Chapter Summaries

Sixty-five days after launch, the three Pathfinder capsules reached Mars orbit and received Houston’s delayed approval to proceed. Andrew and the crew deployed a communications satellite and began decelerating toward the landing site, where they faced the dangerous “Terrifying Seven Minutes.”

• Pathfinder One entered Mars-synchronous orbit, but Houston initially received no response from the capsule.
• Chris and Morton worried about the mission until Andrew’s transmission confirmed the crew was safe in orbit.
• Houston instructed Andrew to follow the plan and begin the landing sequence at the designated position.
• Andrew ordered the crew to prepare, and they deployed a communications and remote-sensing satellite from Pathfinder Three.
• Andrew confirmed Pathfinder Two and Three were ready, then all three capsules turned their thrusters and began decelerating toward Mars.

Andrew and the crew endured the terrifying Martian landing sequence after Pathfinder One’s parachute failed to deploy automatically. All three landers reached the surface safely, and Andrew reported their success to Houston.

• Andrew watched as Pathfinder One, Pathfinder Two, and Pathfinder Three entered the Martian atmosphere.
• Pathfinder One’s parachute failed to deploy automatically, so Andrew manually pulled the release ring and opened it.
• Andrew asked Bruno to check the other landers, and Bruno confirmed that Pathfinder Two and Pathfinder Three were fine.
• The three landers used their main engines and obstacle-avoidance systems to touch down safely on Mars.
• Andrew saw Pathfinder Two and Pathfinder Three nearby, then radioed Houston to report the successful landing and the crew’s good condition.

After Pathfinder One landed on Mars, Andrew and his crew began assembling the Mars Module under a tight oxygen and daylight deadline. In Xia Country, Lü Yongchang prepared to launch the Lunar Mining program, then learned that the American landing had succeeded.

• Professor Chris congratulated Andrew over the radio and authorized extravehicular operations after Pathfinder One landed on Mars.
• Andrew, Bruno, and Joy descended onto Utopia Plain and began assembling the Mars Module, racing to finish before their oxygen ran low.
• Lü Yongchang and Fang Xu watched Zero's automated factory produce equipment for the Lunar Mining program.
• Zero estimated that the first batch of mining equipment would be ready in twenty hours and thirty-six minutes, and Lü Yongchang told Fang Xu to prepare for the program's launch.
• Zero informed Lü Yongchang that NASA had announced Pathfinder's successful landing on Utopia Plain.

Lü Yongchang and Fang Xu discussed the United States’ Mars mission before Senator Li decided Xia Country would bring its New-Generation Leader Project into the open by promoting Lü through the Moon Palace Project. The announcement went public, and Zhao Zijie and other citizens reacted with surprise as the lunar mining launch was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

• Fang Xu asked whether Xia Country should simply watch the United States remain on Mars, and Lü Yongchang told him Xia Country had its own path to follow.
• Hong Qiming reported to Senator Li that lunar mining equipment was nearly finished, the Second-Generation Fusion Reactor and Black Lady Two were progressing, and resource stockpiling was eighty percent complete.
• Senator Li decided to spotlight Lü Yongchang through the Moon Palace Project, saying Lü could rally Xia Country during the approaching catastrophe.
• Hong Qiming worried that making Lü a public figure would endanger his safety, but Senator Li said Xia Country could protect him and hinted at changing its policy toward the United States.
• The evening news announced the Moon Palace Project and a livestreamed Black Lady One launch carrying automated lunar mining equipment to the Moon.
• Zhao Zijie opened his group chat and saw people reacting to the announcement, with some noting that the equipment had been built in secret.

Netizens rediscovered Lü Yongchang’s achievements and wondered what he had been doing during his months away from the news. As he prepared to study hibernation technology, he refused to record a publicity program before Black Lady One’s launch and asked Su Yutong to find biology materials instead.

• Zhao Zijie reminded netizens that Lü Yongchang had led the Pangu Stack’s development, prompting them to recall his many recent accomplishments.
• Zhao Zijie noticed that Lü Yongchang had disappeared from the news for several months and asked what he had been doing.
• Lü Yongchang reviewed the Technology Tree System and realized hibernation technology was the next subject he needed to study.
• Hong Qiming told Lü Yongchang to record a program for Xia Country News before Black Lady One took off, but Lü Yongchang argued that publicity could distract from the Moon Palace Project.
• Hong Qiming agreed not to force Lü Yongchang and relayed the Head Councillor’s support for his choices.
• Lü Yongchang asked Su Yutong to find biology materials related to hibernation technology.

