The protagonist, Lin Yuan, was a structural engineer on a China State Construction Mars project. After being fired for reporting project corruption on Earth, he had nowhere else to turn, so he signed SpaceX's "Mars labor dispatch contract." In plain terms, he was going to Mars to work off his debts. By the time he arrived, Alpha City was nothing but ruins. The survivors were staying alive by digging holes, relying on their stockpile of compressed biscuits and an Optimus robot that wasn't connected to the internet.
But Lin Yuan discovered something new in his mind: a Construction System. Complete Mars construction missions to unlock blueprints, materials, and permissions. The first mission: build an airtight habitat within 72 hours.
He looked at the few broken alloy beams and half a can of sealant left in his hands, then at the three thousand Optimus robots before him, all stuck idle because they had no network. Then he got to work.
From one habitat to a road, then to a city. From an abandoned pawn forgotten by Earth to the first developer on Mars.
