Chapter Summaries

Hogwa Nar kidnapped Griffin Jones and demanded the leather bag and Genius Drug, then his associates interrogated Griffin about the Superbrain Drug. Griffin denied having it and tried to redirect them toward Star Sea Venture Capital, triggering an alarm.

• Hogwa Nar confronted Griffin Jones and demanded the leather bag and drugs, but Griffin denied knowing anything about them.
• Hogwa Nar knocked Griffin unconscious and later Griffin woke tied naked to an iron chair in a cold, brightly lit room.
• A white-coated man questioned Griffin about the Superbrain Drug, and Griffin pretended not to know what it was.
• When the interrogators prepared to act, Griffin claimed Star Sea Venture Capital's boss had the drug and urged them to investigate him.
• Griffin accused the Star Sea Venture Capital boss of becoming rich and achieving a perfect Gaokao score, and an alarm sounded in the room.

Griffin Jones was interrogated by Carroll Medical Laboratory and revealed that he had hidden his remaining Superbrain Drug pills at Changlong Research Institute, where a fire later broke out. Xia Xu explained how Nine Suns Consulting had tracked the operation and manipulated events to clear him of suspicion, leaving Carroll Medical Laboratory with drug samples and little reason to pursue him further.

• Carroll Medical Laboratory used a polygraph and truth serum to make Griffin Jones admit that he had picked up a bag of Genius Drugs and hidden a few remaining pills at Changlong Research Institute.
• Carroll Medical Laboratory sent people to Changlong Research Institute, and a fire there killed one person.
• Xia Xu awarded bonuses to the Nine Suns Consulting team for tracking Griffin Jones and monitoring his interrogation.
• Xia Xu explained that he had planted clues around Griffin Jones to encourage his captors to use lie detection, making Griffin Jones's answers seem credible and helping clear Xia Xu of suspicion.
• Xia Xu concluded that Carroll Medical Laboratory would likely stop pursuing the matter after obtaining Superbrain Drug samples.

Xia Xu visited Tang Youxin at Star Sea Industrial, hoping to coax her out of the studio, but found her proudly showing off a program called the Bai Ze System. She teased him about its purpose, and their playful interrogation ended before she revealed the answer.

• After announcing that Nine Suns Consulting had no assignments, Xia Xu took the rest of the afternoon off.
• Xia Xu went to Star Sea Industrial, joked with employees who asked about the werewolves, and headed to Tang Youxin's studio.
• Xia Xu found Tang Youxin writing a program on her laptop and urged her not to stay cooped up all day.
• Tang Youxin named her program the Bai Ze System and asked Xia Xu to guess what it did.
• After Xia Xu guessed that it was a detection and analysis system, Tang Youxin said he was wrong and refused to reveal the answer, so he tickled her in a playful attempt to make her confess.

Tang Youxin revealed the Bai Ze System, a Smart Glasses upgrade designed to warn Xia Xu about approaching threats and gunmen. Xia Xu comforted her over its limitations and realized the system could help protect him from most firearm attacks.

• Little White Flower showed Xia Xu the Smart Glasses fitted with a miniature laser range sensor and explained how the Bai Ze System could detect nearby approaching objects and trigger a warning.
• Xia Xu realized Tang Youxin had built the system because she feared for his safety after recent attacks, and he hugged and comforted her.
• Tang Youxin admitted the sensor's ten-meter range could not protect him from distant sniper fire, and Xia Xu reassured her that the close-range warning was already valuable.
• Tang Youxin explained that cameras and image processing could recognize the movements of someone firing a gun and warn Xia Xu before the shot.
• Xia Xu celebrated the discovery, believing the Bai Ze System could make ordinary firearms far less dangerous when combined with his enhanced reactions.

Tang Youxin proposed designing superhero clothing for Xia Xu, and he helped refine the idea for clothing, glasses, and a smartwatch to work with the Bai Ze System. He took her out to the amusement park and decided he would build himself a custom car once Star Sea Industrial obtained its military-industrial qualifications.

• Tang Youxin asked whether Xia Xu intended to become a movie-style superhero and proposed designing him a suit with vibration alerts for incoming attacks.
• Xia Xu suggested distributing components through the clothes and pairing simplified warning glasses with a smartwatch, while keeping the Smart Glasses for their full functions.
• Tang Youxin eagerly wanted to ask Zhou Xiaodong and the others to begin making the equipment, but Xia Xu stopped her and insisted they go out together.
• Xia Xu took Tang Youxin to the amusement park by taxi after teasing her and overcoming her protests.
• Xia Xu resolved to design and manufacture a one-of-a-kind car after Star Sea Industrial obtained its military-industrial qualifications.

