Chapter Summaries

Zhang Tianyuan arranged for the astronauts' reentry capsule to be inspected and discussed plans to launch a replacement, while Robert joined the Mutual Aid Society. Robert resolved to leave New York and help gather survivors across the country.

• Zhang Tianyuan consulted Bai Xu and the aerospace team, who said the damaged rocket could not be used and the reentry capsule needed inspection before they could decide whether it was safe.
• Zhang Tianyuan told the astronauts that they could launch a replacement reentry capsule and suggested testing with a cargo capsule first, then guided their calls toward discussing supplies.
• Robert thanked Zhang Tianyuan for helping the stranded astronauts and asked to join the Mutual Aid Society.
• Zhang Tianyuan gave Robert a Chinese application form, and Robert signed it and learned how the society's divisions and branches operated.
• Robert reflected on the society's work and resolved to leave New York, gather survivors, and help save people across the country and beyond.

Zhang Tianyuan brought the Soyuz spacecraft and its technical materials from Legend World to the “2012” shelter so experts could plan a rescue for the stranded astronauts. He learned that solar activity was escalating and considered whether the Maya’s precise doomsday prophecy suggested recurring global catastrophes, then asked about other countries’ discoveries.

• Zhang Tianyuan returned to Legend World, collected the Soyuz spacecraft and aerospace experts, and brought them to the “2012” shelter.
• The shelter’s experts disinfected the Soyuz and took its documents and design drawings to discuss rescue plans.
• The crew-cut elder told Zhang Tianyuan that solar activity had risen to record levels and that rumors and panic were spreading.
• The crew-cut elder gave Zhang Tianyuan information about the Maya doomsday prophecy and asked whether it pointed to a periodic solar catastrophe.
• Zhang Tianyuan said they should focus on surviving the current crisis before investigating, and suggested preserving Maya records and artifacts.
• Zhang Tianyuan asked whether other countries had discovered signs of doomsday.

Satnam discovered that temperatures in the mine laboratory had risen enough to melt electrical insulation, while Zhang Tianyuan and the Mutual Aid Society planned refugee relocations and resource production in No. 2 Spacetime. The Mutual Aid Society sent a vaccinated contingent and experts through Spacetime Tunnels to begin the preparations.

• Satnam found that rising underground temperatures had overheated the laboratory’s external circuit and melted part of its wiring.
• Zhang Tianyuan learned that other countries had not noticed the underground changes, though their new project might uncover the apocalypse.
• Zhang Tianyuan agreed to settle refugees in Africa and other resource-producing countries to restore production and secure raw materials.
• The Mutual Aid Society assigned a five-thousand-person vaccinated contingent and experts to travel through Spacetime Tunnels to the selected countries in Legend World.

Zhang Tianyuan oversaw recovery efforts, trained for combat, and searched for new worlds before learning that a nuclear power plant in the country to the east had leaked radioactive wastewater. He decided the leak posed little threat to his people and left it for the local survivors to handle.

• Zhang Tianyuan sent teams to search for survivors in Legend World’s Arctic regions and locate three missing aircraft carriers, while planning a cargo-spacecraft mission to resupply the astronauts on the International Space Station.
• After a month of work, Mutual Aid Society teams restored access to military GPS and satellite communications across Legend World, and Tong Wenshi led survivors south to join other groups.
• The Antarctic fleets rescued researchers from No. 2 Station, captured the South American Gang, recovered the remains of station members who had died, and began their journey home.
• Zhang Tianyuan trained with weapons and tried using the world-channel search function to find a new world, but his ten-pull found nothing.
• A reconnaissance team discovered radioactive wastewater leaking from a nuclear power plant in the country to the east, and Zhang Tianyuan decided not to send a rescue team there.

Zhang Tianyuan checked the base after learning that the resident count had passed one million, and discovered that the Lord Game restricted access to airspace and underwater areas until players explored them. He found a letter shot onto the island from shore and opened it.

• Zhang Tianyuan reviewed the first-phase contamination survey results and learned that, aside from the known nuclear plant leak, only a few areas had traces of viral or contaminant leaks.
• Zhang Tianyuan returned to the base island, aired out the control room, and confirmed that its console still worked.
• Zhang Tianyuan saw that the base had over one million residents, earned a million points daily, and held thirty million energy, though opening a Spacetime Tunnel for a day required 864 million.
• Zhang Tianyuan read system notices showing that players' constructions and explorations unlocked airspace and underwater depths, then fired rockets and found an invisible barrier at about one hundred meters.
• Zhang Tianyuan spotted a wooden arrow carrying a letter that had been shot from shore and opened the English note.

