Chapter Summaries

Su Mo’s team captured the fleeing Liu Brothers and entered their cave, where the oppressed laborers eagerly asked to join his territory. After the Liu Brothers questioned who he was, Su Mo removed his cloak and revealed his face.

• The Liu Brothers fled their mountain cave but were captured by Feng Tianmin’s team and brought back to Su Mo.
• Su Mo told the cave’s laborers that he planned to take them to his territory, and they eagerly pleaded to go with him.
• Feng Long reported the Liu Brothers’ confiscated weapons, and the tall woman identified the prisoners as their former oppressors.
• The Liu Brothers tried to turn the laborers against Su Mo, then demanded to know his identity.
• Su Mo removed his cloak and revealed his face to the cave.

Su Mo revealed his identity to the people in the cave, but the Liu Brothers convinced many to distrust him, exposing how mistaken his assumptions about ordinary people had been. After a laborer spoke for the undecided group, Su Mo accepted their choice to remain independent and use the cave temporarily.

• Liu Yai and Liu Zi accused Su Mo of impersonating Su God, and their claims made many laborers wary of him.
• Liu Yai tried to rally the laborers and recruit the Guard Team, so Su Mo ordered soldiers to slap him thirty times.
• Su Mo reflected on how his past encounters had led him to expect unconditional trust, then asked the laborers whether they truly wished to leave with him.
• Thirty laborers chose to remain with the Liu Brothers, more than twenty stood with the tall woman, and fifty remained undecided.
• A man from the undecided group asked to stay in the cave temporarily without joining Su Mo's territory, and the fifty people confirmed they would not regret that choice.

Su Mo studied three encyclopedias from the previous era, discovering detailed guides to wasteland plants, minerals, and shelters. He then interrogated the Liu Brothers, who offered secrets about the mountains, the Heaven and Ruins, and the treasures in exchange for their lives.

• Su Mo explained to Liu Jiao that he would not force Cliff Territory’s undecided residents to follow him, and Liu Jiao relayed his intentions to them.
• Su Mo read the Wasteland Plant Encyclopedia and Wasteland Mineral Encyclopedia, learning about useful plants and powerful ores such as sharp stone, flame stone, and ice stone.
• Su Mo studied the Shelter Construction Encyclopedia and was astonished by the advanced underground, surface, and mobile shelters built by people from the previous era.
• Su Mo put the three encyclopedias in his password storage box and went to question the imprisoned Liu Brothers about their origins.
• Liu Zi and Liu Yai offered information about the supply-room treasures, mysterious people in the mountains, the Heaven and Ruins, and a map of the Ten Thousand Mile Mountains in hopes of surviving.
• Su Mo realized that the Liu Brothers might possess valuable information and began taking their claims seriously.

Su Mo questioned the Liu Brothers about the Ten Thousand Mile Mountains and learned that a technologically advanced force had attacked a massive ruin, triggering the riot that shattered Origin Territory. The brothers revealed that they had recovered several items from the battlefield, including Adventure Mechanoid Two, which had disappeared on East Long Mountain.

• Liu Zi mapped the mountain routes and described the settlements between East Long Mountain and Origin Territory, including the dangerous Blade and Sword Mountains.
• Liu Zi explained that a riot had devastated Origin Territory and forced him and Liu Yai to flee, connecting the disaster to Wang Yuanshuai's account.
• Liu Zi and Liu Yai said they had followed Zhang Lu's armed expedition and discovered that the lords of Origin Territory had gathered at an enormous ruin.
• The brothers described gear-marked strangers with red-beam weapons and armored vehicles defeating the territories' forces before taking prisoners and leaving the battlefield.
• Liu Zi and Liu Yai produced recovered battlefield items, and Adventure Mechanoid Two beeped in response to the device at Su Mo's waist.

Su Mo examined the communicator and research notes he had recovered, then decided how to punish the prisoners and organize the coolies. After sharing a meal with his supporters, he prepared to lead the team toward the center of the Ten Thousand Mile Mountains the next morning, wary of the powerful people occupying the Origin Territory.

