Chapter Summaries

Zhang Tianyuan and the Mutual Aid Society broadcast instructions and survival information nationwide, then escaped the Imperial Capital as Darkseekers pursued them. Survivors in distant camps heard the announcement, and the desert camp’s leaders began discussing how to contact the Mutual Aid Society and join up.

• Zhang Tianyuan confirmed the new emergency broadcast, which announced the Mutual Aid Society and gave survivors instructions, Darkseeker information, and survival advice.
• Zhang Tianyuan and the soldiers sealed the main control station, then drove out of the Imperial Capital at dusk with loudspeakers playing music to draw Darkseekers into their vehicles’ ultraviolet headlights and armored plating.
• Tong Wenshi and his companions on the grasslands listened quietly to the changed broadcast over liquor.
• A young man and a middle-aged man in the wilderness stopped to listen when the middle-aged man tuned in to the new announcement.
• A young soldier in the desert alerted his camp to the changed broadcast, and thousands gathered to hear it before the leaders debated whether its claims were true.
• An elderly leader in the desert camp proposed sending people to find the Mutual Aid Society and discuss joining it.

Zhang Tianyuan and his team cleared Darkseekers from the transmission station and nearby blocks while waiting for Tong Wenshi’s helicopter. They then received a distress broadcast from astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and Zhang Tianyuan ordered the team to establish contact on the next pass.

• Zhang Tianyuan ordered his team to clear Darkseekers from the transmission station and build a cement perimeter covered with sharp objects.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Yin Hongda used ultraviolet lights and fire traps to eliminate Darkseekers across nearby blocks over five days.
• Tong Wenshi planned to fly to the Imperial Capital with Zhang Tianyuan to retrieve classified documents, so Zhang Tianyuan suspended operations and let the team rest.
• Zhang Tianyuan’s communications team received a clear distress broadcast from Hill Emma, who said she and Padalka and Mike were stranded aboard the International Space Station.
• Zhang Tianyuan confirmed that the signal came from the space station and told the operator to connect with the astronauts when it passed overhead again.

Hill, Padalka, and Mike, astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for over a year, made radio contact with Zhang Tianyuan on Earth. They learned that communication could continue, but a rescue would not be possible in the short term, and Padalka asked what had happened on Earth.

• Hill and the other surviving astronauts waited for a reply after repairing the station’s external radio, while facing dwindling supplies and despair.
• Padalka broke down over his stomach trouble and pleaded for medicine, prompting Zhang Tianyuan to answer through the radio.
• The astronauts confirmed Zhang Tianyuan was speaking from Earth and asked whether they could keep communicating; he said they could when conditions allowed.
• Mike asked whether they could be rescued, and Zhang Tianyuan explained that rescue would be difficult and not possible soon.
• Padalka asked why Earth had lost contact and whether a virus was responsible, while Hill stopped him from wasting their limited time on less urgent questions.

After learning that three astronauts remained alive aboard the space station, Zhang Tianyuan committed to rescuing them and realized that Antarctica might also shelter survivors. He and Tong Wenshi began considering rescue plans and whether foreign officials had fled there.

• Zhang Tianyuan told the astronauts that the KV Virus had killed 99.8% of Earth's population and said his group might find a way to bring them back to Earth.
• Padalka, Mike, and Hill shared information about possible rockets, a space shuttle, capsule specifications, and their supply needs before agreeing to speak again during the station's next pass.
• Zhang Tianyuan said the Mutual Aid Society would rescue the astronauts, then told Tong Wenshi about the discovery when he arrived by helicopter.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Tong Wenshi realized that Antarctica's isolation and cold might have kept people at its research stations safe from the virus.
• Tong Wenshi said their country's three Antarctic research stations were staffed, and Zhang Tianyuan asked whether senior officials from other countries might have fled to Antarctica.

Zhang Tianyuan and Tong Wenshi planned a rescue mission to Antarctica after learning that 166 people had been at their country’s three research stations when the virus broke out. Zhang then returned to the “2012” world, where he shared news of the stranded astronauts and proposed an Antarctic expedition that might also locate foreign officials in hiding.

• Tong Wenshi estimated that at least a hundred people were at their country’s Antarctic stations and discussed the possibility that foreign officials had fled to Antarctica.
• Zhang Tianyuan chose the Antarctica Peninsula as the first destination, planning to rescue people at No. 1 Station and check nearby foreign stations.
• Zhang Tianyuan and Tong Wenshi retrieved classified documents and the Antarctic personnel roster, learning that 166 people had been at their country’s three stations when the virus broke out.
• Zhang Tianyuan returned to the “2012” world with documents and intelligence personnel while Tong Wenshi went back to oversee the camp’s move south.
• Zhang Tianyuan told the “2012” leadership that three astronauts remained aboard the International Space Station and requested a professional team to help restore satellite operations and bring them home.
• Zhang Tianyuan told the “2012” leadership that researchers and possibly North and South American officials might be sheltering at Antarctic stations.