After a lively day at the amusement park, Xia Xu and Tang Youxin left to get barbecue, then spotted a martial arts gym using Xia Xu’s image to advertise Miao Dao lessons. Xia Xu confronted the terrified Kim Jeonghun about the unauthorized poster.

• Tang Youxin enthusiastically tried thrilling rides at the amusement park while Xia Xu stayed close to keep her from running off.
• Xia Xu agreed to let Tang Youxin pay for barbecue, and they hurried away after drawing attention from other visitors.
• Tang Youxin noticed a martial arts class advertisement featuring a familiar Miao Dao fighter silhouette outside Jinbei Martial Arts Gym.
• Xia Xu recognized the silhouette as himself and tapped on the registration table, startling Kim Jeonghun, who remembered seeing Xia Xu kill Werewolves.
• Xia Xu pointed to the poster and asked Kim Jeonghun whether the gym had used his photograph without permission.

Xia Xu accepted compensation from Kim Jeonghun for using his image and learned that the Jinbei Taekwondo Gym had switched to teaching domestic martial arts. Later, he met with Medical Insurance Bureau representatives, who wanted to discuss including Star Tranquility in an upcoming procurement negotiation, and left the matter to Chen Leyao.

• Kim Jeonghun offered Xia Xu two hundred thousand in compensation for infringing on his portrait rights, and Xia Xu accepted it.
• Xia Xu learned that the Jinbei Taekwondo Gym had stopped teaching taekwondo and hired domestic martial arts instructors instead.
• After dinner with Tang Youxin, Xia Xu received Jiang Hai's call about visitors from the Medical Insurance Bureau and went to Star Sea Biotech.
• The Medical Insurance Bureau representatives told Xia Xu that Star Tranquility had been added to a procurement negotiation scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
• Xia Xu asked Chen Leyao to handle the negotiations with the Medical Insurance Bureau.

Xia Xu visited Gu Haiming’s laboratory and learned that the Second Heart project had succeeded, with only clinical trials remaining. He realized that Blue Ocean Star’s unnoticed companies and research institutions were already driving a technological surge, so neither he nor Gu Haiming would have to wait long to witness the coming changes.

• Xia Xu rushed to Star Sea Biotech’s research institute after Gu Haiming called to say the Second Heart project was essentially successful.
• Gu Haiming showed Xia Xu a macaque bearing a fully grown, externally beating Second Heart and explained how Yingke No. 1’s immune deficiency made it an ideal host for cultivating organs.
• Xia Xu recalled paying ten million for Yingke No. 1 and recognized that the purchase had helped make the experiment possible.
• Xia Xu reflected that technological breakthroughs seemed close yet might take decades, while Gu Haiming lamented that he might not live to see them.
• Xia Xu argued that they were both born into the best of times because Blue Ocean Star’s overlooked companies and institutions were already creating the conditions for rapid technological change.

Xia Xu learned that Gu Haiming had developed a Second Heart that could store and release K protein to enhance the body, and he ordered one grown from his own stem cells. The transplant still depended on clinical trials and finding a reliable surgeon, while funding another laboratory monkey became Xia Xu’s immediate concern.

• Gu Haiming explained that the Second Heart could help replace a damaged heart, and Xia Xu worried that Gu planned to test it on himself.
• Gu Haiming described how the Second Heart would retain K protein, trigger its production through pain and stress, and release it for temporary or gradual physical enhancement.
• Gu Haiming reported that his tests confirmed K protein could boost physical ability temporarily and strengthen cells over time when kept above baseline levels.
• Xia Xu asked Gu Haiming to grow a Second Heart from his own stem cells so he could receive a transplant after clinical trials.
• Gu Haiming pointed out that another laboratory monkey would cost ten million, and Xia Xu promised to allocate the funds.

During negotiations with the healthcare security bureau, Chen Leyao consulted Xia Xu after the two sides settled near 188 yuan for Star Tranquility. Xia Xu told her to offer 100 yuan instead, hoping to secure rapid payment, build goodwill, and ease resistance to approvals for his companies.

