Recaps

Song Xiaozhu divided the Awakening Stones between her group and Xiao Yunjie and Liu Xuangang, while Qiu Shuyu explained that ordinary stones could not awaken her. At the logging camp, Mu Qing confronted Fan Cang about breaking the isolation zone and stopped him to ask whether he remembered Song Xiaozhu.

• Song Xiaozhu gave Xiao Yunjie and Liu Xuangang three Awakening Stones to assign, kept three for Qiu Shuyu, Tian Man, and Luo Liuzi, and said she was researching how to make Breakthrough Stones.
• Xiao Yunjie said they would prioritize awakening personal-guard captains, and he and Liu Xuangang took the stones upstairs with Er Ying and Liu Huli among their candidates.
• Qiu Shuyu told Song Xiaozhu that special training meant she was certain to awaken as a Warrior, but she needed a special Awakening Stone; Song Xiaozhu reassured her that she could become strong through weapons.
• Mu Qing confronted Fan Cang at the logging camp over his decision to break through the isolation zone, while Fan Cang argued that the zone trapped people in miserable conditions.
• Mu Qing said he would stay at the logging camp and keep repairing the isolation zone, then asked Fan Cang whether he remembered Song Xiaozhu, the girl he had saved.

Song Xiaozhu asked Bai Jing about Awakening Stones before deciding whether to give them to Tian Man and Luo Liuzi. Bai Jing explained their origins and the risks and constraints of awakening, leaving Song Xiaozhu with a clearer understanding of how Awakened are bound to their professions.

• Song Xiaozhu decided to return and consult Bai Jing about awakening, then asked him to explain the Awakening Stones.
• Bai Jing told Song Xiaozhu that Awakening Stones were living forms of contamination that spread after escaping the control of financial conglomerates.
• Bai Jing explained that Awakening Stones were scarce, depleted through use, and could turn a candidate into a stone instead of making them Awakened.
• Bai Jing warned Song Xiaozhu that most Awakened received a fixed profession they could not resist or change.
• Bai Jing said Awakened who could not fulfill their profession gradually lost their sense of self-worth and sank into emptiness.

Song Xiaozhu explained the dangers of awakening to Tian Man and Luo Liuzi, who weighed whether to use the Awakening Stones. Their discussion was interrupted when a man from the city arrived looking for Song Xiaozhu.

• Song Xiaozhu told Tian Man and Luo Liuzi that awakening could kill them or bind them to a class for life.
• Tian Man and Luo Liuzi reconsidered awakening, and Song Xiaozhu gave them until the next day to decide.
• Chen Quanquan reported that a man from the city was looking for Song Xiaozhu.
• Song Xiaozhu went downstairs with Qiu Shuyu to meet the man as villagers gathered outside the shop.

With Ink City fallen and the isolation zone breached, Liu Family Village prepared to defend itself against an incoming attack. Song Xiaozhu learned what Tian Man and Luo Liuzi could do after awakening, then went downstairs with them to see what was happening.

• Liu Xuangang led the guards into the first round of fighting, using traps laid by Xiao Yunjie to kill pollution beasts.
• Tian Man told Song Xiaozhu that she could purify highly polluted water and food, but could only cleanse a small patch of land.
• Luo Liuzi explained that he had become a strong swimmer who could sense fish and had developed a fondness for eating them.
• Song Xiaozhu told Tian Man and Luo Liuzi to stay with her, then took them downstairs as Old Chen's family hurried over.

As a beast tide threatened Liu Family Village, Song Xiaozhu organized the shop and arranged for Polluted Beast corpses to be brought back so she could study materials needed for crafting and repairs. After hearing the village was holding steady, she examined the corpses and learned that the steel blades were wearing down quickly.

