Chapter Summaries

After learning that Great Xia’s weapons had won a battle with far fewer casualties than the Dwarves’ forces suffered, Thorin and the other smiths decided to investigate the weapons and seek to buy them. In Emerald Leaf City, Lin Mo received word that the Elves were coming to take over and that their Queen wanted to purchase more Great Xia equipment, along with the promised World Tree Seed.

• Thorin rushed back to his smithy with the battle report and showed the Dwarves how Great Xia’s weapons had devastated the Demon Clan.
• Old Klin recalled the Dwarves’ costly victory against a powerful Demon Clan force and urged them to learn how the human weapons worked.
• Thorin and the smiths agreed to contact Great Xia, study its weapons, and ask the Dwarven king to send a delegation; Thorin then set out to borrow a rifle.
• An Elven messenger told Lin Mo that the Elven legion was on its way to take over Emerald Leaf City and that the Queen hoped to buy more Great Xia equipment.
• The messenger also confirmed that Great Xia’s reward for capturing Emerald Leaf City was the World Tree Seed.

Lin Mo escaped another exhausting magic lesson when the Elven army reached Emerald Leaf City. The Elves began rebuilding their ruined homeland with magic, and the World Tree showed the first signs of recovery.

• Kael continued teaching Lin Mo magic until Wu Suowei reported that the main Elven force had arrived.
• Lin Mo rushed to the command tent, where Long Zhan and Zhao Gang showed him drone footage of the Elves confronting their devastated homeland.
• The Elves mourned the ruined city and World Tree, then entered the ruins and set to work rebuilding their home.
• Wood Elves raised tree houses with vines, Earth Mages cleansed the polluted soil, and the Elves supplied magic crystals to the World Tree.
• The World Tree began to show tiny green shoots, leaving Lin Mo, Long Zhan, and Zhao Gang amazed at the Elves' magical reconstruction.

After receiving the World Tree Seed and transferring responsibility for Emerald Leaf City to the Elves, Lin Mo heard trade requests from both the Elves and the Holy Human Race. He made clear that Great Xia needed a Portal and approval from Blue Star before agreeing to sell weapons, and Elder Muyu urged Kael to open the Portal.

• Elron presented Lin Mo with the World Tree Seed as payment and accepted the Elves' responsibility for Emerald Leaf City's defenses.
• Elder Muyu told Lin Mo that the Elves had won at the Lothia City defensive line with Great Xia's weapons and requested a larger weapons purchase.
• Lin Mo said he lacked authority to approve the deal and that Great Xia could not proceed without a Portal to Blue Star.
• Kael arrived on the Pope's orders and requested a weapons purchase for the Holy Human Race.
• Lin Mo gave Kael the same response, and Elder Muyu asked him to open the Portal for the ten days promised to Great Xia.

Lin Mo returned to Blue Star after leaving the USB drive containing the expedition’s records in his mouth before falling asleep. He awoke in New Kyoto Underground City, where the medical team rushed to check on him, and asked where he was.

• Kael agreed to seek the Pope’s approval to open the Astral Portal, while Long Zhan announced that the Expeditionary Force would leave for Firefly Leaf Town at dawn.
• Zhao Gang gave Lin Mo a sealed USB drive for the Chief Leader and told him to pass on the message, “Make more weapons.”
• Lin Mo cast Purification on himself, put the USB drive in his mouth, and fell asleep in the Mengshi Assault Vehicle as guards secured it.
• Lin Mo’s consciousness crossed the astral realm and returned to Blue Star, where he woke in a medical room in New Kyoto Underground City.
• The New Hope Plan medical team rushed in to examine Lin Mo, and he asked where he was.

Lin Mo woke in New Kyoto Underground City after spending five days unconscious, and Secretary Li brought him up to date on Blue Star's military and political situation. The chapter ended as Secretary Li showed him a newly developed material called Zheng Gold.

• A doctor told Lin Mo that Great Xia had moved him to New Kyoto while preparing for the possibility that the Expeditionary Force had failed and the Demon Clan might invade Blue Star.
• Lin Mo completed his examination and followed Secretary Li through New Kyoto to wait near Elder Zhao's office.
• Secretary Li told Lin Mo that several countries had demanded Great Xia's advanced technologies and were planning a joint military exercise near the Arctic Circle after Great Xia refused.
• Secretary Li explained that Great Xia had used Lin Mo's Life Spring Water to treat national scientists and veteran leaders, with plans to share future supplies more broadly.
• Secretary Li showed Lin Mo a light, dark-silver metal sheet and identified it as Zheng Gold.

