Chapter Summaries

Hope and Hansent volunteered for the dangerous ice giant prospecting mission, and Lü Yongchang approved their applications. The chapter left them on their way to the Biological Laboratory, where Lü planned to prepare them physically for the expedition.

• Hope decided to leave his mineral prospecting assignments behind and apply to explore the ice giant.
• Hansent joined Hope, saying he also wanted to seize the chance to pursue a future beyond routine prospecting work.
• Lü Yongchang learned that no one had applied and considered using an unmanned mission if no qualified volunteers came forward.
• Zero reported that Hope and Hansent met Lü's experience requirements, and Lü summoned them to the Biological Laboratory for physical preparation.
• Hope and Hansent waited in the Academy of Sciences lobby until Zero instructed them to follow it to Lü.

Hope and Hansent reached Lü Yongchang’s Biological Laboratory, where he explained the dangers and objectives of an exploration mission to an ice giant. They were left to decide whether to enter its liquid ammonia ocean and search for minerals.

• Hope and Hansent followed Zero’s holographic arrows to the Biological Laboratory.
• Lü Yongchang greeted the two volunteers, and Hope admitted that he was a fan of the professor.
• Lü Yongchang showed Hope and Hansent the ninth planet in the Gliese 555 Stellar System and described its atmosphere, strong winds, and ammonia ice clouds.
• Lü Yongchang explained that the explorers would descend to a liquid ammonia ocean and search for mineral resources.

Hope and Hansent agreed to join the dangerous icy giant planet prospecting mission, and Lü Yongchang welcomed them into the Academy of Sciences. After learning about the Human Enhancement Project, they chose to undergo enhancement before the expedition and entered the treatment chambers.

• Hope volunteered for the mission after Lü Yongchang confirmed that participating would let him join the Academy of Sciences.
• Hansent rejected Hope's suggestion that he return to an ordinary life and committed to the mission to bring honor to his family.
• Lü Yongchang explained the Human Enhancement Project and recommended enhancement to help Hope and Hansent survive the icy giant planet.
• After a day of consideration, Hope and Hansent agreed to undergo human enhancement, and three days later they entered the enhancement chambers.
• Mao Zhengzhi began the enhancement procedures while Lü Yongchang ordered close monitoring and went to inspect the prospecting ship Poseidon.

Li Yuntian reported that the ice-giant prospecting ship [Poseidon] was complete and undergoing performance tests. Lü Yongchang learned that it could withstand one hundred thousand standard atmospheres, enough in theory to reach the depths of an ice giant’s liquid ammonia ocean.

• Humanity built colossal orbital space cities as Child-Rearing Centers because Dawn Star’s strong gravity made it unsuitable for newborns.
• Lü Yongchang contacted Li Yuntian and asked how [Poseidon] was progressing.
• Li Yuntian showed Lü Yongchang the completed, spherical prospecting ship and described its cockpit, emergency systems, robotic arm, storage bay, and laboratory.
• Lü Yongchang asked how much pressure [Poseidon] could withstand.
• Li Yuntian reported a maximum tolerance of one hundred thousand standard atmospheres, which Lü Yongchang considered sufficient in theory for reaching the liquid ammonia ocean’s depths.

Lü Yongchang worried that falling birth rates could cause a population crisis, especially after the communal child-rearing experiment on Proxima b led to war and a severe loss of population and knowledge. Meanwhile, Hope and Hansent completed their enhancement, and Hope awoke as the first new human, beginning his adjustment to his stronger body.

• Li Yuntian reported that the probe could withstand one million standard atmospheres, and Lü Yongchang ordered continued testing of Poseidon before its launch.
• Lü Yongchang learned that Zero predicted humanity’s population would begin declining in five hundred years and worried about adopting communal child-rearing after Proxima b’s disastrous results.
• Mao Zhengzhi told Lü Yongchang that Hope and Hansent’s enhancement was complete and that their visceral reticulum would mature within another week.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Hope and Hansent awakened so they could adjust to their enhanced bodies.
• Hope awoke in the Biological Laboratory, accidentally knocked himself off the bed with his new strength, and learned from Lü Yongchang that he was the first true new human.
• Lü Yongchang told Hope to undergo intensive training for a week to adapt to his new body.

