Recaps

Qu Jianlei, Xiao Jing, and Cracked settled outside Hong Yi Settlement while considering whether to cross the Endless Mountain Range. After a month of training and odd repair work, Qu Jianlei hit a cultivation bottleneck and decided to explore the mountains, leaving Xiao Jing behind to guard their home.

• Qu Jianlei questioned Cracked about the lands beyond the Endless Mountain Range, and Cracked suggested staying in Hong Yi through the cold season while gathering information and looking for a map or smugglers.
• Qu Jianlei took the name Fu Gui and Xiao Jing took the name Baitian as the three rented a courtyard outside Hong Yi Settlement.
• Cracked exchanged Silver Coins to fund his information gathering, while Qu Jianlei trained and earned money through mechanical repairs.
• After a month, Qu Jianlei reached the peak of Qi Refining Stage Level Four and decided to enter the mountains to seek wild beasts or Mutated Beasts.
• Xiao Jing insisted on joining Qu Jianlei, but Qu Jianlei refused and told him to stay behind and guard the house.

Qu Jianlei returned to Hong One after a dangerous seven-day hunt in the mountains, where he killed a Golden-striped Bear and a Three-tailed Lynx and advanced his cultivation through fierce battles. At the mountain’s foot, Meat Overlord tried to buy the lynx and threatened him when he refused.

• Cracked dropped Qu Jianlei off at the foot of the mountain, and Qu Jianlei entered the Endless Mountain Range with weapons and supplies.
• A Hunter tried to follow Qu Jianlei after locals bet on whether he was a capable lone wolf, but the man could not keep up with him.
• Qu Jianlei returned seven days later carrying parts of a Golden-striped Bear and a Three-tailed Lynx, and he sold information about where he had found them.
• Qu Jianlei recalled that he had killed both beasts himself, suffered a shoulder injury, and made progress in his cultivation through their life-and-death fights.
• A man with armed companions stopped Qu Jianlei and offered ten, then twelve, Silver Coins for the lynx; Qu Jianlei refused and recognized the group as Meat Overlord.

Qu Jianlei recovered from repeated hunting injuries, reached Qi Refining Fifth Level, and learned of a damaged transport mech for sale, but refused to buy it without inspecting it. He turned instead to designing a Flight Backpack and went back into the mountains to hunt for the money and materials he needed.

• Qu Jianlei offered half his Mutated Beast meat to learn how to identify Mutated Crystals, but the roadblockers refused and he left with the meat.
• Qu Jianlei processed his hunt into meat floss, warned Cracked that his map was wrong, and later broke through to Qi Refining Fifth Level while recovering from another hunting injury.
• Cracked told Qu Jianlei about a damaged transport mech offered for eight thousand Silver Coins, but Qu Jianlei refused the deal because the sellers would not allow an inspection.
• Xiao Jing questioned Cracked about possibly setting Qu Jianlei up, and Cracked denied it.
• Qu Jianlei used Xiao Hu to retrieve Flight Backpack designs, spent nearly twenty days refining a design, and then entered the mountains to hunt for money and materials.

Qu Jianlei hunted Mutated Beasts, sold most of his haul, and continued developing a Flight Backpack while earning more Silver Coins. He returned from another hunt to learn from Xiao Jing that a potential buyer could inspect the mecha after paying a deposit.

• Qu Jianlei killed thirty Weasel Foxes and took a Big Horn Deer, then sold the foxes and most of the deer to Meat Overlord for six hundred Silver Coins.
• Qu Jianlei bought materials and began researching a Flight Backpack as news of his hunting success spread through the Hong Yi Settlement.
• A man negotiated with Cracked over a mecha inspection, and they agreed on a fifty-Silver-Coin deposit with a partial refund possible if the deal failed.
• Qu Jianlei tested the Flight Backpack's power system, then went into the mountains and returned with two porcupines, including one mutated animal, despite suffering several wounds.
• Qu Jianlei refused to sell the porcupine meat to Meat Overlord, and Xiao Jing told him that the mecha buyer could pay a deposit to inspect it.

