“Before the armor is even out, let me give you a little appetizer!”

As the sun rose in the east and set in the west, the job fair at Zizai Liang Lane ended at three in the afternoon, and the recruitment work in all of Mulberry Field Town finally came to a close. After finishing “everything,” Su Mo walked out of the Liang Lane gate and found only a handful of people left on the street. Seeing his confusion, Sun Quan explained.

“Brother Zong, you’ve only just arrived in our territory, so you probably haven’t seen anything like this before. Every Summer Harvest, because it’s too hot during the day, everyone moved the harvest to the night starting six years ago.”

“The harvest officially begins at midnight, with the first round starting under cover of darkness. For the next ten days, these migrant workers will keep to this schedule every day.”

“Working at sunset and resting at sunrise?”

“Yes, it makes sense,” Sun Quan said with a laugh. “Brother Zong, we should adjust our own schedules to match theirs. Otherwise we won’t get to see such a grand sight at night.”

“Right next to those fields, there are night market stalls everywhere, selling barbecue, beer, and all kinds of snacks.”

“In those fields there are probably sixty or seventy thousand people in total, packed densely together. You can’t see the end of them.”

“Sometimes there are competitions too, and whoever harvests the most gets to become a resident of the territory.”

“Oh, and every year the Summer Harvest brings countless couples together. I remember last time...”

He went on describing the various activities of the Summer Harvest and its grand spectacle. Walking along the familiar road, with the town gone completely quiet, Sun Quan turned his head and saw that Su Mo, who had been smiling as he listened to him boast, had suddenly stopped talking and turned sad.

“Sigh, I wonder how many more years this magnificent sight can last in this damned wasteland.”

“Around the third year after Divine Su disappeared, many people were actually living in a daze, right?”

He had witnessed the town at its most prosperous, and precisely because of that, he understood even better what the town’s changes over the years truly meant. Without a clear direction, humanity kept searching aimlessly for a road, using sheer numbers to try and fail again and again. From two billion to one billion. From one billion to five hundred million. Around the end of the sixth year of the wasteland, humanity had given up counting how many survived on the New Continent. After all, nobody knew where to go next, or which foot to step out with. Nobody knew whether that damned disaster would come tomorrow or the day after. Further statistics would only frighten people.

“Perhaps only after a catastrophe that humanity has no way at all to withstand will the world present a completely different picture.”

“Actually, I’ve completely forgotten what life on Earth was like.”

“It’s as if I’ve lived here since the day I was born.”

Sun Quan bought two starch sausages from a roadside stall that was about to close up. He handed one to Su Mo, then ate his own with relish and said, “Anyway, I’m quite content with the time I’ve spent with you, Brother Zong.”

“I used to be afraid of dying before the others, but now I think that as long as you live a fulfilling life, it doesn’t matter whether you die tomorrow or the day after. As long as you’re comfortable today, that’s all that matters!”

“Heh, you have a good attitude, kid,” Su Mo said with a laugh as he took the sausage. “But don’t worry too much. The plans for the territory might change in the next stage, and things might not be worse than they are now.”

“Oh? The next stage?” Sun Quan’s eyes lit up at the interesting news.

“Don’t rush. Tonight, let’s watch a spectacular fireworks show first!”

“Fireworks?”

Seeing the puzzled look on Sun Quan’s face, Su Mo kept him in suspense, swallowed the rest of his sausage in one gulp, and nodded in satisfaction. After a month of exploring and experiencing this wasteland eight years later, he knew...

The reason the name “Su Mo” was still firmly engraved in the minds of every ordinary person in the wasteland, and still on their lips after all these years, was this. Because of this news, countless adventurers had begun frantic searches the moment they heard it. It had driven people like Feng Long to go out searching more than once. It had caused a frenzy throughout the whole of Tian Yuan Territory.

It could not be only because of the achievements he had made in his first year, or the power and wonders he had displayed. The reason was that humanity had suffered defeat after defeat in this wasteland over the past eight years. People had equated the name “Su Mo” with words like “hope,” “reform,” and “future,” words that stood for tomorrow. They hoped another such figure would appear to lead humanity to the next stage. They also eagerly awaited the day when the flame of reform that had been lit would spread across the whole New Continent and reverse humanity’s decline.

They knew that the flames of reform are never lit all at once. Perhaps they come after the bitter winter, or perhaps just before the long night breaks. They always appear silently, without anyone noticing.

But this time, one person was different. He knew in advance.

“Enjoy this moment. You might never forget this day for the rest of your life!”

Patting Sun Quan on the shoulder, Su Mo said nothing more and walked home with a smile.

Eleven o’clock at night.

The grand Summer Harvest had officially begun. After several heavy tolls of the bell, Mulberry Field Town was instantly lit as bright as day. Countless spotlights raised high around the town shone directly on the surroundings. The familiar atmosphere, the familiar rhythm. More and more harvesters left their homes, carrying their gear, and headed for the designated assembly points.

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