Chapter Summaries

Barry explained that the starving people could survive by holding the granary, whose 200,000 tons of grain would deter an attack, and revealed the Mutual Aid Society’s rescue plan. Zhang Tianyuan and Wang Lei left a team to organize the survivors as the Society prepared to rescue more starving people.

• Barry told the starving people they could either trust the authorities again or hold out beside the granary’s grain.
• The skinny beanpole questioned how long the authorities would tolerate the survivors, and Barry said they only needed to endure for a few years.
• The skinny beanpole asked who Zhang Tianyuan and the others were, and Barry explained the Mutual Aid Society and the double-layered Spacetime Tunnel.
• Barry announced that the Society would rescue other starving people and send them to granaries, using grain from this one to feed them.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Wang Lei left people behind to help the survivors establish a management organization.

After the Mutual Aid Society helped starving people seize a granary, Zhang Tianyuan discussed ways to protect them and publicize their plight. The broadcast stirred public sympathy and alarmed North American leaders, who ended the chapter considering killing all the remaining starving people.

• Zhang Tianyuan told Amelia that the Mutual Aid Society would establish basic defenses and publicize the starving people's situation to protect their moral standing and win support.
• Murphy heard a radio broadcast reporting that starving people had seized a New Jersey granary, and the account of their suffering shocked her and her classmates.
• The Mutual Aid Society's broadcast reached the public, stirring anger and sympathy by revealing the starving people's living conditions.
• North American leaders met to discuss the broadcast and feared that the Spacetime Tunnel made the granaries impossible to defend.
• The leaders rejected appeasing the starving people, and one proposed killing all those who remained.

After starving people seized more granaries, Zhang Tianyuan and the space-base team watched as their spacecraft reached the wormhole near Saturn. Professor Brand proposed using the Endurance as a temporary outpost and moving it to orbit the wormhole.

• A secretary reported that starving people had seized twenty-one granaries in Florida and California, containing 5.73 million tons of corn.
• Zhang Tianyuan and more than a hundred experts watched the spacecraft reach Saturn and orbit the wormhole.
• Zhang Tianyuan outlined plans to establish an outpost and launch exploration spacecraft into the galaxy beyond the wormhole.
• Professor Brand proposed moving the Endurance, already in low Earth orbit, to the wormhole and using it as a temporary space base.

Zhang Tianyuan arranged to use the Endurance as a temporary base, calling aid for starving people its rent, while preparing to protect them from retaliation. Cooper was sent back to the space base to help modify the Endurance, but his promised engineering partner had not appeared by the time the mission equipment was ready.

• Jody explained that NASA could no longer make practical use of the Endurance, and Zhang Tianyuan decided the Mutual Aid Society would take it temporarily and pay rent by saving starving people.
• Zhang Tianyuan arranged surveillance and rescue teams to intercept any attempt by the criminals to attack starving people in the desert.
• Professor Brand told Cooper that he would help modify the Endurance for Plan C and that a space station engineer would be his partner.
• Cooper submitted a request to return, passed through the Spacetime Tunnel, and arrived back at the space base.
• After two days, the rocket and docking module were ready, but Cooper's engineering partner still had not arrived.

Cooper launched alone to dock with the Endurance, while NASA’s locked-down base detected his spacecraft approaching the station and realized Professor Brand’s group intended to take it. The base mobilized its staff to use remote controls to change the Endurance’s orbit and stop the docking.

• Jody told Cooper that his partner would join him aboard the Endurance through the Spacetime Tunnel, and Cooper boarded the spacecraft alone.
• Cooper launched and monitored the spacecraft as it automatically headed toward the Endurance.
• A missile early-warning satellite detected the launch, and staff at the NASA base reported it to their superior.
• After learning that Cooper’s spacecraft was matching the Endurance’s orbit, the base leader consulted a confined aerospace expert, who identified the plan to forcibly dock with the station.
• The base released staff from their confinement and began preparing to remotely change the Endurance’s orbit, while reviewers watched the operations hall.

Cooper used a signal jammer to dock with the Endurance and cut NASA’s control systems, while the inspectors and experts watched helplessly from the ground. After Liu Peiqiang arrived, he and Cooper began preparing to modify the station, leaving Zhang Tianyuan to watch their progress with Zhou Kun.