As Black Lady One prepared to launch for the Moon Palace Project, Xia Country News livestreamed the mission and revealed Professor Lü Yongchang’s remarkable achievements to the public. The chapter ended as Black Lady One entered its takeoff countdown, its engines already blazing.

• Lü Yongchang welcomed Academician Kong Xingbang to the Ground Control Center, where Kong came to observe the launch of Black Lady One and the deployment of his automated mining equipment.
• Zhao Zijie watched Bingbing’s livestream as she introduced the Moon Palace Project and showed Black Lady One on the runway.
• Bingbing listed Lü Yongchang’s many scientific and administrative achievements, shocking viewers and sparking a flood of discussion across social media.
• Zhao Zijie pointed out to his Penguin Group that the broadcast seemed unusually focused on Lü Yongchang, but the group owner muted everyone and told them to stop speculating.
• Bingbing announced that Black Lady One had entered its takeoff countdown, and Zhao Zijie watched its blue exhaust flames stream from the aircraft.

Black Lady One launched for the Moon, where Bai Yixuan and his crew landed amid the equipment already delivered for the Moon Palace Project. They unloaded nine mysterious silver cubes into position and reported the mission complete.

• Black Lady One took off, and Bingbing handed the livestream over to its onboard camera after explaining that Lü Yongchang had declined an interview.
• The livestream drew huge audiences as Xia Country's news outlets praised Lü Yongchang and the internet cracked down on comments smearing him.
• Ten hours later, Lü Yongchang approved Black Lady One's landing in lunar orbit, and Bai Yixuan guided it down to the Moon.
• Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi found heavy mining equipment already assembled on the lunar surface and unloaded nine silver cubes from the cargo hold.
• The three pilots moved all nine cubes into their designated positions, and Bai Yixuan reported the mission complete to Ground Control Center.

Lü Yongchang and Kong Xingbang watched the lunar mining equipment begin operating and discussed how to accelerate the Moon Palace Project. Kong Xingbang’s idea of having Zero control lunar machinery was hampered by communication delays and limited computing power, but Lü Yongchang revealed that Black Lady Two’s blueprints had passed initial validation.

• Lü Yongchang activated the automated lunar mining equipment, and its nine cubes unfolded and joined into a mining machine as astronauts and livestream viewers watched.
• Lü Yongchang told Kong Xingbang that the Regolith Collection Rover had been collecting helium-3 for a week and that Black Lady One would bring it back.
• Kong Xingbang worried that the Moon Palace Project was progressing too slowly, and Lü Yongchang estimated it would take about five years at the current pace.
• Kong Xingbang proposed using Zero to control lunar mining equipment, but Lü Yongchang explained that Earth-Moon communication delays and Zero’s limited computing power made that difficult.
• Lü Yongchang reassured Kong Xingbang that Black Lady Two’s blueprints had passed initial validation under Academician Cao Liangcai’s team.

After trying to obtain hints from a technology-tree node beyond his level, Lü Yongchang collapsed and spent three days unconscious in the hospital. A medical examination revealed his brain activity was far above normal, and he realized the system’s hints came from intensifying his own brain activity, a process that could be fatal if repeated.

• After Academician Kong left, Lü Yongchang entered the Technology Tree System and tried to get hints from the dim Quantum Communication Technology node.
• Lü Yongchang suffered severe dizziness, began bleeding from the nose, and lost consciousness in front of Su Yutong and the others.
• Lü Yongchang woke in the hospital after three days, and Senator Li ordered him to rest instead of returning to the lab.
• Doctor Wen reported that Lü Yongchang’s brain activity remained three to five times higher than normal, after having exceeded ten times normal when he was admitted.
• Lü Yongchang realized the system produced hints by stimulating his brain to form conclusions from his existing knowledge, and that pushing the process could be fatal.

After recovering from the strain of unlocking quantum communication technology, Lü Yongchang cautiously investigated hibernation technology and turned to Mars for clues about extraterrestrial life. Zero revealed that NASA’s Pathfinder astronauts had found underground ice at Utopia Plain, though they had no confirmed evidence of life.

• Doctor Wen assured the Head Councillor that Lü Yongchang was safe as long as he did not overexert his brain, and Lü Yongchang was allowed to leave the hospital.
• Lü Yongchang entered the Technology Tree System and unlocked biological enzyme research while examining hibernation technology.
• Lü Yongchang realized he should search for signs of life beyond Earth and asked Zero for a high-resolution map of Mars.
• Zero revealed that it had accessed NASA’s latest Mars Orbiter imagery and could even control the satellite, but Lü Yongchang told it not to change the orbit.
• Zero identified Utopia Plain as Mars’s most likely location for life and reported that NASA’s Pathfinder astronauts had found underground ice there but no confirmed signs of life.

