Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• Phantom Immortal Technology shifts its priorities from maximizing profits to promoting healthy global economic and technological development. Shen Bing believes that hoarding wealth—or monopolizing every breakthrough—would ultimately harm both society and the company.
• The company identifies materials and precision as the main constraints on technological progress. After Shen Bing proposes releasing selected technologies, its executives spend two days compiling a list of more than a hundred candidates, including graphics-processing and CCD-chip technologies.
• The technologies will not be released immediately: the company plans to consult national authorities, since many proposals require government coordination.
• On October 21, Shen Bing flies to Kyoto with Li Xiao and Yan Lexuan to discuss the plan with government officials. Secretary Jiang meets them and jokes about wanting to ride in the company’s Skyflying car; the chapter ends with Jiang noting that Kyoto’s demand far exceeds the number of cars sold there.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing displays a broader, long-term vision, arguing that sharing technology can strengthen humanity and serve the company’s future interests. He reassures Yan Lexuan that Earth-based competitors are no longer on the company’s level, while teasing her about keeping up with him.
• Yan Lexuan voices practical concerns that released technologies could help competitors surpass Phantom Immortal Technology. Shen Bing’s explanation—that the company’s future lies in transforming other worlds and preparing for aliens—leaves her partly convinced but still uncertain.
• Li Xiao supports Shen Bing’s perspective, confidently asserting that no earthly company could overtake them, even with access to their current technologies.
• Secretary Jiang maintains a friendly, teasing rapport with Shen Bing, though their joke about the Skyflying also underscores its popularity and limited availability.

Significant themes

• Sharing versus monopolizing: Technology transfer is presented as a way to stimulate wider progress rather than merely protect corporate dominance.
• Long-term thinking: Shen Bing treats immediate profits and earthly rivals as less important than humanity’s future and the company’s larger ambitions.
• Scale and perspective: The chapter contrasts ordinary companies’ competition with Phantom Immortal Technology’s increasingly planetary—and extraterrestrial—goals.

Key plot points

• Secretary Jiang envies Shen Bing’s rare Skyflying Car. Shen offers him a purchase slot at full price, then reveals his own transformed vehicle, Old Ban, which can now fly openly.
• On the ride to meet the Chief, Secretary Jiang samples Shen’s extraordinary grapes and dates. Though initially skeptical of their claimed health benefits, he trusts Shen’s reputation and gratefully accepts some to take home.
• At the Chief’s office, Shen presents a list of more than a hundred advanced technologies and announces that Phantom Immortal Technology plans to stop expanding into those fields and transfer the technologies to others.
• Alarmed, the Chief and Secretary Jiang wonder whether Shen is ill or in trouble. Shen reassures them and explains that his company’s growth could concentrate too much wealth, harming the wider economy—and eventually the company itself.
• Shen proposes dividing the technologies among state-selected priorities, domestic-company bidding, and a worldwide auction. The Chief admires his perspective, while Secretary Jiang questions how the plan fits with Shen’s concern about wealth concentration.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains generous and self-assured, but reveals a broader sense of responsibility: he is willing to give up control of valuable technologies to prevent his company from dominating the economy.
• Secretary Jiang moves from envy of Shen’s car to astonishment at his hidden luxuries and trust in the unusual food Shen offers. His final question shows he is thinking critically about the implications of Shen’s plan.
• The Chief shifts from confusion and concern about Shen’s sudden announcement to respect for his reasoning, though he still probes how the transfer will work.
• Yan Lexuan is nervous at her first meeting with the Chief but handles the presentation professionally.

Significant themes

• Wealth and responsibility: Unchecked corporate dominance may harm society as well as the company itself.
• Trust and credibility: Shen’s past breakthroughs make even extraordinary claims about his private resources seem plausible.
• Generosity and restraint: Shen shares rare benefits and technologies, while choosing not to expand into every possible market.
• Misinterpretation and humor: The officials mistake Shen’s decision to give things away for a sign that he is dying, creating a comic misunderstanding.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing reassures the Chief and Secretary Jiang that the enormous proceeds from his technology offerings will be reinvested in society, likely through charity.
• The Chief says experts will review the technologies and select roughly a dozen categories for the country, with the rest offered at auction. He promises fair compensation for the selected items.
• The Chief asks whether the Body-Strengthening Exercise’s Second Set should be released to the public. Shen Bing agrees, but says later sets will remain private because players will be able to gain physical enhancements through Phantom Immortal Technology’s upcoming virtual-reality game.
• Shen Bing reports that preparations for lunar development are ready: the company will choose a site and improve its soil to support settlement. The Chief mentions that the country’s ten Skyflying aircraft are being treasured, and that people are eager to defend future lunar territory.
• After returning from Kyoto, Shen Bing is summoned to Gold Island, where the company’s first true spaceship has been completed. The island has expanded into a vast, largely underwater industrial and residential complex, with capacity to build a fleet.
• Shen Bing decides there is no need to conceal the achievement. Before launching, he plans to call the Chief, both to inform him and to reassure the country about the promised spaceship.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and generous, presenting technological progress as beneficial to society while also advancing his company. He now feels secure enough to share major achievements openly.
• The Chief shows a marked shift from caution to confidence: with Huaxia now far ahead technologically, he supports wider public access to the exercise and discusses lunar ambitions enthusiastically.
• Secretary Jiang and the Chief listen carefully to Shen Bing’s plans and trust him to use the technology and its proceeds responsibly.
• Difu reports that the spaceship is ready whenever Shen Bing gives the order.
• Shen Bing and the Chief maintain a cooperative relationship built on trust, shared national ambitions, and business commitments.

