Chapter Summaries

Su Mo reviewed the Survival System v1.1 update, upgraded the Youneng Water Well, and prepared for the system’s new task-based growth. The chapter ended with Tian Yuan Territory celebrating the New Year and receiving a long-awaited New Year Incentive notification.

• Su Mo read the v1.1 update, which divided Survival Points into four categories, added sacrifices and growth tasks, and introduced remote upgrade items.
• Su Mo spent 8,600 Survival Points upgrading the Youneng Water Well, raising its output to 27,000 ml per day and improving its water quality and treatment effects.
• Su Mo asked a guard to tell Dean Yan to test the upgraded Psionic Water, then started the system update after exactly forty-eight hours.
• Su Mo announced that Tian Yuan Territory’s New Year celebration had ended successfully, and the residents toasted and watched fireworks spelling out “Tian Yuan.”
• The game issued every player a long-awaited New Year Incentive notification.

As the New Year gifts brought celebration to Tian Yuan Shelter, Liu Lu warned Su Mo that Qinggang Shelter might use the search for its stolen Industrial Core to attack the western suburbs. Su Mo waited for midnight, when the Mist Poison ended and a new disaster announcement confirmed that the wasteland’s balance of power was about to change.

• Players across the world opened random New Year gift packs as the celebration at Tian Yuan Shelter grew lively.
• Wang Yuanshuai teased Su Mo about the young women watching him, and Su Deben brought Liu Lu to speak with him.
• Liu Lu told Su Mo that Qinggang Shelter had pressured Hunter Tiger to attack Tian Yuan Shelter and was seeking its stolen Industrial Core in the western suburbs.
• Su Deben proposed striking first, but Su Mo said they should verify Liu Lu’s report and wait for the next disaster announcement.
• At midnight, the fog thinned and humidity fell as the Mist Poison ended, and Su Mo opened the announcement expecting a disaster that would weaken humanity’s equipment.

Ram led a Qinggang squad toward Wasteland Bone Village as Qinggang Shelter launched attacks across the city, while Feng Long’s Dragon Cry Squad spotted the infiltrators approaching Tian Yuan Territory’s wall. The assaults drew nearly every shelter into battle, leaving observers stunned by Edmund’s reckless plan.

• Ram led more than a hundred Qinggang soldiers toward the Warning Wall, intending to exploit the chaos and attack Wasteland Bone Village.
• Feng Long’s Dragon Cry Squad took over a section of the wall, and Nuclear Energy Rifle spotted groups of people approaching through his night-vision goggles.
• Harbor soldiers attacked Pingtan Shelter, and Hunter Tiger ordered the Pingtan Army to fight back.
• Kensa sent nearly ten thousand Harbor soldiers into battle against the Pingtan forces.
• Battles erupted across the city as Qinggang attacked multiple shelters, and the invited old relics realized Edmund had provoked them all at once.

Edmund watched Qinggang Shelter’s newly trained wanderers battle rival shelters and sent more than a thousand of them toward the Gathering Place, hoping shared combat would bind their interests to Qinggang. Ram’s force was scattered, ambushed, and surrounded by Tian Yuan Shelter’s troops and armored vehicles, then surrendered without seeing the enemy clearly.

• Edmund watched battle images and concluded that the wanderers’ combat performance could make them more loyal to Qinggang Shelter.
• Wanderer forces attacked several shelters, while defenders at Tian Yuan Shelter held their position against a poorly coordinated assault.
• More than a thousand wanderers advanced through the fog toward the Gathering Place, but disagreements over direction split them into separate groups.
• Ram considered withdrawing, but enemy fire erupted around his force and drove the wanderers into a chaotic retreat.
• Ram led his men west, where six armored vehicles and armed guards surrounded them in a low-lying area.
• The wanderers began surrendering to Tian Yuan Shelter, and Ram finally ordered his squad to surrender as well.