Lü Yongchang identified the area around the Americans’ Mars Module as the best place to search for underground life and won approval to conduct drilling nearby. On Mars, Andrew noticed the satellite responding more slowly, but Bruno dismissed his concern as another false alarm.

• Zero found that the area around the Mars Module had unusually abundant subsurface ice and craters with lower perchlorate toxicity, making it a promising search site.
• Lü Yongchang asked Senator Li for permission to conduct large-scale drilling and sampling within two kilometers of the Mars Module, and Senator Li approved.
• Lü Yongchang told Senator Li that Zero could help complete the design for Black Lady Two and speed development of a second-generation nuclear fusion reactor.
• Andrew noticed that the satellite was responding more slowly, but Bruno reminded him that his earlier concerns about the air circulation equipment had also been false alarms.

Lü Yongchang learned that NASA’s drilling data pointed to a high chance of life beneath a crater near the Pathfinder astronauts’ Mars Modules. Fearing they would investigate it soon, he ordered Black Lady Two’s development accelerated and demanded its design be finalized that night.

• Bruno complained that the Pathfinder crew’s drilling on Mars was unlikely to find anything but ice, while Andrew transmitted their latest drilling results to Earth.
• Zero intercepted the United States’ drilling data and estimated a 75.2 percent probability of life five to ten meters beneath a nearby impact crater.
• Lü Yongchang realized NASA might investigate the crater in about a month and a half, and ordered that all resources be prioritized for Black Lady Two.
• Lü Yongchang went to Cao Liangcai’s laboratory at midnight and told him Black Lady Two had to land on Mars within a month.
• Cao Liangcai agreed to summon the researchers so they could finalize the design that night.

Lü Yongchang and the researchers evaluated three designs for Black Lady Two, a spacecraft meant to carry supplies throughout the Solar System. After rejecting Cao Liangcai’s airplane-like design, Lü asked Zero to assess a box-shaped proposal and Tao Yuda’s spherical design, then urged Cao to nurture Tao’s talent.

• Lü Yongchang said Black Lady Two’s design had to be finalized that night, and Cao Liangcai presented three proposals.
• Lü rejected Cao Liangcai’s winged design because Black Lady Two would operate mainly beyond Earth, where its wings would be inefficient.
• Lü favored a box-shaped proposal that abandoned the traditional airplane configuration, arguing that powerful engines could make it work.
• Tao Yuda revealed that he had designed the spherical proposal, and Lü recognized him as the author of a paper on sonoluminescence and controlled nuclear fusion.
• Lü told Zero to evaluate the box-shaped and spherical designs, then asked Cao Liangcai to develop Tao Yuda’s talent as a researcher.

Lü Yongchang selected a design for the Black Lady Two prototype, and half a month later announced its Mars-bound maiden flight and the start of Xia Country’s Mars Exploration Program, codenamed Yinghuo. The chapter ended with Lü revealing the spacecraft’s capabilities at a press conference.

• Cao Liangcai offered Tao Yuda a position as his deputy after Lü Yongchang recommended him.
• Zero reported that Design One succeeded, while the spherical configuration could not be built with current materials and manufacturing techniques.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to devote all available resources to building the Black Lady Two prototype.
• At a Space Administration press conference, Lü Yongchang announced that Black Lady Two would make its maiden flight to Mars the next day, launching the Yinghuo program.
• Lü Yongchang described Black Lady Two as carrying a Second-Generation Hall Thruster and Helium-3 Reactor, with an eighty-metric-ton payload, a 6.68-astronomical-unit range, and a maximum speed of 167 kilometers per second.

After Xia Country announced its Mars program and Black Lady Two, Albert confronted the CIA’s failures and considered resigning to avoid bearing responsibility for the United States’ decline. The next day, Black Lady Two prepared for its maiden flight, and Lü Yongchang approved a proposed pass over the American Mars Module as if it were already part of the route.

• Albert demanded to know why William Blair and the CIA had learned nothing about Black Lady Two, while William reported that Xia Country had been eliminating their spies.
• Morton advised Albert to admit defeat, saying Xia Country’s technology was far beyond theirs and might even involve alien help.
• Alone in his office, Albert feared being remembered as a disgrace and considered stepping down so the next president would face the crisis.
• At the next day’s livestream, Hong Fan suggested that Black Lady Two circle over the American Mars Module, and Bai Yixuan asked Lü Yongchang for permission.
• Lü Yongchang replied that flying over the American Mars Module was already the normal flight path.