Significant themes

• Technology and public benefit: Shen Bing intends for wealth and innovation to benefit society, not merely his company.
• Confidence and openness: Huaxia’s growing strength makes it less necessary to guard every advantage as a secret.
• Cooperation and ambition: The country and Phantom Immortal Technology work together toward public fitness, lunar settlement, and spaceflight.
• Expansion: The chapter moves from sharing technologies on Earth to preparing for human settlement and a space fleet.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing tells the Chief that Phantom Immortal Technology has completed its first true spaceship, Hope, and expects to launch it within a month—though the maiden voyage is planned for the next day.
• He explains that Hope can reach sub-light speed and will initially test its systems and travel throughout the Solar System to collect samples and data for future colonization.
• The Chief eagerly offers government personnel to train alongside Shen Bing’s crew. Shen agrees to admit up to a hundred people and permits them access throughout the ship.
• Shen orders preparations for takeoff, including accommodations for the government team and the assignment of researchers and a hundred enhanced combat personnel.
• The chapter reveals Hope’s extraordinary scale and capabilities: it is about 500 meters long, carries a simulated ecosystem with extensive farmland, and is powered by five fusion reactors. It also has charged-particle cannons and an energy shield, and can gather fuel during its travels.
• News of the ship’s maiden voyage is announced on national television, stunning the public. Viewers question what makes Hope a “true spaceship,” then grow intrigued, recalling Phantom Immortal Technology’s history of exceeding expectations.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and matter-of-fact about a breakthrough of immense significance. He is also more open to public attention than the Chief expects, agreeing to let the government and the public witness the project.
• The Chief moves from wary curiosity to excitement, especially when he learns Hope can travel at sub-light speed. He sees the voyage as a morale-boosting event and quickly arranges for government personnel to participate.
• Difu follows Shen’s orders, preparing the vessel and its crew without raising objections.
• Shen and the Chief share a cooperative relationship: the Chief seeks information and government involvement, while Shen grants access and offers training opportunities.

Significant themes

• Technological transformation: Hope represents a leap from aircraft and probes to genuine interstellar-capable spaceflight.
• Public awe and skepticism: The announcement initially confuses and provokes viewers, but Phantom Immortal Technology’s reputation makes them willing to believe it may deliver another breakthrough.
• Cooperation and transparency: Shen brings government personnel aboard and allows broad access, suggesting collaboration rather than secrecy.
• Preparation for humanity’s future: The ship’s research mission, self-sustaining systems, and sample collection establish the groundwork for Solar System exploration and eventual colonization.

Plot points and events

• As speculation about Phantom Immortal Technology’s spaceship, Hope, spreads online, people debate its design, size, and power source. Most expect it to be smaller than a nuclear-powered aircraft and assume it will use nuclear energy.
• Shen Bing returns to Dragon Lake Ring Island to have dinner with Yun Xue and her companion, planning to return for the launch the next day.
• On launch morning, huge numbers of people watch the live broadcast. Reporter Xiao Ran reveals that she is inside Hope’s command center, which she says occupies only a tiny portion of the ship.
• Xiao Ran takes viewers through the spaceship. Its immense, futuristic form stuns the audience: it is roughly the size of two Great Pyramids combined and taller than the largest pyramid.
• She begins to explain why she believes the enormous vessel can fly, directing the camera toward a telling detail—but the excerpt ends before it is revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and focused on the launch, while his earlier vision of humanity reaching the stars gains renewed significance.
• Xiao Ran is visibly excited but also skilled at guiding viewers’ attention, turning their skepticism into amazement with a tour of the ship.
• The public shifts from imagining what Hope might look like to confronting the reality of its extraordinary scale. Xiao Ran’s claims initially provoke disbelief, then excitement.