Hope learned that Hansent had awakened safely after their human enhancement procedures, and both completed their training for the [Poseidon] mission. As the ship prepared to depart for the Ice Giant, Hansent and Xue Yan saw news announcing human enhancement pilot sites and recognized Hope in the project footage.

• Hope worried when Lü Yongchang did not immediately answer his questions about Hansent, but Lü later confirmed Hansent had awakened safely.
• Lü Yongchang considered getting enhanced himself, but Mao Zhengzhi persuaded him to wait until the pilot program had a larger sample size.
• A week later, Li Yuntian told Lü Yongchang that the [Poseidon] was ready to depart after completing its tests.
• Hope and Hansent rested after finishing their training, and Hope reflected on his anticipation of seeing the Ice Giant's vast ocean.
• Hansent saw a Human Federation announcement establishing twelve human enhancement pilot sites across six cities.
• Walter showed Xue Yan the announcement video, and Xue Yan recognized Hope training without Exoskeleton Armor.

Xue Yan and Walter considered joining the Human Enhancement Project but chose to wait because they feared genetic modification. With registration stalled and public trust falling, Lü Yongchang volunteered to undergo enhancement first and ordered Academy of Sciences personnel to receive priority.

• Xue Yan and Walter discussed signing up for the Human Enhancement Project, but Walter's fear of genetic modification persuaded them to wait.
• The next day, Mao Zhengzhi told Lü Yongchang that no one had registered for the project.
• Mao Zhengzhi explained that Earth-era citizens refused to participate and Proxima b-born citizens were waiting for others to go first.
• Lü Yongchang volunteered to be the first participant and said Academy of Sciences personnel would receive priority for enhancement.

After Lü Yongchang and other researchers underwent the Human Enhancement Project to reassure the public, participation grew among young people born on Proxima b. A week later, Lü Yongchang recovered quickly and headed to oversee the exploration ship Poseidon's departure.

• Xue Yan secretly entered the Human Enhancement First Pilot Site despite Walter's warnings and began the enhancement process.
• Lü Yongchang awoke a week after entering an Enhancement Chamber and found himself feeling stronger, though his movements were initially uncoordinated.
• Su Yutong told Lü Yongchang that more people had signed up, but all participants so far were young people born on Proxima b.
• After adjusting to his enhanced body faster than expected, Lü Yongchang insisted on going to oversee Poseidon's departure, with Su Yutong supporting him.
• Lü Yongchang and Su Yutong left the hospital room as familiar faces greeted them with knowing smiles.

Hope and Hansent set out aboard [Poseidon] for humanity’s first expedition into the Ice Giant, with Lü Yongchang commanding the mission. After reaching the planet, they woke from cryosleep and prepared to begin landing.

• Hope and Hansent discussed their nerves and lack of regrets as [Poseidon] waited at Dock 3 in Dawn Star City One.
• Lü Yongchang contacted the pilots, ordered them into the Deep-Sea Pods, and began humanity’s first expedition into the Ice Giant.
• [Poseidon] entered synchronous orbit around Dawn Star, and Hope and Hansent went into cryosleep to conserve supplies.
• After several days, [Poseidon] reached the Ice Giant and woke the pilots from cryosleep.
• Hope and Hansent reported their arrival to Command Center and admired the Ice Giant as Lü Yongchang instructed them to initiate the landing sequence.

Hope and Hansent piloted [Poseidon] into the ice giant’s violent ammonia-cloud atmosphere, where lightning repeatedly struck the ship. They survived with little damage, but Hope warned Hansent they would likely face the same danger on the return trip.

• Hope initiated [Poseidon]’s landing sequence as he and Hansent watched the ice giant draw their ship into its atmosphere.
• Lü Yongchang observed from the Command Center as [Poseidon] entered the ammonia ice clouds and endured violent winds.
• Hope ordered Hansent to turn on the searchlights, and they witnessed immense cloud formations and lightning in the darkness.
• Zero activated the magnetic field shield as lightning struck [Poseidon], and the ship lost power before its systems restarted.
• Hope inspected the hull, confirmed [Poseidon] had suffered little damage, and told Hansent they would likely face the storms again on the way back.

Hope and Hansent guided the Poseidon through the ice giant’s thickening clouds toward a liquid ammonia ocean. After spotting the dark, turbulent sea, they prepared to enter it.