• NASA’s experts discovered that the Endurance had stopped receiving their commands as Cooper approached it in orbit.
• Cooper jammed the Endurance’s signals, docked with it, and entered the station after it accepted his spacecraft as its partner.
• Cooper followed the manual to sever NASA’s software and hardware access to the Endurance’s systems.
• Liu Peiqiang arrived, introduced himself to Cooper, and agreed to lead the station modifications within a week.
• Cooper and Liu Peiqiang connected the space base’s signal to transmit surveillance footage, which Zhang Tianyuan watched with Zhou Kun.

Liu Peiqiang and Cooper worked together aboard the Endurance as it was transferred to Saturn, where it became an outpost for studying the wormhole. Spacecraft No. 1 passed through the wormhole and reached the new star system, giving humanity hope of finding a habitable planet.

• Liu Peiqiang and Cooper bonded over their families and the hardships of being away from them.
• Zhang Tianyuan opened a Spacetime Tunnel, and Cooper piloted the Endurance from low Earth orbit to Saturn while Liu Peiqiang stood by.
• Zhou Kun and Zhang Tianyuan prepared to send Spacecraft No. 1 through the wormhole, and the control hall watched as it left Saturn's orbit.
• Spacecraft No. 1 traveled through the wormhole as its instruments stopped responding and its camera showed distorted spacetime.
• Spacecraft No. 1 emerged in the new star system, its images and instruments returning to normal as the space base cheered.

Zhang Tianyuan directed the next steps in exploring the star system, including sending spacecraft toward planets No. 1 and No. 3 while the Mutual Aid Society recovered old transmissions. As conditions on Earth improved, Yuan Heguang began preparing to tell other countries about the new planets and humanity’s prospects for migration.

• Zhang Tianyuan sent spacecraft No. 1 toward planet No. 1 to investigate its time distortion and try to reach Miller before another tidal wave struck.
• Spacecraft No. 2 passed through the wormhole, connected to Professor Brand’s communications relay, and sent its stored information to Jody for analysis.
• Amelia watched Jody reconstruct the transmissions, hoping for news of Edmunds, whose messages from planet No. 3 had stopped three years earlier.
• Zhang Tianyuan left Amelia to face her uncertainty and turned to other matters as cooperation with Yuan Heguang improved food distribution and restarted industry.
• Yuan Heguang decided to contact other countries and tell them that Earth had resumed exploring planets and found a cheap way to migrate.

Murphy repaired an old radio and heard broadcasts about starving people attacking granaries and a planned interstellar migration. The broadcast asked surviving organizations to report their circumstances, and Murphy wondered whether the mission involved her astronaut father.

• Murphy modified an old radio to run from an electrical outlet, then tuned it in her room.
• Donald asked why Murphy's school had stopped using its radio, and Tom explained that students had heard a broadcast about starving people raiding a granary in New Jersey.
• Murphy's radio reported that starving people had occupied 57 granaries and repelled attacks, alarming Donald.
• Donald marked the affected states on a map and feared the unrest would reach their farm.
• The broadcast announced that an unmanned spacecraft had reached a new galaxy, identified three potentially habitable planets, and requested reports from organizations receiving the message.
• Murphy wondered whether the migration plan was connected to her father, who had gone to become an astronaut.

The worldwide broadcast revealed humanity’s plans for interstellar exploration and drew replies from countries struggling to survive. Meanwhile, Spacecraft No. 1 entered orbit around Planet No. 1, but the Spacetime Tunnel closed as soon as the spacecraft was affected by the planet’s time dilation.

• The broadcast provoked anger among some people tied to the Lazarus missions, while listeners around the world reported its revelations to their superiors.
• Yuan Heguang’s announcement gave people at home hope that humanity and its civilization would survive, as other countries began sending messages about their conditions.
• Jody explained that Planet No. 1 orbited close to a black hole, where an hour equaled seven years on Earth, and that its immense waves made it unsuitable for human habitation.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered Spacecraft No. 1 to enter orbit around Planet No. 1.
• The spacecraft entered orbit, and the signal connection was interrupted when the Spacetime Tunnel closed automatically.