After Qinggang’s western-suburb assault failed, Edmund planned to recognize Su Mo as the area’s boss and use Hunter Tiger to win over Tian Yuan Shelter. Tian Yuan’s defenders held the Warning Wall, while captured vagrants were marched to the shelter, where Ram recognized Osmon.

• Edmund ordered the western-suburb forces to withdraw and decided to claim the lost Industrial Core was in the southern suburbs, prioritizing the capture of population over finding it.
• Edmund planned to recognize Su Mo as the boss of the western suburbs, expecting Hunter Tiger to help Qinggang win over Tian Yuan Shelter.
• Tian Yuan’s defenders repelled the vagrant assault, and Nuclear Energy Rifle collapsed from exhaustion as Feng Long passed out from a wound after ordering the gate opened to rescue people.
• Ram, who had been captured after pretending to be dead, was marched with nearly a thousand prisoners toward Tian Yuan Shelter.
• At the shelter, Ram saw armed people emerge through the mist and recognized Osmon, who exclaimed that Ram was still alive.

After Qinggang Shelter’s attack was defeated, Osmon settled into a new role in Wasteland Bone Village and helped Lu Zhou select prisoners for questioning. Su Mo reviewed the territory’s victory and casualties before the game interface pulled him into a war-reward prompt.

• Wasteland Bear made Osmon captain of Wasteland Bone Village’s Security Team after Osmon returned from Hope Village changed and stopped isolating his former lackeys.
• More than six hundred prisoners from Qinggang Shelter arrived at Wasteland Bone Village, and Osmon recognized Ram among them and was chosen by Lu Zhou to help select prisoners for questioning.
• Tian Yuan Territory’s battlefield cleanup report recorded 812 enemy deaths, 756 prisoners, 28 light injuries, two serious injuries, and no deaths in the engagement inside the territory.
• Su Mo and Su Deben reviewed the Warning Wall’s 12 deaths and heavy injuries, along with captured weapons, ammunition, and ten Troop Carriers.
• Su Deben discussed Qinggang Shelter’s attacks on other shelters and Pingtan Shelter’s situation before Su Mo was pulled into the game interface by a war-reward prompt.

Su Mo claimed a Bronze-level war reward and used its upgrade scroll to improve the Reserve Soldier route into Training Ground Soldier. Meanwhile, Hunter Tiger learned that Qinggang Shelter had attacked shelters across the city, and that Tian Yuan Territory had already repelled its attack and captured nearly a thousand people.

• Su Mo claimed a Bronze-level war reward and opened a treasure chest containing a Route Keystone Quality Upgrade Scroll.
• Su Mo discovered that the scroll could advance route keystones and chose to upgrade Reserve Soldier into Training Ground Soldier.
• Hunter Tiger listened to commanders debate how Pingtan Shelter should defend against another Qinggang Shelter attack.
• Liu Lu reported that Qinggang Shelter had attacked shelters across the city and shifted its accusation over the stolen Industrial Core to the southern suburbs.
• Hunter Tiger learned that Tian Yuan Territory had also been attacked but had won and captured nearly a thousand people.

Hunter Tiger learned that Tian Yuan Shelter had defeated the attackers and captured nearly a thousand people, so he prepared to visit Su Mo and pursue an alliance. At Triumphant Hospital, wounded guards received route upgrades, and Su Mo told Liu Peiqiang that he could receive a new leg and have his severed arm restored.

• Liu Lu reported Tian Yuan Shelter’s victory and proposed alliance to Hunter Tiger, who decided to visit Su Mo and exclude Giant City Shelter from the talks.
• Feng Long’s route was upgraded while he recovered in Triumphant Hospital, and Feng Tianmin praised him for helping hold the Warning Wall.
• Feng Tianmin comforted Feng Long and assured him that the territory might eventually find ways to restore wounded soldiers.
• Su Mo visited Liu Peiqiang after doctors determined his left leg could not be saved, and Liu Peiqiang mistook their discussion of his organs for a request to donate them.
• Feng Tianmin told Liu Peiqiang that he would receive a new leg and could have his severed arm restored.

