Recaps

Su Wei checked on the construction of his exhibition hall and planned how to turn its empty frame into a high-end wilderness club. Matt estimated the building would be enclosed and connected to utilities in five days, and Su Wei decided he did not need a traditional designer.

• Su Wei ate a bowl of plain noodles, dressed for the cold, and went to the construction site.
• Matt told Su Wei that the foundation was setting, the main beams would go up that day, and the hall would have redundant power lines and R60 insulation.
• Matt estimated that the structure would be enclosed and connected to water and electricity in five days, with solar panels to be installed after completion.
• Matt warned Su Wei that the unfinished shell still needed carefully chosen finishes, furnishings, lighting, and displays to suit wealthy club members.
• Su Wei envisioned themed exhibition spaces centered on Kodiak wildlife, including a mounted Kodiak brown bear and a fireplace incorporating Roosevelt elk antlers.
• Su Wei told Matt he did not need a traditional designer, leaving Matt astonished.

Su Wei planned a wilderness-inspired exhibition hall for wealthy members and decided to create its ecological displays and furnishings himself. As construction began, he prepared to use his system-enhanced crafting skills to make the hall feel authentic before the specimens arrived.

• Su Wei told Matt he wanted a two-story hall featuring Kodiak Island ecosystems, a towering fireplace, and a mounted Kodiak bear at its center.
• Matt agreed to build the framework and install its structural systems in five days, while Su Wei said he would handle the ecological displays himself.
• Su Wei returned to his cabin, greeted Cotton Candy, and began planning the hall’s interior before the finishing crew and Old Hope’s specimens arrived.
• Su Wei rejected mass-produced furnishings and fake landscape props, deciding to gather real materials and craft the displays and furniture by hand.
• Su Wei studied his system skills and reasoned that handmade crafts might receive special blessings, as his cooking had produced powerful effects.

Su Wei decided to make the exhibition hall’s core furniture himself to exploit the hidden attributes of system-crafted items. He found a naturally dried birch log in his woodland and began cutting it into workable sections.

• Su Wei resolved to personally craft the exhibition hall’s main display stands and scenery to improve his Basic Woodworking and produce furniture with system attributes.
• Su Wei equipped himself with woodworking tools and went into the snowy forest, while Cotton Candy retreated into the warm cabin.
• Su Wei used Gathering Module LV2 to scan the woods and found a three-year air-dried birch log suitable for high-end woodworking.
• Su Wei swung his felling axe repeatedly and severed the heavy birch log about a third of the way along its length.

Su Wei brought birch wood to the cabin and used his woodworking knowledge to carve a traditional wooden cup. He finished shaping and hollowing it, added a deerskin carrying cord, and reached the final step.

• Su Wei hauled a thick birch log back to the cabin on his snowmobile and dropped it beside the porch.
• Matt saw Su Wei working wood in the snow and ordered the workers to return to their tasks.
• Su Wei chose a small carving knife and a U-shaped hook knife to make a wooden cup from a birch branch.
• Su Wei shaped the branch into a cylinder, hollowed out its center, and carefully thinned the cup’s walls.
• Su Wei refined the cup’s shape and threaded a brown deerskin cord through a hole in its back.

Su Wei practiced woodworking to improve his skill and make items that might impress Charles, carving a cup, a fox, and other utensils. After two hours, his Basic Woodworking was nearly at level 2, and he watched Matt’s crew build the first-floor framework in the snow.

• Su Wei sanded a birchwood cup and found that it was only good quality, with no special system effect.
• Su Wei carved a small fox modeled on Cotton Candy and recovered his aching wrist through Homestead Shelter’s passive effect.
• Su Wei made a shallow wooden plate and continued crafting cups, spoons, plates, and animal carvings to gain woodworking experience.
• Su Wei reached Basic Woodworking LV1 (96/100), drank warm water from his first cup, and watched Matt’s machinery work on the cedar-log framework.

Su Wei researched miniature ecosystem construction to prepare the exhibition hall’s five ecological zones and reasoned that hands-on study could unlock a suitable system skill. He began studying substrate science and calculating how to build a stable woodland environment.

• Su Wei realized that his woodworking skills and Matt’s construction crew could not create the exhibition hall’s realistic miniature landscapes, and that he needed knowledge of ecological landscaping.
• Su Wei recalled how studying Old Hope’s notes and practicing taxidermy had unlocked system skills, and concluded that specialized study followed by practical work might unlock a landscaping skill.
• Su Wei searched online for academic resources on miniature ecosystems, soil engineering, and cold-region moss cultivation, then saved three specialized texts.
• Su Wei studied substrate layering, took notes on drainage materials, and considered the quantities needed for the woodland zone.
• Su Wei read that peat soil and dried sphagnum moss mixed at a seven-to-three ratio could provide suitable moisture retention and aeration for moss.

