Episode Summary
Chen Hansheng overcomes his fear of water through a trick planned by his teammates and is allowed to join the competition. At the event, the other teams plot against the four-time champion Ling Zhengrong. During the first night's unofficial reconnaissance, Qiu Tian's cybersecurity team hacks and disables the systems of every team that broke the rules, forcing their captains to apologize.
Spoiler Alert
A Midnight Swim and a Misunderstanding
The episode starts with Chen Hansheng sneaking out to the pool at night. He's trying to get over his fear of water, but it backfires. He nearly drowns.
Luckily, Ling Zhengrong shows up just in time to pull him out. You might think it's a coincidence, but it's not. Ling Zhengrong was actually there to watch Qiu Tian. She was practicing her diving late at night.
Since it's after lights out, Ling Zhengrong tells Chen Hansheng to go back and report the incident to Zhang Lan. He stays behind. He watches as Qiu Tian finally nails a difficult dive. She's ecstatic. To avoid being seen, he hides. This turns out to be a bad move. He gets locked inside the pool area after she leaves.
His only way out is a window. As he's trying to climb out, patrolling soldiers spot him. The next morning, the whole base is buzzing with gossip about the Cheetah captain getting caught sneaking around the pool.
Qiu Tian hears the rumors. She immediately assumes Ling Zhengrong was there to spy on her. She is furious. She confronts him, they argue about it, and the whole thing ends in a stalemate.
Operation: Teach Hansheng to Swim
The team still needs Chen Hansheng to be able to swim for the upcoming competition. So Ling Zhengrong, Zhang Lan, and Qiu Tian put a plan into motion. They decide a little trickery is in order.
They send Yan Su to "teach" Chen Hansheng how to swim. Yan Su shows off a few different strokes. Then, he suddenly pretends to be drowning and starts flailing around. He puts on a very convincing performance.
Chen Hansheng's instincts take over. He dives into the pool without a second thought. He swims right over and drags Yan Su to the side. When he sees that Yan Su is perfectly fine, the rest of the team appears. Chen Hansheng realizes he's been had.
The setup worked, though. He just proved he can swim when it counts. Ling Zhengrong is a man of his word. He officially agrees to let Chen Hansheng join the competition.
Gearing Up for the Competition
Before the team heads out, the Repair Squad and the Kitchen Squad throw a farewell party for Chen Hansheng. It’s a big meal. Each of the cooks prepares their two best dishes. Everyone is there to show their support. They all want him to succeed. Zhang Lan pulls him aside. She reminds him to get along with the other Cheetah members. Lei Peng, Yan Su, and Zheng Yunxiao are just glad to have their friend back, fighting alongside them again.
The Other Teams Gang Up
They arrive at the competition grounds. Ling Zhengrong is a legend here. He's won this thing four years in a row. He goes to greet the captains of the other teams.
They are not happy to see him. They are tired of losing to him. The captains all agree to work together this year. Their one goal is to make sure the Cheetah team does not get a fifth straight victory.
They are extremely wary of Ling Zhengrong. He tries to bring some drinks over to another team's camp as a friendly gesture. They stop him at the perimeter. They tell him he can leave the drinks, but he is not allowed inside their camp. They remember a previous competition where he just took one look around their camp and figured out what their core weapon was. It put them at a huge disadvantage.
First Night, First Mission
The daytime is for setting up. The real games begin at night. All the teams start sending out reconnaissance devices to spy on each other.
Ling Zhengrong gives Chen Hansheng his first mission. It's a simple one. He hands him a hat that has a hidden camera inside. His job is to walk through the other camps and record what they're eating for dinner. It's a low-stakes way to test the waters. Chen Hansheng is new to this kind of work. He's a bit clumsy and almost gets discovered.
Meanwhile, the competition's commander has brought in a special unit. It's Qiu Tian and her team. They are in charge of all cybersecurity for the event. Her systems quickly detect a lot of unauthorized drones and surveillance equipment being used by the teams.
Qiu Tian decides to teach them a quick, sharp lesson. She orders her team to hack the computer systems of every team using illegal tech. Suddenly, all the team captains find themselves locked out of their own networks. All of them except Ling Zhengrong, that is. The Cheetahs weren't using any forbidden gear.
The other captains are stuck. They have to go to the command center and apologize for breaking the rules. If they don't, their systems will remain offline. That would cripple them when the competition starts for real the next day.
