Chapter Summaries

Becker announced that the government would abandon northern cities while relying on the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society to help, and the Society arranged a rescue operation with Wandering Spacetime. As chaos erupted in New York, Sam and his friends struggled to find shelter and survive the night.

• Becker announced that residents north of forty degrees latitude should hold out for rescue and revealed the government’s agreement with the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society.
• Carl negotiated supplies and other resources from Becker’s government in exchange for the Society’s best efforts to rescue people in the north, then chose to join the rescue teams.
• Zhang Tianyuan arranged for Sun Deyi and Wandering Spacetime’s forces to carry out the rescue operation in the extreme cold.
• After Becker’s speech, Sam and his friends tried to leave New York, but gunfire killed their butler and forced them to abandon their escape attempt.
• Sam led Brian, Laura, and J.D. through the rain, searching for a crowded place to hide as gunfire and screams filled New York.

Sam and his companions reached the New York Public Library, where a radio warned that a tsunami would hit the city by noon. Meanwhile, Zhang Tianyuan learned of worsening global disasters, prepared a major rescue deployment to North America, and arranged to send people who had wanted to return home back there.

• Sam and his companions took shelter in the New York Public Library, where J.D. turned on the radio and heard that the Mutual Aid Society had begun North American rescue operations.
• The radio warned that abnormal tsunami waves would reach New York around noon, prompting Sam, Laura, J.D., and Brian to realize they had only hours to prepare.
• Thirty-seven underground cities in Europe and the Americas sent 150,000 people through spacetime tunnels to conduct rescue operations in The Day After Tomorrow Spacetime.
• Zhang Tianyuan told Elder Zhong and Wang Lei that storms had forced evacuations in Europe and that a powerful hurricane was devastating Australia, then appointed Wang Lei to lead the arriving North American rescue teams.
• Wang Lei gathered people who had previously insisted on returning to North America and prepared to repatriate them, including Jack, who hoped to find his son in New York.

The Mutual Aid Society brought Jack and other evacuees to Washington while Wang Lei coordinated North American rescue efforts and warned officials to evacuate before the cold arrived. In New York, Sam and the others learned from the space station broadcast that a tsunami was approaching, and the library erupted into action.

• Wang Lei told Jack that New York would face a tsunami and extreme cold, and promised that a rescue team would take him there from Washington once conditions stabilized.
• Jack reunited with Tom and briefed Washington’s weather experts on the coming disaster and the Mutual Aid Society’s forecasts.
• Wang Lei met Becker and Carl, organized rescue teams across North America, and advised Washington’s leaders to evacuate south before the city froze.
• Sam received supplies at the library while J.D. listened to the space station broadcast and warned everyone that a tsunami was approaching New York.
• The library’s officers urged people outside to return, and the crowd rushed to spread the warning and look out toward the streets.

As the tsunami flooded New York, Sam and the others prepared the library for the coming cold while rescue teams mobilized to reach the city. The radio announced that rescue teams had been dispatched and told New York residents to stay indoors.

• Sam watched the tsunami sweep corpses and debris through New York, and he urged the library group to carry wood upstairs and prepare for the cold.
• Simon learned that temperatures near the rescue teams would fall to minus fifty, so he ordered nearby units to stop rescuing and gather together.
• Jack reunited with Lucy, then joined Frank and Jason as they set out to rescue Sam.
• Wang Lei sent a rescue convoy toward New York as snow began falling, while Becker remained in Washington to prove his worth.
• Zhang Tianyuan approved observation requests from Finch Spacetime and the "2012" spacetime, while Pacific Rim Spacetime pursued post-disaster cooperation.
• Sam and the others boarded up windows, prepared fires, and heard the radio announce that the Mutual Aid Society had dispatched rescue teams to New York.

Sam and the others in the library learned that a rescue team had been dispatched to New York, but dwindling supplies and the sight of bodies frozen outside weakened their hope. Wang Lei’s team entered the city under fire, while Jack began searching for his son; the chapter ended as the library survivors heard that rescue operations had begun.

• The radio announced that the Mutual Aid Society had sent a rescue team to New York, lifting the library survivors’ spirits as they continued preparing for the cold.
• The police calculated that the library’s food and water would last only about two and a half days, and Sam saw tsunami victims frozen in the ice outside.
• Wang Lei led the rescue team into New York on snowmobiles, where Jack and the others came under fire from a gunman in a blue building.
• The rescue teams located and killed the gunman, then began evacuating survivors while Jack set out to search the school where his son had competed.
• Sam and the other library residents worried about their missing families until the radio reported that rescue operations had begun in New York.

As Manhattan survivors debated whether to wait for rescue, many left the library on foot for Staten Island, while Jack and his companions crossed the frozen harbor toward the city in search of Jack’s son, Sam. The chapter left them approaching Manhattan as gunfire scattered survivors, while Lucy stayed behind in Washington with Peter and Liu Peiqiang watched the storm from the Navigator Space Station.