Lin Mo learned that Zheng Gold could form the basis of a powerful Super Mech, while Elder Zhao explained why Blue Star humans could not cultivate and proposed building Lin Mo a custom suit. Lin Mo then reported the Expeditionary Force’s victories and the growing demand for weapons on Terra, which he was using the closed Portal to negotiate.

• Secretary Li showed Lin Mo Zheng Gold, an ultralight alloy that absorbed most kinetic energy and could only be destroyed by a special dissolving material.
• Lin Mo proposed combining Zheng Gold with an exoskeleton and a miniature fusion reactor, and Elder Zhao explained that the Super Mech project was already underway but would initially require a machine over five meters tall.
• Elder Zhao told Lin Mo that experiments had failed to teach Blue Star soldiers cultivation, and that Lin Mo’s different cellular structure might be connected to his abilities or the Life Fruit.
• Elder Zhao proposed focusing resources on a custom Zheng Gold suit for Lin Mo, which could greatly increase his combat power and make him a strategic weapon for Great Xia.
• Lin Mo reported that the Expeditionary Force had driven back the Demon Clan, taken Emerald Leaf City, and killed Wolaz, while the Elves had paid them a World Tree seed.
• Lin Mo said the Holy Human Race and the Elves wanted larger second batches of weapons, but he had delayed agreeing and used the closed Portal as leverage.

Lin Mo reported on the Terra Continent expedition and discussed plans for a larger trade with Elder Zhao. Over a home-cooked meal, he shared that he missed his late parents, and Elder Zhao and his wife welcomed him as family.

• Lin Mo told Elder Zhao that the expedition would return in three days and outlined resources to request in the next trade.
• Lin Mo delivered Zhao Gang's USB drive and relayed his message to make more weapons; Elder Zhao said Great Xia should seek a permanent Portal and a fief on the Terra Continent.
• Elder Zhao invited Lin Mo home for dinner, where his wife enthusiastically served him food and asked whether he had a girlfriend.
• Lin Mo admitted he missed his deceased parents, and Elder Zhao's wife told him to treat their home as his own and visit for meals.
• Elder Zhao's wife teased him about having another child, and Elder Zhao hurriedly tried to placate her after mentioning the risks of pregnancy at an advanced age.

Lin Mo learned that Elder Zhao’s daughter, Zhao Kexia, was a chief engineer on the Super Mecha project and visited the underground facility to see the mecha being built for him. Zhao Kexia showed him Pangu, Great Xia’s first Super Mecha, and began explaining its planned miniature fusion reactor.

• Lin Mo learned that Elder Zhao’s daughter had helped solve the mass-production problem for Zheng Gold and was a chief engineer on the Super Mecha project.
• Lin Mo urged Elder Zhao and his wife to use Life Spring Water, and Elder Zhao agreed to drink some when more became available.
• Elder Zhao sent Lin Mo to the Super Mecha project department, where Secretary Li escorted him through underground security levels.
• Professor Zhao Kexia greeted Lin Mo and led him to Pangu, a nearly six-meter-tall mecha custom-built for him.
• Zhao Kexia explained that conventional batteries limited mecha endurance and that Pangu was planned to use a miniature nuclear fusion reactor.

Lin Mo toured the Pangu mech and learned how advances from the Terra Continent had made its construction possible. He tested the cockpit’s motion-control system and synchronized with Pangu, whose unexpected offer left him stunned.

• Zhao Kexia explained how Zheng Gold, improved computing, AI, and the prototype’s manufacturing process had overcome the mech’s major technical hurdles.
• Lin Mo learned the mech could walk only a short distance while powered by a cable, then agreed to try piloting it.
• Zhao Kexia equipped Lin Mo with a Dynamic Perception Suit and explained how its footplates and mechanical arm tracked his movements.
• Lin Mo tested the suit by walking, jogging, and performing a forward roll, then entered the Pangu mech’s cockpit for synchronization.
• Pangu started up, displayed information about Zhao Kexia, and unexpectedly offered Lin Mo advice on winning her over.

Lin Mo returned to the Terra Continent and found Dwarf and Half-Orc delegations gathered at the Forward Base to buy weapons and equipment. He welcomed them and conveyed Great Xia’s willingness to trade, leaving the negotiations poised to begin.