Significant themes

• Human ambition and exploration: Hope embodies the possibility of humanity entering the “sea of stars.”
• Technological achievement: The ship’s sheer size and human construction are presented as remarkable even before its ability to fly is confirmed.
• Expectation versus reality: Online guesses prove inadequate when the public sees the actual vessel.
• Collective wonder: The launch captures public attention across countries and languages, creating a shared moment of anticipation.

Key plot points and events

• A live camera close-up reveals that the enormous spaceship Hope is hovering above the ground, confirming that Phantom Immortal Technology’s anti-gravity system can lift a vessel far larger than its cars or aircraft.
• Host Xiao Ran introduces the ship’s interior, explaining that it has 38 decks and more than 5,000 mu of usable floor space—nearly nine square kilometers.
• She takes viewers to deck 19, part of the “material production area,” where they discover a lush vegetable farm. The ship also contains orchards and other food-growing spaces.
• Xiao Ran explains that the Hope is designed as a connected, closed-loop ecosystem, allowing it to sustain long journeys without relying entirely on stored supplies.
• The tour continues through the living and leisure areas, showing that life aboard the ship can be far more comfortable than the traditionally austere image of space travel.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Ran acts as an enthusiastic guide, explaining the ship’s features while acknowledging that she does not know all the technical details herself.
• Viewers shift from amazement at the ship’s scale and anti-gravity capabilities to surprise—and skepticism—at its extensive farming facilities.
• Online commenters joke that Shen, the scientist behind the technology, is a foodie who designed the ecosystem partly to ensure access to fresh ingredients. Their speculation connects the ship’s gardens with the earlier success of his cooking robots.

Significant themes

• Technological wonder: The hovering Hope demonstrates how far anti-gravity technology has advanced.
• Self-sufficiency and sustainability: The ship’s farmland and integrated ecosystem are presented as essential for long-term space travel.
• Comfort versus austerity: The tour challenges assumptions that astronauts must live in cramped, basic conditions.
• Public perception and humor: Viewers recognize the practical value of the ship’s design but teasingly suspect that personal appetites may have influenced it.

Key plot points and events

• Reporter Xiao Ran reveals she is staying aboard Hope as its onboard journalist, promising viewers continuing live coverage of the maiden voyage. Her decision makes the voyage feel more personal to the public, who now worry about her safety as well as anticipate seeing space firsthand.
• The broadcast switches to reporter Wang Xin interviewing Shen Bing. Viewers complain that they would rather keep watching Xiao Ran and tease Shen Bing, whose success makes them feel inadequate.
• Shen Bing reveals that Mars is only Hope’s first stop. The voyage may continue to Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, the Kuiper Belt, and potentially the Oort Cloud, though its overall aim is to explore the Solar System.
• Wang is caught off guard by the mention of the Oort Cloud. Shen explains that it is a hypothesized region containing many inactive comets, and says Hope may help determine whether it exists.
• Asked how long the trip will take, Shen turns the question toward the extraordinary speed of Hope, setting up further discussion of the spaceship’s capabilities.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Ran shifts from tour guide to participant, showing courage and confidence by remaining aboard despite the risks.
• Wang Xin begins as a prepared interviewer but is surprised by the voyage’s scale and candidly admits what she doesn’t know.
• Shen Bing presents himself as calm, proud, and knowledgeable, answering Wang’s questions while using them to highlight Hope’s ambition and technology.
• The public’s attitude changes: Xiao Ran’s familiar presence makes the anonymous passengers more human, while online commenters mix admiration, anxiety, and envy.

Significant themes

• Risk and courage: A maiden voyage into space is uncertain, yet Xiao Ran willingly joins it.
• Public fascination with exploration: The broadcast offers people a way to experience the unknown from Earth.
• Limits of knowledge: The Oort Cloud remains hypothetical, underscoring how much of the Solar System is still unexplored.
• Ambition and technological progress: Hope’s proposed journey reaches far beyond familiar destinations, suggesting a bold new era of exploration.

