Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhou and the Guards detained eighty-four wanderers fleeing Qinggang City, while Osmon shared information about the city and the undead. After screening the group, Chen Shen and Li Hu approved sending them to Wasteland Bone Village, where Wasteland Wolf prepared to put them to work.

• Lu Zhou identified Osmon as the likely leader among the wanderers and questioned him about their escape from Qinggang City.
• Osmon claimed the undead ignored former members of the Wandering Jungle and said Qinggang Shelter had enslaved wanderers, while Lu Zhou relayed his account to the Guards.
• Chen Shen and Li Hu arrived with Wasteland Wolf as the Patrol Team surrounded the wanderers and confiscated their weapons.
• Lu Zhou examined the wanderers’ crude firearms, miniature hand crossbows, and knives coated with Shuttle Tree sap.
• The Guards questioned the eighty-four wanderers in separate groups, and Chen Shen and Li Hu approved transferring them to Wasteland Bone Village.
• Wasteland Wolf gathered the wanderers and led them toward the village, expecting their labor to help tend the farmland.

Osmon led a group of wanderers into Tian Yuan Shelter, hoping to use it as cover while protecting the stolen Industrial Core. Meanwhile, Su Mo surveyed Qinggang Shelter’s damaged defenses, and a scavenging force entering the southern suburbs was surrounded by Mutated Hamsters as Man with Gun prepared to detonate an Explosive Pack.

• Wasteland Wolf’s Guards searched and disarmed the eighty-four wanderers, then escorted them toward Wasteland Bone Village for naturalization training.
• Osmon told Deputy Captain Mike that Tian Yuan Shelter was the best place to hide the Industrial Core and pursue a deal with the Foundation’s caravan.
• Su Mo crossed the radiation-struck North Suburbs, fought off a Mutated Hyena, and observed Qinggang Shelter’s repairs and defensive preparations before turning back.
• Dream Seeker and the scavenging teams entered the densely packed southern suburbs, where their experience began rising as they advanced.
• Feng Long’s group encountered a nest of giant Mutated Hamsters and retreated under attack, while Man with Gun lit an Explosive Pack to open an escape route.

Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, and Old Daoist escaped the radiation-creature-infested southern suburbs and pushed toward the Wandering Jungle, discovering that its surface approaches were occupied. Near the Fifth Ring, they spotted a group emerging from an underground hatch and prepared to confront them.

• Man with Gun threw an Explosive Pack into the Mutated Hamsters, opening a gap that let the scavengers and Tian Yuan Army scatter and flee.
• Feng Long withdrew with the Tian Yuan Army after Nuclear Energy Rifle warned that the blast would draw more radiation creatures, then headed back to report the danger and request a rescue operation.
• Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, and Old Daoist became separated from the others, found their way blocked, and chose to continue toward the Wandering Jungle rather than remain in the dangerous district.
• The three crossed several communities, found the routes toward the Wandering Jungle occupied, and marked seven dangerous districts on their map.
• Near the Fifth Ring, Old Daoist spotted more than a dozen people climbing out of an underground hatch, and Man with Gun loaded his wolf crossbow and proposed attacking them.

Su Mo ordered the Tian Yuan Army to clear a retreat route after Feng Long reported that radiation creatures had scattered the Scavengers in Qinggang City's southern suburbs. A three-person Scavenger team discovered Marauders planning to lure radiation creatures toward Tian Yuan Territory and launched a surprise attack, ending with a grenade exploding among them.

• Man-Made Empire hesitated over giving up ninety percent of the Empire Building Materials Factory's shares for the Building Cement Machine, while Bao Da Fu urged him to consider the factory's future.
• Su Mo inspected the rapidly growing Warning Wall and received Feng Long's report that most of the Scavengers were missing after an ambush in the southern suburbs.
• Su Mo mobilized the Tian Yuan Army to open a retreat route without going deep into the rescue, then sent another hundred Scavengers to explore the southern suburbs.
• Man with Gun, Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker listened to a group of Marauders and learned they planned to lure radiation creatures toward the western suburbs and Tian Yuan Territory.
• Man with Gun shot a Marauder with a crossbow bolt, and an unknown attacker threw a fragmentation grenade into the group.

Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, and Old Daoist ambushed a Marauder squad, captured its leader, and escaped as a newly empowered Hyena King led its clan to feast on the dead. They hid in a ruined house and interrogated the captive, who revealed he knew a route to the Wandering Jungle.

• Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, and Old Daoist attacked the Marauders in the fog, killed several, and captured their leader with a poisoned arrow.
• The Hyena King emerged with its clan, tracked the humans’ scent, and chose to feed on the corpses instead of pursuing them.
• The Hyena King’s memories revealed that it had grown enormously powerful after the previous day’s explosions and had reclaimed dominance over its clan.
• The three Wanderers reached a partially collapsed house, treated their captive, and questioned him about a safe route to the Wandering Jungle.
• Rosas told Man with Gun that he knew a route from the Marauder base to the Wandering Jungle that took half an hour.

Old Daoist and Dream Seeker questioned the wounded Rosas and learned that the sewage outlet would open by the next afternoon, giving them a route to the Wandering Jungle and out of Qinggang City. Meanwhile, Su Mo learned that Cao Meng, Yi Liangfu, and Yu Ao had gone toward their original objective and ordered the team to rescue five others, withdraw, and prepare for a second entry.

• Man with Gun handed Rosas over to Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker treated Rosas's injured leg with Psionic Water so he could guide them.
• Rosas identified himself as a supervisor at Revival Water Plant and explained that its workers maintained the Mole People's underground water pipes and sewage system.
• Rosas told Old Daoist that Radiation Beasts had grown more dangerous and that the sewage outlet was the safest route to the Wandering Jungle and out of the city.
• Rosas revealed that the outlet would open by the next afternoon because the Mole People had ordered the ashes of the Undead processed through the sewage pipes.
• A guard reported to Su Mo that ninety-two people had been rescued, eight remained missing, and Cao Meng, Yi Liangfu, and Yu Ao had gone toward their original objective.
• Su Mo ordered the team to rescue the remaining five people, withdraw, and establish a reception point for a possible second entry.

Dream Seeker, Old Daoist, Man with Gun, and Rosas crossed the South Suburbs while studying its routes and preparing to reach the Revival Water Plant. In the Industrial Zone, Edmund faced the underground shelter’s refusal to help defend the surface and ordered the Lightning Wall opened to the wanderers.

• Dream Seeker gathered the group’s food and recorded a map of the South Suburbs, noting its dense Radiation Beasts and scattered Marauder groups.
• Dream Seeker and Man with Gun discussed the scavenger route’s exploration experience as Rosas recovered enough to walk and urged the group to move before nightfall.
• Edmund ordered the Industrial Zone’s defenders to prepare as the black ash left by the undead began trembling again.
• Edmund concluded that the undead were targeting factories and that defending the industrial line would cost thousands of lives, but the shelter’s leaders continued demanding resistance.
• Edmund went to the underground shelter to call a public referendum, but the guards told him that ninety-two percent of residents had voted to keep the gates sealed.
• Edmund ordered the Lightning Wall opened and told the defenders to let the wanderers in if they stopped the undead.

Qinggang Shelter fell to the undead, while Su Mo assessed the losses and planned an industrial zone separate from Hope Village. He approved Liu Lu’s request for weapons and support, then prepared to launch Tian Yuan Territory’s first industrial leap.

