Jim lodges in a cramped flat above Miss China’s bustling Bristol eatery, sharing quarters with Dr. Breckenridge, an inventor whose costly experiments plunge them into financial turmoil, sparking constant clashes over mounting debts. As the doctor’s right-hand man, Jim dives into audacious experiments—operating a device bridging communication with the moon and piloting machinery capable of miniaturizing human subjects.

During one moonlit endeavor, Jim etches Miss China’s name across the lunar surface in a grand romantic gesture, only for the feat to be dismissed as mass hallucination. Undeterred, he covertly enlists her martial arts expertise to twist steel bars for another project. Together, they forge a spacecraft to ride the "Ethereal Current" toward Mars, expanding their escapades beyond Earth.

Chronic poverty shadows their breakthroughs. Though their revolutionary creations—from transforming the moon into a planetary ring to teleportation technology—defy convention, investors brand them harebrained schemes. This cycle cements their status as overlooked visionaries.

Jim’s bond with Miss China dances between camaraderie and conflict. While she voices romantic overtures, he strategically exploits her physical prowess and fiery temperament to propel their work. Their partnership thrives on a push-pull dynamic of necessity and frustration, strained further by unpaid bills and experimental fallout.

Years later, Jim joins the Scientific Boys Club—elderly scientists chasing cosmic frontiers—on a Mars voyage. The crew leaves an engraved stone slab later unearthed by astronauts, immortalizing their legacy through cryptic interstellar evidence. Each venture reinforces Jim’s role in fringe science’s riskiest frontiers.