Key plot points and events

• During a live interview, Shen Bing explains that the Hope is powered by five nuclear fusion reactors and can eventually reach sub-light speed.
• He activates the ship remotely using a palmprint-controlled crystal console, emphasizing that only his authorization can start the reactors and assign the captain.
• The Hope launches with no dramatic flames or fanfare, accelerating at more than 400 m/s² before quickly disappearing into the sky.
• Shen Bing says reaching sub-light speed will take longer than a simple calculation suggests: the ship cannot sustain maximum acceleration continuously, and its lengthy acceleration and deceleration will consume much of the planned multi-planet journey.
• After the launch, Reporter Wang learns the broadcast is coming from Gold Island, which has expanded to roughly ten square kilometers, then hands coverage to reporter Xiao Ran aboard the Hope.
• Xiao Ran shows viewers the ship’s busy Command Center and reports that the crew feel none of the immense acceleration. She then introduces freshly baked bread made by an intelligent robot, using milk from a cow kept aboard.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing displays confidence and showmanship, but also explains the ship’s security measures and practical limitations. He invites Reporter Wang to watch the launch and later offers her a tour of Gold Island.
• Reporter Wang is well prepared and impressed by the ship’s speed and acceleration. Her interview guides Shen Bing into explaining the technology, though she ends the tour segment rather than continue under the viewers’ scrutiny.
• Xiao Ran is visibly excited to be aboard and promises to share her experiences. Her enthusiasm shifts the broadcast from technical spectacle to everyday life on the ship.
• Viewers react with awe at the launch and the crew’s lack of noticeable acceleration, then envy the luxurious food and onboard facilities.

Significant themes

• Technological achievement: The Hope’s speed, acceleration, and protected startup system signal a major leap in human spaceflight.
• Spectacle versus practicality: The launch is historically momentous but strikingly understated, while Shen Bing focuses on the real challenge of saving travel time.
• Comfort amid extraordinary conditions: The crew’s normal work and Xiao Ran’s morning tea show how advanced technology makes an extreme journey feel ordinary.
• Extravagance and public envy: Gold Island’s rapid growth and the ship’s fresh food highlight Phantom Immortal Technology’s wealth and lavish resources.

Key plot points and events

• The Hope continues to receive unprecedented public attention after leaving Earth. Xiao Ran’s livestream remains active, and Huaxia Television has created a dedicated channel to rebroadcast it.
• Most media celebrate the mission, while critics argue that carrying hundreds of people on a first voyage and attempting a long-distance mission is reckless. Supporters dismiss them, pointing to Phantom Immortal Technology’s proven aerospace record.
• Shen Bing ignores the debate. He has completed a Gate to the Immortal Realm quest, earning two thousand immortal jade and meeting the month’s daily-quest requirement early.
• His good mood is interrupted when monitoring detects intense fluctuations in the wormhole near the Moon, suggesting the Corgi Empire may be gathering energy to send a large force through.
• Shen Bing asks about defenses. Qiuqiu reports that Charged Particle Cannons are deployed across Earth and that eight more are positioned near the lunar wormhole. Shen Bing orders constant surveillance.
• After an hour of practicing eye-visualization cultivation, Shen Bing is told by Li Xiao that something unusual has happened on the planet beyond the wormhole.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and dismissive of online criticism, buoyed by his quest reward. However, the wormhole activity brings his underlying concern about the Corgi Empire back to the fore.
• Qiuqiu provides a threat assessment and reassures Shen Bing that the wormhole is under continuous satellite surveillance.
• Li Xiao interrupts Shen Bing’s cultivation to report a new development in Kansang Town, Africa.
• Shen Bing’s interactions with Qiuqiu show his cautious, prepared approach: he questions the defenses and insists on round-the-clock monitoring.

Significant themes

• Public trust versus criticism: The Hope’s mission attracts both admiration and doubts, but the company’s track record gives supporters confidence.
• Preparation amid uncertainty: Even after deploying extensive defenses, Shen Bing remains alert to the possibility of an attack.
• Ambition and self-improvement: Shen Bing pursues cultivation for its potential practical benefits, even though progress is slow.

The chapter contains no story content yet. It only shows a note about the author’s writer’s block and a notice that the text is being updated. There are no plot events, character developments, interactions, or themes to summarize.

Key plot points and events

• The African base beyond the wormhole has been using unusually large amounts of energy at night. The increase appears linked to the Dark Matter Shield, though the Genesis Type 1 has issued no warning because the attacks—or whatever is causing the drain—remain below its detection threshold.
• Shen Bing recalls the remains of a giant beast found on the planet, but they have decayed too thoroughly to reveal anything about its origin.
• Luo Fei suspects the shield’s broad, continuous energy loss is more likely caused by a natural phenomenon than by an alien attacker, though this remains unproven.
• Concerned about the planet’s safety, Shen Bing sends Master Qiao to investigate and transfers him 100,000 immortal jade to fund the work and ensure he can return.
• Shen Bing wonders whether the activity near the African wormhole is connected to unusual activity at the Moon’s wormhole. He proposes testing whether Earth and the alien planet occupy the same space using quantum communication technology.
• Such a test could also offer evidence for or against the existence of a multiverse. Shen Bing’s main motivation, however, is to learn more about the mysterious Gate to the Immortal Realm.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing responds cautiously to the unexplained energy loss, balancing practical concern for the base with scientific curiosity. He moves from investigating a possible threat to considering a larger question about space, universes, and the Gate.
• Li Xiao reports the findings and relays Luo Fei’s assessment, emphasizing that the explanation is still speculative.
• Luo Fei offers a reasoned but tentative natural explanation based on the shield’s energy data.
• Master Qiao is assigned to investigate the planet in person and receives generous support from Shen Bing.

