expect governments to adapt infrastructure and policy as flying cars spread, leaving traditional manufacturers with little choice but to exit the market or follow Phantom Immortal Technology’s standards.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing shows both boldness and pragmatism: he acted first to avoid delays, then offers the government generous support to secure cooperation. His reciprocal approach—repaying support with a substantial gift—helps reassure Secretary Jiang.
• Secretary Jiang accepts Shen Bing’s offer and agrees to report the regulatory matter to the Chief, teasing him about giving away expensive vehicles before making any sales.
• Automotive executives shift from alarm to strategic calculation. Rather than resist a company they believe is too powerful to challenge, they begin considering how to join the emerging flying-car industry.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: The Skyflying Car threatens to reshape transportation and render conventional cars and roads increasingly unnecessary.
• Power and influence: Phantom Immortal Technology’s capabilities and its moon ambitions blur the line between a private company and a force of national importance.
• Adaptation over resistance: Established automakers see that the practical response is to follow the new standard rather than oppose it.
• Reciprocity and cooperation: Shen Bing uses generosity and mutual benefit to strengthen ties with the government.

Plot points and events

• At a senior-management meeting, Shen Bing asks the company to coordinate with transport authorities on the Skyflying Car operating plan. He admits that he held back several product announcements because Phantom Immortal Technology cannot yet produce enough stock.
• Thorne calls with findings from the African wormhole. It leads somewhere in the universe and has a safe passage window lasting two hours every thirty hours. Living creatures can cross during that window, while inanimate objects appear to require far more energy.
• Master Qiao’s research suggests that Earth’s organisms naturally produce a special dark matter that resonates with the wormhole. Shen Bing suspects this may explain both Earth’s unusual potential for evolution and the Corgi Empire’s interest in abducting humans.
• Experiments indicate that the wormhole’s far side has roughly Earth-like temperature and pressure but lacks oxygen; animals can survive only briefly. Shen approves a manned investigation, using convicted serious criminals, and decides to inspect the site himself the next morning.
• Shen orders a landing area built near the wormhole. Thorne mistakes the practical instruction for an attempt to show off.
• Back at the office, Yan Lexuan argues that the company should prioritize expanding production capacity and meeting demand for existing products before entering still more industries.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is energized by the discovery and quickly connects the dark matter to cultivation, biological evolution, and the aliens’ motives. He remains curious and decisive, though he also insists on personally verifying the wormhole.
• Thorne is enthusiastic and eager to carry out Shen’s plans. His joking interpretation of the landing-site order contrasts with Shen’s practical reasoning.
• Yan Lexuan shows admiration for Shen but gives him candid business advice, emphasizing sustainable growth over rapid expansion.
• Master Qiao’s research provides the key explanation for why living beings can pass through the wormhole more easily than ordinary objects.

Significant themes

• Scientific discovery and cosmic mystery: The wormhole and dark matter raise questions about life, evolution, and extraterrestrial motives.
• The value and vulnerability of life: Earth’s organisms may possess a rare property that makes them strategically valuable to alien civilizations.
• Ambition versus capacity: Phantom Immortal Technology’s rapid innovation is limited by its ability to manufacture and supply its products.
• Practicality versus appearances: Shen’s decisions are driven by logistics, even when others read them as displays of power.

Plot and key events

• Shen Bing argues to Yan Lexuan that his company should prioritize rapid technological development over maximizing short-term profits. Humanity needs to prepare for dangers beyond Earth, including potentially more powerful alien civilizations.
• He asks whether Yan would follow him to work on another planet; she readily says she would.
• Several major car companies—including Ford, General Motors, and Toyota—request meetings with Shen, apparently hoping to negotiate together. He declines to meet personally and asks General Manager Wang to handle discussions, acknowledging that the companies can still be valuable business partners.
• News spreads that Shen plans to visit Siniel, where his parents are staying. Though outsiders assume the trip is mainly personal or charitable, Siniel’s leaders see a rare chance to attract Phantom Immortal Technology’s support.
• Siniel confirms that the company has applied to fly to Kansang Town, which lacks an airport. Shen’s team says it will manage the landing itself. The President urges his advisers to find a way to win Shen’s interest and attract investment, despite the difficulty.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing reveals his long-term, expansionist vision: technological progress and humanity’s survival matter more than immediate revenue. He is confident, pragmatic, and willing to delegate routine negotiations.
• Yan Lexuan shows loyalty to Shen and comes to understand why he prioritizes speed: humanity must grow stronger before future threats arrive.
• Siniel’s President and advisers recognize how much influence Shen’s company could bring and debate how to make the most of his visit.