• Lü Yongchang explained that the Poseidon was nearing the liquid ammonia ocean, which it would reach at 60 standard atmospheres.
• As the pressure rose, the Poseidon established a hover and detected liquid beneath it.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Hope and Hansent to switch the Poseidon from Hall thrusters to propeller propulsion and prepare to enter the sea.
• Hope and Hansent saw the pitch-black ocean’s towering waves and felt fear replace their anticipation.
• Hansent guided the Poseidon downward and told Hope to get ready to enter the sea.

Hope and Hansent piloted the [Poseidon] into the liquid ammonia sea and descended while Dawn Star monitored its readings. Lü Yongchang discovered anomalies in the sensor data and ordered them to hold at 261.3 kilometers deep, then showed them images suggesting the surrounding liquid had grown murkier.

• The [Poseidon] entered the liquid ammonia sea, and Hope started its propulsion system as Lü Yongchang ordered the pilots to prepare to dive.
• Hope and Hansent descended into darkness while monitoring the vessel’s depth and pressure, learning they would need to travel more than a thousand kilometers to reach the target region.
• Lü Yongchang noticed anomalous sensor data and ordered the [Poseidon] to hold at 261.3 kilometers deep.
• Lü Yongchang called Hope and Hansent, pointed out that the liquid ammonia looked murkier, and showed them photographs taken at fifty-kilometer intervals.

Hope and Hansent collected samples from the ice giant’s Liquid Ammonia Sea, and Lü Yongchang’s tests revealed an unfamiliar substance resembling protein but composed mainly of amides. Mao Zhengzhi recognized its peptide-like structures and began to understand what the substance was, leaving Lü Yongchang waiting for his explanation.

• Lü Yongchang ordered Hope and Hansent to collect liquid ammonia seawater samples and suspend deep-sea exploration until the samples were tested.
• Hope and Hansent used the [Poseidon] vessel’s robotic arm to collect samples at a depth of 261.3 km and stored them in a pressurized chamber.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to test the samples and found an unfamiliar substance that appeared similar to organic matter such as polypeptide chains or proteins.
• Lü Yongchang called Mao Zhengzhi to examine the test data, and Mao identified intertwined, folded structures resembling protein despite the missing carbon.
• Lü Yongchang explained that the substance came from the Liquid Ammonia Sea and was primarily composed of amides, prompting Mao to declare that he understood.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi realized that pseudo-proteins found deep in the Ice Giant’s liquid ammonia ocean could support amine life. When [Poseidon] detected a flashing light and activated sonar, the crew discovered an enormous unknown shape beneath them.

• Mao Zhengzhi and Lü Yongchang discussed pseudo-polypeptide chains found 263.1 km below the ocean’s surface and the possibility of amine life.
• Hope and Hansent waited aboard [Poseidon], then spotted an orange-red light flashing in the darkness below them.
• Hope alerted the Command Center while Hansent activated the sonar.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to display the sonar data, revealing a huge streamlined gray shape beneath [Poseidon].
• Lü Yongchang said the shape could not be a reef because there were no reefs in the Ice Giant’s liquid ammonia ocean.

The [Poseidon] crew discovered a gigantic amino lifeform circling their vessel in the liquid-ammonia ocean, and Mao Zhengzhi suspected its active sonar had attracted it. After the creature slowed when they shut off sonar, Lü Yongchang ordered the pilots to attempt a slow ascent, though he could not promise it would not attack.

• Hope and Hansent watched an enormous gray shadow circle [Poseidon] as Lü Yongchang identified it as a possible amino lifeform.
• Mao Zhengzhi told the crew to hold position and turn off active sonar, suspecting the sound had attracted the creature.
• Zero generated a simulation from the cameras and prior sonar data, showing a streamlined creature over two hundred meters long that slowed after sonar stopped.
• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi discussed whether the creature sensed ultrasound and why it emitted orange-red flashes.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Hope and Hansent to ascend as slowly as possible, then admitted he could not be sure the creature would not attack.

Hope and Hansent tried to escape the massive liquid-ammonia lifeform aboard the Poseidon, but it pursued and battered the vessel, damaging its armor. Mao Zhengzhi suspected the creature was playing with them rather than attacking, while Lü Yongchang sought a way to stop it and studied its shell as a possible high-strength material.