• Qinggang’s commander offered the chained wanderers shelter residency, food, weapons, and freedom in exchange for joining the fight against the undead, and tens of thousands entered the gate.
• The undead overwhelmed Qinggang Shelter and its Industrial Zone, leaving the city burning as Su Mo watched from Iron Stone Mountain.
• Su Mo decided to establish a second village focused on industry and give Hope Village room to concentrate on livelihoods and agriculture.
• Bao Lei reported that Liu Lu wanted help eliminating a group at Pingtan Shelter in exchange for four pieces of industrial equipment, including a possible high-speed Permanent Magnet Motor production line.
• Su Mo approved supplying Liu Lu with weapons and support, then ordered the territory’s first industrial leap to begin the next day.

Tian Yuan Territory announced identity certificates and new Contribution Points and Honor Points rewards as Su Mo considered future trade and expansion. Meanwhile, the Undead devastated Qinggang City’s shelters, and Hunter Tiger chose to seek an alliance with Tian Yuan Territory and ordered a diplomatic mission.

• Tian Yuan Territory announced identity certificates, Honor Points rewards, and new goods and quotas for residents.
• Su Mo read the residents’ discussions about trading with the Mole People and hoped foreign currency would fund major infrastructure projects.
• The Undead attacked Qinggang City’s shelters, destroying industrial facilities and displacing hundreds of thousands while stopping at the city boundary.
• Hunter Tiger learned that Pingtan Shelter had suffered seventy-one casualties, appointed Wang Qian to replace the dead floor chief, and ordered a diplomatic mission to Tian Yuan Territory.

Wang Qian led Pingtan Shelter's delegation to Hope Village, where the villagers warmly welcomed them and Chen Shen received their gifts of prewar books and magazines. Wang Qian saw Tian Yuan's surface settlement and industrial zone as a promising place to build ties, and Chen Shen invited the visitors to breakfast before meeting the administrator.

• Wang Qian and the Pingtan Shelter delegation approached Hope Village and marveled at its surface settlement and industrial zone.
• Wang Qian decided Tian Yuan Shelter was worth cultivating a close relationship with and considered establishing a fallback there.
• Hope Village's residents cheered at the visitors' arrival and hurried to prepare stalls for the Mole People's Market.
• Chen Shen greeted Wang Qian, who presented two vehicle-loads of prewar books and magazines as gifts for the Tian Yuan Territory.
• Chen Shen inspected the books and magazines, thanked Wang Qian, and invited the delegation to breakfast before meeting the administrator.

Wang Qian and the Mole People envoy visited Tian Yuan Shelter, where fresh food astonished them and Chen Shen offered to show Wang Qian the plantation. As the envoy waited, Want to Eat Candy began selling handmade poker cards to the Mole People, opening a potential market for trade and entertainment.

• Chen Shen welcomed Wang Qian's envoy to the reception center and served them fresh vegetable buns and side dishes that they eagerly devoured.
• Wang Qian asked about the plantation, and Chen Shen offered to take him there after breakfast so he could see how the village grew its food.
• Wang Qian ordered his followers to stay at the reception center while he left with Chen Shen to inspect the village.
• Peidi and the other Mole People discussed the shelter's food and surroundings as villagers approached to offer goods for sale.
• Want to Eat Candy showed Peidi her handmade wooden poker cards, and the Mole People gathered around as she began teaching them how to play.

Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, the Old Daoist, and Rosas crossed a foul sewer route into a sealed section of Red Core Shelter, where they discovered murdered refugees and a hidden underground farm. As they entered the farm, Man with Gun spotted a Radiation Beast and opened fire.

• Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, and the Old Daoist followed Rosas through a hidden passage to the sewage window, enduring the toxic stench along the way.
• The group found corpses and supplies beside a massive Alloy Gate, and Dream Seeker tested a corpse and identified signs of lethal arsenic poisoning.
• Rosas explained how the sealed space worked, and the group moved the corpses before waiting for the sewage window to open.
• The group passed through the Alloy Gate and climbed to the sixteenth floor, which Rosas said the Wanderers Union had sealed off.
• The group discovered an underground hydroponic farm with rows of plants, including gramineous crops.
• Man with Gun drew his rifle, warned the others, and fired at a Radiation Beast.