• Song Xiaozhu assigned the Chen family and Quanquan tasks in the shop, then sent Luo Liuzi and Tian Man to bring back Polluted Beast corpses.
• Luo Liuzi and Tian Man returned with Liu Huli, who reported that the village was holding off a beast tide similar to the last one.
• Song Xiaozhu reasoned that the scattered beasts were less likely to focus their assault on Liu Family Village than during the previous tide.
• Song Xiaozhu examined the wild boar and cattle corpses and learned they had been caught in Xiao Yunjie's traps and hacked down with steel blades.
• Liu Huli told Song Xiaozhu that the men had already switched to their second batch of steel blades.

Song Xiaozhu had the Polluted Beasts’ hides processed so she could craft armor while the Guard Team fought on the front line. After an initial synthesis failed, she made a Leather Helmet that increased defense and granted a small chance to resist fatal injuries.

• Song Xiaozhu had Liu Huli and the guards carry the Polluted Beast corpses into the shop’s backyard.
• Song Xiaozhu asked Qiu Shuyu, Tian Man, Luo Liuzi, Liu Huli, and the guards to skin the beasts, and they worked together to prepare the hides.
• Song Xiaozhu told Liu Huli to butcher the skinned beast while keeping its internal organs and bones intact.
• Song Xiaozhu tried to synthesize a Leather Helmet, but the first attempt failed because she had not added enough beast hide and crude oil.
• Song Xiaozhu added more materials and successfully synthesized a Leather Helmet that increased defense by 10% and granted 1% immunity to fatal injuries.

Song Xiaozhu tested the effects of synthesized leather gear and learned that leather armor gave Hunters a larger defense boost. When Qiu Shuyu found milky-white fluid inside a contaminated black pig beast, they discovered a damaged Awakening Stone embedded in its heart, which vanished into mist when she touched it.

• Song Xiaozhu synthesized leather helmets and found that immunity to fatal injuries appeared randomly, while leather armor granted Hunters double its defense boost.
• Song Xiaozhu discovered that leather gloves also increased gathering efficiency.
• Qiu Shuyu called Song Xiaozhu over after the black pig beast's purplish-black blood turned milky white.
• Song Xiaozhu told Qiu Shuyu to find the beast's heart, and Qiu Shuyu extracted it and cut it open.
• Song Xiaozhu and the others found a small, damaged Awakening Stone inside the heart.
• The Awakening Stone turned into white mist and disappeared as Qiu Shuyu tried to remove it.

Song Xiaozhu tested whether leather gloves could help her extract Awakening Stone Fragments from Polluted Beasts and successfully removed one from a Black Ox Beast. She put the fragment away and told Liu Huli to take the harvested goods back so the village chief could decide how to distribute them.

• Song Xiaozhu asked Liu Huli to have Madam Xiao bring back as many Polluted Beast carcasses as possible, then made leather gloves that improved gathering efficiency and success rate.
• While Qiu Shuyu and the others butchered the Black Ox Beast, Song Xiaozhu crafted leather armor and other gear.
• Song Xiaozhu wore her new gloves and successfully gathered an Awakening Stone Fragment from the Black Ox Beast's heart.
• Song Xiaozhu discovered that the fragment had an undiscovered synthesis recipe and told everyone she would try crafting Awakening Stones after gathering more fragments.
• Song Xiaozhu put away the fragment and asked Liu Huli to take the goods back for the village chief to distribute, leaving Liu Huli and the Guard Team staring in shock.

Song Xiaozhu equipped the Guard Team and other villagers with protective gear before investigating the Black Pig Beast’s stomach for medicinal raw materials. Her attempt to synthesize the stomach’s contents failed, leaving the mystery of the material unresolved.

• Song Xiaozhu gave Liu Huli Gathering Gloves and protective gear for the Guard Team, then distributed armor to Qiu Shuyu, Tian Man, Luo Liuzi, and Old Chen's family.
• Liu Huli left for the front line, struggling not to look back at Chen Quanquan, but later glanced toward the village.
• Song Xiaozhu and the others opened the Black Pig Beast’s stomach to search for plants from beyond the isolation zone.
• Song Xiaozhu placed unidentified matter from the stomach on the Workbench and attempted to synthesize it as [Medicinal Raw Material].
• The synthesis failed.