After record-breaking solar storms signaled that the 2012 apocalypse had begun, Zhang Tianyuan and the Chinese authorities pressed ahead with evacuation preparations while planning to secure equipment in No. 2 Spacetime. The chapter left Satnam celebrating his new research opportunity, unaware that the coming disaster was approaching.

• Zhang Tianyuan proposed rescuing the Antarctic expedition and checking foreign research stations for officials who could assist with evacuations, while the 2012 authorities planned to recover dangerous military equipment in No. 2 Spacetime.
• The 2012 authorities learned that the sun had produced the largest solar storm on record and informed Zhang Tianyuan when they reached the shelter.
• Zhang Tianyuan asked about core abnormalities and neutrino mutations, then urged the authorities to follow the existing plan as another record-breaking solar storm was reported.
• Over the next four days, solar storm records were broken seven times, prompting China to intensify its monitoring, evacuation drills, and evacuation planning.
• Satnam and Adrian celebrated after their research project was approved, with Adrian appointed deputy director and able to recommend Satnam for the team.

Yan Xingbang saw the city’s disaster drill turn out to be part of massive evacuation exercises across the country, while the leaders of "2012" accepted Zhang Tianyuan’s warning and prepared to rescue people in Antarctica and aboard the space station. The chapter ended with them recognizing that their own spacetime now depended on help from the Mutual Aid Society and No. 2 Spacetime.

• Yan Xingbang learned that his company had to join a city evacuation drill and found an enormous crowd gathered at the drill site.
• Major cities across the country held large evacuation drills, baffling international observers.
• Zhang Tianyuan and the senior leaders of "2012" agreed to mount simultaneous rescue efforts for the Antarctic research stations and the space station.
• Zhang Tianyuan planned to lead the Antarctic mission while an aerospace team went to No. 2 Spacetime to search for space-station technical documents.
• The leaders of "2012" prepared ships, supplies, and helicopters for the Antarctic rescue and acknowledged that their spacetime needed help to survive the coming catastrophe.

Zhang Tianyuan led a fleet and more than ten thousand personnel from "2012" into Legend World, where they began an Antarctic rescue mission. After their calls to the research stations went unanswered, he asked whether a helicopter could investigate.

• Zhang Tianyuan inspected a nine-ship fleet and learned that more than ten thousand personnel and supplies had been prepared for the mission.
• Zhang Tianyuan sent a five-hundred-person aerospace team to Legend World and tested that a communications cable could remain continuous through the Spacetime Tunnel.
• Zhang Tianyuan sailed to meet the other eight ships, then transported the assembled fleet to waters off South America.
• Zhang Tianyuan contacted the Imperial Capital and the grasslands, while two flotillas set course to rescue the No. 2 and No. 3 Antarctic research stations.
• Zhang Tianyuan's fleet received no answer from CN01 Antarctica Scientific Research Station, and he asked the ship's commander whether a helicopter could investigate.

Zhang Tianyuan joined an armed helicopter mission to investigate No. 1 Station in Antarctica, where the crew found a murdered man and evidence of violence. The chapter leaves Liu Chunshi and the station’s people defending themselves from the South American Gang.

• Zhang Tianyuan insisted on accompanying the armed helicopter crew, explaining that he could rescue them through the Spacetime Tunnel if the flight went wrong.
• Zhang Tianyuan and the crew flew toward No. 1 Station, recording floating ice locations and guiding the fleet behind them through the ice.
• The helicopter crew found a man in a bloodied white sweater lying dead in the snow, with injuries from sharp weapons and blunt-force blows.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered the crew back aboard and told them to prepare for combat as they continued toward No. 1 Station.
• Liu Chunshi and the people at No. 1 Station defended their camp from the South American Gang, which had attacked after running short of supplies.

Marcelo attacked No. 1 Station with his armed followers, but a helicopter carrying Zhang Tianyuan arrived and killed him, driving the attackers away. Liu Chunshi learned that the newcomers had come from back home, and he and the station staff broke down in relief.

• Marcelo rallied his followers and fired his automatic rifle at the people of No. 1 Station, forcing Liu Chunshi and the others into a panic.
• Marcelo prepared to shoot Liu Chunshi, but heard a helicopter approaching and spotted it hovering with a machine gun aimed at his group.
• The helicopter opened fire and killed Marcelo, sending his followers fleeing on snowmobiles or on foot.
• Liu Chunshi recognized the military flag on the helicopter and organized the station staff to clear the helipad so Zhang Tianyuan and his team could land.
• Liu Chunshi asked Zhang Tianyuan if he had come from back home, and Zhang Tianyuan nodded.
• Liu Chunshi wept with relief, and the people of No. 1 Station sobbed as they released their grief.