Man with Gun, Dream Seeker, Old Daoist, and Rosas explored a greenhouse overrun by dangerous Radiation Beasts and retreated behind its Alloy Gate. Rosas’s salvaged crops unlocked a hidden quest and special talent draws for the players, leaving them eager to return and find more undiscovered plants.

• Man with Gun and Dream Seeker fought off giant Fluttering Moths and bee-like Radiation Beasts while Old Daoist and Rosas escaped their attacks.
• The group threw grenades to stop the creatures, then retreated through the Alloy Gate as the greenhouse’s sprinklers extinguished the resulting fire.
• Rosas told them that the sixteenth and seventeenth floors connected to the sewer and that the seventeenth floor was probably used for breeding animals.
• Rosas revealed that he had collected several fruits, seeds, and crop samples from the greenhouse while fleeing.
• Man with Gun, Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker discovered that the samples completed the hidden quest “Plant Hunter” and awarded each of them a special talent draw opportunity.
• The three players realized undiscovered plants could yield further rewards and saw the greenhouse as a treasure trove worth returning to explore.

Man with Gun, Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker left the Wandering Jungle with Marauder Rosas and escaped Qinggang City through its sewers. They reunited with Tian Yuan Territory’s rescue party, bringing news of hidden missions and a newly appeared Gathering Place as the warriors prepared to return to the jungle.

• Man with Gun chose to leave the Wandering Jungle and report its special plants to Su God of humanity rather than risk exploring farther.
• Rosas guided Man with Gun, Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker through Qinggang City’s sewers and described the city’s sewage controls and underground industries.
• Rosas told Dream Seeker about a new Gathering Place east of the southern suburbs, then led the group out through a manhole.
• Nearly a hundred armed Tian Yuan Territory warriors approached, and Feng Long welcomed the three scavengers and Rosas.
• Dream Seeker revealed that the group had reached the Wandering Jungle’s sixteenth floor, completed hidden missions, and obtained chances to draw special talents.
• Feng Long’s party prepared to return to the Wandering Jungle with three second-generation Destroyer Cannons.

Feng Long led the Tian Yuan Army into Red Core Shelter’s greenhouse, where they fought mutated insects and collected unfamiliar plants, but Dream Seeker realized the sewage pipes were collapsing. As the tunnels flooded with wastewater and sludge, the group faced a deadly escape, while Su Mo learned of their discoveries and that they had gone back underground.

• Feng Long led more than a hundred Tian Yuan Army soldiers through the emergency gate, fought off Radiation Beasts with the Destroyer Cannon, and gathered over forty unfamiliar plants with Rosas’s help.
• Feng Long ordered a retreat from the greenhouse, but he sensed danger as the water rose rapidly in the maintenance tunnels.
• Dream Seeker recognized that black ash had clogged and damaged the sewage pipes, then warned everyone to run and abandon their gear.
• A pipe collapsed, and the black current surged until the water reached the soldiers’ waists with two kilometers still between them and the exit.
• Su Mo learned that Man with Gun, Old Daoist, and Dream Seeker had reached the Wandering Jungle’s sixteenth floor and discovered a hidden quest for new crops.
• Su Mo heard that Feng Long had led the group back toward Red Core Shelter through the sewers to use the remaining outlet window.

Kensa used Harbor Shelter’s weakened position and the growing disorder in Qinggang City to argue that lying low would let his shelter develop. Meanwhile, Su Mo mourned the Tian Yuan Army soldiers lost in the flooded sewers and promised to bring their remains home one day.

• Kensa ordered Harbor Shelter workers to clear collapsed sewage pipes and hoped that chaos would give his shelter room to grow.
• Feng Tianmin struck Feng Long after learning that twenty-one Tian Yuan soldiers had died in the flooded underground pipes.
• Su Mo comforted Old Daoist and the returning soldiers, then considered whether the Tian Yuan Territory should slow down and strengthen itself.
• Tian Yuan residents mourned the fallen soldiers, and Qiao Yuansheng led a funeral for the recovered bodies and remains.
• Su Mo scattered the final shovelful of earth over the grave and promised to bring the dead home.