• Lü Yongchang told Hope and Hansent that the liquid-ammonia lifeform’s behavior had calmed after they switched off the sonar, and Hope began ascending the Poseidon.
• The creature emitted a powerful ultrasonic signal from below, pursued the Poseidon, and collided with it, damaging its hull armor by five percent.
• Hope asked whether the Poseidon had weapons, and Lü Yongchang explained that it had none and ordered the cockpit separation procedure prepared.
• Mao Zhengzhi stopped Lü Yongchang and argued that the creature might be playing with the Poseidon like an orca played with its prey.
• Lü Yongchang wondered how they could make the creature stop and said its shell might be the high-strength material they needed.

Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi tried to draw the deep-sea beast away from the Poseidon so Hope and Hansent could examine it. They released cesium chloride and rubidium chloride as bait, but the chapter ended before they knew whether the beast would respond.

• Mao Zhengzhi rejected the idea of using the Poseidon to lure the beast into a trap, then considered diverting its attention instead.
• The beast continued battering the Poseidon, leaving Hansent and Hope nauseated until Mao Zhengzhi proposed using cesium chloride and rubidium chloride as bait.
• Lü Yongchang confirmed that the Poseidon's laboratory held small supplies of both salts and ordered Zero to retrieve them.
• Lü Yongchang had a robot seal equal amounts of the salts in high-strength containers and throw them away from the Poseidon.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to open the containers, releasing the salts into the liquid ammonia sea, while the beast kept attacking the vessel without an apparent response.

Hope and Hansent used cesium chloride and rubidium chloride bait to distract the Deep-Sea Behemoth while approaching it in the Poseidon, allowing the crew to examine its body and record its ultrasonic calls. As the vessel neared the orange-red circle on its abdomen, Zero detected a high-intensity magnetic field and low levels of neutron radiation.

• Mao Zhengzhi’s bait hypothesis proved correct, and Hope and Hansent restarted the Poseidon after the behemoth slowed and stopped following them.
• Hope and Hansent followed the behemoth to the bait, then shut off the Poseidon’s propulsion and drifted closer as Lü Yongchang instructed.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the searchlights on, and Mao Zhengzhi and the crew observed the behemoth’s shark-shaped body, eyeless head, and orange-red circle on its abdomen.
• Hope requested and received approval to deploy two more bait canisters so the Poseidon could approach the behemoth more closely.
• Lü Yongchang and Mao Zhengzhi discussed whether the behemoth’s varied ultrasonic signals formed a language, while Zero reported a high-intensity magnetic field and low levels of neutron radiation near the Poseidon.

Lü Yongchang identified the orange-red ring inside the Deep-Sea Behemoth as a Fusion Reactor after [Poseidon] retreated from its neutron radiation. He ordered the crew to approach again and investigate the creature’s back, hoping to learn how its shell could help solve the Asteroid-Class Warship’s hull material problem.

• Lü Yongchang ordered [Poseidon] to retreat after its radiation readings revealed dangerous neutron radiation near the orange-red ring.
• Hope reversed the propellers, and the Deep-Sea Behemoth briefly noticed the vessel before returning to gulping liquid ammonia.
• As [Poseidon] moved farther from the ring, the radiation alarm faded, and Lü Yongchang told Hope and Hansent to undergo medical examinations.
• Lü Yongchang identified the ring as a Fusion Reactor and theorized that the creature used deuterium-tritium fusion powered by hydrogen and helium from the Ice Giant’s atmosphere.
• Hansent asked whether they should continue investigating, and Lü Yongchang ordered the crew to approach, release the third batch of bait, and focus on the creature’s back.

Hope and Hansent collected a shell sample from the Deep-Sea Giant Fish, but three more giant fish arrived and forced the [Poseidon] to retreat. The ship escaped with the sample as the fish pursued a decoy, while Hope remained troubled by something outside the viewport.

• Hope and Hansent used the [Poseidon]’s mechanical arm to try cutting a sample from the giant fish’s shell.
• Hope ordered Hansent to launch another decoy when the fish slowed its feeding and the sample was taking time to cut.
• Zero completed the cut and warned that three more giant fish had arrived; Hansent urged Hope to retract the mechanical arm and flee.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the [Poseidon] to withdraw, and Zero took control, retracted the arm, and launched a decoy.
• The new giant fish pursued the decoy as the [Poseidon] expelled seawater and ascended, but Hope frowned at the viewport instead of celebrating their escape.