Chapter Summaries

Lin Cheng warned the cave survivors that Radiation Beasts were gathering, prompting most of them to flee while a small group stayed to defend the injured and their families. Elsewhere, Xiao Yang’s Tian Yuan Rescue Team reached a mountain range and began broadcasting its rescue services to survivors, leaving the team waiting for a response.

• Lin Cheng told the Exploration Team that Radiation Beasts were gathering in a nearby canyon, and scouts later confirmed the threat.
• Most of the cave’s residents fled, while Lin Cheng sharpened weapons and the remaining survivors prepared to defend the settlement.
• The Radiation Beasts pursued the fleeing survivors, leaving about two hundred behind to face the cave settlement’s defenders.
• Xiao Yang redirected the Baili Deng vehicles to camp at the foot of a newly discovered mountain range.
• Xiao Yang’s team set up their defenses and radio equipment, then Feng Long broadcast the Tian Yuan Rescue Team’s services and instructions for contacting them.

Xiao Yang’s search-and-rescue team followed smoke into the hills while survivors at a cave fought off Radiation Beasts and were forced to retreat to their last defensive line. There, Lin Yin’s radio picked up Xiao Yang’s rescue broadcast, and Cheng Fei called for everyone to listen.

• Xiao Yang found a road beneath the snow and spotted smoke rising among the hills, so he sent his first convoy toward it and ordered a second convoy to provide cover.
• Radiation Beasts attacked the cave entrance, and Uncle Liu’s defenders briefly held them back with fire and arrows before hidden creatures broke through their formation.
• Lin Cheng and Cheng Fei retreated with the others to the final mountaintop defensive line, where Lin Yin and Lin Ma were sheltering with Cheng Fei’s mother.
• Cheng Fei realized Lin Yin’s radio had received a faint transmission, attached its antenna, and heard fragments of Xiao Yang’s paid rescue offer.
• Cheng Fei called Lin Cheng and ordered everyone, including Uncle Liu, to gather around the radio.

Trapped survivors on a snowy hill set fire to their cave to signal for help as Radiation Beasts closed in, while Xiao Yang's rescue team answered the smoke and rescued survivors on the mountain road. The chapter ended with gunfire erupting at the hill and scattered survivors eager to reach Tian Yuan Rescue Services.

• Lin Cheng proposed lighting a fire in the cave, and Uncle Liu ordered the survivors to use it as a signal.
• The survivors burned their supplies to send up black smoke and formed a defensive line as Radiation Beasts gathered at the passage.
• Xiao Yang's team rescued survivors on the mountain road, learned that their camp had held eight hundred people, and continued toward the smoke.
• The rescued survivors read Tian Yuan Rescue Services' flyer and discussed joining the faction rather than fleeing through the snow.
• Gunfire and then machine-gun fire sounded from the hill, stirring the scattered survivors into action.

After the Tian Yuan Rescue Team saved the survivors, Xiao Yang charged them for the operation and offered debt as payment. Lin Cheng registered his group and received medicine that revived his critically ill mother, renewing his hope that Tian Yuan could cure her Hell Flower.

• After the battle, Lin Yin treated Lin Cheng's arm wound, and she gave Cheng Fei Cooling Powder for his injuries.
• Xiao Yang introduced the Tian Yuan Rescue Team, presented the rescue bill, and told the survivors they could repay through loans or other methods.
• Lin Cheng accepted responsibility for the survivors, and 373 people gathered to leave after burying the dead.
• Aunt Cheng took in Liu Na, who chose to follow Lin Cheng's group because her father had told her to stay with them.
• At the cave, Lin Cheng registered his family and told the guards that his mother had Hell Flower; a guard gave him medicine to ease her symptoms.
• Lin Cheng gave the blue medicine to Lin Ma, whose color quickly returned, while Cheng Fei discovered instant noodles and other refined supplies in his package.

After the survivors received food and medicine, Xiao Yang arranged for a convoy from Tian Yuan Territory to bring them back from the caves. The rescued families boarded the transport vehicles and began their journey to the Outpost Base, where Fluttering Moth introduced them to the territory’s goods.

• Cheng Fei and Lin Cheng shared the fragrant instant noodles with Lin Ma and the other survivors, whose wounds and exhaustion were eased before they took antibiotics and slept.
• Xiao Yang guarded the survivors while a Baili Deng returned to the Territory for help; the rescue convoy arrived the next day, and most outsiders who had watched the caves left without attacking.
• The guards sold the survivors additional food for five copper coins per serving, and Xiao Yang told Lin Cheng that the group would soon leave for the Territory.
• A convoy of six Baili Deng vehicles and transporters arrived, and the survivors boarded at four in the afternoon, with the sick and wounded assigned space in the central bus.
• Fluttering Moth introduced himself as the bus commentator, handed out samples from Tian Yuan Territory, and startled the survivors when he said the candy cost ten copper coins per liang.