Significant themes

• Long-term survival versus short-term profit: Shen accepts lost earnings if rapid development better prepares humanity for the future.
• Ambition and uncertainty: Earth is portrayed as only the beginning, with unknown civilizations and dangers awaiting in space.
• Opportunity amid hardship: Siniel’s leaders hope a visit intended for personal reasons may offer a path out of poverty, though securing Shen’s support will be difficult.

Key plot points and events

• Siniel publicly welcomes Shen Bing and offers support, hoping to attract investment from Phantom Immortal Technology. The gesture is sincere, but the country’s announcement draws little attention, and few expect Shen to invest there.
• In Kansang Town, residents are recovering from a deadly outbreak after Phantom Immortal Technology’s medical team and equipment arrive. Grateful to their benefactors, the townspeople try to help prepare for Shen’s visit.
• Phantom Immortal Technology rapidly levels a hilly area into a runway with specialized vehicles. Its aircraft needs no conventional airport facilities, since it can land precisely under AI control.
• Siniel’s president arrives with his guard to welcome Shen. The townspeople initially pay little attention to him, but cheer once they learn he has come to honor their benefactor.
• Shen’s enormous aircraft descends vertically, astonishing the president and his entourage. Shen then exits with his companions, bringing the chapter to a close.

Character developments and interactions

• The townspeople are portrayed as modest, generous, and deeply grateful. Their willingness to help ranges from preparing food and gifts to jokingly considering offering the town’s prettiest girl.
• Siniel’s president demonstrates sincere respect for Shen, while also hoping his visit might bring investment. The aircraft’s capabilities impress him, though he recognizes that Phantom Immortal Technology is displaying power far beyond anything Siniel can match.
• Shen’s father proudly praises his son to the president, then quickly softens his claim about their parenting when his wife coughs.
• The president’s respectful greeting to Shen’s father—though awkwardly phrased in Chinese—creates a warm, lightly comic exchange.

Significant themes

• Power imbalance: Phantom Immortal Technology’s wealth and technology dwarf those of even sovereign governments, making Shen’s visit politically significant.
• Gratitude and community: Kansang’s residents respond to the medical aid with heartfelt loyalty and hospitality.
• Technological spectacle: The vertical-landing aircraft and rapidly built runway underscore the company’s extraordinary capabilities.
• Sincerity and humility: Siniel’s welcome and the townspeople’s gratitude are genuine, even though their gestures are small beside the immense power of Shen and his company.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing arrives in Siniel and is greeted by President Webers, who hopes to discuss business. Shen politely brushes him off, saying he has come to see his parents; the president leaves after inviting him to talk later.
• Shen’s parents’ unexpected success in locating the wormhole lets them tease him. Shen urges them to return home, ostensibly because of alien danger, but really to keep them safe while he investigates the wormhole’s unknown risks.
• Meanwhile, Huaxia quickly publishes interim regulations for the Skyflying Car. Other influential countries—including the United States, Russia, and Japan—soon issue similar rules, most largely based on Huaxia’s version.
• Phantom Immortal Technology begins selling the car. Crowds gather to admire its design, but few people queue to buy one, partly because its price has not been announced and a car is a major purchase. A handful of early customers debate the low turnout.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains focused on the wormhole and keeps his real purpose for visiting Africa private. He shows concern for his parents by sending them away before beginning his investigation.
• Shen’s father is proud of his son’s power and success, and suspects he has hidden defenses capable of protecting Earth. Their teasing reflects an affectionate but competitive relationship.
• Shen’s mother ends the dispute by agreeing to go home; her decision prompts her husband to stop arguing.
• President Webers tries to build a relationship with Shen but accepts being dismissed diplomatically.
• The customers outside the store show mixed reactions: some are cautious about purchasing, while the first person in line confidently defends Phantom Immortal Technology.