Su Wei’s study of ecological landscaping triggered a response from the Crafting Module, but Black called to tell him that Bella had given birth. Su Wei set out for Black’s place in the dangerous winter weather, armed and prepared for the trip.

• Su Wei studied ecological landscaping and saw the Crafting Module begin progressing toward a new skill.
• Black called Su Wei and told him that Bella had given birth, then abruptly ended the call.
• Su Wei saved his notes, put on his winter gear, and retrieved a Browning rifle and survival knife before leaving his cabin.
• Su Wei crossed the snowy yard to his Ford F-150 Raptor, cleared ice from the door, and placed the rifle on the passenger seat.

Su Wei drove through a blizzard to Black’s cabin and arrived just after Bella gave birth to five puppies. Black told him there was no rush when Su Wei asked to choose one.

• Su Wei started his Raptor, engaged four-wheel drive, and drove through the snow to Black’s cabin.
• Su Wei entered the cabin and found Black tending to Bella and her newborn puppies beside the fireplace.
• Black finished cleaning the fifth puppy and said there were three males and two females.
• Su Wei asked if he could choose a puppy, and Black replied that there was no rush.

Su Wei used the Beast Taming Module to assess Bella’s five newborn puppies and chose the unusually composed black male as the strongest hunting prospect. After Su Wei gained Bella’s trust, the puppy crawled toward his hand.

• Black warned Su Wei that choosing a hound without composure and obedience could get a hunter killed in the wilderness.
• Su Wei activated the Beast Taming Module and examined the five puppies’ physical traits and temperaments.
• Su Wei ruled out the forceful gray-brown male, the cunning yellow-and-white female, and the two ordinary yellow puppies.
• Su Wei recognized the calm black male’s exceptional restraint and steady nervous responses as signs of a top hunter.
• Su Wei used Animal Affinity to calm Bella, who accepted his scent and licked his hand.
• The black puppy left its corner and slowly crawled toward Su Wei’s hand.

Su Wei chose the composed black male puppy and the crafty yellow-and-white female as hunting dogs, then decided to leave them with Black until they were weaned rather than risk raising newborns while overburdened. Black approved his restraint and began cutting up Su Wei’s shirt, leaving its purpose unexplained.

• Su Wei selected the pure black male and the yellow-and-white female as his future hunting dogs.
• Black said Su Wei could take the puppies immediately if he hand-fed them every three hours, or leave them with him for forty days.
• Su Wei weighed the puppies’ needs against his demanding work and the dangers of Kodiak Island’s winter, then chose to wait until his busy stretch was over.
• Black praised Su Wei’s decision and asked him to remove the clothes worn against his skin.
• Su Wei took off his T-shirt, and Black began cutting it with scissors.

Su Wei arranged for Black to scent-anchor and name the puppies Kyle and Freya, then returned to his cabin to prepare the exhibition hall’s ecological landscaping. He began studying the water-circulation requirements for its miniature river, with the project due in five days.

• Black tucked cloth bearing Su Wei’s scent beneath two puppies and explained how the scent would help them recognize Su Wei as their pack leader.
• Su Wei named the solid-black male puppy Kyle and the multicolored female Freya before Black sent him away until the puppies were weaned.
• Su Wei drove back to his property through the snow, thinking about the exhibition hall project he had to complete within five days.
• At the cabin, Su Wei greeted Cotton Candy, put away his rifle, and went to his work area to study paludarium construction.
• Su Wei reviewed the planned river ecosystem’s filtration and circulation needs and calculated its required flow rate from a water volume of 5,000 liters.

Su Wei researched the equipment and natural materials needed to build a cold-zone woodland ecosystem, but the Crafting Module stalled at 99 percent. He realized the missing element was decomposers and began searching for the final part of the ecosystem’s energy cycle.

• Su Wei specified concealed filtration pipes, industrial water pumps, and a titanium-tube chiller for the aquatic landscape.
• He chose a natural peat, akadama, tree fern fiber, and bentonite mixture for the moss wall, along with cool-spectrum LED lighting.
• After three hours of research, Su Wei’s Crafting Module reached 99 percent and stopped.
• Su Wei realized the ecosystem needed to process organic waste and prevent soil acidification, so he identified decomposers as the missing link.
• Su Wei opened an academic database and searched for information to complete the ecosystem’s energy cycle.

Su Wei completed the theory needed to unlock Ecological Landscaping and gained Substrate Analysis, letting him inspect soil around his cabin. After testing the frozen ground and peat, he began cooking a meal with bear fat and eggs.