• Chen Leyao negotiated Star Tranquility's price with the healthcare security bureau, lowering Star Sea Biotech's offer from 286 yuan to 220 yuan.
• The bureau's negotiators proposed 188 yuan, and Chen Leyao stepped out to consult Xia Xu.
• Xia Xu rejected the proposed price and instructed Chen Leyao to offer 100 yuan and request prompt advance payment.
• Xia Xu planned to use the steep discount to improve cash flow, strengthen Star Sea Biotech's public image, and help secure military-industrial qualifications for his companies.
• Xia Xu decided that Star Sea Biopharmaceuticals would lead the public relations campaign while he stayed out of the spotlight.

Chen Leyao announced that Star Sea Biotech had cut Star Tranquility’s price to 100 yuan during medical insurance negotiations, winning praise from negotiators and media. The news went viral, and the company’s link to Xia Xu fueled even wider attention.

• Chen Leyao told the Medical Insurance Bureau negotiators that Star Sea Biotech’s new quote for Star Tranquility was 100 yuan.
• Chen Leyao explained that Boss Xia had ordered the price cut to prioritize the health and safety of the people of the Xia Kingdom.
• The negotiators praised Star Sea Biotech and agreed to Chen Leyao’s request for advance payment.
• Videos of the negotiations spread online, and viewers praised the Bureau’s negotiators and Star Sea Biotech’s voluntary price reduction.
• Online users recognized Xia Xu as the company’s owner, sending Star Sea Biotech, Star Tranquility, and Xia Xu trending across the internet.

Xia Xu learned that Cui Xinghua, a gifted surgeon whose hands were damaged in a car crash after a failed operation, was now in a psychiatric hospital. He decided to meet Cui Xinghua after registering at the International Scientific Research University in Sea City.

• Liu Quande told Xia Xu that no surgeon he had found matched Xia Xu's requirements as well as Cui Xinghua, who could no longer operate because of nerve damage in both hands.
• Xia Xu realized that the Mechanical Centipede Spine might restore the steadiness and precision needed for Cui Xinghua to operate.
• Liu Quande explained that Cui Xinghua had also been admitted to a psychiatric hospital after the failed brain tumor surgery and the crash caused by the patient's family.
• Xia Xu asked to meet Cui Xinghua, and Liu Quande gave him the address and phone number for Gardner Psychiatric Hospital in Sea City.
• Xia Xu planned to visit Cui Xinghua after registering at the International Scientific Research University, whose term was about to begin.

Xia Xu delivered the enhanced dog Ghost Face to the Special Department under a deal and gave them a Mechanical Centipede Spine. Liu Quande accepted both, with the spine intended for Luo Hongyun, leaving the department indebted to Xia Xu.

• Liu Quande told Xia Xu that Star Sea’s military-industrial qualifications and other licenses had been secured and that the Xinyuan Building handover was complete.
• Xia Xu introduced Ghost Face, a purebred Kunming Dog enhanced with the Werewolf Enhancement Serum, and offered it to the Special Department for twenty million.
• Liu Quande agreed to buy Ghost Face without haggling.
• Xia Xu gave Liu Quande a Mechanical Centipede Spine as a gift to the provincial branch.
• Liu Quande realized Xia Xu intended the spine for Luo Hongyun, and Xia Xu argued that making Luo Hongyun stronger would benefit the provincial Special Operations Team.

Xia Xu expanded Star Sea Group and secured major funding through government contracts, then received the K Protein needed to produce Werewolf Enhancement Serum. As outside interest in his technology grew, he declined Liu Quande’s offer of security, confident that his new helpers could handle troublemakers.

• Xia Xu merged his companies into Star Sea Group, moved Star Sea Biotech into the Xinyuan Building, and used government contracts to fund rapid expansion.
• The Special Department ordered one hundred doses of Werewolf Enhancement Serum and supplied K Protein, paying Xia Xu a billion in advance after negotiating the price down.
• Liu Quande told Xia Xu that K Protein was rare and difficult to collect, and explained that the Special Department planned to add carrier testing to school medical checkups.
• Xia Xu suggested paying people who tested positive for K Protein, but Liu Quande refused to allow the sale of human tissues and organs.
• Liu Quande warned Xia Xu that outsiders were watching him and offered security personnel, but Xia Xu said his two new helpers could handle any troublemakers.

Xia Xu thanked Yao Fu for catching two infiltrators and offered him improved gadgets, while preparing to replace him with hired security when school resumed. Star Sea Biotech’s recruitment notice then prompted rival forces to send people in as applicants, confident they could infiltrate the company without consequences.