Significant themes

• Family care and trust: Shen disguises his true reason for sending his parents home, while his father’s confidence in him rests on deep familiarity and an unspoken understanding.
• Technology reshaping global power: The rapid international adoption of flying-car regulations suggests the Skyflying Car’s expansion is becoming difficult to resist.
• Government efficiency and influence: Huaxia’s unusually fast regulations attract praise and reveal Phantom Immortal Technology’s influence.
• Public excitement versus practical caution: The car’s futuristic appeal draws crowds, but uncertainty over price and the seriousness of the purchase keep buyers hesitant.

Key plot points and events

• Crowds gather at a Phantom Immortal Technology store to preorder its new Skyflying Car. A skeptic doubts the company can make good cars, while a fan insists its track record makes the product worth trusting.
• An Intelligent Robot welcomes customers and directs them to the price board. The three versions cost 200,000, 2 million, and 20 million yuan—simple, sharply tiered prices that surprise the crowd.
• Many see the standard model as astonishingly affordable given that the car can fly and has exceptional range and speed. Li Xin immediately decides to preorder two.
• His girlfriend, Xin Yue, objects: her mother expects him to buy a BMW before approving their marriage. Li Xin argues the Skyflying Car is plainly superior, but Xin Yue worries her mother will reject it as an unknown domestic brand.
• A store Robot assures her that a flying car will impress people and offers a test drive, noting that a prototype is available at the store.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xin moves from eager supporter to firm buyer, even when his choice risks conflict with his girlfriend’s family. His loyalty to Phantom Immortal Technology is tied partly to his family’s gratitude: his father received its cancer treatment.
• Xin Yue is torn between recognizing the car’s appeal and fearing her mother’s disapproval. Her concern reveals how strongly she feels constrained by family expectations.
• The skeptic voices doubts about domestic automaking, though the company’s reputation has clearly weakened his confidence.
• The Intelligent Robot remains courteous and practical, countering objections with a concrete offer to test the product.
• The crowd shifts from debating whether the car is credible to reacting with astonishment at its price and performance claims.

Significant themes

• Innovation versus established reputation: Phantom Immortal Technology’s record inspires confidence, but some customers still doubt a domestic company’s ability to make cars.
• Practical value versus status: The argument over the Skyflying Car and BMW contrasts performance and usefulness with brand prestige and social approval.
• Technology challenging convention: A car that flies could redefine what people consider a respectable or practical vehicle.
• Family pressure and personal choice: Li Xin’s purchase becomes a test of whether he will follow his own judgment or conform to his future mother-in-law’s demands.

Plot points and events

• Customers at Phantom Immortal Technology’s experience store learn that a Skyflying Car is available for test drives. While waiting, they can inspect specifications and independent test reports, which confirm striking capabilities—including a top speed of 1,200 km/h and highly rated autonomous driving.
• Li Xin and his girlfriend, Xin Yue, are escorted to the store’s hidden eighth-floor garage. They inspect the futuristic craft, then use its holographic navigation system to fly to Xinjing County and back.
• The car’s quiet, smooth flight and its ability to cancel the felt effects of acceleration astonish them. During the trip, the AI attributes this to advanced applications of anti-gravity technology.
• Xin Yue enthusiastically agrees to buy a car, saying she will elope with Li Xin if her mother refuses. Li Xin proposes ordering two, but the store tells him company policy currently allows only one car per customer.
• Seeing Li Xin’s excitement after the test drive, the other customers rush to join the queue.

