Chapter Summaries

After the Moss River Valley began supporting real moss and improving the air, Su Wei planned the exhibition hall’s remaining ecological zones and called Matt with new construction requirements. The chapter left Matt preparing to reinforce and outfit the hall for the ocean, woodland, sky, and deer habitats.

• Matt and the construction workers saw the living moss in the completed Moss River Valley, and Matt praised Su Wei for making it real.
• Su Wei ordered Matt to waterproof the riverbed, install full-spectrum lights, and connect the chillers and circulation pumps so flowing water could be ready within seventy-two hours.
• Su Wei returned to the cabin, where Cotton Candy leaped into his arms, and marked the ocean, woodland, sky, and deer herd zones on the exhibition hall plans.
• Su Wei listed the materials and environmental controls needed for the polar tidal habitat and Kodiak Island woodland, then annotated the upstairs sky and deer habitats.
• Su Wei called Matt and specified extra reinforcement for the deer zone, a simulated cliff structure for the sky zone, concealed utilities, and lighting that could imitate Kodiak Island’s midday sun.

Su Wei finalized the ecological exhibition hall’s construction requirements with Matt, then created a short-video account for sharing his everyday life on Kodiak Island. He filmed Cotton Candy eating venison for the account’s first video and began editing the footage.

• Su Wei explained to Matt why the exhibition hall needed reinforced load capacity, concealed pipes and wiring, and specialized overhead lighting.
• Matt agreed to have an engineer recalculate the specifications and asked Su Wei for a detailed construction plan.
• Su Wei decided to keep his main account focused on hardcore wilderness content and created a separate account called Northern Frontier Daily Life.
• Su Wei set up his camera and filmed Cotton Candy tugging a strip of venison from his hand and eating it beneath the sofa.
• Su Wei transferred the footage to his laptop and opened editing software.

Su Wei launched a new account for quiet wilderness-life videos, then used his social media earnings to begin buying equipment for the exhibition hall’s marine ecosystem. He selected a chiller and wave pumps and searched for specialized lighting.

• Su Wei uploaded a fox-feeding video to his new Northern Frontier Daily Life account and shared the link on his main account.
• The new video quickly gained views and followers, while Su Wei’s existing platforms showed $27,850 and $21,420 in earnings.
• Su Wei withdrew the nearly $50,000 in personal income and opened Amazon’s industrial equipment section to shop for the exhibition hall.
• Su Wei added a $4,500 titanium-tube water chiller and two $1,200 wave pumps to his cart.
• Su Wei searched a professional lighting website and found a waterproof, full-spectrum lighting array with dawn-and-dusk simulation.

Su Wei ordered more than $21,000 in equipment and supplies for the exhibition hall, then woke early to find the shipment still days away. After breakfast, he studied the blueprints and focused on the unfinished ocean ecological zone.

• Su Wei bought specialty lighting, woodworking tools, airbrush equipment, synthetic sea salt, and filter mats, then paid $21,350 for the order.
• Su Wei secured the cabin and went to bed with Cotton Candy as the shipment notification showed the order beginning its journey.
• Su Wei woke at 5:17 a.m. and saw that the equipment had shipped from Seattle, with delivery to Kodiak Island expected to take at least eight days.
• Su Wei stoked the fireplace and cooked eggs and toast, triggering the cold-resistance effect of Simple Dietary Supplementation.
• Su Wei spread out the exhibition hall blueprints and examined the ocean ecological zone, whose substrate requirements were especially demanding.

Su Wei planned a two-day wilderness expedition on Kodiak Island to collect natural materials for the exhibition hall’s ecosystems. He set off toward the southern coast, leaving Matt to waterproof the hall and Cotton Candy behind at home.

• Su Wei used satellite maps to locate a black-sand beach for volcanic rock and a remote swamp for century-old peat moss, then wrote down the coordinates.
• Su Wei packed survival gear, weapons, and cameras to gather materials and record footage for his second video.
• Su Wei told Matt to apply three coats of polyurea waterproofing throughout the hall while he was away; Matt warned him not to travel alone, but Su Wei refused help.
• Su Wei comforted Cotton Candy, then drove his Raptor into the snowy forest toward the southern coastline.
• Su Wei planned to collect volcanic rock on the first day and peat moss on the second, with more than 160 kilometers of travel ahead.