Qu Jianlei considered buying a damaged mech to improve his chances of crossing the Endless Mountain Range, but he and the sellers initially failed to agree on a price. After Cracked arranged a gold exchange and renegotiated, Qu Jianlei still refused to trade away their modified truck, unaware that Hua Xiezhi and the others were heading toward Hong Yi Settlement.

• Xiao Jing explained that the mech sellers had approached again after Qu Jianlei stopped negotiating, and Qu Jianlei decided the risk was worth taking.
• Qu Jianlei inspected the mech outside the Settlement and discovered its Drive Unit was damaged, then walked away when the sellers demanded too much.
• Qu Jianlei and the sellers discussed payment, but they could not agree on a price or on how much gold should be worth.
• Cracked found an exchange for Qu Jianlei's gold at one Silver Coin per gram, and Qu Jianlei received two thousand Silver Coin banknotes.
• Cracked negotiated a lower mech price that included the Open-Top Light Truck and ammunition, but Qu Jianlei refused to trade the truck.
• Hua Xiezhi and the other two followed a convoy heading to Hong Yi Settlement.

Hua Xiezhi and her companions were forced to help search for Silly Qu, while Qu Jianlei bought a damaged Transport Mech and spent seven days adapting his Flight Backpack drive to it. Back at the courtyard, he prepared to leave Hong Yi and learned from Cracked that a smuggling route across the mountains might exist, though getting details would cost a hundred Silver Coins.

• Hua Xiezhi and the Rider discussed being forced to search camps for Silly Qu as their truck approached a wilderness camp.
• Qu Jianlei completed a deal for a damaged mech, moved it with Cracked into an abandoned underground warehouse, and used a Mutated Crystal to adapt his drive design.
• Qu Jianlei spent seven days repairing and improving the mech's drive system while Cracked delivered materials.
• Qu Jianlei returned to the courtyard, learned that only eighty-seven Silver Coins remained, and said he would hunt before preparing to leave.
• Cracked told Qu Jianlei that a smuggling route might cross the mountains and asked for a hundred Silver Coins to learn more about it.

Qu Jianlei learned that crossing the mountains was possible but dangerous, then continued hunting while preparing to leave. He encountered Hua Xiezhi, who said the Main Settlement was searching for him and a very important person, and asked how his companion was doing.

• Qu Jianlei paid Cracked for information and learned that a smuggling group might cross the mountains in a month, but Cracked had withheld the news that Hong's influence barely reached the Zhou-Character Settlement.
• Cracked admitted he had hidden the information to protect Xiao Jing, and Xiao Jing warned him that Qu Jianlei disliked being kept in the dark.
• Qu Jianlei continued maintaining his equipment and hunting, but after several days he gained little from killing two C-class Mutated Spotted Wolverines and a nest of Ironhide Rabbits.
• While scouting, Qu Jianlei spotted Hua Xiezhi and concealed himself before ordering her to stop.
• Hua Xiezhi told Qu Jianlei that a big shot from the Main Settlement had forced her to find him because they sought a very important person and Qu Jianlei.
• Qu Jianlei denied being important and asked Hua Xiezhi how his companion was doing.

Hua Xiezhi told Qu Jianlei that Hunter Wind had been killed and Xiao Jing had been captured after the Main Settlement tracked them to Hong One. Qu Jianlei learned that a search party was hunting him, and Hua Xiezhi offered to join him in crossing the Endless Mountain Range.

• Hua Xiezhi told Qu Jianlei that Hunter Wind was dead and Xiao Jing had lost an arm and might not have survived.
• Hua Xiezhi explained that the Main Settlement had identified Qu Jianlei through his gold trade and modified truck, then sent searchers after him.
• Hua Xiezhi revealed that she had found Qu Jianlei's fight with Wolverine and helped erase its traces before joining the mountain search.
• Qu Jianlei asked about Xiao Jing, and Hua Xiezhi urged him to kill the powerful people or flee; Qu Jianlei said he was not yet ready to fight them.
• Hua Xiezhi offered to help Qu Jianlei cross the Endless Mountain Range, and he asked her why she wanted to leave Hong Character Settlement.
• Qu Jianlei asked Hua Xiezhi whether there was any news about Silly Qu.