Song Xiaozhu synthesized medicinal raw material and an antidote, completing the second Repair Quest objective while investigating the Synthesizer. After her companions cleaned up the Polluted Beasts, she prepared to test the antidote on their meat.

• Song Xiaozhu repeatedly synthesized unidentified matter until she obtained one [Medicinal Raw Material].
• Song Xiaozhu used the ingredient and one Quantum Coin to make ten doses of antidote, unlocking all level-two recipes and advancing the Repair Quest to 2/3.
• Song Xiaozhu realized the final quest objective required 200 Repair Points, which meant killing ten Polluted Beasts on the front lines.
• Song Xiaozhu stopped Qiu Shuyu from cutting open the second beast, and Qiu Shuyu, Tian Man, and Luo Liuzi cleaned up the butchered Polluted Beasts.
• After everyone bathed, Song Xiaozhu put beast meat on the Workbench and took out a dose of antidote to test whether it could make the meat safe.

Song Xiaozhu synthesized Black Ox meat from Polluted Beast meat and antidote, then prepared more supplies for Liu Family Village’s defenders. As the Guard Team fought off a beast wave, Liu Huli returned with armor and equipment Song Xiaozhu had made, leaving Xiao Yunjie eager to hear what else she had said.

• Song Xiaozhu synthesized Black Ox meat with one portion of antidote and stored the fresh meat, then used three portions of antidote to process the remaining beast meat.
• Song Xiaozhu took Luo Liuzi to the kitchen after he asked where the beast meat had gone.
• Xiao Yunjie's traps stopped the first wave of Polluted Beasts, and the Guard Team killed the trapped beasts while relying on Song Xiaozhu's weapons and medicines.
• The Guard Team suffered only ten severe injuries in the latest beast tide, compared with over fifty percent casualties during the previous one.
• Liu Huli returned with helmets, armor, and gloves made by Song Xiaozhu, and Xiao Yunjie praised the armor after learning it came from Polluted Beast hides.
• Liu Huli told Xiao Yunjie that Song Xiaozhu had identified the Polluted Beasts at a glance, and Xiao Yunjie asked what else Song Xiaozhu had said.

Xiao Yunjie learned that Song Xiaozhu could make Awakening Stones from fragments gathered from pollution beasts, and the news drove the guards to fight with renewed enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Song Xiaozhu and her companions cooked a large supply of pollution-beast meat, then struggled to find containers for it.

• Liu Huli told Xiao Yunjie that Song Xiaozhu had found Awakening Stone Fragments in pollution beasts and supplied special gloves for gathering them.
• Xiao Yunjie ordered Liu Huli to recruit ten people solely to transport pollution beasts and sent helmets and armor to the village chief for distribution.
• Liu Xuangang told the guards that pollution beasts could yield Awakening Stones, spurring them to charge into battle in their new gear.
• Song Xiaozhu cooked more than three hundred jin of processed pollution-beast meat while Tian Man asked to practice purifying some.
• After cooking through the night, Song Xiaozhu and the others tried to work out how to pack the meat, and Song Xiaozhu realized she could put away the simple meals to free their wooden buckets.

Song Xiaozhu cooked polluted beast meat into delicious meals, then arranged for the village to process more beasts and supply protective gear to the front line. Liu Huli reported the Hunters’ gratitude, and Song Xiaozhu prepared to accompany him back with supplies.

• Song Xiaozhu discovered that cooked meat could not be stored in her storage chest, so she and the others sealed it in wooden barrels and ate a meal together.
• Luo Liuzi wept as he tasted the boiled meat, while Song Xiaozhu noticed that the black beef was chewier and the black pork more tender.
• Liu Huli returned with a squad and more polluted beasts, telling Chen Quanquan that she had put him in charge of transport.
• Liu Huli reported the front line’s delight at receiving leather armor, Awakening Stone fragments, weapons, and medicine.
• Song Xiaozhu told Luo Liuzi to hire villagers to skin, butcher, and debone the beasts, and said she would leave the hearts for making gloves.
• Song Xiaozhu told Liu Huli to load the meat barrels onto handcarts while she fetched supplies and prepared to go to the front line with him.