Character development and interactions

• Li Xin shifts from anxious about Xin Yue’s mother’s approval to completely convinced by the car. He becomes eager to buy and imagines how it will simplify their commutes.
• Xin Yue changes from skepticism to fascination, then openly commits to buying the car and supporting her relationship with Li Xin.
• Their playful exchange reveals both their affection and their shared excitement. The robot assistants and onboard AI guide the experience efficiently, while the waiting customers’ curiosity turns into strong demand.

Significant themes

• Technology overcoming skepticism: firsthand experience and credible test results persuade customers more effectively than promotional claims.
• A futuristic transformation of everyday life: the flying car promises to eliminate traffic and make travel effortless.
• Spectacle and commercial appeal: the car’s dramatic design and capabilities quickly turn bystanders into eager buyers.

Key plot points and events

• Li Xin and Xin Yue try to reserve a Skyflying Car but learn that only one hundred standard models, five advanced models, and one luxury model can be reserved each day. The queue is already longer than the daily quota.
• They decide to hold their place anyway. Li Xin completes the reservation paperwork and pays the required fifty-percent deposit while Xin Yue joins the back of the line.
• Videos of the car’s test drives spread worldwide. Customers abandon conventional dealerships, and automakers realize that a comparatively affordable flying car could upend the industry. They hope their pending talks with Illusion Immortal Technology might help them avoid collapse.
• In a cave near Kansang Town, Shen Bing and his team investigate a mysterious portal. They bring four bound human traffickers to send through it as scouts, ordering them to report everything they find.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xin is pragmatic: despite recognizing how hopeless the queue looks, he commits to securing a car. Xin Yue feels guilty for delaying them but proposes staying in line.
• The waiting customers are intensely competitive, afraid to leave even briefly for a test drive and lose their place.
• Automakers’ executives shift from confidence to anxious damage control, accepting that they may no longer dominate the market.
• Shen Bing is cold and coercive. He offers the traffickers a chance to live, but only if they enter the portal and investigate. Thorne explains that they were chosen because of their crimes; the captives respond with fear and desperation.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: The Skyflying Car’s launch threatens to transform transportation and devastate established automakers.
• Scarcity and consumer frenzy: Limited reservations turn buying the car into a desperate competition.
• Power and exploitation: Shen Bing uses condemned criminals as expendable explorers, raising the question of how far the team will go to investigate the unknown.
• The unknown: The portal introduces a dangerous mystery that the team does not yet understand.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing and his team force a captured criminal to cross the wormhole, threatening him with death if he refuses. They strip him because the wormhole permits living Earth organisms and a hemp rope—but not his synthetic clothing—to pass.
• Thorne throws the man through with the rope tied around his waist. Luo Fei times the crossing and carefully records the wormhole’s effects.
• After thirty seconds, Thorne pulls him back. The man is alive but badly shaken, and reports seeing enormous skeletal remains on the other side.
• He describes a barren, rocky environment thousands of meters below him, with little or no oxygen, somewhat cooler temperatures, and a star that appears about three times the size of Earth’s sun.
• As he finishes answering questions, he suddenly turns pale, cries out, and collapses in pain.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing uses intimidation as punishment for the criminals’ past crimes, but stops Thorne from beating the witness so he can hear the full account. The possibility of a world beyond the wormhole captures his interest.
• Thorne handles the dangerous test bluntly, keeping the rope ready and threatening the man when he delays or seems unresponsive.
• Luo Fei approaches the wormhole as a researcher, timing and documenting the crossing and asking systematic questions about the environment.
• Li Xiao points out that the man might have needed oxygen, prompting Luo Fei to explain the practical limits of transporting equipment.
• The captive shifts from terror and confusion to a more detailed report, but his sudden collapse leaves the team without a clear explanation of what happened.

Significant themes

• Scientific exploration and danger: The team probes an unknown world despite lacking basic information or suitable equipment.
• Power and coercion: The test is conducted through threats and force, reflecting how Shen Bing’s authority overrides the captive’s consent.
• The vastness of the unknown: The colossal remains suggest life—or past life—on a world radically different from Earth, raising questions about its nature and inhabitants.
• Opportunity mixed with uncertainty: Shen Bing sees the wormhole as potentially granting access to an entire world, but the dangerous conditions and the witness’s sudden pain make that prospect unsettling.

