I Forge My Way Through the Contaminated Zone

[Preorders in my column: "Deadly Variety Show [Infinite Flow]" and "Quick Transmigration World-Hopping Train Conductor [Management]"]

(Blurb for this novel)

In 2035, Xi Yun was diagnosed with an incurable disease. Like many others, she had herself cryogenically frozen, waiting for the day when medicine could cure her illness.

After an unknown number of years, she suddenly heard a voice:

Congratulations, you have bound to the Pioneer Supreme System.

Congratulations, you have arrived at and selected your first base. Keep up the good work and build it up!

Our goal: the stars and the sea!

Current base planet: Earth

Planetary terraforming potential: E (You really are someone who doesn't shy away from a challenge!)

Pollution level: +++++ (You really are someone who doesn't shy away from a challenge!)

Congratulations on achieving the "Challenge Champion" achievement. You have earned the skill [Anything Can Be Synthesized].

Xi Yun: ...

I thought I was a native of Earth? What happened while I was asleep?

I get it, I've been given a golden finger, and I don't mind developing this place, but could you at least give this carbon-based life-form some oxygen first?

*

Earth's civilization ended more than seven hundred years ago. It was the first planet devastated by rampant pollution, and ever since, it had been abandoned deep in the contaminated zone.

But one day, a mysterious seller who had been listing large quantities of scarce resources on the interstellar trade market was suddenly exposed. Coordinates: the heart of the contaminated zone, Earth.

Money makes the world go round. In an instant, countless eyes were fixed on Earth.

Various factions sent out warships, calculating how to divide up this juicy prize.

They never imagined they were the ones bringing the prize to her.

Every time they went up against the woman called Xi Yun, they encountered some bizarre weapon or another:

A meteorite that looked ordinary but could stop an entire starship;

A shuttle that teleported anyone who touched it into the contaminated zone;

An atmosphere that fired jellyfish like crazy;

Most mind-boggling of all, when they examined the weapons closely, many of the parts bore serial numbers from the warships they'd sent out...

It was bad enough that this woman trounced them, but she even used their supplies to fund her war effort!

Xi Yun: What do you mean, funding my war effort? Don't make it sound so bad. We're just engaging in some friendly strategic exchanges.

Xi Yun: Feel free to come for another exchange anytime. Earth will always welcome you.

The leaders of the various factions: ...Thanks, but no thanks. If we go and get ourselves killed again, we're dogs!

*

Many years later, after the entire universe had been successfully cleansed, Xi Yun, then acting commander of the New Alliance, was unable to refuse everyone's enthusiasm and reluctantly took the stage to give a speech.

The former leader of an interstellar pirate crew gazed at the depths of space and let out a wistful sigh. "Honestly, all I wanted at the beginning was to develop a new world."

Developing a new world alone was exhausting, so she casually picked up a few laborers on the way home.

Who would have thought...

The so-called Federation's Most Wanted was the homesick young man who diligently mined and farmed at the base every day;

The former Interstellar Federation leader, famed for his strategic genius, was the good-natured chef who spent every day coming up with new recipes at the base;

The former Interstellar Federation general, famed for his ruthlessness, was the troublesome animal keeper who spent every day walking geese and teasing snakes at the base;

Before she knew it, she had poached the former key personnel of several major factions.

But she really had only wanted to develop a new world!

Reader's Guide:

1. This is the story of a female lead who starts from scratch on an Earth without even oxygen, focuses on developing her base, restores Earth's former glory, and conquers the entire universe without even realizing it.

2. My take on a world-building novel. An alternate universe, basically creation from scratch, with a mountain of original worldbuilding.

3. I gave my knowledge of physics back to my teacher ages ago. The whole novel is made up, so don't sweat the details.

4. The focus is on her career. There is a male lead, but the romance won't get going too early.

Let me recommend my upcoming novels! If you're interested, head to my column and add them to your collection~

No. 1: "Quick Transmigration World-Hopping Train Conductor"

Yang You accidentally bound to a System, which gave her a big gift:

A carriage from a high-speed train.

Yang You: So am I getting a base-development plot? A hoarding plot? A portable dimension?

System: Please work hard to run your train and turn it into a first-class service with a constant stream of passengers. Make every passenger feel at home and never want to leave.

Yang You: ...A train without an engine probably, maybe, possibly, might not be able to move?

*

This is an era when transmigrating is a job.

To complete their ultimate missions, transmigrators travel tirelessly between worlds. After a while, most of them grow tired and weary, so when it's time to travel to the next world, the vast majority choose to sleep through the journey.

Until that extraordinary train appeared.

Carriage No. 1: This carriage provides all kinds of charging services.

Who needs a power bank these days?

Wait, it can recharge your mind? Recharge your System? A fully charged System gets an enchantment effect?

Quick, call your friends and grab some tickets!

Carriage No. 2: This carriage provides free hot water.

What's so special about hot water?

Wait, drinking it means a female ghost won't beat you up!

Everyone who rode the train gave it the same review:

It's incredible.

*

No. 2: "Deadly Variety Show"

Blurb: Other people go on variety shows to make money. She goes on them to fight for her life.

Theme: Keep your feet on the ground and achieve shared prosperity.