Su Wei collected porous volcanic rock from a black sand beach and trekked into the primeval forest near Pillar Mountain to find suitable microecological communities for his project. He left the Raptor behind and continued through deep snow as his search reached softer ground.

• Su Wei accepted Emily's offer to work as an animal behavior consultant and provide a place to stay.
• Su Wei gathered eight sacks of porous basaltic rock at the mouth of Pilan Creek for the ocean zone and forest floor.
• Su Wei drove east toward Pillar Mountain, then parked when the dense spruce forest blocked the Raptor.
• Su Wei hiked three kilometers through deep snow while using the Gathering Module to search for suitable microecological communities.
• Su Wei reached a clearing where the ground felt soft and springy beneath his boots.

Su Wei collected eight blocks of century-old peat moss from a bog near Pillar Mountain to seed the exhibition hall’s ecosystems, then struggled through a storm to return them safely to his truck. After he regained phone service, he discovered that his fox-feeding video had attracted a huge number of views.

• Su Wei searched the bog for living soil and found a sheltered peat moss colony more than 120 years old.
• Su Wei carefully cut out eight intact blocks of peat moss and packed them into his temperature-controlled cooler.
• Su Wei carried the heavy cooler through deep snow and worsening wind until he reached his Raptor pickup.
• Su Wei secured the cooler in the truck and drove out of the signal dead zone.
• Su Wei regained phone service and saw that his fox-feeding video’s view count had exploded.

Su Wei explained his plan to build a self-sustaining indoor ecosystem from century-old peat moss and invited Emily to advise him. After she agreed to visit in a couple of days, he returned to Emerald Lake and carried the temperature-controlled cooler toward the exhibition hall frame.

• Su Wei called Emily while driving and told her he had collected century-old peat moss near Pillar Mountain.
• Emily warned that the peat moss depended on fragile environmental conditions and realized Su Wei planned to recreate its ecosystem indoors.
• Su Wei invited Emily to inspect the exhibition hall’s underlying structure, and she agreed to come in a couple of days as his academic adviser.
• Emily told Su Wei to care for Cotton Candy and ended the call without explaining her plans.
• Su Wei arrived at his cabin by Emerald Lake, unloaded the sixty-pound temperature-controlled cooler, and headed toward the enormous building frame.

Su Wei prepared a venison meal in his warm cabin after setting up a temperature-controlled storage box for sphagnum moss. The system-enhanced dish offered a temporary boost to muscle-fiber recovery.

• Su Wei set the storage box to four degrees Celsius to preserve the microbial colonies in the sphagnum moss.
• Su Wei returned to the cabin, where Cotton Candy greeted him and begged for venison.
• Su Wei filmed himself cutting and pan-searing venison steaks, then prepared mashed potatoes and vegetables to serve with them.
• Su Wei triggered Simple Dietary Supplementation, which gave the meal a weak effect that increased muscle-fiber repair speed by 30% for six hours.

After editing and publishing videos of his polar survival work and a venison meal with Cotton Candy, Su Wei prepared for the next day’s demanding gathering tasks. He marked Neptune Cliff as a source of basalt for tidal pools and finished packing and checking his gear as a gale battered the cabin.

• Su Wei fed Cotton Candy, ate venison steak, and recovered from the day’s soreness with the help of [Homestead Shelter] and [Simple Dietary Supplementation].
• Su Wei edited and published a survival video for [Wilderness Creations] and a cooking video for [Northern Frontier Daily Life].
• Viewers quickly responded to both accounts, and Su Wei noted that the contrasting content attracted separate audiences.
• Su Wei marked Neptune Cliff on the exhibition hall floor plan as a source of naturally perforated basalt for the marine ecosystem zone.
• Su Wei packed food and water, sharpened his Ka-Bar 1217 knife, and reloaded his Ruger Super Redhawk revolver while Cotton Candy slept by the fire.