• Su Mo used the system to identify the brick-like device as a locked communicator with a fixed target, then hid it away because Oreo's Sixth Sense warned him of danger.
• Su Mo learned that the bloody notebooks were Kaderi Shaman's research notes written in Mi Xu Language, but he could not decipher them.
• Su Mo decided the Liu Brothers would guide and scout for the team, while the other twenty-three prisoners would serve sentences in the Coolie Camp after returning to the territory.
• Su Mo considered the threat posed by the people controlling the Origin Territory and resolved to retreat and develop if they proved too strong.
• Su Mo let the coolies share dinner with the group, then ordered the team to keep watch, sleep, and prepare to depart in the morning.

Su Mo led his team into the Eight Twisting Mountains, with the Liu Brothers serving as guides, while leaving Liu Jiao in charge of the cave until his return. As the team approached a settlement on Great King Mountain, they found no guards and smelled blood, prompting Su Mo to order a rapid advance.

• The Liu Brothers volunteered to guide Su Mo through the mountains, and Su Mo accepted their offer.
• Su Mo left Liu Jiao in charge of the cave’s supplies and captives, with three warriors to maintain order, and promised to restore her scars if she kept everyone safe until he returned.
• Su Mo’s ninety-nine-person team left Cliff Territory with the Liu Brothers and crossed East Long Mountain to reach the first peak of the Eight Twisting Mountains.
• The Liu Brothers warned Su Mo that the people on Great King Mountain attacked travelers with bows and arrows, so Su Mo split the force into an assault team and an encircling force.
• Su Mo’s teams approached the settlement and found no one guarding its cave entrance; after Oreo detected no one nearby, Su Mo ordered everyone to advance at full speed as the smell of blood reached them.

Su Mo’s team discovered that the ferocious settlement had been massacred, with 148 people bearing gear-shaped wounds linked to the mysterious newcomers. Boot-print evidence suggested Wang Yuanshuai’s group had passed through before the killings, and Liu Zi recalled armed strangers heading toward Great King Mountain one or two days earlier.

• Su Mo halted the team at the cave after they detected a foul, bloody smell, then ordered the squads to search the entrance and its surroundings.
• Su Mo’s group found blood trails, bullet marks, and a mummified corpse with a gear-shaped wound that Liu Yai recognized as the mark of the mysterious people.
• Su Mo’s team found 148 mummified corpses, including the settlement’s lord, and ruled out wealth, revenge, and bloodlust as likely motives for the massacre.
• Feng Long matched boot prints in blood to his team’s climbing boots and concluded that Wang Yuanshuai’s group had passed through before the killings.
• Liu Zi recalled that armed strangers had passed through their territory one or two days earlier and headed toward Great King Mountain.

Su Mo investigated whether the visitors to Cliff Territory were Wang Yuanshuai's group and learned that Wang Yuanshuai had taken a different route, arriving two days late with six fewer people. After burying the dead at the Fierce People territory, Su Mo's group continued toward a settlement on Sanyuan Mountain to find out where Wang Yuanshuai had gone.

• Liu Zi described a group led by a man surnamed Wang who had visited Cliff Territory, prompting Su Mo to return with Feng Tianmin and the Liu brothers to question witnesses.
• A hidden witness confirmed that the visitors wore shoes matching Wang Yuanshuai's team's distinctive climbing boots, while the laborer recalled that the group numbered nine and that its leader wore a bear pelt.
• Feng Tianmin concluded that Wang Yuanshuai had changed routes and lost six men, but Su Mo cautioned that the delay did not yet prove betrayal and suspected Wang Yuanshuai was hiding important information.
• Su Mo and the others buried the mummified corpses at the Fierce People territory, gathered the supplies, and resumed their journey toward a settlement with more than five hundred people.
• The group crossed Great King Mountain and Erlang Mountain and spotted smoke and firelight on Sanyuan Mountain at eleven that night.