Zhang Tianyuan rescued the researchers at No. 1 Station and learned how the KV Virus outbreak and supply shortages had devastated Antarctica. He planned to evacuate them and investigate the Arctic Ocean after realizing that American leaders had fled soon after the outbreak.

• Zhang Tianyuan's crew secured No. 1 Station, treated the wounded, and confirmed that no one there had died in the clash.
• Liu Chunshi asked about the virus, and Zhang Tianyuan said the outbreak was under control and that they had brought a vaccine before promising to take everyone home.
• Liu Chunshi explained that No. 3 Station had joined No. 2 Station for winter and that North and South American factions had seized stations and supplies, leaving people to freeze outside.
• Liu Chunshi told Zhang Tianyuan that the factions had arrived around January 2010, leading Zhang Tianyuan to conclude that leaders across the Americas had fled only a month after the outbreak and to consider searching the Arctic Ocean.
• Zhang Tianyuan examined the station logbook and learned that Showa Station and Mizuho Station had been lost after their generators failed during extreme winter weather.

Zhang Tianyuan learned how the South American Gang had seized Antarctic research stations and arranged for No. 1 Station’s residents to be evacuated. He then went to Palmer Station, where the higher-ups had been held captive by their own bodyguards, and found them eager to be rescued.

• Liu Chunshi told Zhang Tianyuan that the South American Gang had attacked Antarctic stations to feed its nearly six hundred people, while North America’s higher-ups had taken shelter at Palmer Station.
• Zhang Tianyuan promised to take No. 1 Station’s residents home and said he would help other stations and settle accounts with the South Americans.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered the fleet to send armed helicopters to Palmer Station, and the fleet brought frozen meat to No. 1 Station.
• The next day, Zhang Tianyuan learned that Palmer Station had surrendered and flew there with Tong Wenshi’s directory of the world’s higher-ups.
• A soldier told Zhang Tianyuan that Palmer Station’s bodyguards had turned on the higher-ups and kept them captive.
• Zhang Tianyuan recognized the tearful Otis, who rushed toward him as the soldiers guarded the freed captives.

Zhang Tianyuan forced Otis and the other rescued American leaders to sign Chinese-language documents, then secured Otis’s authorization for the Mutual Aid Society to operate in and help reorganize his country. The agreements left the leaders as emergency-rescue beneficiaries rather than society members, while allowing the society to manage supplies and accept refugees from No. 1 Spacetime.

• Zhang Tianyuan learned that the station’s bodyguards had been imprisoned after they tried to shoot at the arriving soldiers.
• He ordered Otis and the others to sign Chinese-language emergency humanitarian rescue authorizations, which made them residents eligible to use the Mutual Aid Society’s facilities but not members.
• Zhang Tianyuan announced that the Mutual Aid Society would help reorganize Otis’s country in return for official authorization and cooperation.
• Otis realized he was being used as a rubber stamp and signed the second agreement under pressure from the armed soldiers.
• Zhang Tianyuan left with the signed authorization, which granted the Mutual Aid Society permission to conduct rescue operations, store supplies, and carry out the refugee migration plan in exchange for helping rebuild the country.

After signing an agreement with Otis, Zhang Tianyuan had him and his group detained and brought aboard a landing ship. Meanwhile, Antarctic station leader Liu Chunshi realized the research vessel and its history belonged to a world he did not recognize, and Otis’s secretary discovered the authorization named the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society.

• Zhang Tianyuan told the diplomatic team that Otis and his people would be treated as tools and handed over to their country's survivors for judgment.
• Zhang Tianyuan ordered Otis and his group detained, then had them transported from Palmer Station aboard the landing ship.
• Aboard the Ice Dragon, Liu Chunshi noticed unfamiliar details and learned about the renowned Wen Ming, whom he had never heard of.
• Liu Chunshi discovered that the ship's researchers discussed an Antarctic rift and findings that did not exist in his world, and he demanded to know who they were.
• Otis was placed under guard aboard the landing ship, where his secretary read the rescue authorization and recognized it as a Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society document.

Otis and Liu Chunshi learned that the rescuers belonged to the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society and had come from another spacetime. The chapter left Liu struggling to accept that the rescue was led by people from No. 1 Spacetime, while he and his compatriots came from No. 2.

• Otis had his secretary translate documents authorizing the Mutual Aid Society to conduct humanitarian rescue and other activities in his country, and he reacted with disbelief.
• Liu Chunshi questioned a researcher about the rescue and learned that the researcher belonged to the Mutual Aid Society First Division, while Liu's people belonged to the Second Division.
• The researcher realized Liu did not know about the Mutual Aid Society and asked his superiors for instructions.
• Zhang Tianyuan told the research vessel's captain to explain the situation to Liu and reassure him that they were compatriots.
• The captain explained that the rescuers came from No. 1 Spacetime and Liu's people from No. 2, then showed Liu an introduction to their spacetime and authentic Antarctic research materials.
• Liu accepted that the rescuers had come from a parallel spacetime and heard that Zhang Tianyuan would meet him soon.