Su Wei finished preparing the exhibition hall and began building a flowing river habitat inside it. He left the water circulating with natural minerals added as Emily’s arrival was delayed until the next day.

• Su Wei received the cold-water chiller, wave maker, and other equipment at Emerald Lake after eight days of construction.
• Emily messaged Su Wei that her flight to Kodiak Island had been delayed and asked him to pick her up with Cotton Candy.
• Matt handed over the completed, insulated exhibition hall, where Su Wei inspected the fireplace built to display a Roosevelt elk’s antlers and a Kodiak brown bear specimen.
• Su Wei had Ben and two workers install circulation pumps and connect them to the riverbed and cold-water chiller.
• Su Wei filled the reservoir with well water, added half a jar of mineral-rich powder, and activated Substrate Analysis LV1.

Su Wei activated the miniature river system, shaping its current and cooling and filtering the water until the ecological loop was complete. The system upgraded his Ecological Landscaping skill and granted soothing effects, as Ben found his anger easing beside the stream.

• Su Wei switched on the circulation pumps and used a weathered rock and dead cedar trunk to shape the river’s flow into rapids, shallows, a pool, and a backwater.
• The Poseidon chiller cooled the water to four degrees Celsius, while filtration cleared it and activated the system’s biochemical community.
• The system declared the miniature ecological loop complete, raised Ecological Landscaping to LV3, and identified the Northern Moss River Valley as perfect quality.
• The system enhanced Fountain of Life and triggered Peaceful Years, giving the area air-cleansing and calming effects.
• Su Wei, Matt, and the workers relaxed near the stream, and Ben admitted that he had arrived wanting to smash a hole in the wall after arguing with his wife.

Su Wei and his workers built an artificial North Atlantic seabed, filled it with water, and adjusted its salinity to match Kodiak Island. The chiller started, but the sea still needed live algae and bottom-dwelling creatures before Emily arrived.

• Su Wei ordered Matt to bring in sea salt and announced that they would create an indoor sea.
• Su Wei marked high- and low-tide lines, installed titanium alloy piping, and directed Ben to position the water pump and wave generators.
• Su Wei and the workers spread coarse sea sand and arranged porous basalt into reefs, pools, and a hiding place for future bottom-dwelling creatures.
• Su Wei filled the pit with five thousand liters of well water and added sea salt until the salinity reached 1.025.
• Su Wei switched on the Poseidon cold-water chiller to begin stabilizing the water temperature.

Su Wei completed a first-stage miniature tide pool in the exhibition hall, whose salt mist impressed Matt and Ben, then planned to build a woodland base on the second floor. Back at his cabin, he prepared to design the sky ecosystem and saw that Emily would arrive in Kodiak the next day.

• Su Wei activated the tide pool’s circulation, wave, and temperature systems, and the crafting system rated the Northern Miniature Tide Pool perfect while granting it a salt-mist effect.
• Matt and Ben breathed the sea-scented air, and Matt confirmed that the first floor’s circulation systems had passed their tests.
• Su Wei ordered Matt to clear the first floor and prepare cedar logs, humus soil, and two cranes for the second-floor woodland base.
• Su Wei returned to his cabin, where Cotton Candy greeted him, and he read Emily’s message confirming her arrival at Kodiak Airport at noon the next day.
• Su Wei fed Cotton Candy and began drawing plans for a suspended forest corridor designed to support deer and birds of prey.

Su Wei picked up Emily from Kodiak Airport after she arrived on the island, and they left together in his Raptor. Emily began explaining that she had come because her thesis had passed.

• Su Wei left the exhibition hall after Matt’s crew completed the second-floor steel hoisting and passed the load-bearing test.
• Su Wei drove to Kodiak Town, bought coffee, and heard a news report that several official hunting areas might lose their star ratings.
• Su Wei waited at Kodiak Airport with Cotton Candy and greeted Emily when she arrived.
• Emily hugged Cotton Candy, accepted her caramel latte from Su Wei, and rode with him from the airport.
• Su Wei asked Emily why she had come to Kodiak, and Emily replied that her thesis had already passed.