Qu Jianlei avoided the searchers by hiding deep in the Endless Mountain Range for nearly two months, then slipped out through an unguarded stretch of steep slopes. He returned to the abandoned warehouse and found his mech untouched.

• Hua Xiezhi warned Qu Jianlei that searchers had gathered Night Vision Binoculars to watch the mountain exits, but he refused to travel with her and paid her for the warning.
• Qu Jianlei headed deeper into the mountains at night, fought snakes and Mutated Mountain Giant Lizards, and spent more than twenty days hiding and cultivating.
• Qu Jianlei began his return as the weather turned colder, reached the Safe Zone after eight more days, and buried the Mutated Beast meat he had carried out.
• Qu Jianlei spotted suspicious people still searching and escaped the mountains through a steep, unguarded route, avoiding hidden alarms and traps.
• Qu Jianlei reached the abandoned warehouse after midnight and found that his mech and buried markers had not been disturbed.

Qu Jianlei tested his mech, then roamed Hongyi Settlement to investigate the face-covering ban and the Main Settlement’s operations. He recognized Mr. Sai’s armored vehicle near their camp but left without learning where Mr. Sai was.

• Qu Jianlei checked the mech and its Electromagnetic Cannon, then wrestled with his desire to take revenge for Cracked and Xiao Jing.
• Qu Jianlei killed a motorcyclist who challenged his face covering, buried the body, and spent the day killing two more groups that demanded his identity.
• A team invited Qu Jianlei to help catch Black Sky for a thousand Silver Coins, but he refused.
• Qu Jianlei learned the Main Settlement’s camp stood on the road toward the mountains and observed its operations center from afar.
• Qu Jianlei recognized Mr. Sai’s armored vehicle near the operations center, then returned that night to watch the Command Center from three kilometers away.

Qu Jianlei attacked Mr. Sai’s camp with an Electromagnetic Cannon, then escaped on foot while the pursuers tried to corner him at an abandoned warehouse. He emerged in a Transport Mech and blasted the vehicles surrounding the warehouse, sending the survivors fleeing.

• Qu Jianlei destroyed Mr. Sai’s Armored Vehicle and central camp with two shots from his Electromagnetic Cannon, then fled with the cannon and a Gauss Machine Gun.
• Qu Jianlei used explosions, an Incendiary Bomb, and planted explosives to disrupt the pursuing vehicles and their Night Vision Devices as he ran toward an abandoned warehouse.
• Qu Jianlei reached the warehouse, equipped his Transport Mech with the Electromagnetic Cannon, and rested while the pursuers sealed the exits rather than entering.
• A man from the Main Settlement identified Qu Jianlei as Black Sky and ordered the group to capture him alive for a public execution.
• Qu Jianlei’s mech burst through the warehouse roof and destroyed three vehicles, driving the remaining pursuers away.

Qu Jianlei destroyed vehicles pursuing him, took supplies, and escaped into the Endless Mountain Range. He evaded resistance and hid in a cave as three Hong Yi Settlement Combat Mechs followed him into the mountains.

• Qu Jianlei blew up several vehicles, collected machine guns, ammunition, and a Water Purifier, then headed for the Endless Mountain Range.
• A temporarily conscripted adventurer team surrendered its truck to Qu Jianlei, who took its mounted machine gun and ammunition before continuing on.
• Qu Jianlei fought off two artillery positions while crossing into the mountain region, then proceeded into the Extremely Dangerous Zone.
• Three Combat Mechs from Hong Yi Settlement pursued Qu Jianlei, but they arrived hours after he had entered the Extremely Dangerous Zone.
• Qu Jianlei slowed down at night and hid in a prepared cave when dawn came, while the Main Settlement and Hong Yi searched for traces of Black Sky.

Qu Jianlei waited out the Main Settlement’s search of the mountains, recovered most of his buried supplies, and discovered Hua Xiezhi keeping watch near his final cache. Hua Xiezhi asked to cross the Endless Mountain Range with him, revealing that one of her companions had died and the other had been crippled.