Song Xiaozhu brought boiled Polluted Beast meat to the front line, where Xiao Yunjie pledged to follow her after receiving a bowl. The pledge earned Song Xiaozhu 1,000 Leadership Value, and she began wondering how the value was gained.

• Song Xiaozhu went with Qiu Shuyu and Liu Huli's squad to the front line, intending to replace the Hunters' protective gear and kill Polluted Beasts.
• Song Xiaozhu met Er Ying's returning squad and offered boiled Polluted Beast meat to the Hunters.
• Xiao Yunjie tasted the meat, pledged to follow Song Xiaozhu unto death, and bowed to her.
• Song Xiaozhu received 1,000 Leadership Value, enough to raise her leadership level by one, and considered whether new employees could increase it.

Song Xiaozhu realized that Xiao Yunjie’s gratitude had earned her Leadership Value and learned that the Synthesizer had an Awakening Stone recipe. As Liu Family Village’s defenders dealt with a smaller beast tide, they worried about how the community beneath Garbage Mountain was faring.

• Song Xiaozhu concluded that providing meat and helping the villagers had made Xiao Yunjie recognize her as a leader, earning her Leadership Value.
• Song Xiaozhu questioned the Synthesizer and confirmed that it had independent consciousness and a recipe for Awakening Stones.
• Song Xiaozhu decided to favor Growth Quest B and guide the Synthesizer toward order and harmony rather than chaos and slaughter.
• Xiao Yunjie reported that traps had caught nearly a thousand Polluted Beasts while Xuangang and Xiaotong led teams to clear large beasts around the perimeter.
• Song Xiaozhu learned that the beast tide was smaller because it had spread out, and she and Xiao Yunjie worried about the community beneath Garbage Mountain.

Song Xiaozhu fed the Hunters in camp fresh meat made from Polluted Beasts and explained that her new medicine could neutralize their poison. The meal earned her fifty thousand Leadership Value points, while the beast tide’s threat to the Fortress remained unresolved.

• Song Xiaozhu and Xiao Yunjie discussed whether the beast tide would reach the Fortress and why Fan Cang might want its walls to fall.
• Xiao Yunjie gathered the Hunters in camp as Liu Huli and the others opened the barrels of meat Song Xiaozhu had brought.
• Song Xiaozhu told the Hunters the meat was safe, and Liu Huli revealed that she had used her Force to make it from Polluted Beasts.
• Song Xiaozhu explained that a medicine she had extracted from Polluted Beast organs could neutralize their poison, and the Hunters eagerly ate the meat.
• Song Xiaozhu promised to make more meat for the Hunters, then checked her Workbench and discovered that the meal had earned her fifty thousand Leadership Value points.

Song Xiaozhu gained Quantum Coins from the Hunters’ Leadership Value, spent some on upgraded storage and Quantum Arrowheads, then went with Qiu Shuyu and Er Ying to observe the Polluted Beasts attacking Liu Family Village. Seeing the beast tide up close, she worried that stronger threats such as the Acidic Crawler—or flying beasts—could overwhelm the village.

• Song Xiaozhu exchanged the Hunters’ Leadership Value for 500 Quantum Coins and became eager to fight Polluted Beasts and level up the Synthesizer.
• Song Xiaozhu synthesized a sturdy storage chest and 18 Quantum Arrowheads, accepting that she had failed twice during the process.
• Song Xiaozhu told Xiao Yunjie she planned to study Polluted Beasts up close, and Xiao Yunjie gave her another 200 Leadership Value.
• Er Ying joined Song Xiaozhu and Qiu Shuyu as they went to observe the battle at Liu Family Village’s entrance.
• Song Xiaozhu saw the Hunters fight Black Pig Beasts and Black Ox Beasts behind the village’s terrain and defenses, and feared what stronger or flying Polluted Beasts might do.