• Yao Fu brought two unconscious infiltrators and the equipment they had carried to Xia Xu’s office.
• Xia Xu identified the Gecko Gloves and Grappling Hook Gun and promised to have Star Sea Industrial make Yao Fu better versions.
• Yao Fu told Xia Xu that he would soon have to return to school, and Xia Xu said he was arranging to hire security staff.
• Rival forces interpreted Star Sea Biotech’s recruitment notice as an opportunity to infiltrate the company and gather intelligence.
• Several groups instructed people, including Professor Feng, to apply for jobs at Star Sea Biotech.

Xia Xu watched Star Sea Biotech’s recruitment fair and recognized Guo Feilong as a promising security specialist, despite being unsure of his background. He hired Guo Feilong to observe him more closely and potentially bring his talents onto the team.

• Xia Xu examined the recruitment applicants’ profiles and identified many as spies sent by other factions.
• Tang Youxin grew bored during the interviews, so Xia Xu let her leave with A Tuo.
• After the HR staff dismissed Guo Feilong, Xia Xu unexpectedly offered him a job starting the next morning.
• Xia Xu checked Guo Feilong’s profile and favorability, concluding that Guo seemed to bear him no ill will and was worth keeping under observation.

Xia Xu interviewed Zhou Mingjie, a martial arts devotee whose abilities caught his interest, but let him leave while considering how to use uncertain applicants. Meanwhile, Tang Youxin encountered a distressed, apparently drunk man on her way home and tried to comfort him.

• Xia Xu challenged Zhou Mingjie’s demand for a martial arts spar by activating his Smart Glasses and invoking his Mechanical Spiders.
• Xia Xu examined Zhou Mingjie’s Status Panel, found his four-star martial artist potential, and sent him home without offering him a job.
• Xia Xu considered using the applicants whose loyalties remained uncertain, including confirmed spies.
• Tang Youxin playfully made her way along roadside flower beds with A Tuo as she headed toward her apartment.
• Tang Youxin found a middle-aged man slumped and crying beside a flower bed, then asked if he was all right and offered him comfort.

Tang Youxin told Xia Xu she had promised a desperate man named Zou Jin a job at Star Sea Biotech and six months’ pay in advance, so Xia Xu went to assess him. Zou Jin’s status confirmed his family’s multiple crises were real, leaving Xia Xu wondering whether Tang Youxin’s chance encounter was truly accidental.

• Tang Youxin confessed that she had offered Zou Jin a job and six months’ salary in advance after hearing about his troubles.
• Xia Xu paused recruitment and asked Tang Youxin to take him to meet Zou Jin, while considering whether someone might be using her to infiltrate Star Sea Biotech.
• Tang Youxin described Zou Jin’s daughter’s leukemia, his wife’s accident and vegetative state, his brain tumor, and his parents’ and father-in-law’s distress.
• Xia Xu checked Zou Jin’s status and saw his obsessions to save his family, along with a rise in affinity that suggested he had little chance of harboring ill intentions.
• Xia Xu wondered why Zou Jin’s encounter with Tang Youxin felt familiar, while Tang Youxin innocently denied responsibility.

Xia Xu recognized Zou Jin’s Death Warrior Fate Profile and saw him as the dependable security captain Star Sea Biotech needed. He decided to help Zou Jin and reconsidered how to give Hong Bo a meaningful role, ending with plans to start an internet company for him.

• Xia Xu examined Zou Jin’s Resilience and Death Warrior potentials and judged him unusually suited to lead Star Sea Biotech’s security team.
• Xia Xu realized Zou Jin needed money for treatment and believed helping him would earn his loyalty and secure his service.
• Xia Xu decided Zou Jin was a better security captain than Hong Bo, whom he had originally planned to put in the role.
• Xia Xu reflected that Hong Bo had left Flying Boat Studio but had been given little to do at Star Sea Venture Capital.
• Xia Xu decided to register an internet-focused company and let Hong Bo run it.

Xia Xu hired Zou Jin in exchange for his loyalty and promised to pay for his family's medical care. After Zou Jin left, Xia Xu and Tang Youxin joked about her recruitment bonus as they returned to the Recruitment Room.

• Xia Xu asked Zou Jin what he could offer in return for financial help, and Zou Jin pledged his life and loyalty.
• Xia Xu hired Zou Jin for Star Sea Biotech's security department and promised to cover his family's medical expenses and transfer a million yuan to him.
• Zou Jin thanked Xia Xu and Tang Youxin, vowed to keep his word, and agreed to report to Star Sea Biotech within a week.
• Xia Xu gave Tang Youxin five hundred yuan as a talent recruitment bonus for finding Zou Jin.
• Tang Youxin refused to return the bonus and teased Xia Xu about buying him dinner, while he joked about living off her.