Spacecraft No. 1 entered orbit around Planet No. 1 and lost contact with Wandering Spacetime as it began its survey. Eight years after arriving, Miller landed on the water-covered planet, found the ground unusually hard, and received an incoming message.

• Spacecraft No. 1 maneuvered into orbit around Planet No. 1, where extreme time dilation severed its connection to Wandering Spacetime.
• Spacecraft No. 1 began surveying the planet and broadcast a signal to contact Dr. Miller, who had arrived eight years earlier.
• Miller spotted vast surface water and Earth-like air, then sent an excited preliminary report about the planet's apparent habitability.
• Miller landed the Ranger in shallow water and found that the ground was firm and too hard to scrape for a soil sample.
• Miller prepared to investigate elsewhere, but an incoming message sounded through her helmet.

Miller received a warning that a gigantic wave was approaching Planet No. 1, while Zhang Tianyuan discovered that opening the tunnel to her would require enormous energy because of the time difference. Miller started her spaceship as the wave reached her.

• Miller received an unknown message and noticed the distant mountain range moving closer.
• Zhang Tianyuan learned that Spacetime Tunnel No. 24 had closed because of time dilation and saw that reopening it would cost over 600 million energy points per second.
• Zhang Tianyuan realized Planet No. 1's time ratio made the tunnel's energy use extraordinarily high, rather than the system charging a markup.
• Miller read a warning about a thousand-meter wave approaching and hurried to start her spaceship.
• Miller's spaceship engine started as the wave drew near.

Zhang Tianyuan explained that the Spacetime Tunnel to Planet No. 1 had closed because of the extreme time difference and could only be reopened briefly with enormous energy. Scientists from multiple spacetimes prepared an experimental and rescue plan, which Zhang received as a phased draft.

• Zhang Tianyuan told the space base that the tunnel could be reopened but would consume enough energy to remain open for less than an hour, and offered Earth twenty minutes to conduct experiments and rescue Dr. Miller.
• Professor Brand organized a planning team, while Yuan Heguang approved revealing the Mutual Aid Society to the space base and recruiting new members.
• Scientists across the connected spacetimes focused on the planned time experiment, and the Equal Spacetime Physics Society convened a conference in Pacific Rim Spacetime.
• Yi Yehua and his colleagues joined Professor Brand and other delegates at the conference, where scholars from several spacetimes shared their expertise on wormholes and physics.
• After more than ten days of discussion, the scholars completed a phased draft of the experimental plan, which left Zhang Tianyuan dumbfounded.

Zhang Tianyuan and the scholars tested the Spacetime Tunnel and found that time passed at the same rate on both sides while it was open. They arranged for Dr. Miller to rendezvous with the unmanned spaceship, while Miller received new instructions during her escape from the wave.

• Three days after approving the research plan, Zhang Tianyuan opened the tunnel to Planet No. 1 as drones and signal antennas passed through.
• The scholars watched clocks on both sides advance together and confirmed there was no time difference while the tunnel remained open.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered the team to check Dr. Miller's signal and arranged for her to meet the unmanned spaceship, sign the Mutual Aid Society agreement, and return during later experiments.
• Miller started the Ranger and climbed away from the approaching wave, believing she would reach a safe altitude in time.
• Miller received a message telling her to connect with the unmanned spaceship and approach it before she lost the chance to escape time dilation.

Zhang Tianyuan discussed the Antarctic water plant and plans for distributing its supply across several spacetimes with Yuan Heguang and the other branch presidents. As the week-long sandstorm eased, Aqiu went to fetch water and returned home to find her parents had brought back withered cornstalks.

• Zhang Tianyuan asked Yuan Heguang about the week-long sandstorm, and Yuan described past storms that had lasted far longer.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Yuan Heguang discussed supplying water from the Antarctic plant to Finch Spacetime, Interstellar Spacetime, and Wandering Spacetime, with the other branch presidents joining by conference call.
• When the wind and sand eased, Aqiu's father sent her to fetch water while he and her mother went to check their cornfield.
• Aqiu followed the neighborhood children to a well, where they fought children from another street before lining up to draw water.
• Aqiu carried the heavy bucket home alone and found that her parents had returned with extra water and a bundle of withered cornstalks.