As the territory prepared to receive 373 survivors rescued from far north, its residents and businesses anticipated the new arrivals, while Wu You considered transforming his struggling weapon shop. Su Mo learned that other territories were impersonating him to recruit survivors, prompting questions about whether his territory should expand its own outreach.

• Hope Village residents discussed the 373 survivors returning from 600 kilometers north and welcomed the prospect of more workers.
• Wu You worried that cheap firearms had made his wolf crossbow shop obsolete, and Ma Lan proposed changing its business and recruiting newcomers.
• Ma Lan persuaded Wu You that newcomers could help reshape the shop, while at least a hundred bosses applied for the chance to hire them.
• Qiao Yuansheng told Su Mo that most Search and Rescue Teams had found survivors and that the territory could recruit tens of thousands before spring.
• Qiao Yuansheng warned Su Mo that other territories were impersonating him on the World Channel to recruit people, and Su Mo asked what he meant to do about it.

Wu You learned that he had won three newcomer hiring spots, while survivors arriving at Tian Yuan Territory underwent medical examinations and began isolation. As they received clean clothes and entered the settlement’s bathroom, a song brought many of them to tears and left them facing the possibility that they had finally survived.

• Wu You returned to the weapon shop with three red slips, and he and Ma Lan reviewed the rules for hiring newcomers.
• Fluttering Moth explained Qinggang City and the Warning Wall to the survivors as the convoy approached Tian Yuan Territory.
• Xiao Yang told the arriving survivors to undergo medical examinations and three days of observation, while Lin Ma was sent to the hospital for Hell Flower Virus treatment.
• Lin Cheng, Cheng Fei, and the other survivors registered, received temporary identification and clothing, and headed toward the bathroom.
• A song played at the bathroom entrance, and survivors wept, laughed, and remembered what they had endured before declaring that they had made it through.

Cheng Fei and the other refugees arrived at the Tian Yuan Territory’s Outpost Base, where generous food, lodging, and friendly shopkeepers left them bewildered. In the Administrator’s Office, Su Mo and the officials discussed using debt and wage differences to shape the newcomers’ roles in the territory.

• Cheng Fei ate a meat-filled meal at the cafeteria and wondered how the territory could provide such abundant food.
• Cheng Fei and his companions passed through the Outpost Base’s tightly regulated market, where Sugar Water Shop gave them snacks and learned they had traveled from the north.
• Lin Yin met Cheng Fei and his group at the isolation dormitory, where staff assigned them beds and a three-day question book to help identify suitable jobs and routes.
• Li Hu questioned whether the refugees were receiving overly generous treatment, while Wang Yuanshuai and Qiao Yuansheng defended welcoming them with immediate benefits.
• Shen Ke worried that debt and restricted income would weaken the newcomers’ motivation, and Qiao Yuansheng explained that debt and wage levels could direct residents into factories, farms, and combat roles.

Qiao Yuansheng proposed a debt-based labor system for newcomers, and Su Mo approved a cautious trial that would let the territory regulate prices on nonessential goods. After about eighteen hundred survivors arrived and completed quarantine, they learned they would be taken to a Talent Market to find work.

• Qiao Yuansheng explained three debtor levels and the hierarchy above them, while Su Mo agreed to test the system on a small scale.
• Su Mo signed a permission document allowing Qiao Yuansheng to regulate prices for nonessential goods, while warning him to proceed carefully.
• Over three days, the reception center took in about eighteen hundred survivors, including nearly eight hundred Earth players, and disabled their world chat privileges.
• On March 9, the newcomers submitted their answer booklets and received two copper coins each as an advance against future wages.
• Staff told the survivors to pack their belongings and return at two in the afternoon to visit the Talent Market, where they could interview for jobs and sign binding labor contracts.

Two hundred seventy survivors arrived at Outpost Base for the first-round recruitment fair, where employers competed for workers and staff explained the available Routes. Lin Cheng rejected his combat recommendation and chose a life-focused path to care for his family as the survivors sorted themselves by Route.

• Staff guided the survivors through Outpost Base’s main square and into an auditorium where employers loudly advertised their jobs and argued over recruits.
• A staff member introduced the available Routes and explained that the survivors’ test results would recommend options but would not dictate their choices.
• Lin Cheng received a recommendation for Boxing Enthusiast or Training Ground Soldier, but decided to choose a Route that would help him provide for his mother and younger sister.
• Cheng Fei complained that his results recommended Mechanic Apprentice, while Lin Cheng pretended his own recommendation was Chef Apprentice.
• Staff directed survivors to stand in colored areas according to their chosen Routes, and employers began vying for the few recruits who qualified for Chef Apprentice.

