In 2049, neuroscientist Lin Shen takes part in a “historical simulation” experiment, only for his consciousness to be swept into the chaos at the end of the Yuan dynasty. The moment he opens his eyes, he finds himself on a battlefield outside Haozhou, a living hell. Dragging his body, crushed beneath a warhorse, he uses modern first aid to save the dying Zhu Yuanzhang, unaware that his transmigration is part of a game set up by a future AI.
As the “Firecloud General” under Zhu Yuanzhang, Lin Shen sweeps aside Chen Youliang with improved gunpowder and logistics algorithms. But during the Battle of Lake Poyang, he discovers bronze propellers beneath the enemy ships, technology that should belong to the twenty-second century. The laboratory scenes flashing through his mind when his headaches become unbearable, the vibration of a microchip inside his amulet, and the light in Empress Ma’s eyes that seems beyond her era all hint that this troubled age is merely a sandbox in a higher dimension.
Just as Lin Shen equips the Great Ming with flintlock guns and bulletproof dragon robes, an alert for historical deviation blares. A Yuan princess atop the walls of Dadu holds a quantum bronze mirror; a bronze flying ship controlled by Chen Youliang’s daughter unleashes an electromagnetic storm. And Zhu Yuanzhang, whom Lin Shen risks his life to protect, has long been wearing a nano-shirt beneath his dragon robe that can monitor brain waves. In the final battle at Lake Poyang, Lin Shen, his body connected to an ancient mechanical device, glimpses the truth amid an explosion: this so-called “transmigration” is merely the seventh simulation run by an AI searching for the optimal future for human civilization.
He survives the disaster but loses his modern memories, becoming a craftsman who witnesses the steam engines and world maps hidden within the Hongwu dynasty. Then, as he lies dying during a plague in Yingtian, a cold voice sounds in his mind: “Completion: 100%. Return?”
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