Su Mo’s group camped near Sanyuan Territory, where Liu Zi and Liu Yai described its powerful female leader and people. After a quiet dinner marking the end of the Heavy Snowfall, Su Mo and the warriors slept, but an enemy raid struck before dawn.

• Liu Zi told Su Mo that Sanyuan Territory had hundreds of people, mostly women, and that Sun Leader was a formidable fighter.
• Su Mo decided to camp for the night rather than approach Sanyuan Territory while his exhausted warriors were unprepared.
• The warriors cooked a feast, and Liu Yai and Liu Zi grew increasingly convinced that Su Mo was the famous Su God.
• Su Mo celebrated the final night of the Heavy Snowfall, arranged a watch, and sent Oreo out to guard the camp.
• At 4:30 a.m., Oreo howled as gongs sounded and the warriors shouted that the camp was under attack.

Su Mo led the Guard Team through a night attack by a disciplined force, then transformed with Feng Long and seven soldiers to countercharge. After slipping behind the enemy lines, he discovered the attackers were mostly women, leaving their identity—and his next move—unresolved.

• At four in the morning, a force of more than 150 attackers surrounded the camp and bombed it, injuring Su Mo and several soldiers.
• Su Mo took command, ordered the Guard Team to suppress the attackers, and decided to lead Feng Long and a squad in a countercharge before ammunition ran low.
• Su Mo told Oreo to flee if the fighting became impossible, then chose seven injured soldiers to join the strike team.
• Su Mo and the soldiers activated their templates, transforming into combat forms; Feng Long led the charge while Su Mo burrowed through the snow to flank the enemy.
• Su Mo reached the enemy's rear without being detected and found that most of the attackers were women.

Su Mo admired Sanyuan Mountain’s disciplined defenses, then infiltrated the position and captured Second Sister, breaking the attackers’ line with his squad. He realized they had attacked because they mistook his group for the people who had slaughtered another territory, and confirmed his identity to Second Sister.

• Su Mo surveyed Sanyuan Mountain’s weapons and tactics, including an infrared scanner, explosive crossbow, and mines, and decided to capture its lord.
• Second Sister coordinated the assault, ordered rotating shifts and preparations for a counterattack, and worried that Su Mo’s defenders were unusually resilient.
• Su Mo approached Second Sister in disguise, bound her before she could draw her pistol, and began disabling the attackers with darts.
• Feng Long and Su Mo’s squad stormed the position, seized the Thunderbolt Ballista, and scattered its defenders within minutes.
• Su Mo recognized that Sanyuan Mountain had mistaken his group for the people who had attacked Bayonet Territory, then told Second Sister that he was the real Su Mo.

Su Mo’s Guard Team defeated the forces at Sanyuan Mountain, and he tried to recruit Second Sister while concealing how he had left his own territory. After learning the heavy cost of the victory, Su Mo resolved to bring Sanyuan Mountain, its people, supplies, and technology under his control.

• Su Mo accepted that Second Sister did not believe his identity, assessed her military talents, and offered her protection, status, resources, and a place in his territory.
• Second Sister questioned how Su Mo could be outside his territory without losing his authority, and he invited her to visit and speak with her lord.
• Feng Tianmin reported that the Guard Team had won but suffered many casualties, while the enemy had sustained only minor injuries.
• Feng Tianmin said captured supplies could replenish the Guard Team’s ammunition and that the enemy’s giant crossbow technology could strengthen their weapons.
• Su Mo regretted the cost of fighting a territory he hoped to recruit and resolved to take Sanyuan Mountain’s people and resources by force if necessary.

After the battle, Su Mo used the Shan Hai Painting card to save the badly wounded Lin Feng and witnessed the territory’s soldiers’ despair turn to hope. Lin Feng survived but lost his left leg, and Su Mo assigned him a new role handling internal affairs.

