Tian Man

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Logging at Garbage Mountain

Tian Man grew up at Garbage Mountain and became a respected logger with a reputation for standing by his friends. He organized logging crews, maintained useful connections, and lived alone in a relatively well-located rented shack in the Scavenger Community 41 52 114.

He first met Song Xiaozhu while recruiting Qiu Shuyu for a large-diameter timber order paying three times the normal rate. Seeing Qiu Shuyu carrying a stone axe after giving her proper axe to Xiaozhu, he assumed the newcomer had exploited her generosity 34.

His opinion changed when the stone axe proved extraordinarily effective. After borrowing it and cracking its head, he insisted on compensating Qiu Shuyu despite her initial refusal. He bought a replacement iron axe for fifteen yuan and delivered it personally, discovering that Xiaozhu had more stone axes for sale 40 47 48.

Becoming Song Xiaozhu’s Sales Agent

Tian Man bought two standard-grade axes at three yuan each. Learning that Xiaozhu made them herself as a “Craftsman,” he began imagining that she could establish an independent faction—and that he could become one of her senior assistants. He soon stood guard outside her shack when Shang Dayuan approached with his sons-in-law 50 52 53.

His first sales scheme with Luo Liuzi relied on exploiting Liu Mu’s jealousy to sell axes at inflated prices. Xiaozhu explained that the apparent profit ignored the costs of retaliation, damaged reputation, and lost future customers. Tian Man accepted the criticism and returned the money, presenting himself as the person correcting Luo Liuzi’s misconduct so Liu Mu could accept the settlement without losing face 62 63 68 72.

After witnessing Xiaozhu synthesize an axe, Tian Man committed himself more firmly to her. He ordered fifty axes for 110 yuan under her cumulative wholesale pricing system, then used his relationships with fifteen logging-team leaders to introduce the tools. Rather than relying on lengthy sales pitches, he expected trial purchases to generate repeat demand once the buyers experienced their quality 72 73 75 76.

Moving to Liu Family Village

When Xiaozhu announced her move to Liu Family Village, Tian Man immediately chose to accompany her. He warned the hesitant Luo Liuzi that remaining in the Scavenger Community would expose them to Old Madam Hu’s interrogation over their axe business. He also challenged the village’s reputation as a lawless stronghold, pointing to Bai Jing’s statements and the community’s role in cutting off its resources 108 109.

His fears were quickly justified: Chen San’s men searched Bai Jing’s shack while Cui Jiao sought the two salesmen. Tian Man and Luo Liuzi fled toward the logging site to warn Xiaozhu. Mu Qing sheltered them at her request, saving them from capture 114 115 116.

At the Taobao Shop’s opening, Tian Man helped announce its daily business hours and sort recyclable materials. Reviewing its accounts later, he recognized that Liu Family Village could provide labor and scrap for a market extending beyond its own residents 126 128.

Awakening and Expanding Responsibilities

Under Xiaozhu’s guidance, Tian Man developed a particular interest in bookkeeping and kept the shop’s accounts clearly organized. He nevertheless chose to awaken after being warned about the risks and occupational restrictions, becoming a Purifier 153 154.

His purification remained weak, but Xiaozhu’s employee recipes gave him another way to contribute. He received a medicinal-material recipe and later used an Employee Backpack on collection expeditions. After inspecting the logging site, he delivered an orderly report covering its surviving lumber warehouse, missing machinery, and the removal of pollution-beast corpses 182 183 194 195.

Relief and Trade in the Scavenger Community

Following the beast tide, Xiaozhu sent Tian Man to collect crude oil while accompanying a relief mission to the devastated Scavenger Community. He helped distribute food, water, and medicine, then conveyed her offer to buy recycling-station scrap at Liu Family Village’s prices 196 197 198.

During the visit, Luo Liuzi’s father, Luo Zhifu, demanded his son’s return. Honoring Liuzi’s request to be considered dead to his family, Tian Man told him that Liuzi had died. When Luo Zhifu tried to turn the supposed death into a compensation claim against Xiaozhu, Tian Man beat him until Old Chen intervened 197.

Tian Man returned with 2,500 portions of crude oil and a goods-supply agreement. His relief and trade work generated 44,600 Leadership Value for Xiaozhu, which she exchanged for 223 Quantum Coins. His continued visits also helped bring community residents within her base’s system-counted population without requiring them to relocate 199 221.

He later sought Xiaozhu’s approval when Xia Fengshou asked to have his adopted child, Qiu’er, learn from him. During the battle between Fan Cang and the other God-Favored, Tian Man and Luo Liuzi continued gathering raw materials while the Workbench mass-produced supplies and weapons 221 255.