Song Xiaozhu went to inspect the trapped Polluted Beasts so she could advance her Synthesizer, but discovered that her weak physique could not pierce a Black Pig Beast. She killed it another way and headed with Qiu Shuyu and Er Ying to check the next trap.

• Song Xiaozhu asked Er Ying to take her to the trapped Polluted Beasts so she could complete the research needed to upgrade her Synthesizer.
• At a pit where Hunters were struggling to kill an impaled Black Pig Beast, Song Xiaozhu handed out spears and tried to stab it, but her thrust failed to pierce its hide.
• Song Xiaozhu moved her storage chest above the pit and killed the Black Pig Beast with a method that stunned Qiu Shuyu, Er Ying, and the Hunters.
• Song Xiaozhu received quest progress of 1/10, thanked the Hunters for cleaning up, and went with Qiu Shuyu and Er Ying to inspect the next trap.

Song Xiaozhu used her steel blade stockpile to kill Polluted Beasts and completed a growth quest, upgrading the Synthesizer to level 3 and unlocking four new functions. She took Awakening Stone Fragments from Xiao Yunjie to study and urged the village to strengthen its patrols, leaving the threat of flying Polluted Beasts unresolved.

• Song Xiaozhu filled nine pits with steel blades, killing the Polluted Beasts trapped in them and letting the Hunters recover the blades and beasts.
• Song Xiaozhu completed growth quest 6, spent twenty Quantum Coins to shorten the repair time, and upgraded the Synthesizer to level 3.
• The Synthesizer unlocked Batch Synthesis, Automatic Synthesis, Formula Research and Development, and Employee Recipe.
• Xiao Yunjie reported extracting ten Awakening Stone Fragments from twenty-eight Polluted Beasts and gave them to Song Xiaozhu to study.
• Song Xiaozhu told Xiao Yunjie she had ideas for making Awakening Stones but needed to experiment, then recommended increasing village patrols against possible flying Polluted Beasts.

As the beast tide approached, Song Xiaozhu equipped patrol teams with Quantum Arrows and tested how her rewards and exchange rates worked. She then studied the upgraded level 3 Workbench, preparing to learn recipes and stockpile gear before the danger arrived.

• Song Xiaozhu gave Xiao Yunjie ten Quantum Arrows to distribute among the patrol teams in case flying Polluted Beasts appeared.
• Xiao Yunjie sent Yi Ying and Liu Huli back to the village with Quantum Arrows, bows, and arrows, and Song Xiaozhu received Leadership Value when they accepted the weapons.
• After Song Xiaozhu considered giving Quantum Arrows to more villagers for rewards, the Synthesizer raised the exchange rate from 100 to 200 Transaction Value per Quantum Coin.
• Song Xiaozhu exchanged her accumulated value for Quantum Coins and went to inspect the level 3 Workbench while Qiu Shuyu guarded her.
• Song Xiaozhu explored the Workbench’s touchscreen sections and found that killing Polluted Beasts had raised her Slaughter Value to ten.

Song Xiaozhu explored the level 3 recipes and discovered that higher-level crafting required far more Quantum Coins. She unlocked recipes for Cloth Raw Material, Energy Stone, and Enhancement Stone, then began unlocking a new weapon recipe despite the steep cost.

• Song Xiaozhu reviewed the level 3 recipe categories and found upgraded tools, food, medicine, weapons, and several new recipes awaiting unlock.
• Song Xiaozhu unlocked Cloth Raw Material for 10 Quantum Coins, learning that it required beast hide and crude oil.
• Song Xiaozhu unlocked the Energy Stone recipe, which combined ten Energy Stone Fragments into one Energy Stone.
• Song Xiaozhu unlocked Enhancement Stone, which required ten Energy Stones and 100 Quantum Coins, and saw her balance fall to 490.
• Song Xiaozhu confirmed that upgrading and unlocking level 3 recipes cost ten times more than at level 2, then agreed to spend 100 Quantum Coins on a locked weapon recipe.