Zhang Tianyuan transported the rescued researchers from No. 1 Station and the detained South American group through a Spacetime Tunnel to No. 1 Spacetime. Afterward, he received an alarming report that underground temperatures were rising rapidly.

• Liu Chunshi learned from Tong Wenshi that only a little over a million people had survived in the country, and Zhang Tianyuan told him the researchers would return home after vaccination.
• Zhang Tianyuan explained that the fleet would remain in Antarctica to rescue other researchers and bring the South American group back to face justice.
• Zhang Tianyuan opened a Spacetime Tunnel and brought Liu Chunshi, the No. 1 Station researchers, Otis, and his companions to No. 1 Spacetime.
• Zhang Tianyuan directed medical staff to care for the No. 1 Station researchers and guard Otis's group while gathering information about their countries' assets.
• A senior official from 2012 told Zhang Tianyuan that monitoring stations worldwide had detected a rapid rise in underground temperatures.

After the apocalypse was confirmed, Zhang Tianyuan and the senior officials planned mass evacuation through a spacetime railway and debated when to tell other countries. Zhang Tianyuan warned that they should prepare for war because other nations’ reactions to the news could be unpredictable.

• The crew-cut elder told Zhang Tianyuan that calculations put the apocalypse nine or ten years away, and Zhang Tianyuan chose to prepare as if it would happen at the end of 2012.
• Senior officials argued over whether to impose economic controls immediately, and Zhang Tianyuan redirected the meeting to the spacetime railway plan.
• The crew-cut elder presented a route connecting railways in "2012" and Legend World, with at least 1,000 lines planned to relocate the population.
• Zhang Tianyuan assured the officials that the Spacetime Tunnel could accommodate the railway hub, and they approved the plan.
• The officials proposed waiting until 2010 to inform other countries, while Zhang Tianyuan recounted what he had learned in Antarctica and urged them to prepare for war.

Zhang Tianyuan persuaded the leaders of "2012" to take over the abandoned fleet in No. 2 Spacetime as a deterrent while preparing for the nationwide relocation plan. Otis and his people disclosed their former country's military and strategic assets, and the Mutual Aid Society began planning operations to secure them.

• The senior leaders of "2012" debated how other countries might react to production controls and the relocation plan, while Zhang Tianyuan proposed using No. 2 Spacetime's aircraft carriers and submarines.
• Zhang Tianyuan authorized the leaders to take over the fleet, and they discussed transferring military personnel to operate it and study its equipment.
• After their vaccinations, Otis and his people were questioned about their country's mushroom farms, navy, air force, and other assets for twenty days.
• Mutual Aid Society staff officers developed regional plans to send teams to military bases, research facilities, and other sites in Otis's former country.
• The country neared the end of its military mobilization, began secret railway construction, and saw Satnam and Adrian's project set sail across the ocean.

In July 2009, Zhang Tianyuan sent 400,000 trained personnel to parallel spacetime for missions ranging from clearing Darkseekers to supporting Otis's global fleet. He traveled with Otis and the KV Virus research team to New York to recover original virus data, where they prepared to take control of the city.

• China secretly mobilized 400,000 soldiers, scientists, engineers, and other specialists for mass training, drawing intense speculation at home and abroad.
• Zhang Tianyuan sent 50,000 people in twenty squads to help Tong Wenshi by clearing Darkseekers and rescuing survivors across the country.
• Otis and other senior officials were assigned to fifteen squads and sent to high-value targets throughout their country.
• The health minister explained that the New York Virus Research Institute held original KV Virus data, and Zhang Tianyuan set the destination to New York.
• Zhang Tianyuan's convoy arrived in a desolate New York, confirmed contact with the Imperial Capital and Mutual Aid Society Second Division, and set out for the research institute.

Robert Neville’s routine search for survivors was interrupted by explosions that led him to the New York Virus Research Institute. There, he discovered a heavily armed force bearing red stars, leaving him stunned by their arrival in New York.

• Robert left the South Street Seaport with Sam to hunt after his noon broadcast drew no survivors.
• Robert heard explosions while driving and rushed toward them, leaving Sam in the car as he went to investigate alone.
• Robert recognized the route as leading to the New York Research Institute, where the KV Virus outbreak had begun.
• Robert found armored vehicles and soldiers in hazmat suits surrounding the institute.
• Robert saw red stars on the force’s vehicles and uniforms and realized the unexpected group had come to New York.