Our dubious hero Biao wakes up to find himself in a helicopter being transported to a Chinese military base. His last espionage mission saved China from a nuclear retaliation, and the last he could remember was being picked up by Arab Bedouins after his helicopter went down. A few nuclear missiles had reached the front lines of battle, but did not destroy any Chinese cities. He wondered if his parents survived. They were two of the unlucky patriots that were drafted to fight in a war in which they were too old to fight. Biao becomes more and more intertwined with the future of China and the world, playing a major part in espionage tactics, and yet finding himself powerless in the newest wave of world's history. Would it last or be washed away as so many of humankind's previous "sand castles"? Strategy and scheming are awakened in people's hearts once more, and Biao finds himself just a piece on the chess board of ever increasing intrigue on a global scale.