• Lin Mo spent two days helping Zhao Kexia improve the unfinished Super Mecha before returning to Firefly Leaf Town.
• Wu Jiandao told Lin Mo that Dwarf and Half-Orc delegations had arrived and were meeting with Zhao Gang and Long Zhan.
• Lin Mo entered the conference room and met the Holy Human and Elf representatives alongside Dwarf elder Thorin Ironbeard and Half-Orc leader Grom.
• Zhao Gang explained privately that both new delegations had come to buy weapons and equipment.
• Lin Mo welcomed the visitors and said Great Xia respected their resistance to the Demon Clan and was willing to trade as equals.

Lin Mo pretended Great Xia could not trade weapons before taking its soldiers home, then appealed to the other races’ understanding of a commander’s promise to his troops. He began to offer them hope of a compromise, but the chapter ended before he revealed the decision.

• Lin Mo told Kael, Elder Muyu, and Thorin Ironbeard that Great Xia had to use the portal to bring its twenty-five thousand soldiers home and lacked time for a large arms trade.
• Thorin Ironbeard objected, while Grom brought in chests of gold and magic crystals as a deposit and said the Half-Orcs needed weapons to reclaim their homeland.
• Kael and Elder Muyu urged Lin Mo to keep the Expeditionary Force in the Terra Continent and resume trade, and representatives of all four races pleaded with him.
• Lin Mo and Zhao Gang exchanged a knowing glance, pleased that the races had taken the bait after being kept waiting.
• Lin Mo reminded the representatives that Great Xia had promised to bring its soldiers home and asked them to imagine betraying their own people and families.
• Lin Mo said Great Xia understood the crisis facing the intelligent races and began to announce what it had decided.

Lin Mo offered to sell the Expeditionary Force’s weapons and equipment to the Four Great Races, but the limited quantities and lack of repair and ammunition supplies left the delegates worried about relying on them. After the delegates sent reports to their leaders, Lin Mo hosted a banquet at the Forward Base, where Thorin questioned the tiny porcelain cups.

• Lin Mo told the delegates that Great Xia would leave most of its weapons and equipment behind for the Four Great Races to buy when the Portal opened.
• Kael, Elder Muyu, and Thorin realized the available equipment would be divided among four races, leaving each with too few machines, while Elder Muyu questioned how they could repair the weapons or replenish ammunition.
• Thorin sent a letter by messenger raven, Grom sent a written report with a winged woman, and Kael and Elder Muyu reported the meeting to Holy Light City and Aivinol.
• Lin Mo invited the delegates to a banquet at the Forward Base, where Great Xia officers served the unfamiliar dishes and helped guests use chopsticks.
• Thorin stared at his small porcelain cup and asked Lin Mo whether people of Great Xia really drank from cups that small.

At a banquet, Lin Mo won Thorin over with Erguotou and gave the literal-minded Half-Orc chief Grom a crate of seasonings. The meal ended with Lin Mo pressing Elder Muyu and High Archbishop Kael to reopen the Portal, and Kael agreed to begin immediately.

• Thorin tasted Lin Mo’s Erguotou, praised it, and eagerly drank from the bottle.
• Grom enjoyed the roast lamb and mistook Lin Mo’s promise to turn around and give him more cumin as a literal instruction.
• Lin Mo laughed at Grom’s misunderstanding and ordered a crate each of cumin, chili pepper powder, five-spice powder, and chili peppers for him.
• Lin Mo asked Elder Muyu and Kael when they could reopen the Portal, and Elder Muyu said the Elves’ share of the cost had already been delivered to Kael.
• Kael confirmed that the Portal could be opened at any time, and Lin Mo proposed starting after the meal.

Kael reopened the Portal while Lin Mo and the Expeditionary Force prepared to return home, and Elder Muyu explained that Princess Fendona had gone back to govern Lothia City. The Portal revealed a heavily armed underground base on the other side, where guns and soldiers were already aimed at everyone coming through.

• Kael placed the Spatial Crystal on the altar and activated the Portal as Long Zhan put the troops on level-one alert.
• Elder Muyu told Lin Mo that Fendona had returned to Lothia City to oversee its rebuilding and serve as city lord.
• The Portal expanded quickly and opened to reveal the Expeditionary Force's underground base under searchlights.
• Lin Mo, Long Zhan, and the others saw Autocannons, weapon ports, lasers, and soldiers in Exoskeletons aimed at the Portal.

Great Xia's First Expeditionary Army returned through the Portal and underwent strict security checks before being welcomed home. The first soldiers began crossing into Great Xia, where they faced decontamination and screening.

• Lin Mo, Long Zhan, and Zhao Gang gave the correct identification code and passed scans for identity, contamination, and mind control.
• Great Xia's defenses lowered after the checks, and Kael completed stabilizing the Portal.
• Qian Zhenhua and Liu Chengen began transferring the World Tree Seed and other materials for testing.
• Elder Zhao welcomed the returning heroes on a screen, and the soldiers saluted him.
• Long Zhan ordered the First Battalion to enter by combat squad, and the first soldier crossed the Portal into decontamination and screening.

