In 2031, a strange "Rust Storm" swept across the globe. Every electronic device was reduced to scrap in the storm, and human civilization was thrust back into the age of steam overnight. Worse still, the "Rust Creatures" awakened by the storm began devouring all metal constructs. Cities crumbled into ruins, and humanity retreated underground, struggling to survive.
Lin Xiu, once a top mechanic, awakened the "Ultimate Analysis System" during the storm. He could see the inner workings of any machine and use limited resources to repair, modify, and even evolve it. To find clues about the "Clean Energy" left behind by his missing scientist father, he set out on a perilous journey through the wasteland in the steam-powered armored vehicle he had modified with his own hands, the Ark.
Along the way, he rescued Qin Muyao, a calm and perceptive former researcher, and met Wang Li, a strange girl who could sense the locations of metal. Seven women with very different personalities boarded the Ark for their own reasons. Some were skilled in medicine, others in combat, and still others in ancient forging techniques. Together with Lin Xiu, they fought off the Rust Creatures and searched for hope of restarting human civilization.
But Lin Xiu did not know that this disaster was no natural calamity. The System warned him that all the Rust Creatures were converging in one direction. Something there was awakening…