• Qu Jianlei stayed hidden as thousands searched the mountains, using small game to divert searchers when they came close.
• Autumn beasts and mounting casualties fueled conflict between Hong One’s Survivors and the Main Settlement, which eventually withdrew most of its forces as winter arrived.
• Qu Jianlei recovered his buried supplies, finding that five kilograms of gold, some firearms, and ammunition were missing.
• At his final cache, Qu Jianlei found Hua Xiezhi lying in ambush and waited until dawn before confronting her.
• Hua Xiezhi said she had come to find Qu Jianlei and wanted to cross the Endless Mountain Range with him, then told him one companion had died and the other had been crippled.

Hua Xiezhi joined Qu Jianlei in the mountains, hoping to become as strong as him, and the two recovered their hidden supplies and set out together. As they discussed the Saifeisi family and the deaths in the conflict, Qu Jianlei pulled Hua Xiezhi aside to warn her of a Winged Snake.

• Hua Xiezhi explained that she had waited for Black Sky because she wanted a trustworthy companion and hoped to become stronger.
• Qu Jianlei tested Hua Xiezhi's intentions, then agreed to travel with her after learning she had kept his ammunition buried and brought supplies of her own.
• Hua Xiezhi and Qu Jianlei dug up their caches and headed into the mountains, with Qu Jianlei taking her heavy ammunition box as she tired on the journey.
• Hua Xiezhi told Qu Jianlei that Sailence belonged to a branch of the Saifeisi family and had sworn revenge; Qu Jianlei vowed to remember the family because his companion had died.
• Qu Jianlei pulled Hua Xiezhi aside and warned her that a Winged Snake was nearby.

Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi traveled deep into the Endless Mountain Range, relying on his Transport Mech to conserve strength and evade danger. After a cold wave forced them to seek a water source, they fought a troop of Black-backed Golden Apes and discovered a hot chamber in their cave, which Qu Jianlei guessed was caused by geothermal heat.

• Qu Jianlei killed a Winged Snake with one slash, then led Hua Xiezhi through the Dangerous Zone to his hideout, where they ate, rested, and agreed to use the names Panda and Yellow Scorpion.
• Qu Jianlei carried Hua Xiezhi through the mountains in his Transport Mech, avoiding a Rank A Horned Eagle and conserving Energy Blocks as they traveled for a month.
• A powerful cold wave slowed their journey, so Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi decided to find a safe water source instead of continuing onward.
• Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi found an unfrozen spring near a cave inhabited by Black-backed Golden Apes, and Qu Jianlei killed all seventeen after a three-hour battle.
• Qu Jianlei explored the cave and found its deepest chamber was extremely hot, leading him to suggest that geothermal heat caused the warmth.

Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi settled into the cave, using its geothermal warmth and training while the winter worsened outside. After a snowfall, a huge mammoth arrived and tried to force its way into their cave, leaving them to decide how to deal with it.

• Qu Jianlei found a hibernating Striped Hedgehog and confirmed that melted ice was safe to drink, then renovated the cave with Hua Xiezhi.
• Hua Xiezhi learned the Eight Section Brocade and Five Animals Play from Black Sky, while he withheld instruction in the more advanced exercises.
• Hua Xiezhi discovered enormous hoofprints nearby, and Qu Jianlei estimated the creature that made them weighed at least two tons.
• After three days of heavy snow, Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi saw a mammoth over three meters tall approach the cave.
• The mammoth tried to kneel and squeeze through the entrance, then angrily struck the thick ice wall when it could not get inside.
• Hua Xiezhi asked whether they should fight the mammoth for its meat, and Qu Jianlei said they had no choice.

After surviving the winter in the Endless Mountain Range, Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi set out and finally reached a plain, where they encountered a convoy. Baldy challenged Hua Xiezhi after she asked for directions to the nearest camp, leaving the pair facing a potentially hostile group.

• Qu Jianlei killed the mammoth with the Electromagnetic Cannon, and he and Hua Xiezhi later found an orange Rank A Mutated Crystal beneath its skull.
• After winter passed, Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi left their shelter, collected the mammoth tusks and crystal, and continued through the mountains as warming weather brought aggressive beasts.
• The pair escaped a flock of Iron-Feathered Vultures and, after another month and a half, spotted a plain beyond the mountains.
• Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi hid the mech and buried their remaining supplies before descending the mountain and meeting a convoy several days later.
• Baldy rode over to question them, and when Hua Xiezhi asked for directions to the nearest camp, he mocked her as the convoy's machine guns aimed at them.