• Sam persuaded Laura, J.D., and Brian to stay in the library, but dozens of others followed Officer Lund out to seek help on Staten Island.
• Wang Lei ordered the rescue teams to regroup, but Jack, Frank, and Jason continued toward Manhattan to search for Jack’s son.
• Jack and his companions crossed the frozen New York Harbor and saw survivors fleeing Manhattan after shooters attacked them from a tall building.
• Officer Lund led the group from the library into a building for shelter and stopped for the night before they reached the harbor.
• Lucy stayed at the Washington hospital with Peter after the other staff evacuated, waiting for an ambulance that might not come.
• Liu Peiqiang watched the violent storm clouds and lightning over Earth from the Navigator Space Station.

Liu Peiqiang and Makarov reflected on the lives saved by the Mutual Aid Society as Jack’s group encountered stranded New Yorkers and urged them to return to shelter. In Washington, Lucy saw a powerful light outside the hospital and wondered if help had arrived.

• Liu Peiqiang and Makarov discussed the disaster and how the Mutual Aid Society’s evacuation efforts had reduced deaths.
• Jack, Frank, and their companion entered Manhattan and met Lund and dozens of people sheltering in a building.
• Jack told Lund he was searching for his son, then warned the group that the coming storm was certain and urged them to return to the library.
• Lucy stayed at the hospital with Peter and worried about escaping Washington and hearing from her husband and son.
• Lucy saw a powerful light shine through the hospital window and realized someone might have arrived.

Lucy and Peter were rescued by Mutual Aid Society soldiers, while Jack returned to New York and unexpectedly reunited with Sam at the library. Jack told Sam about his travels through parallel spacetimes and worried that their country had been excluded from the Mutual Aid Society, but Sam reminded him to focus on surviving the disaster; Jack then offered to introduce him to his two godfathers.

• Lucy opened the hospital door to Mutual Aid Society soldiers, then brought them to Peter and helped prepare him for evacuation.
• The soldiers carried Peter to a field ambulance, where Lucy learned that fifty vehicles were transporting patients from New York toward Washington.
• Jack led Lund and the others back to the library, where he unexpectedly found Sam and reunited with him.
• Jack explained how he had been stranded in New Delhi and described his experiences in several parallel spacetimes.
• Sam asked how he could join the Mutual Aid Society, and Jack explained that their country had not been accepted as a member.
• Sam told Jack to think about how many people would survive the disaster, and Jack offered to introduce him to his two godfathers.

Sam reunited with Jack, Frank, and Jason while the survivors in the library confronted the coming storm and their uncertain future. As the Mutual Aid Society changed its rescue strategy and distributed coal, Becker’s evacuation convoy vanished in the snow, leaving Zhang Tianyuan to suspect a movie plot had come true.

• Sam thanked Frank and Jason for coming to find him, learned that his mother was safe in Washington, and resolved to visit Uncle Tom once things settled down.
• Jack warned the library’s survivors about the storm and described the orderly shelters, while their anger toward Becker grew and Jack reflected on the theory of the deep-rooted flaws of Western civilization.
• Wang Lei reported that rescue teams had saved at least seven hundred thousand civilians but lost five soldiers and hundreds of rescued people to rioters with heavy weapons.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered teams to distribute coal so civilians could heat themselves and gather together, and Bai Xu began placing coal stockpiles throughout The Day After Tomorrow Spacetime.
• Carl told Zhang Tianyuan that Becker and his superior had disappeared, and Zhang suspected their evacuation convoy had been caught in the snowstorm.
• Becker joined his superior and secretary in the final Washington evacuation convoy, which drove into the storm and disappeared into the darkness.

Zhang Tianyuan learned that Becker's evacuation convoy had gone missing in a blizzard, while the Mutual Aid Society rescued New York survivors by turning a library into a heated shelter. As a lethal storm struck New York, Lucy reached the border and heard that the city where Jack and Sam were trapped faced extreme cold.

• Zhang Tianyuan learned Becker's convoy had disappeared and concluded that Becker and the others had likely been left to die; Elder Zhong predicted turmoil in their camp.
• Jack found a frozen man dead in the library and struggled to keep the survivors warm as the cold worsened.
• Chen Song and the Mutual Aid Society convoy arrived at the library, burned coal in sealed outer rooms, and gathered survivors inside to warm them.
• Tom learned that a storm was driving temperatures down rapidly in New York and realized he had forgotten Lucy in Washington.
• Lucy reached the border camp with Peter and heard a report that a storm near minus 98 degrees was bearing down on New York.

As a severe snowstorm struck New York, residents sheltered in the library while rescue teams protected millions across the city. Zhang Tianyuan learned that the disaster could leave the population at 177 million, with the death toll possibly reaching one hundred million.