• Su Mo inspected the wounded after the battle and decided to use the Shan Hai Painting card to treat the nine seriously injured soldiers.
• Su Mo exploited a brief warning loophole in the game’s rules to retrieve the card from his Storage Space.
• Lin Feng, believing he was dying, asked Su Mo to care for his younger brother and revealed criticisms of the territory’s system.
• Su Mo used the card’s power to heal Lin Feng, who regained consciousness with his injuries gone except for his missing left leg.
• Su Mo promised Lin Feng a Mechanical Leg and appointed him to handle internal affairs, while the prisoners watched with super fanaticism.

Su Mo healed the wounded, then led his exhausted group toward Sanyuan Mountain to negotiate with its people. There, he learned Second Sister was Feng Mengyue’s younger sister and reunited with Feng Mengyue, an old acquaintance he had known through their past exchanges.

• Su Mo used the Shan Hai Painting to heal nine people, then helped treat the other wounded warriors with Psionic Water.
• After the camp rested and ate, Su Mo and Feng Tianmin decided to leave for Sanyuan Mountain and negotiate rather than risk another fight at their current camp.
• Second Sister offered to lead the group and explain that the captives had not been coerced, while Su Mo secretly verified the route with Adventure Mechanoid Three.
• Near the territory, Su Mo arranged a defensive formation and asked Second Sister to send three people ahead, but she revealed that she had believed he was Su Mo from their first meeting.
• Feng Mengyue arrived and revealed her face, and Su Mo recognized the woman he had previously known through videos, messages, and a traded piece of glass.

Su Mo reunited with Feng Mengyue at her Sanyuan Mountain Territory and learned that they shared a goal: finding the mysterious people in the Ten Thousand Mile Mountains who had captured their people. As the group arrived at Feng Mengyue’s territory, Su Mo asked her cousin Guan Yu'an whether she knew Zhong Qingshu.

• Su Mo recognized Feng Mengyue, called off his defensive formation, and reunited with her after their forces had clashed.
• Feng Mengyue invited Su Mo’s exhausted troops to rest at her territory and offered to share information and travel with him to find the mysterious group.
• Su Mo agreed to the alliance and considered befriending or recruiting Feng Mengyue as his group traveled to her mountain territory.
• Second Sister introduced herself as Guan Yu'an, described her military-school training and battlefield-command studies, and confirmed that she had attended National University of Defense Technology.
• Su Mo asked Guan Yu'an whether she knew Zhong Qingshu and whether Zhong Qingshu was around Feng Mengyue’s age.

Su Mo learned that Zhong Qingshu’s claimed connection to the National University of Defense Technology did not fit the school’s structure, leaving him with few clues to find her. He arrived at Feng Mengyue’s Mountain Moon Territory, assessed its strengths and dangers, and was left startled by something he found beneath her bed.

• Guan Yu'an said she did not recognize Zhong Qingshu and explained that the school had no second-year graduate students, deepening Su Mo’s doubts about Zhong’s identity.
• Guan Yu'an offered to ask her brother Guan Shan about Zhong Qingshu when he returned from the Origin Territory.
• Feng Mengyue showed Su Mo Mountain Moon Territory, explained its 712 residents and 69 homes, and agreed that its cliffside location was only a temporary refuge.
• Su Mo noticed the settlement’s poor sanitation and primitive living conditions, then considered letting Feng Mengyue develop independently rather than bringing her under his control.
• Su Mo entered Feng Mengyue’s room, examined the furnishings, and froze when he spotted something among the items beneath her bed.

Su Mo recognized a rusted golden disc in Feng Mengyue’s storeroom as a possible component of the mysterious pocket watch and learned Guan Shan had another object with similar patterns. Convinced Guan Shan was still alive and that the components might lead to the complete watch, Su Mo resolved to find him.