Hua Xiezhi and Qu Jianlei reached a supply station with help from Baldy’s convoy, traded Black-backed Golden Ape meat, and bought a modified light truck. The convoy’s men recognized the pair as formidable and considered offering them resident identities from Zhou-2 Settlement.

• Hua Xiezhi threatened Baldy’s convoy after he tried to send them in the wrong direction, then accepted a ride to the supply station in exchange for two kilograms of C-level Mutated Beast meat.
• At the supply station, a convoy member recognized the meat as Black-backed Golden Ape and tried to buy more or learn where Hua Xiezhi had found it, but she refused.
• Qu Jianlei asked the repair shop owner about a modified sidecar motorcycle, while Hua Xiezhi showed Energy Block Store banknotes; the pair chose a modified light truck instead.
• The slightly plump middle-aged man rebuked Baldy for mistaking the pair for drifters, and Baldy apologized to Hua Xiezhi and again asked about the Golden Ape’s location.
• Baldy spotted Qu Jianlei working on an artillery mount, and the slightly plump man warned him not to provoke the pair and suggested offering them Zhou-2 Settlement resident identities.

Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi joined the defense of a supply station when a huge pack of Frost Wolves pursued a convoy there. As the defenders struggled to hold the wolves back with too few guns, the Gaunt Man spotted Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi’s vehicle.

• Qu Jianlei refused Zhou-2 Settlement’s offered identity and continued modifying his vehicle at the supply point.
• When more than a thousand Frost Wolves charged after a convoy, Qu Jianlei bought no fuel and prepared to fight because the wolves were heading straight for the station.
• Hua Xiezhi positioned their vehicle behind a trench, and the Gaunt Man organized the survivors as they prepared the defenses.
• Hua Xiezhi shot a Frost Wolf near the wall, while Qu Jianlei used a Gauss Automatic Rifle to hit another wolf hundreds of meters away.
• The Frost Wolves surrounded the station and tested its defenses, while the defenders at the main gate began running short of guns.
• The Gaunt Man asked the supply point for more weapons, learned its supply was limited, and then noticed Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi.

Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi lent weapons to the supply station as thousands of Frost Wolves gathered outside, then Hua Xiezhi went to find a teammate. She returned with Cindy, who agreed to join them if they could bring her daughter along.

• The Gaunt Man demanded weapons from Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi, and Qu Jianlei handed over his Laser Rifle while they negotiated which guns to lend.
• The Frost Wolves gathered several thousand strong and held back from the supply station as its residents prepared for an attack.
• Hua Xiezhi offered to gather information and recruit a companion, and Qu Jianlei agreed while warning her to be careful.
• Hua Xiezhi returned with Cindy, a supply station worker whose husband had died in battle and whose daughter lived apart from her.
• Cindy agreed to join them on the condition that they take her daughter, and she revealed that she had saved some fuel.

Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi defended the supply station from the Frost Wolves while Cindy helped them prepare fuel to escape. After the wolves breached the defenses and the survivors suffered casualties, Cindy warned Qu Jianlei that someone might have deliberately lured the pack there, and the Gaunt Man asked how much ammunition Qu Jianlei had left.

• Cindy joined Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi’s escape plan, offering to bring over the fuel she had saved.
• Qu Jianlei shot Frost Wolves from a distance while Hua Xiezhi watched, and Cindy revealed that the pack might have a Wolf King.
• The Frost Wolves closed in after dark, and a breach near the main gate let more than a dozen wolves into the supply station.
• The reserve team repelled the attack, but the survivors counted two dead, five seriously wounded, more than ten lightly wounded, and four missing.
• Cindy brought Qu Jianlei fuel and quietly told him that someone might have deliberately lured the Frost Wolves to the station; he invited her to sleep in the truck.
• The Gaunt Man asked Qu Jianlei how much ammunition he had left, and Qu Jianlei told him it was none of his business.