• Brian asked Jack about meteorology, while Laura told Sam she hoped to study it and join the Mutual Aid Society or a rescue team.
• A police officer announced that the storm was approaching, and people in the New York library put on their coats as the temperature dropped.
• Bob returned to Professor Rapson's vehicle with space station information and reported that snow had piled up at least six meters outside.
• Professor Rapson and the others read reports about rescue efforts in North America and considered the scale of the crisis.
• Zhang Tianyuan reviewed Wang Lei's report that 1.25 million New Yorkers were under protection and supplies had been distributed to at least four million.
• An assistant told Zhang Tianyuan that the population after the disaster was projected to be 177 million, suggesting a death toll of one hundred million.

Zhang Tianyuan and Elder Zhong reviewed the catastrophic death toll and the disaster’s aftermath as the storm began to clear. Jack, Sam, and the other survivors were rescued from the library and prepared to go home.

• Zhang Tianyuan and Elder Zhong heard that North America had suffered one hundred million deaths, far more than any other region, and discussed the challenges ahead.
• Parker saw the storm clouds clearing from the International Space Station and reported the change to Houston, which said another space station had already sent the news.
• Rescuers woke Jack, Sam, and the people sheltering in the New York library and told them to evacuate while the storm had passed.
• Jack and the survivors climbed out into the sunlight, where Mutual Aid Society sled teams directed survivors to assemble for evacuation.
• Jack put an arm around Sam and said they were going home.

After the storm subsided, survivors were rescued and evacuated, but Jack and Sam could not find Lucy and registered a missing-person search. As governments began recovery efforts, a meeting on agriculture revealed that climate disruption threatened future food production, and Zhang Tianyuan learned that someone had come seeking to join the Mutual Aid Society.

• Jack, Sam, and their companions crossed the frozen harbor toward Staten Island, passing layers of bodies buried beneath the snow.
• Rescuers freed Professor Rapson, Bob, and another passenger in Scotland and brought them to Shelter No. 97, where their families welcomed them.
• Chen Song helped J.D. and other evacuees search for relatives along the route south, while Jack and Sam continued to the shelter area to look for Lucy.
• Jack and Sam learned that Tom had lost contact with Lucy, so they registered missing-person notices and began waiting for news.
• A week later, officials began recovery work and arranged repayment of supplies, while Elder Zhong's agricultural meeting warned that climate disruption endangered future farming.
• After the meeting, Elder Zhong told Zhang Tianyuan that someone from the other side wanted to meet him and join the Mutual Aid Society.

Zhang Tianyuan met Grant, a representative seeking to have the other side join the Mutual Aid Society, but told him the other side needed to address its unrest and rescue stranded northern survivors first. Grant privately doubted they could safely or affordably take on those tasks.

• Northern survivors blamed Becker and his people for abandoning them, and unrest spread through evacuation camps across North America.
• Grant met Zhang Tianyuan and Elder Zhong at the shelter and asked to join the Mutual Aid Society.
• Zhang Tianyuan said he supported joining in principle but urged Grant to calm the camps, provide supplies, rebuild, and organize rescues in the north.
• Grant considered asking whether they could leave the northern survivors behind, since his people feared unrest, armed resistance, and a lack of supplies.

Zhang Tianyuan refused Grant’s request to join the Mutual Aid Society until his people repaid their debt to Wandering Spacetime, while offering limited humanitarian and meteorological assistance. He then visited the Finch Spacetime delegation to hear what they had learned about the coming disasters.

• Zhang Tianyuan reminded Grant that his people still had to fulfill their agreement with Wandering Spacetime, and Grant promised to repay the debt.
• Zhang Tianyuan told Grant that his people could not join the Mutual Aid Society until they repaid Wandering Spacetime, but offered appropriate humanitarian assistance and future disaster warnings.
• Grant offered an annual service fee of two hundred million US dollars for meteorological services, and Zhang Tianyuan told him to add it to the debt owed to Wandering Spacetime.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Elder Zhong criticized Grant’s people for seeking aid only after creating a crisis they could not handle themselves.
• Zhang Tianyuan visited the Finch Spacetime delegation and asked Wei Ding how the team had found their time in The Day After Tomorrow Spacetime; Wei Ding said the experience had opened their eyes.

Wei Ding and his delegation returned from the Day After Tomorrow Spacetime convinced that the Mutual Aid Society’s rescue efforts were genuine and its influence credible. After hearing their report, Tan Mingda decided to establish a branch and prepare Finch Spacetime for the coming ice age by prioritizing an underground city and a full inventory of resources.

