Once he had decided to pass on what he knew of the Superbrain and the Firestarter grains to the Eastern Theater Command, Shen Cong stopped going back and forth about it. That same night he set down everything he understood about them, ready to hand to the Eastern Theater Command for further research.

The next morning the Vajra Fortress, fully repaired, set out for Qing County carrying three eggs and one iron lion. The Siberian weasel broke trail ahead and the four-legged dragon brought up the rear — a conspicuous procession the whole way.

The vehicle went slowly.

For one thing, he was nearly out of Hebei and into Tianjin, entering what might be the Central Theater Command's sphere. Moving fast would put him rashly into the Central Theater Command's view, and that would make it awkward to scout the area around Beijing quietly.

For another, he was working the Super-Thunder Wave station, talking with the Eastern Theater Command's laboratory.

"The activation of Firestarter grains, the change from inert to active — I call that process the kindling of the spirit-fire. The 'spirit' stands for the nervous system, the 'fire' for the Firestarter grains giving light (TL Note: in Chinese the two share a character — shen is both the shen of "nerve" and the shen of "spirit-fire," so the name says plainly what it is made of). When the nerves kindle their spirit-fire, the new nerves that form are called the spirit-fire. When the spinal cord kindles its spirit-fire, the new cord that forms is called the spine-fire."

Shen Cong went through what he knew of Firestarter grains, starting simple and working deeper.

"The brain's gradation may not be a simple kindling of the spirit-fire, but something else again… I'm not clear on the process, but the brain may become a super brain — a Superbrain for short… I've found one Superbrain, a wild one, growing on a Firestarter Spirit. And a Firestarter Spirit is life brought by the Firestarter."

By the time he had finished on Firestarter grains, an hour had gone.

The super iron person relayed Nan…