Key plot points and events

• A captive who spent thirty seconds beyond the wormhole returns gravely ill and dies. Master Qiao reveals that an invisible substance, C-1 dark matter, infected him and irreversibly damaged his cells.
• Luo Fei explains that C-1 threatens ordinary humans, but not Shen Bing, Thorne, or himself. His theory is that Earth’s living creatures contain α-1 dark matter, which can be activated by gene-enhancement drugs and bodily training. Once activated, it removes the human substance that C-1 fuses with, making enhanced people resistant.
• C-1 could theoretically endanger humanity, but the amount entering Earth is limited and its spread is constrained unless material is continually brought through the wormhole.
• Luo Fei proposes giving the three remaining captives gene-enhancement drugs before sending them to explore the other side, while also preparing oxygen tanks and a four-thousand-meter rope. He wants to study C-1; Clarence is in charge of investigating the animal remains found there.
• Shen Bing agrees and supplies three doses. Thorne forces the drugs on the captives, who soon pass out in pain.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing moves from alarm over the captive’s death to asking practical questions about C-1’s effects and the danger to humanity. He accepts Luo Fei’s plan and provides the drugs.
• Luo Fei demonstrates his growing scientific authority, presenting a theory about dark matter and proposing further wormhole exploration. His interest is especially focused on C-1.
• Master Qiao identifies the infection and displays C-1, but admits he does not understand why it spares the enhanced group. He had also protected the other captives from exposure.
• Thorne carries out Shen Bing’s orders despite grumbling, forcibly administering the drugs to the captives.
• The captives, unable to understand the group’s Chinese discussion, panic after witnessing their companion die; they do not realize Master Qiao has protected them from immediate infection.

Significant themes

• Human evolution and adaptation: Enhancement may protect people from threats that are fatal to ordinary humans.
• Scientific curiosity versus human cost: The team pursues knowledge of an alien world, while using captives as explorers and exposing them to danger.
• Limits of understanding and control: The characters can identify C-1 and devise safeguards, but its full mechanism remains uncertain.
• Fear and unequal knowledge: The captives’ terror is intensified by their inability to understand what is happening or why.

Key plot points

• The Blade Mercenary Corps quickly supplies ropes and specialized liquid-oxygen units for an expedition through the Portal.
• Three captives wake after receiving a strengthening drug. One impulsively attacks Shen Bing, but Shen Bing knocks him back effortlessly; the other two decide that resisting would be suicidal.
• Thorne orders the three men to tie themselves to ropes and jump through the Portal to explore the world beyond. He warns that it opens thousands of meters above the ground and promises oxygen equipment will follow.
• The men arrive in an oxygen-free void and begin to suffocate. Master Qiao crosses through, catches their ropes and the oxygen units, and tells them to put the equipment on before returning.
• Suspended above the ground, the men spot the gigantic skeletal remains their dead companion had described.
• Master Qiao’s brief round trip consumes more than half his stored energy—nearly fifty million kilowatt-hours—underscoring the immense cost of Portal travel.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains calm and firmly in control, while Thorne directs the operation and manages the captives through threats and reassurances.
• Two captives show caution and self-preservation; the third lets his new strength go to his head and pays for it. After Shen Bing’s warning, he submits.
• The explorers’ fear deepens when they witness Master Qiao’s transformation and supernatural abilities. Their sense of defeat shifts into stunned recognition that they are dealing with beings far beyond their understanding.
• Master Qiao acts efficiently and without sentiment, prioritizing the men’s survival by delivering oxygen.