Zhang Tianyuan ignored the Holy Roman Empire Alliance’s demand to surrender and destroyed Captain Derek’s ship when it approached his island. After killing Derek, he gained a Level 1 Design Institute Blueprint and learned it could enchant one blueprint every sixty days.

• Zhang Tianyuan dismissed the Holy Roman Empire Alliance’s threats and found more arrows carrying its message on his way home.
• Captain Derek sailed toward Zhang Tianyuan’s island, intending to recruit its lord or kill him and claim the territory.
• Derek spotted Zhang Tianyuan on the island and ordered his sailors to prepare their bows and arrows.
• Zhang Tianyuan fired two rockets, sinking Derek’s ship and killing him.
• The system awarded Zhang Tianyuan supplies, blueprints, and a Wishing Machine wish, including a Level 1 Design Institute Blueprint that could enchant a blueprint every sixty days.
• A minor commotion broke out at the Holy Roman Empire Alliance headquarters hundreds of kilometers away.

Arthas and Liu Huo finalized a treaty to exchange lords whose territories had appeared in the wrong alliance’s sphere of influence, but news of Derek’s death interrupted their meeting. Zhang Tianyuan activated the Administrative Management and Resident Management functions, then returned to the “2012” spacetime to offer its leadership a chief of logistics who could use his warehouse to gather migration supplies.

• Arthas and Liu Huo signed a treaty to relocate lords stranded in each other’s alliance territories in exchange for compensation.
• Lords bordering Derek reported that his territory had become unowned and discussed dividing his buildings and residents.
• Zhang Tianyuan reviewed the Level 1 Design Institute’s costly construction requirements and returned to the main control room.
• Zhang Tianyuan unlocked Administrative Management and Resident Management, learning that he could delegate authority and review residents’ public information.
• Zhang Tianyuan appointed a chief of logistics in the “2012” spacetime so its leadership could use his warehouse to collect migration supplies.
• The buzz-cut old man recalled Zhang Tianyuan making timber disappear when he built the school.

Zhang Tianyuan arranged for the "2012" leaders to use the Spacetime Warehouse and brought Bai Xu back to help manage it. He then delivered supplies to Tong Wenshi's city to build a design institute, where the city had already defeated the Darkseekers and restored basic utilities.

• The "2012" leaders appointed Bai Xu as logistics director for the temporary use of the Spacetime Warehouse, and Zhang Tianyuan agreed to bring him back.
• Zhang Tianyuan asked the leaders to gather supplies for a design institute in No. 2 Spacetime, and they arranged delivery for two days later.
• Zhang Tianyuan visited the convalescent area for pregnant women from Legend World and recorded footage of the mothers and mothers-to-be.
• Zhang Tianyuan brought Bai Xu and a vast quantity of supplies to Tong Wenshi's city, where Tong Wenshi chose a guarded central site for the design institute.
• Tong Wenshi told Zhang Tianyuan that his people had wiped out the city's Darkseekers and restored water and electricity.

Zhang Tianyuan supported the space and aircraft-carrier teams in Legend World while Adrian and Satnam discovered that underground temperatures were rising rapidly and traced the cause to abnormal solar activity. After Adrian’s report was dismissed by Rick, Satnam helped him take it to Carl Anheuser, who responded by preparing to introduce him to someone.

• Zhang Tianyuan arranged rocket support and missing fleet parts, while Robert became the de facto leader of North American survivors.
• Satnam and Adrian found that temperatures were rising in multiple mines and concluded the phenomenon might be serious.
• Zhang Tianyuan’s supply rocket reached the International Space Station, easing Hill and the other astronauts’ fears as they prepared for a crewed flight.
• Adrian and Satnam linked the underground heating to abnormal solar activity and completed a report about the danger.
• Rick dismissed Adrian’s report, so Satnam helped him revise it and approach Carl Anheuser, who closed the report and said she would take him to meet someone.

Thomas approved a secret plan to build enormous arks after geological surveys confirmed that underground temperatures were rising rapidly, while Zhang Tianyuan and the 2012 leadership accelerated fleet preparations. Adrian learned that scholars who planned to expose the disaster had died in a car accident, leaving him chilled and uncertain about what would happen next.

• Thomas ordered a larger verification of Adrian's report, and geological stations confirmed the underground temperatures were rising faster and becoming deadly at shallower depths.
• Thomas moved the 8G summit to January and asked Zhang Tianyuan's side about their deep-borehole surveys, but they withheld information while prioritizing evacuation preparations and fleet training.
• Zhang Tianyuan and the 2012 leadership discussed the fleet's readiness, including veterans rescued from two aircraft carriers found at sea.
• Thomas rejected proposals for airships and a space city, then approved the Atlantis Ark plan to build supermassive ships in a highland region.
• Adrian heard that several scholars intended to act against the plan to conceal the apocalypse, but later learned they had all died in a car accident.