• Su Wei finished reading a paper on fungal symbiosis, completing the Crafting Module assessment and unlocking Ecological Landscaping LV1 and Substrate Analysis LV1.
• Su Wei used Substrate Analysis to scan the frozen soil and peat near his cabin, revealing their acidity, porosity, organic matter, and fungal activity.
• Su Wei felt hungry after concentrating on the research, and Cotton Candy followed him to the kitchen.
• Su Wei took eggs, bear back fat, and bread from storage, then began rendering the fat in a cast-iron pan.

After eating and sleeping in the cabin, Su Wei prepared to test his new Substrate Analysis skill on a small closed ecosystem. He found a glass jar and collected coarse sand and gravel from Emerald Lake for its drainage layer.

• Su Wei ate eggs and bread fried in bear fat, gaining a two-hour Heat Lock buff, then went to sleep on the sofa with Cotton Candy.
• After waking rested, Su Wei decided he needed a container for a small-scale test of his new skill.
• Su Wei found a twenty-liter glass jar in the storage room and cleaned it.
• Su Wei used Substrate Analysis to identify clean, porous coarse sand and gravel in Emerald Lake as suitable drainage material.
• Su Wei dug sand and gravel from the lakebed and filled the bottom of his bucket with a ten-centimeter layer.

Su Wei gathered soil and living moss around Emerald Lake and built a miniature polar forest in a glass jar. After misting the moss, he left the ecosystem’s first water cycle underway.

• Su Wei collected nutrient-rich lake humus and acidic conifer soil for the jar’s planting layer.
• Su Wei cut a piece of living polar star moss from a dead cedar log, preserving its soil and fungal threads.
• Su Wei assembled a drainage layer, a moss-fiber separation layer, and a sloped mixture of humus and conifer soil in the glass jar.
• Su Wei planted three pieces of polar star moss along the slope, creating the beginnings of a miniature forest.
• Su Wei sprayed purified water over the moss and soil, causing the moss leaves to unfurl.

Su Wei completed a miniature moss landscape that improved the air around his workbench, then identified a remote coastal shoal as a source of volcanic material for the exhibition hall. As he prepared to collect it, Matt warned him that KEA had rejected the hall’s expedited power connection, threatening the construction schedule.

• Su Wei finished the miniature moss landscape and discovered it slightly humidified and purified the air.
• Su Wei calculated the exhibition hall’s substrate needs and found a coastal shoal south of Pilan Creek that could supply porous basalt and volcanic pumice.
• Su Wei packed two folding shovels and food for Cotton Candy, then headed out into the snow.
• Matt told Su Wei that KEA had rejected the expedited main-grid connection because of winter weather risks and would delay a site survey for at least a month.

Su Wei arranged an off-grid power system for the exhibition hall so its ecological zones could keep running after the building was handed over. He then drove toward the beach downstream along Pilan Creek, where the icy, rough road put his truck at risk of sliding.

• Su Wei told Matt that conventional generators could not meet the exhibition hall’s power needs and asked him to build an independent off-grid system.
• Matt proposed a wind-and-solar hybrid microgrid with energy storage and a future connection to the KEA grid, and quoted a budget of $120,000.
• Su Wei approved the hybrid system and told Matt’s crew to clear construction debris while he took control of the hall’s landscaping.
• Matt left in his work vehicle, and Su Wei drove his Ford Raptor onto the wilderness road along Pilan Creek.
• Su Wei used his driving skills to cross frozen potholes, but the truck’s rear began sliding after a wheel hit hidden black ice.

Su Wei reached a volcanic shoreline on the North Pacific and used his analysis skill to find natural materials for an aquatic ecosystem. He collected porous basalt, black volcanic sand, pumice, and grooved stones before continuing his search along the coast.

• Su Wei stopped at the rocky coast near the mapped coordinates and identified an eroded extinct volcano.
• Su Wei used [Substrate Analysis LV1] to confirm that the porous basalt could serve as a top-grade filtration medium.
• Su Wei broke off a piece of basalt and packed it into a military sampling bag.
• Su Wei analyzed the black volcanic sand, dug up a supply, and stored it in another bag.
• Su Wei gathered rounded pumice and weathered stones with water-channel grooves for his miniature river landscape.

Su Wei transported volcanic rock and black crystal sand to his garage, then returned to his cabin exhausted from the cold and heavy lifting. He comforted Cotton Candy and began cooking a simple meal, while the bear-hide project awaited its next stage the following morning.

• Su Wei loaded five bags of raw stone into his truck and agreed to visit Old Hope the next day to continue work on the Kodiak brown bear hide and skeleton.
• Su Wei drove through the snow to his land and carried all five heavy bags of volcanic rock and black crystal sand into the garage.
• Cotton Candy greeted Su Wei when he entered the cabin, and he rubbed her neck and ears before turning to the kitchen.
• Su Wei boiled pasta and chopped tomatoes and red onion to prepare a quick meal.