Significant themes

• Unknown dangers and uncertainty: The cause of the shield’s energy drain—and the nature of the alien planet—remain unresolved.
• Scientific inquiry: Shen Bing turns a practical problem into an opportunity for controlled testing and theoretical discovery.
• Interconnected realities: The chapter raises the possibility that the wormholes, the alien planet, and the Moon’s activity may be linked across different spaces or universes.
• Limits of knowledge: Despite advanced technology, the Gate to the Immortal Realm remains beyond Shen Bing’s understanding.

Key plot points

• A secret experiment begins using quantum communication equipment from the Underground Base and the Hope spacecraft. Qiuqiu is tasked with arranging the equipment through Master Qiao; no one else knows the experiment could have far-reaching consequences.
• Public attention remains focused on Phantom Immortal Technology’s disruptive Skyflying Cars, which threaten airlines, rail passenger services, and numerous related jobs.
• Phantom Immortal Technology announces a general-purpose Intelligent Robot capable of replacing workers in labor-intensive jobs, along with specialized robots such as teachers and doctors, and plans a worldwide exhibition tour.
• The public quickly realizes the announcement could transform—or eliminate—employment across nearly every industry. Within minutes, calls for a boycott surge online, followed by plans to pressure governments to stop buying the robots.

Character and interaction developments

• The chapter’s main focus is on public and institutional reactions rather than individual characters. Qiuqiu quietly coordinates the secret experiment with Master Qiao.
• People initially treat the robot announcement as familiar news, then collectively recognize its far-reaching implications. They organize first against the company online, then against its customers—especially national governments.
• Huaxia’s senior leadership is relatively calm about the upheaval, while lower-level officials are anxious about potential problems.

Significant themes

• Automation and unemployment: Robots promise abundant goods and relief from labor, but threaten livelihoods and raise the question of how people will find purpose.
• Human identity and social stability: A society where basic needs are met but most people have no meaningful role could produce fear, stagnation, and decline.
• Control of technology: Public concern extends beyond jobs to whether humanity can maintain control over increasingly capable machines.
• Resistance to change: Although people see automation as inevitable, they want it slowed until society can adapt and redefine human work and purpose.

Key plot points and events

• The rapid spread of Phantom Immortal Technology’s Intelligent Robots sparks worldwide protests and boycotts. People fear mass unemployment, distrust government assurances that basic needs will be covered, and see those promises as a temporary ploy until robots can replace them.
• Governments are caught between public anger and economic pressure: countries that refuse to adopt robots risk falling behind and seeing businesses collapse, but forcefully suppressing protests may be impossible.
• Huaxia remains relatively calm because its government has offered citizens comparatively generous benefits.
• The leaders of the twelve most powerful countries know about Phantom Immortal Technology’s planned Virtual Reality Game, which is said to enable human evolution, stronger bodies, and longer lives. Huaxia has shown them genetically enhanced soldiers as evidence, and the other eleven countries have agreed to join the project.
• Those eleven governments ask Huaxia to persuade the company to announce the game early, hoping the news will ease unrest. Huaxia’s Chief objects that people might stop working in anticipation of the game, disrupting production.
• Because public resistance to robots is worse than expected, the Chief decides to call company founder Shen Bing directly and discuss the crisis.

Character developments and interactions

• The Chief trusts Phantom Immortal Technology but recognizes that the unrest threatens social stability. He weighs the potential benefits of revealing the game against the risk of widespread work stoppages.
• Secretary Jiang reports on domestic and international conditions and suggests an early announcement as a way to reduce governments’ burden.
• Shen Bing has not yet spoken in the scene, but the Chief’s call frames him as someone who may have avoided the growing crisis.
• The public is portrayed as deeply distrustful of governments and united by fear that automation will make ordinary workers economically disposable.

Significant themes

• Automation versus livelihoods: Intelligent Robots promise greater productivity and quality but threaten employment on a massive scale.
• Public trust and inequality: Government guarantees fail to reassure people who suspect wealth and resources will be concentrated among elites.
• Economic competition: Countries face pressure to adopt robots or risk national decline.
• Technological hope and social disruption: The Virtual Reality Game offers the possibility of human advancement, yet revealing it could itself destabilize society.
• Power and leverage: Huaxia’s advanced weapons and technology strengthen its position in negotiations with other major powers.