Thomas revealed the approaching apocalypse to an eight-country summit and proposed building arks, identifying China as the only suitable place to construct them. In Legend World, Zhang Tianyuan prepared to return with Tong Wenshi’s team to discuss the No. 2 Spacetime railway with Elder Zhou.

• Thomas arrived at the summit in British Columbia and called a secret meeting to disclose the scientists’ findings about the apocalypse.
• Thomas presented the Ark Project, and the delegates discussed building ten arks to carry about one million people and agreed that China was the only suitable construction site.
• Zhang Tianyuan brought railway survey representatives to Tong Wenshi’s base in Legend World after they completed a route survey and construction plan for the No. 2 Spacetime railway.
• A young surveyor discovered the bustling construction site of the Level 1 Design Institute and watched its unusual, partly completed structure.
• Zhang Tianyuan gathered the surveyors and Tong Wenshi’s team to return to “2012” and discuss the railway project with Elder Zhou.

Zhang Tianyuan joined talks between the “2012” and No. 2 spacetimes about mass migration before listening as Thomas proposed building arks to survive the coming apocalypse. Elder Zhou rejected the plan as a foolish choice for their circumstances, leaving Thomas bewildered.

• Zhang Tianyuan arranged for Elder Zhou and Tong Wenshi to discuss a mass-migration railway and resettlement plans.
• Elder Zhou told Zhang Tianyuan that Thomas had requested a secret call after forming an apocalyptic alliance.
• Elder Zhou and Tong Wenshi began talks, but postponed them the next day to speak with Thomas.
• Thomas described the coming disaster and proposed building enormous arks on a plateau.
• Elder Zhou dismissed the ark plan as thoroughly foolish for their situation, surprising Thomas.

Elder Zhou rejected Thomas’s Ark Project proposal and hinted that the Mutual Aid Society had a way to save everyone. The chapter ended with Thomas preparing to preserve high-value assets while trying other ways to secure cooperation.

• Thomas proposed an Ark Project that could carry at most a million people, but Elder Zhou said it was not feasible.
• Elder Zhou told Thomas that they had a way to save everyone on Earth, but he would reveal it at an appropriate time.
• Elder Zhou explained that the Mutual Aid Society planned to disrupt other countries’ shelter preparations and pressure them to disarm before evacuation.
• Thomas’s subordinates, including Adrian and Carl, doubted the promised rescue plan and worried that the Ark Project would fail.
• Thomas ordered his staff to prepare to preserve cultural relics, genes, seeds, biological samples, equipment, and data while he sought other ways to get the builders to cooperate.

After Thomas’s economic blockade failed to force cooperation on the Ark Project, Elder Zhou and his people used state purchases of unsellable goods to stabilize society and convert money into supplies before the apocalypse. Thomas ordered carrier battle groups toward the country, while Elder Zhou remained confident that the coming migration would usher in a new era.

• Elder Zhou told Tong Wenshi that the country was prepared to face Thomas’s pressure, and Zhang Tianyuan said he would mobilize the fleet from No. 2 Spacetime.
• Thomas and the Ark Alliance launched sweeping export restrictions, triggering price hikes and protests in multiple countries.
• Thomas learned that Zhou Jianhai’s authorities were buying up goods blocked from export, and he ordered carrier battle groups to move toward the country.
• Elder Zhou and the others explained to Zhang Tianyuan that buying goods converted soon-to-be-worthless money into supplies while keeping society stable.
• Elder Zhou said that once the money ran out, it would be time to enter a brand-new era.

Zhang Tianyuan mobilized the Mutual Aid Society’s fleets in response to Thomas’s advancing forces, while Charlie Frost left San Francisco to investigate signs of the approaching apocalypse. Charlie’s journey stopped when an emergency broadcast warned of unidentified enemy aircraft over the western air defense zone.

• Elder Zhou received news that Thomas’s fleets were heading toward them, and Zhang Tianyuan returned to No. 2 Spacetime to mobilize support.
• Elder Zhou authorized a public statement blaming the conflict on external provocations and warning other parties to stop escalating tensions.
• Thomas watched the statement and ordered a second wave of carrier battle groups to sail west.
• Zhang Tianyuan inspected all nine fleets, including two carrier battle groups, and ordered them to return to port and prepare for combat.
• Charlie Frost argued with his landlady, then drove east from San Francisco toward Yellowstone Park to investigate the apocalypse and spread his warnings.
• An emergency radio alert reported unidentified enemy aircraft, and Charlie saw fighter jets fly overhead as air-raid sirens sounded.