• Wei Ding admitted that the delegation had initially doubted spacetime travel and the Mutual Aid Society, but said their firsthand observations had changed their minds.
• The delegation discussed the Mutual Aid Society’s leadership, its promise not to interfere in internal affairs, and the payment demanded for the North American rescue.
• Three days later, Zhang Tianyuan sent Wei Ding and the other delegates back to Finch Spacetime, where they reported their findings to Tan Mingda and his colleagues.
• After hearing the report, Tan Mingda acknowledged that they had misjudged the Mutual Aid Society and agreed to continue establishing a branch.
• Tan Mingda and his colleagues decided to prioritize the underground city promised by No. 3 Spacetime and take stock of Finch Spacetime’s resources.

Sun Deyi arranged support for the rescue teams while expecting No. 6 Spacetime to repay its debt. At a Mutual Aid Society meeting, Zhang Tianyuan revealed that all six branches faced a looming food shortage and entrusted Ning Jihua with developing No. 2 Spacetime’s unused farmland.

• Sun Deyi learned that No. 6 Spacetime would not join the Mutual Aid Society until it repaid its rescue-operation debt, and he arranged compensation and support for the casualties’ families.
• Three days later, Zhang Tianyuan welcomed Tan Mingda and Zhong Ruijin and their new branches to a Mutual Aid Society meeting.
• Zhang Tianyuan presented reports showing that the six spacetimes lacked enough food reserves and productive capacity to feed their populations.
• Ning Jihua, Tong Wenshi, and Elder Zhou discussed reclaiming farmland across No. 2 Spacetime and other regions.
• Zhang Tianyuan assigned Ning Jihua responsibility for arranging the development of No. 2 Spacetime’s vacant farmland.

The Mutual Aid Society assigned agricultural reclamation in No. 2 Spacetime to Pacific Rim Spacetime and agreed to cooperate on artificial starch production to strengthen food supplies. Aboard the space station, Liu Peiqiang called Han Zi'ang, learned Duoduo’s chances of waking had improved, and planned to ask a doctor about her latest diagnosis.

• Zhang Tianyuan assigned No. 4 Spacetime to reclaim farmland in No. 2 Spacetime and arranged for No. 5 Spacetime to coordinate new crop varieties with Ning Jihua and Tan.
• Zhang Tianyuan proposed pooling resources to develop artificial starch synthesis, and the representatives agreed; they also approved monthly exchanges of grain inventory estimates.
• The meeting moved on to commendations for Wang Lei, Bai Xu, and others who had contributed to the rescue operation.
• Liu Peiqiang called Han Zi'ang from the space station and learned that Duoduo’s condition had improved and her chances of waking were increasing.
• Han Zi'ang told Liu Peiqiang that Liu Qi was attending classes, and Liu Peiqiang said he would call back to speak with his son.
• Liu Peiqiang recorded Duoduo’s latest medical diagnosis and headed to the medical compartment to ask the station doctor about it while Makarov followed, suggesting a celebration.

Sam was approached by an armed recruiter as tensions grew in the camp, prompting Jack to seek refuge through the Mutual Aid Society. Meanwhile, Tan Mingda committed Finch Spacetime to collaborative starch research, and returning freight drivers realized their leave could spread news of the parallel spacetimes.

• A masked man tried to recruit Sam into an armed group in the camp, then let him go after warning him to keep quiet.
• Jack decided his family had to leave the increasingly volatile camp and went to the Mutual Aid Society's office, where many others were already seeking help to leave North America.
• Tan Mingda urged Finch Spacetime to contribute through joint research on artificially synthesized starch and assigned Comrade Haiyan to coordinate its prior research materials.
• Zhou Tao, Xue Liangping, and a convoy of trucks returned to Finch Spacetime carrying supplies and gifts for their families.
• Zhou Tao realized that the returning drivers could spread news of the parallel spacetimes, and Xue Liangping confirmed no one had told them to keep the Mutual Aid Society secret.

Zhang Tianyuan attended the founding ceremony of Finch Spacetime’s Fifth Branch, bringing representatives from North America and other Mutual Aid Society branches. Later, Zhou Tao and the other freight-team drivers returned home with rare food and toys, leaving their neighbors astonished by what they had brought back.

• Zhang Tianyuan learned that Instructor Yin had the Cleveland Family trapped in its bunker and told him to stay in San Francisco while bringing Jack to the Fifth Branch’s founding ceremony.
• Instructor Yin gathered Jack, Wu Yisi, and other North American members, and Zhang Tianyuan led them through a Spacetime Tunnel to Finch Spacetime.
• Elder Tan welcomed the arriving branch representatives and held the Fifth Branch’s founding ceremony, where local members applauded enthusiastically.
• Zhou Tao and Xue Liangping returned to their old building with forty-eight other freight-team drivers and were warmly welcomed by their neighbors.
• Zhou Tao and the others opened their backpacks, revealing bags of rare food, toys, and other goods that stunned the building’s residents.