Key plot points and events

• The Chief calls Shen Bing about rising global unrest over Intelligent Robots. Some countries are facing serious protests, and the Chief fears that accommodating demands to halt robot production could lead to broader chaos and violence.
• Shen reveals that his Virtual Reality Game is ready, though Game Pod production is limited because the company’s capacity is focused on making robots. The Chief urges him to launch early—or at least announce it—to calm the public.
• The Chief also says a worldwide auction of Shen’s listed technologies will take place the next day, giving Shen a chance to raise money for expanding production.
• Shen learns from Qiuqiu that most governments are trying to buy time, while a few have already agreed not to introduce Intelligent Robots. He decides their choice must be respected.
• Shen initially plans to announce the game the next day, but Qiuqiu advises waiting until the day after the technology auction so the announcement does not undermine bidding. Shen accepts her advice.
• Shen directs General Manager Wang to begin transporting robots from Gold Island. The island has produced thirty million Intelligent Robots, and production is being expanded rapidly.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts from being absorbed in his laboratory work to confronting the political and social consequences of his inventions. He is frustrated that people distrust him, but chooses not to force countries to adopt his technology.
• Qiuqiu demonstrates growing judgment and insight by anticipating how the game announcement could affect the technology auction. Shen praises her development, viewing her as nearly a complete person despite her lack of a human body.
• The Chief acts as a pragmatic intermediary, warning Shen of the danger of unrest and urging a timely response.
• Shen and Qiuqiu work collaboratively: he asks for her assessment, she advises him, and he trusts her analysis.

Significant themes

• Respecting choice: Shen accepts that nations and populations may reject Intelligent Robots, even when he believes the technology could benefit them.
• Technological change and social disruption: The rapid spread of automation threatens established industries and labor, creating fear and political instability.
• Pragmatism and timing: Shen and Qiuqiu balance public reassurance with the financial and strategic consequences of when to announce the game.
• Artificial intelligence and personhood: Qiuqiu’s development raises questions about whether an AI can become a “complete person,” while Shen remains confident in his understanding of her.

Key plot points and events

• Huawei secretary Li Yun receives a call from China’s Department of Commerce announcing a government-backed auction of more than eighty advanced technologies supplied by Illusion Immortal Technology Company.
• The auction will have two stages: a domestic round open to qualifying companies not controlled by foreign capital, followed by a global round for Global 500 companies.
• Huawei and other major Chinese firms, as well as international corporations, receive invitations. The announcement causes intense excitement among top companies worldwide.
• Apple, struggling after Illusion Immortal Technology’s disruption of its business, sees the auction as a possible lifeline. But its depleted finances make it uncertain whether it can afford to win any of the roughly forty technologies available for bidding.

Character developments

• Li Yun moves from skepticism about the unusual auction to recognizing its significance once she learns Illusion Immortal Technology is providing the technologies. She quickly shifts into business mode and prepares to alert Huawei’s chairman.
• Apple’s executives reveal both lingering resentment toward Illusion Immortal Technology and desperate hope that buying one of its technologies could save their company.

Significant themes

• Technological power and disruption: Illusion Immortal Technology’s innovations can overturn entire industries and threaten established leaders.
• Opportunity amid vulnerability: The auction offers companies a chance to access valuable technology, but financial strength determines who can compete.
• Changing fortunes: Apple’s recent decline contrasts with its former dominance, showing how quickly a major corporation can lose its security.
• Strategic advantage: The domestic-first auction gives Chinese companies preferential access before the global bidding begins.

Character interactions

• Li Yun questions Department of Commerce official Director Liu about the technologies and eligible participants. He gives her the auction structure but withholds the specific technology list.
• Li Yun interprets the domestic round as preferential treatment for Chinese firms and recognizes that Huawei must act quickly.
• Apple’s executives collectively weigh their hope of acquiring a breakthrough against the reality of their weakened finances.

Key plot points and events

• After receiving invitations to Phantom Immortal Technology’s technology auction, major companies begin moving huge sums of money to prepare for the bidding. Banks notice the unusual transfers and contact their biggest clients, who explain that they’re raising funds for the auction.
• News of the sale leaks online. People speculate about why Phantom Immortal Technology is selling technology—suggesting cash-flow needs, expansion plans, or other motives—and debate what might be offered.
• Online discussion highlights how profitable the company likely is and how little its research and production costs may be compared with other firms. Fans hope for technologies such as chef robots or Skyflying cars, while others doubt Shen Bing would sell products central to the company’s business.
• Companies outside the invited top 500 resent being excluded but recognize that the technology belongs to Phantom Immortal Technology’s owner. They seek ways to participate by partnering with invited firms and pooling funds in exchange for access to any technology they help win.
• Companies form partnerships and alliances to improve their chances of securing valuable technologies. The massive movement of money rattles global financial markets.