Charlie sought shelter as unidentified fighter jets triggered a nationwide emergency, while Thomas and Carl struggled to explain the aircraft appearing off both coasts. George intercepted one of the silent, foreign fighters at sea but held his fire as hundreds more cruised nearby.

• Charlie followed the panicked traffic to a shopping mall and watched a broadcast showing unidentified fighter jets approaching the east and west coasts.
• People aboard yachts and other vessels saw the aircraft formations and received warnings to take evasive action.
• Thomas demanded answers from Carl, who reported that hundreds of silent fighters had appeared within radar range and bore a strange red emblem.
• George pursued one of the unidentified fighters, which performed maneuvers with him without entering national airspace or answering radio calls.
• George refrained from firing because intelligence indicated that roughly three hundred enemy fighters were nearby.

Zhang Tianyuan brought hundreds of fighters and nine carrier battle groups into the “2012” spacetime to surround Thomas’s homeland and deter his forces without starting a war. When George fired a missile at locked-on fighter 287, Zhang vanished with the plane before impact, leaving George unable to find his target.

• Zhang Tianyuan and Elder Zhou’s group used spacetime jumps to move more than four hundred fighters and nine carrier battle groups into the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
• Thomas’s forces scrambled fighter reinforcements, while Zhang ordered his pilots to avoid exchanging fire and promised to rescue any aircraft under attack.
• George activated his fire-control radar and later launched a missile at fighter 287 after it slowed down.
• Zhang appeared in fighter 287’s modified cockpit, then vanished with the plane as George’s missile approached.
• George circled back and found the missile still flying but fighter 287 gone, and he asked his teammates where it had gone.

Thomas learned that the mysterious fighters could vanish through black holes and agreed to speak with Elder Zhou Jianhai after being promised their withdrawal. As Zhang Tianyuan returned most of the planes to Legend World, Thomas opened the call by asking whether Zhou had received help from aliens.

• George's wingmen reported that a black hole had appeared and swallowed the enemy plane, and more pilots soon reported seeing the same phenomenon.
• Thomas watched fighter footage showing fighter 287 disappear into a black hole and ordered his pilots to stop firing.
• Officials worldwide suspected Elder Zhou Jianhai's forces were blockading Thomas's airspace, while Ark Alliance members and other leaders flooded Thomas with calls.
• Thomas accepted Elder Zhou Jianhai's offer to withdraw the fighters in exchange for a call and asked them to leave immediately.
• Zhang Tianyuan returned most of the fighters to Legend World, and Elder Zhou Jianhai began speaking with Thomas.
• Thomas asked Elder Zhou Jianhai, "Did you get help from aliens?"

Elder Zhou explained to Thomas that a parallel-spacetime organization could help Earth survive the coming apocalypse by relocating people through a Spacetime Tunnel. Thomas accepted the revelation and asked to use the tunnel, but Elder Zhou warned that access came with obligations, costs, and restrictions.

• Elder Zhou told Thomas that parallel spacetimes existed and that Earth would eventually face an apocalypse its Ark Project could not adequately withstand.
• Elder Zhou explained that the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society brought different spacetimes together to help one another through disasters.
• Elder Zhou revealed that the fighter jets that had blockaded Thomas came from a parallel spacetime and were acting under the Mutual Aid Society's leadership.
• Elder Zhou said the society could let Earth use a Spacetime Tunnel and that another spacetime had agreed to take people in temporarily.
• Thomas realized the railways being built were meant to transport citizens to the other spacetime and eagerly asked whether his country could use the tunnel.
• Elder Zhou agreed in principle but said users had to accept corresponding obligations, costs, and rules.

Thomas decided to meet with Elder Zhou and join the Mutual Aid Society’s plan if its intelligence proved true. After arriving in China the next day, he met Zhang Tianyuan and learned that he was the Mutual Aid Society’s president.

• Thomas told Carl to arrange a visit to Elder Zhou and ordered him to keep the meeting’s purpose confidential.
• Thomas maintained military alerts as five unidentified fleets remained near the coasts, and he urged the generals not to provoke them.
• After videos of the fighters entering black holes spread online, Carl proposed flooding the internet with fake footage, and Thomas approved the plan.
• Thomas deflected questions from his Ark Alliance allies and secretly boarded his private plane for China.
• Thomas arrived at Zhang Tianyuan’s residence, where Elder Zhou introduced him to Zhang Tianyuan as the Mutual Aid Society’s president.