As the last “human specimen” of the old world, Chen Mo lives in Eden, a perfect greenhouse built by the Epoch Renewal Committee. Then three knocks from the abyss shatter the life in which he has been caged. He resolutely escapes the false paradise and plunges into the vast wasteland beneath the city, known as the Rust Belt. There, he meets the Settlers, led by Hound and Murphy. Like rats, they struggle to survive among the wreckage of steel, stubbornly resisting the Committee’s rule and its campaign of erasure.
Chen Mo soon discovers that being a “specimen” is far from the whole story. His genes are the “key” to unlocking a sealed secret. The Committee will stop at nothing to find him, not to protect him, but to carry out a terrifying project called “Cornerstone.” They intend to copy and “optimize” his genes to launch the “Ark,” an escape vessel for leaving the planet, abandoning and destroying all “unqualified” people along with the ancient terror they awakened, the “Echoes.”
From hunted fugitive to fighter taking the initiative, Chen Mo must join forces with his companions in the Rust Belt. Caught between pursuit and conspiracy, he must face the corruption of the “Echoes,” uncover the truth behind the “Ark,” and ignite a flicker of hope for every abandoned life struggling to survive amid the cold rust before the Committee activates its final destruction protocol. This is a desperate struggle for survival, against lies, and toward self-awakening.