Qu Jianlei refused demands to share his ammunition and killed a one-eyed adventurer who tried to take it by force, nearly triggering a fight among the defenders. Hua Xiezhi demonstrated her sharpshooting against the Frost Wolves, and the Scarface Machine Gunner asked her to provide cover for his side.

• The Gaunt Man asked Qu Jianlei to share ammunition, but Qu Jianlei refused, explaining that he and Hua Xiezhi had brought their own supplies.
• A one-eyed man demanded ammunition from Qu Jianlei, who killed him with his blade; Baldy accused Qu Jianlei of causing internal strife.
• The Gaunt Man and the Scarface Machine Gunner calmed the defenders, and Hua Xiezhi said she was willing to lend weapons as long as no one tried to take them by force.
• When the Gaunt Man asked for Energy Blocks, Hua Xiezhi fired her Laser Gun and brought down three Frost Wolves, demonstrating her accuracy.
• The Scarface Machine Gunner asked Hua Xiezhi to use her sharpshooting to suppress the Frost Wolves attacking his direction.

Qu Jianlei proposed sniping the Frost Wolf King to disrupt the pack, then killed two Wolf Kings during the siege. The Frost Wolves retreated, leaving the survivors victorious but Qu Jianlei exhausted and Hua Xiezhi still on guard.

• Qu Jianlei questioned whether rescue would arrive and proposed locating and sniping the Wolf King, and the defenders agreed to try.
• Qu Jianlei removed the Laser Sniper Rifle's scope, tested the weapon, and rested while Hua Xiezhi killed Frost Wolves and the Gaunt Man's group searched for the Wolf King.
• After the Gaunt Man narrowed down the Wolf King's location, Qu Jianlei found it and killed it with five sniper shots.
• The Frost Wolf pack charged the supply station, and Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi struggled to hold their position as wolves broke through the defenses.
• Qu Jianlei killed a second Wolf King with his blade, and the Frost Wolves abruptly retreated.
• Qu Jianlei collapsed from exhaustion, while Hua Xiezhi scanned the area and called out to check whether the danger had passed.

After defeating the Frost Wolf pack, Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi sold most of the spoils and brought Cindy and her daughter Claire to Zhou Three Settlement. They rejected the Settlement’s offer of residency and paid service, choosing instead to continue traveling together.

• Hua Xiezhi negotiated the sale of the Frost Wolf corpses and the Wolf King, earning a large profit and rewarding Cindy for her help.
• Qu Jianlei rested while Hua Xiezhi kept watch, then accepted Cindy into their group after learning she wanted to leave the place where her partner had died.
• Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi arrived at Zhou Three with Cindy and met Claire, whose attitude toward them improved after she saw the Wolf King corpse.
• Cindy arranged to auction the remaining Wolf King and guided Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi through the Settlement, where they bought books and found useful repair references.
• Cindy asked Hua Xiezhi about transferring her Settlement identity, and she and Claire decided to leave Zhou Three with the group.
• A Settlement official offered Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi housing and waived fees in exchange for ten years of service, but Hua Xiezhi refused and Cindy rejected the official’s pressure.

Qu Jianlei and his companions left Zhou Three, sold the Wolf King's corpse, and traveled to Zhou Six, where they encountered a staged accident and attempted theft at Honest Camp. Qu Jianlei stopped the thieves and confronted the locals, exposing the camp’s hostility toward outsiders.

• Hua Xiezhi helped Cindy obtain a relocation certificate, and the group slept in their vehicle before selling the Wolf King's corpse for eighteen thousand Silver Coins.
• Qu Jianlei spent most of their earnings on Energy Blocks, weapons, and supplies, while Cindy and Claire packed their belongings and joined the group.
• The four traveled nearly three thousand kilometers to Zhou Six, hunting along the way and reaching the settlement area after almost twenty days.
• At Honest Camp, a Snow Mastiff darted in front of Cindy's vehicle, and Spencer and other locals tried to extort the group over its supposed injury.
• Qu Jianlei cut a cable attached to their truck's trough, shot at two thieves, and wounded one when he tried to flee.
• The Snow Mastiff revealed that it was unharmed, and Qu Jianlei demanded compensation from Spencer as a thief's Laser Pistol fell from his clothes.