Personality

Tian Man is calculating, cautious, and ambitious. Unlike Luo Liuzi, he does not idealize life inside the Fortress; he understands that status and discrimination exist there too. Xiaozhu initially judges him as slow to trust but clearheaded enough to become a useful helper when their interests align 52 53 56.

His ambition initially leads him to interpret Xiaozhu’s ordinary decisions as evidence of a future territorial power. However, he is willing to revise his methods when corrected: her explanation of hidden business costs turns his attention from immediate profit toward sustainable sales and reputation 53 68 73.

He also values keeping his word and repaying generosity. He insists on replacing Qiu Shuyu’s broken axe and objects to repeatedly eating Xiaozhu’s food without bringing anything in return. His attachment to Xiaozhu eventually becomes fierce gratitude, particularly because he believes she saved both him and Luo Liuzi from dying in the community 40 48 67 197.

Abilities & Skills

Purification

Tian Man’s Purifier class removes pollution from food, water, and potentially land 154.

• Food and water: Can purify highly polluted supplies even shortly after awakening 154.
• Land: Estimates that exhausting his Force would cleanse only a palm-sized area at his initial strength 154.
• Pollution-beast meat: Cannot purify it effectively at the time of the village’s victory feast 179.
• Advancement: Later discusses postponing class-level increases with Luo Liuzi to avoid heavier restrictions and agitation, preferring the usefulness of employee equipment 214.

Logging and Crew Leadership

An experienced woodcutter, Tian Man selects suitable timber and coordinates workers for efficient felling 37 38 60.

• Organizes teams cutting opposite sides of large trees 37 38.
• Identifies suitable trees even as rush orders make them harder to find 60.
• Recognizes differences in the handling of Xiaozhu’s axe grades 50 62.

Bookkeeping, Sales, and Negotiation

Tian Man develops from a well-connected logging captain into a financial and commercial assistant 76 153 198.

• Keeps clear accounts under Xiaozhu’s deliberate guidance 153.
• Uses established relationships with crew leaders to place trial axe purchases 76.
• Understands customer retention, product availability, and staged introductions of better tools after Xiaozhu’s instruction 68 73.
• Negotiates supply arrangements and reports collection results in an orderly manner 195 199.

Employee-Assisted Material Processing

Xiaozhu’s employee system allows Tian Man to produce standardized materials independently of his Purifier abilities 182 183.

• His initial Employee Recipe produces Medicinal Raw Material without consuming his Force 182 183.
• Xiaozhu later switches his assigned recipe so he can collect Crude Oil 196.
• He also returns from a subsequent mission with twenty stacks of Iron Raw Material, despite the community scrap’s poor quality 209.

Basic Combat

• Can use a bow, though his unaided accuracy is only sufficient to roughly hit a target 117.
• Is physically capable of fighting, despite generally preferring to avoid conflict 53.
• Receives painful powder-filled bags from Xiaozhu during preparations against Cui Jiao’s group 118.

Equipment / Items

• Standard-grade stone axes — Initially purchases two for personal use before becoming a wholesale seller 50 75.
• Employee Recipe card — Grants access to an assigned standardized-material recipe through Xiaozhu’s Synthesizer 182 183.
• Employee Backpack — Used to collect and transport processed materials, including crude oil and iron raw material 194 199 209.
• Shop warehouse access — Included in Xiaozhu’s employee-permission arrangements when she introduces Level 1 Warehouses 212.

Relationships

• Song Xiaozhu — Employer and leader. His initial suspicion becomes ambition, trust, and gratitude; he regards following her as the best decision of his life 34 53 73 198.
• Luo Liuzi — Close friend and working partner. Tian Man guides his impulsive companion, persuades him to consider the dangers of staying behind, and later protects his separation from his abusive family 68 109 197.
• Qiu Shuyu — Fellow logger whose strength and skill he respects. He insists on compensating her after breaking her stone axe 34 40 48.
• Liu Mu — Former logging teammate and early sales target. Tian Man exploits his jealousy, then repairs the dispute by returning his money 62 63 72.
• Mu Qing — Logging-camp boss who shelters Tian Man and Luo Liuzi from their pursuers at Xiaozhu’s request 116.
• Old Madam Hu — Former community authority whose coercive methods Tian Man fears. He later returns as Xiaozhu’s representative to arrange aid and scrap purchases 109 198.
• Xia Fengshou — A recycling-station manager whose comfortable position Tian Man once envied. Xia later asks for Qiu’er to learn from him 198 221.

Notable Quotes

“Listen less, talk less, live longer.” 47

“We either leave with Miss Song or become her enemies. There's no middle ground.” 109