• Su Mo found a familiar golden disc beneath the bed and recognized its patterns as matching those on the mysterious pocket watch.
• Feng Tianmin and the hundred-man Guard Team arrived at Mountain Moon Village, where Feng Mengyue warmly welcomed them and arranged a feast.
• Feng Mengyue gave Su Mo permission to take the disc, and he also found a golden rope that seemed to come from the same source.
• Feng Mengyue recalled that Guan Shan wore a pendant with similar patterns, prompting Su Mo to realize Guan Shan might possess another pocket watch component.
• Su Mo concluded that Guan Shan was likely still alive because the system still recognized his ownership, and he resolved to find him.

Feng Mengyue explained why Mountain Moon Village had settled in the Ten Thousand Mile Mountains and why its people were reluctant to move, while Su Mo invited her to join his territory. After Feng Mengyue declined but offered to send him several talented subordinates, Su Mo later met Xiao Yu and learned how she had designed the powerful Thunderbolt Ballista.

• Feng Mengyue told Su Mo that Mountain Moon Village's wild vegetables had nutritional value but that she had been considering moving because the heavy snow threatened the mountains.
• Feng Mengyue recounted how her group had reached the New Continent early, lost most of its people while fleeing alien races, and eventually settled in the mountains with about 500 longtime followers.
• Su Mo invited Feng Mengyue to move to his territory, but Feng Mengyue declined and suggested that he recruit Guan Shan, Chang'an, and Xiao Yu instead.
• Su Mo accepted Feng Mengyue's answer and left, while Feng Mengyue felt both relieved and disappointed.
• That evening, Xiao Yu showed Su Mo models of her weapons and explained that her Thunderbolt Ballista used an explosive shaft and triggering mechanism, but its difficult construction had limited production to three shots.

Su Mo examined Guan Yu’s Air Cannon and Unified Auxiliary Sight, recognizing their potential and learning about the inventions and the people behind them. Feng Mengyue then explained how Mountain Moon Territory had gained its former ranking through a special ruin that showed her a powerful version of her territory five years in the future, leaving Su Mo to suspect it was another Time Ruin.

• Guan Yu explained that the Air Cannon used compressed air but suffered from slow charging, loud noise, and the need for a generator, while Su Mo considered how a KF Energy Stone might improve it.
• Guan Yu'an demonstrated Guan Yu’s Unified Auxiliary Sight, and Su Mo used its simulated recoil and aiming guidance to score a perfect shot.
• Feng Mengyue offered to have Xiao Yu share the Auxiliary Sight’s manufacturing data, while Su Mo praised Guan Yu’s inventions and described his territory to Feng Mengyue, Guan Yu'an, and Guan Yu.
• Feng Mengyue questioned Su Mo about his population, snow removal, and neighboring foreign races, and Su Mo explained his territory’s resources and relationships with nearby races.
• Su Mo asked how Mountain Moon Territory had once ranked twentieth on the Myriad Races Ranking despite its current poverty, and Feng Mengyue said a special ruin had granted her a lord-only item that let her enter another ruin.
• Feng Mengyue revealed that the ruin showed her Mountain Moon Territory five years in the future, where she was its lord, and Su Mo suspected it was another Time Ruin.

Feng Mengyue told Su Mo about the Future Time Ruins, where she had entered Mountain Moon Territory five years ahead and eventually exchanged her task rewards for information about the next disaster. Su Mo planned to enter the ruin when it reopened, but the group prepared to investigate the mysterious people holding Guan Shan before pursuing that opportunity.

• Feng Mengyue described the ruin’s three options and explained that the game blocked her from learning future events or accessing technology until she earned enough task points.
• Feng Mengyue revealed that she had used her 63% completion reward to obtain all the information about the next disaster, shocking Su Mo, Guan Yu'an, and Xiao Yu.
• Su Mo learned that the ruin would reopen seven days before the next disaster and decided to try it then.
• Feng Mengyue explained the ruin’s details to Su Mo, Guan Yu'an, and Xiao Yu before Su Mo ended their late-night discussion so they could set out early to find the group holding Guan Shan.
• Su Mo woke at Mountain Moon Territory the next morning and stepped outside into the cold mountain air.