After mourning twelve fallen guards, Su Mo questioned a Qinggang communications soldier and learned that many Qinggang troops opposed the war, while their commander’s search for the Industrial Core had sparked the attack. As Su Mo reconsidered how urgently he needed an alliance, Hunter Tiger arrived at Tian Yuan Territory to discuss cooperation.

• Su Mo held a funeral for twelve guards and left the grieving residents to mourn.
• Su Mo questioned Ram, Frank, and communications soldier Jimmy Archie, who agreed to provide information about the Qinggang Army to earn the chance to return to his family.
• Archie said the Qinggang Army had attacked to find the stolen Industrial Core and that many soldiers considered the war meaningless.
• Su Mo reconsidered the urgency of forming the West Suburbs Alliance and discovered messages saying Hunter Tiger and Aldrich were coming.
• Hunter Tiger led a tank and a Troop Carrier toward Tian Yuan Territory, impressed by the Warning Wall as he approached.

Hunter Tiger and Liu Lu arrived at Tian Yuan Shelter for the alliance meeting, and Hunter Tiger was struck by its roads, farms, and peaceful aboveground settlement. He reached the restaurant and found Aldrich already talking warmly with the manager.

• Liu Lu explained that Pingtan Shelter's tank had come to fight their common enemy, and Tian Yuan Shelter allowed the tank and troop carrier to remain beneath the Warning Wall.
• Hunter Tiger and the others traveled toward Hope Village in a modified bus, and Hunter Tiger admired the concrete road and the cultivated fields along the way.
• The group passed Hope Village's expanding construction area and completed buildings, and Hunter Tiger imagined living there in peace.
• The bus arrived at the restaurant, where Hunter Tiger saw Aldrich chatting with the manager and rushed out to greet his old friend.

Su Mo, Hunter Tiger, and Aldrich discussed an equal alliance against Qinggang Shelter, weighing defenses and the dangers of a direct war. They began negotiating trade, with Tian Yuan offering raw materials in exchange for industrial scrap and other specialties.

• Hunter Tiger proposed that Tian Yuan, Pingtan, and Giant City form an alliance as equals, and Su Mo agreed.
• Aldrich objected to defending the High Ring, while Hunter Tiger argued for placing a defensive line on top of it.
• Su Mo suggested that the shelters seek a third option beyond attack or passive defense, and Aldrich inferred that a direct war could worsen the wasteland’s disasters.
• Su Mo invited Aldrich and Hunter Tiger inside to discuss an exchange of benefits rather than commit the alliance immediately to war.
• Hunter Tiger offered Pingtan’s weapons production, including Sharp Needle anti-aircraft guns, and Tian Yuan agreed to supply basic materials.
• Aldrich and Hunter Tiger agreed to trade industrial scrap and other shelter specialties for Tian Yuan’s resources.

Su Mo and the leaders of Pingtan Shelter and Giant City Shelter concluded the West Suburbs Alliance meeting, while Qinggang's defeated wanderers returned from battle and blamed faulty weapons for their losses. As the V1.1 update went live, a vast blue ripple swept across the wasteland and the land began to tremble.

• Su Mo and Hunter Tiger finished discussing the alliance, and Hunter Tiger left after declining to abandon his role as Pingtan Shelter's administrator.
• Aldrich departed for Giant City Shelter, and Su Mo and Su Deben discussed Hunter Tiger's abilities and the dangers of their plans against Pingtan Shelter.
• Xia Zuo returned to Qinggang's Lightning Wall after surviving the western-suburbs battle, and he led his squad to the Weapons Maintenance Department to protest their jammed rifles.
• Su Mo waited outside Tian Yuan Underground City for the V1.1 update, while Zero teased him about needing rest.
• The countdown ended, and a deep-blue ripple spread across the wasteland before the ground began to tremble.

The Survival System completed its V1.1 update, adding detailed territory building ratings, customizable upgrades, and technology research assistance. Su Mo inspected the new features and discovered that he could spend Survival Points to obtain complete blueprints or targeted hints for stalled projects.