After the Undead attack, Tian Yuan Territory recovered with record work efficiency, and Su Mo proposed using the virtual realm to let residents control simple Bionic Bodies as if playing a game. Lü Kuan doubted the plan’s feasibility, but Su Mo outlined a gradual approach that could let Tian Yuan develop its own “real players.”

• Three days after the funeral, Su Mo saw the territory’s work efficiency reach a record 125%.
• Lü Kuan warned Su Mo that linking human consciousness through the virtual realm to mass-produced Bionic Bodies was far beyond the territory’s current technology.
• Su Mo argued that creating immortal players could give Tian Yuan Territory a major advantage, and he said he could solve signal latency while they researched transmission loss.
• When Lü Kuan raised the difficulty of building humanlike Bionic Bodies, Su Mo suggested starting with simple forms such as an iron can, a dog, or a goldfish.
• Su Mo proposed that residents first control characters through a screen, mouse, and keyboard, with more immersive control added as the technology improved.

Su Mo ordered Lü Kuan to prioritize research into long-distance energy and information transmission as Tian Yuan prepared to build a computing system, while disasters transformed life across the wasteland. As the year ended, the Mist Poison disaster gave way to the deadly Hell Flower virus just as Tian Yuan’s harvest season arrived.

• Su Mo told Lü Kuan to adapt and debug the information systems for a future computing machine, promising technical support and resources.
• Qinggang Shelter opened the Lightning Wall to wanderers, who received plots and began rebuilding the ruins outside it.
• The returning disaster ended, and more than ninety percent of ordinary players were estimated to have joined native forces rather than remain alone in the wilderness.
• The Mist Poison disaster began, flooding settlements with humidity and forcing people and beasts to retreat or relocate.
• The Hell Flower virus spread across the New Continent, causing skin lesions, immune-system failure, and organ damage as Tian Yuan entered its harvest season.

As a dangerous illness spread through Wasteland Bone Village, Wasteland Wolf brought patients an improved Dampness-Dispelling Soup and orders to move outside. Osmon, gravely ill and hiding the Industrial Core wanted by Qinggang Shelter, was moved into the open and saw the fog clear to reveal the sun.

• Wasteland Bear found Osmon severely sick with an unknown infectious disease as tension rose between the villagers and the Marauders.
• Kun Xi tried to learn where Osmon had hidden the Industrial Core so he could trade it to Qinggang Shelter for medicine.
• Wasteland Wolf arrived with twenty doses of improved Dampness-Dispelling Soup and told everyone to move the patients to an open area under the administrator's orders.
• Osmon agreed to leave the building and told Wasteland Wolf he had what they were looking for, hoping Tian Yuan's administrator would save him.
• As Osmon lay outside, his mind cleared, the surrounding fog vanished, and he saw the sun.

Su Mo used the territory panel to clear the deadly fog and give the residents several days of sunlight to harvest their crops, while Number Zero neared completion of a remote-operation technology. With most of the harvest stored and the granaries full, Su Mo stopped altering the weather as the rising Threat Level made further changes too costly.

• Wasteland Wolf and Wasteland Bear watched the fog retreat beneath the sun, and Wasteland Wolf sent villagers to harvest the fields while Wasteland Bear stayed to care for the patients.
• Su Mo explained that he had used Territory Points to alter the weather, and Number Zero reported that its calculation task was nearly complete.
• Su Mo reviewed the Virtual God project, including the Life Connector and Number Zero upgrades that would enable remote operation through the Virtual Realm.
• Players on the Farmer Route harvested crops during four days of sunlight, filling Hope Village's warehouses and converting unused dungeon floors into grain storage.
• Su Mo saw the Threat Level rise sharply after repeated weather changes and decided not to pay for another alteration, with most crops harvested and the remaining grain drying in the village square.