Su Wei prepared for the difficult work of mounting the Kodiak bear king’s heavy hide at Old Hope’s processing plant. With his taxidermy skill guiding him, he lifted and rotated the hide onto the alloy frame, where it fit into place.

• Su Wei ate a quick meal, packed his tools for making the specimen, and went to bed as [Homestead Shelter] repaired his fatigue overnight.
• Su Wei left for Old Hope’s factory at 4:30 in the morning through heavy snowfall and arrived before six.
• Old Hope showed Su Wei the preserved Kodiak bear king’s hide and the large alloy frame, then assigned him to control the main lift.
• Su Wei activated [Basic Taxidermy LV1], identified the hide’s strongest load-bearing area, and ordered Old Hope to release a leg rope.
• Su Wei used the shifting weight to turn the hide 180 degrees, then lowered it neatly over the frame.

Su Wei worked with Old Hope to shape the giant brown bear mount, using his system abilities to recreate its muscles with lifelike force. After leveling up his taxidermy and crafting skills, he finished the bear’s muscular form, leaving Old Hope stunned by the result.

• Old Hope secured the bear hide to its frame and told Su Wei to fill the gaps with muscle compound.
• Su Wei used Touch of X-Ray Vision to map the bear’s underlying frame and pack the compound along its muscle groups.
• After hours of work, Su Wei leveled up Basic Taxidermy and Crafting Module and unlocked new effects and a hide-processing skill.
• Su Wei stepped back to reveal the bear’s newly formed, imposing body, and Old Hope stared at him in amazement.

Su Wei completed the final wax treatment on the Roosevelt elk king’s antlers, and the Crafting Module triggered rare blessings that made them a lasting, restorative centerpiece for his territory. The antlers gained exceptional resistance to aging, fading, and cracking.

• Old Hope entrusted Su Wei with applying the final beeswax seal to the elk king’s antlers.
• Su Wei carefully worked the wax into the antlers for forty minutes, preserving their patina and bringing out their natural sheen.
• The Crafting Module rated Su Wei’s work perfect and triggered the Woodland Call blessing, which would soothe people nearby and make harmless wild animals less skittish and more affectionate.
• The module unlocked Crown of the Years, increasing the antlers’ hardness and preventing their coloration and patina from fading or cracking.

Su Wei realized the elk king’s antlers had acquired valuable supernatural properties just as Harris warned him that the IRS had flagged the Northern Throne Club’s suspicious finances and unfinished building. Su Wei told Harris to calm the examiner, left to handle the crisis, and insisted that he would set the bear king specimen’s glass eyes himself.

• Su Wei considered how Woodland's Call could ease wealthy clients’ stress and how Crown of the Years would preserve the elk king’s antlers indefinitely.
• Old Hope praised Su Wei’s taxidermy work and said the antlers could win top awards at a North American exhibition.
• Harris told Su Wei that the IRS had blocked the club’s expedited approval and was investigating unusual transfers totaling five hundred thousand dollars and the unfinished exhibition hall.
• Su Wei warned Harris not to say more than necessary and asked him to reassure the examiner while Su Wei returned to his car.
• Su Wei told Old Hope he had to deal with a business problem and insisted on setting the bear king specimen’s glass eyes himself.

Su Wei explained how Northern Throne Club’s membership deposits could be justified to the IRS and promised Harris supporting documents. He then arrived at the exhibition hall on Pillar Mountain.

• Old Hope let Su Wei take charge of making a specimen from the king Roosevelt elk, warning him not to ruin it.
• Su Wei called Harris and rejected disguising the five hundred thousand dollars as a loan or mineral deposit.
• Su Wei told Harris to explain that Charles and Laurent had paid legitimate club membership fees for access to a strictly limited, exclusive wilderness experience.
• Harris asked Su Wei to provide the agreements, proof of the funds’ source, check photos, and a proposal, and Su Wei promised to send the documents after he got home.
• Su Wei drove through the snow to the exhibition hall at the foot of Pillar Mountain and got out in front of the cabin.

Su Wei explained to his agent Harris how the Northern Throne Club's exclusive rules and wilderness services justified its expensive membership fees. The chapter left Harris reviewing the club's offerings, including the right to commission preserved primordial behemoth specimens.

• Su Wei photographed Laurent's $200,000 check and Charles's $300,000 check, then sent the images to Harris.
• Harris warned that the IRS could interpret the payments as money laundering despite the signed checks and unrestricted funds.
• Su Wei sent Harris the draft of the Northern Throne Club charter, which capped membership at one hundred and reserved twelve nontransferable privilege numbers.
• Su Wei explained that Charles paid for the exclusive No. 1 position and its exemption from scrutiny and waiting lists.
• Harris read the club's wilderness services list, and Su Wei highlighted the right to commission perfectly preserved primordial behemoth specimens.