The newcomers chose work routes and began interviewing with Tian Yuan Territory’s employers. Wu You selected the bald brothers Jia Duo and Jia Shao for his weapon shop, but they rejected his two-year contract and left him without an agreement.

• Eighty-five newcomers chose the Farmer Route, while Construction Apprentice, Handicraft Enthusiast, Scavenger, Mechanic Apprentice, and Chef Apprentice were also popular choices.
• Sha Kang selected fourteen Farmer Route players for Xiao Kang Agricultural Company at the minimum wage, with housing and paid leave included.
• Wu You chose the Chef Apprentices Jia Duo and Jia Shao, who had sold stir-fried noodles and barbecue before crossing over.
• Wu You offered the brothers twenty-two iron coins per day, food and lodging, and a two-year contract to help transform Firepower Weapon Shop into a cooking business.
• Jia Duo and Jia Shao asked for a six-month contract, and they refused Wu You’s offer when he would not shorten the term.

Wu You hired Lin Cheng as a chef after agreeing to employ his sister and mother as well, while Su Mo prepared to upgrade Tian Yuan Territory to the Bronze Age. The chapter ended with Su Mo reflecting on the growing difficulty of advancing civilization before the next disaster arrived.

• Wu You interviewed Lin Cheng after the Bald Brothers and two female chefs failed to reach an agreement with him.
• Lin Cheng demonstrated his cooking skills, and Wu You offered him the highest wage and a two-year contract.
• Lin Cheng asked Wu You to hire his sister and mother too, and Wu You agreed to give them jobs and wages.
• Lin Cheng signed the contract, and Wu You learned that his shop had machines and a furnace he could use in its transformation.
• Su Mo reviewed the recruitment fair and the completed Warning Wall, then prepared to fulfill the remaining condition for the Bronze Age upgrade.
• Su Mo reflected that disasters could halt technological progress and threaten civilizations that failed to keep advancing.

Su Mo began upgrading Tian Yuan Territory’s civilization after the Warning Wall met the system’s wonder requirements. The system unexpectedly offered him a choice of upgrade directions, leaving him one hour to decide between routes into the Dark Age.

• Su Mo confirmed that all six civilization-upgrade requirements were complete and flew to the Warning Wall to witness the upgrade.
• At Outpost Camp, Lin Cheng and Lin Yin signed work agreements, while Wu You welcomed Su Mo’s approaching airship with a toast.
• Su Mo arrived at the Warning Wall, teased Cui Dacai and five guards about tasting newcomers’ food, then ordered the area evacuated and isolated.
• At five o’clock, Su Mo activated the upgrade, and the system detected no biological activity inside the wonder’s coverage area.
• The system revealed Civilization Dual Choice and gave Su Mo one hour to select an upgrade direction, with the default route to follow if he did not choose.

Su Mo compared the Dark Age and the Energy-Chasing Era before choosing the latter to pursue the origins of humanity’s abilities. The upgrade transformed the Warning Wall with golden lightning, and the civilization upgrade remained in progress.

• Su Mo examined the Dark Age’s rewards, including improved agricultural and metallurgical output and the Deification List.
• Su Mo read the Energy-Chasing Era’s description and weighed its difficult but potentially higher ceiling against the steadier technological route.
• Su Mo chose to upgrade to the Energy-Chasing Era, and the system began the civilization upgrade.
• Golden lightning struck the Warning Wall, changing its surface and erasing construction flaws as it became the territory’s second wonder.
• The Warning Wall’s upgrade completed while the civilization upgrade reached 24.5 percent, and Su Mo decided to let the guards blame the changes on the game.

After the Civilization Era upgraded to the Energy-Chasing Era, Su Mo gained the ability to perceive energy and discovered that Infinite Energy could change and modify routes. He inspected the upgraded wonders and left to study energy before spring, aiming to gain an advantage in the Ten Thousand Paths Competition.

• The Energy-Chasing Era upgrade let Su Mo see energy surrounding people and understand that it empowered their abilities.
• Su Mo discovered that Infinite Energy could replace and modify routes, though merging routes imposed much higher attribute requirements.
• Su Mo inspected the Warning Wall and found that it absorbed external energy, repaired itself, and could grow without losing its wonder effects.
• Su Mo checked the Wind-and-Snow Oreo Statue, whose blessings now depended on its absorbed energy and unlocked at higher reaction levels.
• Su Mo left the Warning Wall by airship, planning to study internal and external energy while the territory enjoyed a stable period.

As the first Myriad Paths Competition approached, survivors prepared for the Elimination Round while the Tundra Fleet planned to leave the Giant Tree Root Sea Area and join the Tian Yuan Territory. Su Mo reviewed plans to develop the area and learned that the competition would slow rescue efforts for two months, leaving him to focus on the challenge ahead.