Black Lady Two launched on its first flight toward Mars while Lü Yongchang received notice that he had been elected an Academician. The chapter ended as he opened a second letter announcing the Xia Country State Science and Technology Award.

• Bingbing described Black Lady Two’s specifications as the spacecraft lifted off vertically and accelerated toward the sky.
• Hong Fan complained about the spacecraft’s slow atmospheric speed, and Bai Yixuan reassured the crew that they could accelerate higher up.
• Lü Yongchang monitored Black Lady Two’s data at Ground Control before Fang Xu handed him two letters.
• Lü Yongchang read the Academy of Sciences letter and learned he had once again become an Academician of Xia Country.
• Lü Yongchang opened the second letter and discovered it concerned the Xia Country State Science and Technology Award.

Lü Yongchang was nominated for and received Xia Country’s National Highest Science and Technology Award at the national ceremony. After accepting the honor from Senator Li, he reaffirmed his commitment to the Heavenly Court Project and to Xia Country’s future.

• Lü Yongchang received a letter informing him that he had been nominated for Xia Country’s National Highest Science and Technology Award, and Fang Xu congratulated him.
• A week later, Tian Zhixuan visited Jiang Yongxing and revealed that Lü Yongchang had been nominated for the highest award.
• Jiang Yongxing watched the ceremony broadcast as Lü Yongchang’s achievements were cited and he was announced as the award recipient.
• Lü Yongchang accepted the medal and certificate from Senator Li, who encouraged him to continue his work.
• Lü Yongchang affirmed that Xia Country would never perish, and a camera captured the moment.

Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi arrived in Mars orbit aboard Black Lady Two and received orders to begin their landing mission. Meanwhile, the Pathfinder crew discovered the spacecraft circling above their Mars Module was from Xia Country, not aliens.

• Bai Yixuan reported Black Lady Two's arrival in Mars Synchronous Orbit, and Lü Yongchang ordered the crew to begin their mission.
• Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi prepared for landing as Black Lady Two plunged toward the Martian surface.
• Andrew discovered that the Pathfinder crew had one drilling site left, but reaching it would require climbing a crater rim about a thousand meters high.
• An unidentified object nearly eighty meters long approached the Mars Module at Mach 2, prompting Andrew to radio Houston for help.
• Joy recognized the object as a spacecraft from Xia Country as its black hull and red flag circled above the module.

Xia Country's Black Lady Two reached Mars and ordered the United States' Pathfinder crew to suspend drilling at the ZHZ72 Meteorite Crater. President Albert accepted that the United States had lost the race and ordered its astronauts to prepare to return, then publicly condemned Xia Country while leaving retaliation undecided.

• Black Lady Two contacted Andrew and warned that it would remove the Pathfinder crew if they interfered with its research at the ZHZ72 Meteorite Crater.
• Bai Yixuan celebrated his radio speech while Hong Fan complained that Bai had taken all the lines.
• Andrew reported Black Lady Two's arrival to Houston, and Ground Control ordered the crew to suspend drilling and excursions.
• Morton urged President Albert to respond to Xia Country, but Albert said the United States had lost the race and ordered the astronauts to prepare to return.
• Albert condemned Xia Country at a press conference and said the United States' response was still under discussion.

Zhao Jian dismissed the United States’ accusations with a statement blaming the Americans and announcing a 2,000-yuan fine for Xia Country’s astronauts. On Mars, Bai Yixuan and his crewmates landed at ZHZ72 Meteorite Crater and began drilling, but found the soil unexpectedly dry where Professor Lü had predicted subsurface ice.

• Zhao Jian said Xia Country’s astronauts had made their remarks to protect their research mission and announced a total fine of 2,000 yuan for the three of them.
• Bai Yixuan piloted Black Lady Two toward ZHZ72 Meteorite Crater while Xia Wanyi and Hong Fan reflected on Earth’s beauty and its predicted fate in fourteen years.
• Bai Yixuan landed Black Lady Two in the crater and noted that its dusty surface had cooled to -50°C after sunset.
• Bai Yixuan, Hong Fan, and Xia Wanyi unloaded their equipment, and Bai Yixuan and Hong Fan began drilling while Xia Wanyi prepared to test soil samples.
• When the drill passed five meters without finding signs of ice, Bai Yixuan stopped it and found that the recovered soil contained no moisture.