Su Wei learned that Emily had joined the Hunting Area Assessment Committee and volunteered to assess Kodiak Official Hunting Area No. 1. She revealed that headquarters had rated the territory four stars, leaving Su Wei stunned by the unexpectedly high result.

• Emily explained that she had turned down a doctorate and taken a trainee assessor position at the Alaska Hunters' Guild headquarters.
• Emily said she had volunteered for the field assessment on Kodiak Island to gain wilderness experience before becoming a full-time employee.
• Su Wei worried that the territory might lose its rating after the Roosevelt elk king died and private hunting clubs pressured the committee.
• Emily told Su Wei that Kodiak Official Hunting Area No. 1 had received a four-star rating.
• Su Wei reacted with surprise because the territory had lost its iconic elk and seemed unlikely to qualify for a higher rating.

Su Wei learned that Charles’s deposit check and the proposal he had devised to justify questionable cash had convinced Alaska officials that his Northern Throne Club would attract elite investment. The state overruled the guild, upgraded Hunting Area No. 1, and funded infrastructure, while Emily revealed that the proposal also promised pristine, perfectly preserved behemoth specimens.

• Emily told Su Wei that a senior state official had intervened in the guild’s review and sent it the Northern Throne Club charter and Charles’s verified check.
• Su Wei recalled that he had sent Charles’s three-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit to Harris and drafted the proposal to get around an IRS review.
• Emily explained that officials saw the club as a way to draw wealthy investors and stimulate Kodiak Island’s economy.
• Emily said the state had pushed the guild to raise Hunting Area No. 1 to four stars and planned to fund infrastructure there.
• Emily revealed that Su Wei’s proposal included a promise to commission a complete set of pristine, permanently preserved behemoth specimens.

Emily explained that Su Wei faced urgent scrutiny over his unfinished club and proposed a special arrangement for his club to operate a new hunting area. She showed him an undeveloped tract on Kodiak Island, leaving Su Wei to consider the immense investment it would require.

• Emily told Su Wei that the guild and state government expected tangible proof of his progress, and that some officials and outside companies were pressing for an inspection.
• Emily described a proposed arrangement in which the state would retain ownership of a new hunting area while Su Wei's club handled its ecological management and commercial operation under guild supervision.
• Emily showed Su Wei a tract between Alutiiq Valley and Whalebone Bay that had no transportation access but held abundant wildlife and possible wolf packs.
• Su Wei recognized that developing the tract would require enormous spending on roads, stations, communications, monitoring equipment, and ranger teams.

Su Wei learned that the state government and the Hunters' Guild might offer him land for a hunting ground, but they would soon verify that his club was real. Facing possible fraud charges and a deadline of as little as six months, he drove toward the Emerald Lake property to show Emily what he had built.

• Emily told Su Wei that the state government had offered no formal land terms and would first confirm that his club had tangible operations.
• Emily warned Su Wei that a failed inspection could cost him his four-star rating and club license and lead to an FBI investigation.
• Su Wei assessed his funds, existing equipment, and the pressure from the guild's conservatives and rival commercial clubs, estimating he had less than six months to prove the club was real.
• Su Wei turned the Raptor onto the mountain road to the Emerald Lake property instead of returning to Kodiak Town.

Su Wei brought Emily to his unfinished exhibition hall and showed her a living indoor polar stream, leaving her amazed and asking how he had created it. He led her toward another exhibit without revealing the answer.

• Su Wei drove Emily and Cotton Candy from the coastal highway to the exhibition hall beside his cabin.
• Emily saw the empty main hall and questioned whether it could become the top-tier wilderness club Su Wei had promised.
• Su Wei called the hall a foundation and led Emily into the right-hand exhibit area.
• Emily discovered a twelve-meter indoor stream with living polar star moss and water kept at four degrees Celsius.
• Emily asked Su Wei how he had made the stream, and he said there was one more exhibit.