• A sphere of blue light enveloped the world as the system update began, causing a brief, harmless resonance before the vibrations stopped.
• The system announced V1.1 and explained its new challenge tasks, Survival Points, reports, territory panels, and upgrade functions.
• Su Mo inspected the Tian Yuan Underground City's new rating and potential assessments, then explored its options for upgrading facilities, potential, and orientation.
• Su Mo found that the Warning Wall's upgrades required many Building Survival Points and decided to postpone building improvements.
• Su Mo opened the technology upgrade menu and discovered that Survival Points could buy complete technology plans or provide research hints, including help with the stalled Electric Wolf energy engine.

Su Mo reviewed the Version 1.1 changes, extracted Technology Survival Points from the territory’s recent research and developments, and invested them in several upgrades. As the fog’s end drew near, he learned that the thirteenth calamity would cause metal aging, a threat that could weaken humans and benefit foreign races.

• Su Mo learned that the Daily Report now accumulated Energy Storage and chose to extract the territory’s Technology Survival Points rather than wait for a full-charge reward.
• The system showed Su Mo four technological achievements, including improved farm tools, a tank prerequisite, an Energy Stone linkage field, and atmospheric suspension, awarding him 1,181 Technology Survival Points.
• Su Mo spent the points on the Electric Wolf Energy Engine, the Night Bright-1 Type 55mm Anti-Aircraft Gun, the Hell Flower Virus Treatment Plan, and new recipes in the Myriad Recipe Book.
• Su Mo collected a New Year reward of 500 Special Survival Points and noted that four days remained until the Thousand Illusions Mist ended on January 6.
• Su Mo learned that the confirmed thirteenth calamity was Metal Aging, which would accelerate the deterioration of metal objects, buildings, and vehicles and could give foreign races an advantage.

After a major breakthrough at the Tian Yuan Territory Research Institute, Lü Kuan solved the Electric Wolf energy engine’s energy-loss problem, giving the territory’s Star Ark transport vehicles the prospect of much greater range. Midnight Airplane witnessed the successful test and celebrated the end of Star Ark’s limited-range reputation.

• On January 4, the West Suburbs Alliance continued exchanging goods while Qinggang Shelter made no move to redeem its prisoners.
• Midnight Airplane arrived at the research institute with urgently requested materials and a pass bearing Su Mo’s and Chen Shen’s seals.
• Zhang Chong confirmed that the Electric Wolf energy engine had entered small-scale production testing, and Lü Kuan invited Midnight Airplane into the laboratory.
• Lü Kuan demonstrated that the engine could maintain steady energy output after allowing the energy stone to erupt several times, though the shock wave shattered the protective glass.
• Midnight Airplane realized the successful engine could greatly extend Star Ark’s range and praised Lü Kuan for the breakthrough.

Doomsday Madman developed a fluorescent-shell anti-aircraft gun while patients recovering from the Hell Flower Virus showed dramatic improvement after an accidental antibody treatment. Yan Xiaqing set out to report the breakthrough, but the relay station rejected Tian Yuan’s message as an unpaid advertisement.

• Doomsday Madman showed Spicy Iron Hammer the Night Bright-1 Type Anti-Aircraft Gun, which scattered fluorescent liquid over a wide area instead of relying on accuracy.
• Spicy Iron Hammer agreed to lend Doomsday Madman another fifteen hundred coppers for the weapon factory.
• Tian Da Dong saw Old Liu and other patients exercising, and Yan Xiaqing explained that a processed antibody treatment had rapidly improved their condition.
• Yan Xiaqing hurried to report the treatment’s success and the possibility of informing people in the deep sea.
• Dorothea Jay read Tian Yuan’s message at the Sea Relay Station, but the administrators rejected it as an unpaid advertisement and warned that future messages would not be free.