Character and relationship developments

• Shen Bing is not present, but the discussion portrays him as a powerful, calculating owner who can choose whom to invite and what technology to sell. Commenters assume he would protect technologies essential to Phantom Immortal Technology.
• Major companies shift from individual preparation to cooperation: invited firms gain financial backers, while excluded firms find indirect routes into the auction.
• Banks, initially alarmed by the unusual transfers, are reassured when their corporate clients explain the funds’ purpose.
• Online commenters express a mix of excitement, skepticism, envy, and humor as they debate the sale and its implications.

Significant themes

• Money and market power: The auction is framed as a contest of financial strength, prompting companies to mobilize enormous resources.
• Technology as both asset and leverage: Unlike unique physical goods, technology can be copied and shared, enabling excluded companies to participate through partnerships.
• Monopoly and cooperation: Winning a technology could create a dominant market position, but companies may cooperate to share costs and risks.
• Public speculation versus business strategy: Internet users focus on rumors and desired consumer products, while companies concentrate on funding, alliances, and competitive advantage.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing attempts to contact Luo Fei on the Alien Planet using a Full-Simulation Sound System. The first test produces only static, but a second attempt gets through with a badly distorted voice.
• Because the wormhole blocks conventional signals—even through cables—communication depends on people physically crossing it to relay messages.
• Shen Bing concludes that the Alien Planet and Earth are in the same universe, ruling out this test as a way to confirm a multiverse. However, he sees an opportunity to use the planet’s distance to advance quantum communication and teleportation research.
• He establishes a dedicated Quantum Physics Research Center, appointing Runi to lead it. Quantum teleportation will be its top priority, while Luo Fei returns to focusing on high-energy physics.
• Shen Bing buys twenty Aperture-Opening Pills for future breakthroughs. While analyzing them, he unexpectedly obtains Three-Star Consciousness Enhancement Technology, rather than the Brain-Development Technology he expected.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing takes a practical, strategic approach: he accepts the limits of wormhole communication but turns the situation into a research opportunity. He also shows confidence in delegating and investing heavily in quantum research.
• Runi proves to be a strong quantum physicist, surpassing Luo Fei in that field despite taking an Aperture-Opening Pill later. He also efficiently coordinates communication tests and is appointed head of the new center.
• Luo Fei remains focused on high-energy physics and dark energy, while Runi takes over quantum-related work.
• Qiuqiu advises Shen Bing on personnel and asks whether more core researchers should be assigned. Shen Bing responds by purchasing more pills and allowing Qiuqiu to coordinate their allocation.

Significant themes

• Scientific progress through experimentation: Researchers build on existing technology and seek to refine it, rather than relying only on discoveries handed to them.
• Adaptation and opportunity: A failed communication method leads Shen Bing to consider new applications for quantum technology.
• Limits of knowledge and expectation: Shen Bing’s surprise at the unexpected analysis result hints that the Gate’s technology does not always follow predictable rules.

Plot and key events

• Shen Bing analyzes an Aperture-Opening Pill and obtains Consciousness Enhancement Technology, which can absorb ambient Dark Energy and convert it into U1 Dark Energy—the substance said to make up human consciousness.
• The technology can strengthen consciousness without an apparent limit. Shen Bing realizes that powerful consciousness might enable supernatural abilities, from moving objects with the mind to controlling flying swords. He wonders why the pill he took produced no such effects, but postpones testing the technology.
• He gives the analyzed pills to Qiuqiu, reminding them not to waste them, then contacts Caso about the Virtual Reality Game. Testing is complete, but only 800,000 Game Pods currently support item transfer. Production has reached 100,000 a day and is expected to exceed 500,000 next month.
• Shen Bing sets the game’s launch for three days later, with an announcement the following day. He remains concerned that players could become addicted and abandon real life, though he is considering ways to prevent that.
• He briefs the Chief on the game’s mix of myth-inspired combat classes and strategy elements, including the option to rule territories. He offers the Chief a Game Pod and explains that it can support physical strengthening through deep sleep.
• After the call, the Chief begins planning for the announcement, especially preparing a military unit whose real-world abilities will carry over into the game and securing territory for the country.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing moves from scientific curiosity to excitement at the possibility of consciousness-based powers, then turns his attention to the game launch and its social risks. He gives Caso the launch order and candidly briefs the Chief.
• Qiuqiu appears ready to continue handling the pills and playfully objects to Shen Bing’s distrust; Shen Bing dismisses them after giving instructions.
• Caso is eager and confident about the game’s readiness, treating its launch like the long-awaited birth of a child.
• The Chief is interested in the game, accepts Shen Bing’s offer of a Game Pod, and immediately shifts to practical national preparations.