Song Xiaozhu unlocked recipes for gunpowder, grenades, a repeating crossbow, and Energy Armor, while realizing the Synthesizer was becoming self-aware and naming it Xiao He. She left herself with 90 Quantum Coins and decided to wait for more cloth before crafting armor.

• Song Xiaozhu saw that the gunpowder recipe required yellow [Medicinal Raw Material] and suspected it was sulfur; the notification voice confirmed sulfur could be used to make gunpowder.
• Song Xiaozhu asked whether the Synthesizer wanted a name and began calling them Xiao He, who accepted.
• Song Xiaozhu concluded that the Synthesizer was self-aware and growing more capable as it recovered, so she decided to get along with them.
• Song Xiaozhu spent Quantum Coins to unlock the Grenade, Repeating Crossbow, and Energy Armor recipes.
• Song Xiaozhu considered crafting Energy Armor but postponed it because she lacked enough [Cloth Raw Material], leaving herself with 90 Quantum Coins.

Song Xiaozhu upgraded the Synthesizer and made advanced anti-inflammatory medicine while struggling with shortages of materials and coins. She explored the new research and employee functions and selected the raw wood material recipe for an employee slot.

• Song Xiaozhu chose to upgrade anti-inflammatory medicine, hemostatic medicine, and a professional axe, but found the recipes required 100 units of each item and an energy fragment.
• Song Xiaozhu synthesized ten advanced anti-inflammatory capsules and read their effects, while leaving the hemostatic powder and advanced axe for later because she lacked materials.
• Song Xiaozhu inspected the Synthesizer’s research and development module and learned that inserting a finished product could produce its recipe, though researching high-level items had a 99% failure rate.
• Song Xiaozhu opened the Employees module, clicked a recipe slot, and selected the raw wood material recipe.

Song Xiaozhu unlocked an employee recipe for Tian Man but learned that using it required an employee backpack. At the beast tide front, Xiao Tong was badly injured after seeing a mysterious figure atop a massive Polluted Beast, while Song Xiaozhu realized the village would have to find a way to leave and gather scarce materials.

• Song Xiaozhu selected Tian Man and generated the [Raw Wood Material] employee recipe, then learned an employee backpack was also required and that its recipe remained locked.
• Xiao Tong led Hunters against the Polluted Beasts, but a blow sent him flying after he glimpsed a tall, thin figure standing atop a massive beast.
• The Hunters carried unconscious Xiao Tong back to the village, where Xiao Yunjie learned his injuries were severe and sent him to Master Bai at the temple.
• Song Xiaozhu assessed the village's dwindling supplies of raw materials and realized they needed to leave the village to gather more.

Song Xiaozhu gave the severely injured Xiao Tong her newly upgraded anti-inflammatory medicine, and its powerful effect triggered rapid healing and intense itching. Xiao Tong recovered enough to wake, while the Hunters witnessed the medicine’s astonishing results.

• Song Xiaozhu stopped Xiao Tong’s squad from moving him and gave Xiao Yunjie an advanced anti-inflammatory capsule for him to swallow.
• Xiao Yunjie fed Xiao Tong the capsule and prepared to take him to the Earth Temple with more medicine for the doctor.
• Xiao Tong abruptly woke in pain, punched through the cart, and began tearing at his bandages as his chest wound rapidly healed.
• Xiao He explained that the medicine caused intense discomfort in beings with strong self-healing abilities, and Song Xiaozhu reassured the onlookers.
• Xiao Yunjie restrained Xiao Tong as he scratched her hand, then told him that Song Xiaozhu’s medicine had saved his life.