Aqiu's family learned that engineers were preparing to restore groundwater by pumping water into the dry region. Zhang Tianyuan and Yuan Heguang oversaw large-scale construction of infiltration basins, with ice from Antarctica in The Day After Tomorrow Spacetime set to supply them.

• Aqiu's family lamented that the sandstorm had destroyed their corn crop and prepared a meager meal from their rations.
• Zheng Xu's team arrived with excavators, and Zheng Xu told Aqiu's father they would pump water underground to replenish the groundwater.
• Aqiu's father asked where Antarctica was, while Zheng Xu learned that Aqiu had not yet been able to attend school.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Yuan Heguang oversaw excavators digging infiltration basins to store water underground across the country.
• The Mutual Aid Society and engineers identified underground reservoirs, while ice factories in Antarctica prepared ice to be sent over and melted into the basins.

Raleigh Becket and other mecha pilots spent months breaking ice to restore groundwater in Interstellar Spacetime, while Yuan Heguang advanced recovery efforts and the Mutual Aid Society managed worsening crises in North America. The chapter ended with an unmanned spacecraft reaching habitable Planet No. 3 in a new galaxy.

• Raleigh Becket and the Wei Brothers used small mechas to break and move ice delivered from Antarctica through the Spacetime Tunnel, helping replenish groundwater.
• By December 2067, water access and food supplies in Interstellar Spacetime had improved, and Yuan Heguang sent delegations abroad to investigate conditions.
• In North America, seven million starving people occupied granaries holding nineteen million tons of grain as National Guard attacks and massacres continued.
• Four hundred thousand starving people surrendered three granaries to the Guard, and about twenty thousand survivors later escaped and were resettled by Zhang Tianyuan.
• The Mutual Aid Society's unmanned spacecraft arrived at habitable Planet No. 3 after a journey of more than two months.

The spacecraft confirmed that Planet No. 3 had liquid water and primitive vegetation, and the advance team landed to investigate Edmunds's signal. They found his camp buried by a landslide, buried him there, and prepared to continue surveying the planet.

• Zhou Kun confirmed that Planet No. 3 had liquid water, primitive vegetation, and likely enough oxygen for humans.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered the spacecraft to locate Edmunds's signal and told the advance team in Wandering Spacetime to prepare for exploration.
• Professor Brand and Amelia waited for Edmunds to respond to the remote wake-up signal, but he did not.
• The advance team landed near Edmunds's signal and found his camp buried beneath rocks and dirt.
• The captain buried Edmunds on Planet No. 3, and Zhang Tianyuan and Professor Brand comforted Amelia.

Zhang Tianyuan and the Mutual Aid Society planned to prepare Star No. 3 for migration while the Equal Spacetime Physics Society considered ways to study Star No. 1 despite its extreme time difference. The Society prepared its eleventh mission to bring Miller back to Earth, and Miller landed near the unmanned spacecraft to retrieve the agreement she needed to sign.

• Yuan Heguang delayed migration to Star No. 3 until its preliminary exploration was complete, while planning construction, mining, and agriculture there.
• Wandering Spacetime proposed surveying Star No. 3 with satellites, while Sun Deyi maintained support for The Wandering Earth as a reliable fallback.
• After nine short experiments on Star No. 1 yielded little data, the physics society proposed sending scholars to live there and build a research station.
• Zhang Tianyuan told the physicists to have more children instead, while the Society reserved its remaining ten minutes of connection time for the eleventh mission and Miller's return.
• Miller followed the unmanned spacecraft's instructions, landed near it, and prepared to sign the agreement before returning through the black Spacetime Tunnel.

Miller returned through the Spacetime Tunnel to a frozen Earth dominated by a colossal planetary engine, where Cooper and Doyle met her after she landed. They prepared to explain how much the world had changed and directed her to see Professor Brand.

• Miller landed on Planet No. 1, entered the unmanned spacecraft, and signed the document as instructed.
• Miller found the miniature wormhole, restarted her spacecraft, and flew back through the Spacetime Tunnel.
• Miller emerged above a frozen Earth and spotted a gigantic steel structure before receiving landing instructions from the BJ Third Planetary Engine.
• Miller followed a fighter jet to a designated airfield, where Cooper and Doyle greeted her in protective suits.
• Cooper and Doyle told Miller they would explain what had happened and then take her to Professor Brand, while crews prepared her Ranger for research.