Significant themes

• Science and cultivation converge: Consciousness enhancement suggests that seemingly supernatural abilities may have a scientific basis.
• Progress brings responsibility: Shen Bing sees the game as a means to promote human evolution, but worries about addiction and withdrawal from reality.
• Strategic competition: The game’s carryover of real-world attributes and its territorial gameplay make it important not just to individuals, but also to governments and the military.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing orders Gold Island and Phantom Immortal Transport Company to operate at full capacity. Twenty Wind God Type 1 transport planes begin delivering Game Pods and intelligent robots worldwide.
• The technology company plans for the two products to reinforce each other: robots can handle more work, freeing people to play, while Game Pods help ease social tensions caused by automation.
• Public attention shifts to a major auction in Kyoto, where Phantom Immortal Technology is selling technical documentation. Entry for bidders requires at least one billion yuan in available funds; spectators and researchers may also attend.
• The auction opens with Dream Glass Manufacturing Technology, subject to the restriction that only one Dream Glass project can be built in each city. Fierce bidding drives the price to 50.1 billion yuan, and Hengda wins.
• The second lot, γ-1 titanium alloy smelting technology, attracts similarly intense competition and sells to a Chinese steel company for 30 billion yuan.
• The auction continues through dozens of technologies. Companies spend so heavily that many exhaust most of their liquid funds, while spectators gain a vivid sense of technology’s enormous commercial value.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains offstage but shapes events through his strategic decision to deploy robots alongside Game Pods and through the company’s terms for selling its technologies.
• Wang Du, the auctioneer, acknowledges that selling technical knowledge is unlike ordinary auctioneering and uses theatrical showmanship to build excitement.
• Hengda’s chairman makes a conspicuous early bid and ultimately secures Dream Glass technology, outlasting competitors willing to pay billions.
• Corporate bidders compete aggressively but must balance the long-term profits of each technology against the cost of acquiring and developing it. Spectators watch their rivalry with a mixture of amazement and envy.

Significant themes

• The value of knowledge: The auction demonstrates that technical expertise can command sums comparable to, or greater than, physical assets.
• Technology’s economic power: Dream Glass and titanium alloy are valuable not only as products but as platforms for future markets and research.
• Automation and social change: Intelligent robots promise greater productivity, while Game Pods are presented as a way to soften the social disruption automation may cause.
• Ambition constrained by resources: Even wealthy companies cannot buy everything; bidders must choose carefully as the auction’s prices and pace rapidly consume their funds.

Key plot points and events

• The morning auction ends with Room-Temperature Superconducting Material Technology as its headline item. Bidding surges, and Haiwei Company wins for 105 billion yuan, backed by a group of partner companies.
• The morning’s sales total more than 730 billion yuan, prompting astonishment among attendees, reporters, and online commentators. Shen Bing’s wealth and Phantom Immortal Technology’s influence seem almost beyond comparison.
• During the afternoon auction, the technologies are somewhat less impressive overall, but bidding is even more competitive; every item sells for at least five billion yuan.
• The afternoon’s grand finale is High-Density Power Storage Technology, or super-battery technology, already used in Phantom Immortal products and vehicles. The bidding begins dramatically: offers leap from 20 billion to 40, 60, and 80 billion yuan before the excerpt ends.

Character developments

• Shen Bing is portrayed as extraordinarily wealthy and confident, having placed valuable technologies up for auction with no added restrictions on the superconducting technology.
• Haiwei Company’s chairman is elated by the win, despite the technology having been purchased through a consortium of companies.
• Other bidders are frustrated not by a lack of interest, but by the limits of their available funds.

Character interactions

• Companies compete aggressively, pooling resources where necessary; Haiwei’s victory reflects cooperation among several firms.
• Auction officials present the technologies and frame their importance, while bidders respond with increasingly bold offers.
• Reporters and spectators discuss the auction’s staggering proceeds and speculate about the afternoon’s competition.

Significant themes

• Technological power and economic influence: Phantom Immortal Technology’s inventions are shown to have enormous value and strategic importance.
• Competition and scarcity: Companies are eager to secure transformative technologies, but financial limits determine who can win.
• Global reach and national confidence: The superconducting technology’s unrestricted auction is presented as evidence of both Shen Bing’s confidence and Huaxia’s willingness to let it reach beyond its borders.