Dorothea’s broadcast about Tian Yuan Territory’s ability to treat Hell Flower Virus was rejected or suppressed by relay stations, leaving Bao Lei’s team to discover that their message was not being delivered. Bao Lei caught relay-station official Hall plotting with the Blood Slaves, but Hall died in a gun mishap, leaving the team facing the fallout as Clarence saw a chance to claim a bounty.

• Dorothea became furious over the low payment for Tian Yuan Territory’s advertisement and tore up the message, but children pieced it together and people recorded the territory’s name.
• Bao Lei learned from World Channel posts that relay stations were obstructing the message and confronted Hall about the fees and the failure to transmit it.
• Hall secretly sent Clarence to deliver a card to the Blood Slaves, offering a reward and passage to the New Continent in exchange for the task.
• Clarence questioned Hall’s plan because the Blood Slaves had attacked the station and a bounty had been offered for finding the informant, so Hall kicked open the door and found Bao Lei’s men waiting inside.
• Hall raised his revolver and was shot dead when a soldier’s gun went off, prompting Bao Lei to worry that the relay station would blacklist Tian Yuan Territory.
• Clarence examined the bloodstained card, identified Hall as a traitor plotting to have Bao Lei killed, and urged the team to claim the five-thousand-Sea-Lang bounty.

The Thousand Illusions Mist began to lift, restoring sunlight and limited radio communication, while Su Mo learned about growing pirate threats and requests for help. A southern settlement sought protection from the West Suburbs Alliance, and its owner’s past connection to Hades made the decision dangerous.

• On January 6, the Thousand Illusions Mist mostly vanished, but Number Zero told Su Mo that radio transmissions still reached only about two or three hundred kilometers.
• Su Deben told Su Mo that Tian Yuan’s advertisements had been sent to sea relay stations and described the rising threat of piracy across the migration routes.
• Su Deben reported that Bao Lei had become an intelligence dealer at the Giant Tree Root Relay Station and needed help dealing with nearby pirates within fifteen days.
• Su Deben told Su Mo that the six-thousand-person Pumpkin Kelford Bunker had asked to join the West Suburbs Alliance for protection from the Mole People.
• Su Deben revealed that the bunker’s owner was likely related to an important Academy figure and had once been Hades’s childhood sweetheart before betraying him.

Katerina sought to hand Pumpkin Kelford Bunker to the West Suburbs Alliance while hiding her identity and past betrayal of Hades. After Su Mo considered the bunker’s strategic value, he lifted the territory’s ban and decided to pursue airships to solve long-distance transport.

• Katerina learned that the Tian Yuan Shelter might accept Pumpkin Kelford Bunker as a West Suburbs Alliance outpost, and she warned her captain not to reveal her identity.
• Katerina recalled stealing research and framing Hades, then concluded that surrendering her estate and its enslaved residents could benefit her and the local forces.
• Su Mo and Su Deben discussed using Pumpkin Kelford Bunker as a base for scavengers to explore Qinggang City’s southern suburbs.
• Su Mo decided to lift the territory’s ban and arrange support for Bao Lei.
• Su Mo concluded that the territory needed air travel for long-distance transport and proposed researching airships.

Su Mo and Su Deben considered building an airship to improve long-distance transport, while Tian Yuan lifted its movement restrictions and announced expansion plans. As residents rushed to claim Underground City rooms and prepare for a mission to the Pumpkin Kelford Bunker, a Qinggang army of more than fifty thousand entered the southern suburbs.

• Su Deben agreed that developing an airship was risky but worth pursuing, and Su Mo approved the idea.
• Tian Yuan announced the end of the phantom mist restrictions, new alliances and recruitment drives, a proposed currency policy, and the sale of housing and camp bunks.
• Tian Yuan offered 500 Underground City residential slots for 300 Contribution Points, prompting residents to rush for work and buy rooms.
• Old Daoist, Man with Gun, and Dream Seeker secured second-floor rooms and planned a five-person expedition to the Pumpkin Kelford Bunker.
• A Qinggang army numbering more than fifty thousand marched through the High Ring and entered the southern suburbs.