Significant themes

• Impulse versus judgment: The title’s lesson is dramatized by the attacker’s failed attempt, while his companions survive by thinking ahead.
• Power and control: The captives’ temporary strength does not change who holds authority; their captors’ greater abilities keep them compliant.
• Exploration at a cost: The expedition opens access to a strange world, but the risks are severe and even a short Portal journey consumes staggering amounts of energy.
• The limits of understanding: The men struggle to interpret the Portal, the oxygenless environment, and Master Qiao’s abilities, emphasizing how alien this new world is.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing prepares to explore the world beyond the wormhole. Because only living things from Earth can cross without extra energy, farming and livestock may be easier to establish there than other forms of development. Electronic equipment has failed to function after passing through, so the team plans to investigate the cause.
• Shen orders the returning explorers’ memories to be read and reconstructed, since they could not bring back working camera footage. He refuses to risk sending Master Qiao through, despite the artisan’s usefulness, because he is uniquely valuable.
• Shen meets Siniel’s President Webers and agrees to consider investing there. He later explains to Li Xiao that investment could disguise supply shipments and help Siniel prosper if the wormhole becomes a major route to the Otherworld.
• Public opinion turns against Phantom Immortal Technology’s “Skyflying” sedan. Online posts from car owners argue that the rapid technological shift devalues their recent purchases and accuse the company of pursuing monopoly and profit. Calls to boycott the car begin gaining support.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing balances caution with long-term ambition: he protects Master Qiao, delays development until the Otherworld is better understood, and recognizes Siniel’s strategic value. He flatters Webers to keep negotiations open, then explains his reasoning to Li Xiao.
• Li Xiao questions the value of investing in Siniel, but understands Shen’s broader plan once it is explained.
• President Webers uses hospitality and favorable investment terms to court Shen, and is pleased when Shen signs a memorandum of intent.
• Luo Fei supports Shen’s plan to use a Consciousness-Reading Device to learn what the explorers saw.
• Shen also checks on a separate quest in the Gate to the Immortal Realm, but finds no suitable task and remains frustrated by its slow progress.

Significant themes

• Risk versus progress: Shen wants to develop the Otherworld but prioritizes information and safeguards over rushing ahead.
• Strategic foresight: Siniel’s current lack of infrastructure matters less to Shen than its control of the wormhole and its potential future importance.
• Technological disruption and backlash: A transition to new technology may benefit society overall while leaving individuals feeling cheated or economically threatened.
• Changing public attitudes: As Phantom Immortal Technology reshapes daily life and geopolitics, the world adapts—but resistance grows alongside acceptance.

Key plot points

• The Skyflying sedan’s launch triggers an online backlash from people who feel their recent car purchases have become poor investments. Some argue that Phantom Immortal Technology should have announced its plans sooner, raised the car’s price, or limited production; others accuse the critics of selfishness and defend the company’s right to sell its invention.
• The dispute escalates into a major internet flame war, with many watching to see how the company will respond.
• At headquarters, General Manager Wang Sheng tells his secretary Liu that the online outrage is likely being deliberately stirred up by frightened rivals. He believes Shen Bing would either ignore the campaign or retaliate rather than waste time explaining. Wang confirms that representatives of major carmakers have been invited to a meeting and plans to attend.
• Shen Bing and Li Xiao return to the cave to await the explorers sent through the wormhole. Less than an hour later, the rope hanging through it begins to move, suggesting someone is pulling from the other side.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Sheng shows confidence and a hard-edged understanding of the company’s chairman, Shen Bing. He reads the backlash as organized pressure rather than genuine public concern.
• Liu, still relatively new to the company, favors a cautious, explanatory response. Wang challenges his assumptions and hints at a more forceful strategy.
• Shen Bing is focused on the wormhole expedition and impatient for news. He and Li Xiao wait with Thorne and the others, who have maintained their watch overnight.
• Thorne explains that the explorers’ limited oxygen means they cannot stay away indefinitely.

Significant themes

• Public backlash and perceived loss: People may blame a company for disrupting their plans, even when they are not forced to adopt its new product.
• Online outrage and manipulation: Anonymity and coordinated agitation can turn individual grievances into a widespread campaign.
• Innovation versus market stability: The debate pits rapid technological progress against calls for caution, testing, and protection of established industries.
• Power and response: Wang’s discussion raises the question of whether a company should answer criticism with explanations—or confront the interests behind it.