• Bao Lei and Zhang Long discussed rising disorder around the Giant Tree Root Sea Area and the Tundra Fleet's plan to leave for the Tian Yuan Territory after the next disaster became clear.
• Bao Lei and Zhang Long discussed the Myriad Paths Competition's unequal trials, rewards, and foreign-race contestants as they prepared for the Elimination Round in three days.
• Bao Lei proposed that the Tundra Fleet help establish plantations and factories near the Giant Tree Root Sea Area, and Zhang Long expressed interest in the plan.
• Su Mo approved developing plantations near the sea area and heard that the competition would delay survivor rescues for two months.
• Qiao Yuansheng reported that the Tian Yuan Territory had 38,553 residents, including 24,655 newcomers, and Su Mo trusted his officials to integrate them while he prepared for the competition.

Su Mo learned that the repaired Black Building would let Tian Yuan Territory manufacture chips, and he directed Wang Yuanshuai to expand factories to meet the newcomers’ needs. He then inspected the rapidly renovated Underground City, where players were turning its floors into living spaces and a centralized trade-goods showroom.

• Qiao Yuansheng reported that Hope Village had surpassed thirty thousand residents, while Dragon Rise Village and Fishmen Village had also grown, and Wang Yuanshuai warned that Industrial Zone jobs were nearly full.
• Su Mo revealed that the Black Building contained repaired chip-manufacturing equipment, including a lithography machine, and told Wang Yuanshuai to expand factory capacity and prioritize producing chips and accessories.
• Su Mo asked Zero to add its reminder function to the software copy being prepared for personal terminals, which would support communication, life-sign monitoring, and virtual trading.
• Su Mo left his office and saw Handicraft Enthusiast players renovating the Underground City with soundproofed floors, tiles, painted walls, and new activity spaces.
• Su Mo inspected the first floor, where partitions and signs were being prepared for factory showrooms that would display Tian Yuan Territory’s trade goods to visiting merchants.

Su Mo toured Hope Village and saw how trade, construction, and newcomers had transformed the territory. He learned that the village was still expanding through winter and ended his visit at Wu You’s restaurant.

• Sha Kang oversaw convoys trading greenhouse vegetables with the Mole People for fertilizer and other materials.
• Su Mo observed that nearly two hundred would-be traitors had been sentenced to three years of forced labor after Li Hu caught them trying to sell information.
• Su Mo entered Hope Village, where the expanded fortress gate honored Oreo and Moore as Dog God and Bear God.
• Su Mo watched refugees from Wasteland Bone Village trade goods and discuss finding paid work in Hope Village.
• No. 0 told Su Mo that the research institute had developed cold-resistant concrete, allowing construction to continue through winter.
• Su Mo visited Wu You’s restaurant, learned that Wu You had converted his former weapon shop, and reflected on how much the territory had changed.

Su Mo visited Firepower Catering, praised Lin Cheng’s cooking, and encouraged him to reach level six for a reward. He then checked the Human Resources Department’s preparations for the Myriad Paths Competition and reviewed the residents’ participation figures.

• Su Mo sampled Wu You’s Blazing Tofu and Ants Climbing a Tree, then met Lin Cheng and learned he had rapidly advanced as a Chef Apprentice by researching new dishes.
• Su Mo praised Lin Cheng’s creativity and promised him a surprise if he became the first newcomer to reach level six.
• Su Mo visited the Human Resources Department and discussed the territory’s work culture and management mechanisms with Lu Xuan.
• Lu Xuan gave Su Mo the Myriad Paths Competition registration report: 49 percent planned to participate, 38 percent refused, and 13 percent remained undecided.
• Su Mo learned that many Farmers, Handicraft Enthusiasts, and Mechanic Apprentices were reluctant to compete because of the risks, their work, or other priorities.

Su Mo visited Dragon Rise Village and Fishmen Village to assess life in the territory and discovered that the fishmen’s spring mating season caused a severe odor and disrupted construction. He promised Moore a project to contain the smell, then headed to a lake to check on an unusual carp that might have changed over the past year.

• Su Mo disguised his voice and questioned workers in Dragon Rise Village, learning that they were content with their wages and hoped to buy homes and pursue other goals.
• Moore argued with Yu Haichao because the fishmen’s mating-season mucus had caused his construction team to be fined for damaging building materials.
• Yu Haichao explained that fishmen needed to secrete mucus to reproduce and that the odor attracted enemies during the vulnerable season.
• Su Mo promised to provide Moore’s construction team with a project that would control the smell, and Moore eagerly agreed to build from the forthcoming plans.
• Su Mo returned to his airship and selected the lake on his territory map to check whether its unusual carp had evolved after nearly a year.