Lin Mo used Holy Light Purification to verify the soldiers’ minds were free of contamination, allowing Zhao Gang to cancel psychological evaluations and speed their return through the portal. As Great Xia’s soldiers and equipment streamed home, the other races grew anxious that they would be left behind.

• Zhao Gang explained that returning soldiers had to undergo physical and psychological screenings because demonic abilities could threaten Blue Star, followed by a month of quarantine.
• Lin Mo proposed using Holy Light Purification to remove mental contamination, and Zhao Gang received approval from Elder Zhao to proceed.
• Lin Mo purified the First Battalion, leaving the soldiers calm and clear-minded.
• Zhao Gang canceled psychological evaluations and directed soldiers to continue through physiological screening, accelerating the queue.
• Kael, Muyu, Thorin, and Grom watched Great Xia’s people and equipment enter the portal, and Thorin and Grom protested as vehicles went through.

Lin Mo used the apparent removal of equipment to pressure the other races into making a quick decision, while scientists debated how and where to plant the World Tree Seed. Elder Muyu explained that the World Tree could grow underground without sunlight, leaving the planting plan to proceed at the Forward Base.

• Lin Mo reassured Thorin and Grom that the equipment being shipped away was unsuitable for them, while promising to sell them equipment they could operate.
• Lin Mo told Zhao Gang that the staged shipments were meant to create fear of loss and hurry the other races into a decision before the Portal closed.
• At the Arctic base, Liu Chengen wanted to take a sample of the World Tree Seed, but Qian Zhenhua stopped him and argued for caution.
• Qian Zhenhua and Liu Chengen proposed planting the seed near the Portal in an Underground City and asked Lin Mo for guidance.
• Lin Mo asked Elder Muyu whether the World Tree needed sunlight, and Elder Muyu said it could grow underground with soil and sufficient energy.

Lin Mo returned to Blue Star and planted the World Tree Seed in the Arctic base’s ecological park, planning to test local minerals for a substitute for Energy Crystals. The seed sprouted immediately, leaving Lin Mo and the researchers stunned.

• Lin Mo returned to New Kyoto Underground City and arranged a flight to the Arctic Base.
• Lin Mo told Qian Zhenhua and Liu Chengen to plant the World Tree Seed at the base and test ores and rare earths for an energy substitute.
• Lin Mo and the researchers chose a spot in the ecological park and prepared a pit lined with Energy Crystals.
• Lin Mo planted the seed and watered it, expecting it to take at least a week to sprout.
• Liu Chengen and the researchers reacted in shock, and Lin Mo turned to see that the seed had already sprouted.

Lin Mo and the researchers watched the World Tree sapling grow rapidly before it stopped after consuming the buried energy crystals. Their tests showed it could not absorb ordinary ores, but uranium-235 made its roots move, erased the radiation, and restarted its growth.

• The World Tree sapling grew to about two and a half meters before stopping after absorbing all the buried energy crystals.
• Lin Mo asked Liu Chengen and Qian Zhenhua to test Blue Star ore samples, but iron, copper, and rare-earth ores produced no response.
• Liu Chengen ordered the researchers to test radioactive samples, and they placed a tiny piece of uranium-235 beside the sapling's roots.
• The World Tree's roots enveloped the uranium-235, its radiation reading fell to zero, and the sapling grew taller.
• Liu Chengen ordered the researchers to test plutonium-239, radium-226, and cobalt-60 next.

Tests showed the World Tree could absorb radioactive materials and convert them into energy, prompting scientists to propose using nuclear fuel to feed it. Elder Zhao learned of the discovery and explained that nuclear contamination, especially of water, was the true danger of nuclear war.

• Liu Chengen and Qian Zhenhua concluded that the World Tree could absorb radioactive materials, and Qian proposed building a controlled nuclear fusion reactor beneath its roots.
• Lin Mo was stunned by the scientists' plan to use nuclear fuel as fertilizer for the World Tree.
• Elder Zhao watched returning Expeditionary Force soldiers at the Arctic base before Secretary Li urged him to rest.
• Secretary Li delivered an urgent laboratory report on the World Tree, and Elder Zhao asked what made nuclear war most terrifying.
• Elder Zhao explained that underground cities could withstand blasts and preserve civilization, but radioactive contamination could poison surface water and seep into underground aquifers.