Chapter Summaries

Wu Heng visited Serted Fortress, where he met with Wen Mansha and Hartel and learned that Yeke Kingdom scouts were gathering intelligence about the fortress. After the scouts were killed and their reports revealed a defensive buildup at Kaiqu City, Wu Heng went to the Zombie World to inspect his imprisoned thief, while Wen Mansha prepared Hartel to accompany them that night.

• Wu Heng arrived at Serted Fortress and sent the Three Wraiths to scout for enemies.
• Wu Heng met Hartel at the Commander's Mansion, where Wen Mansha and the child joined them.
• The Three Wraiths killed Yeke Kingdom scouts outside the fortress, and Hartel learned from their corpses that Kaiqu City had gathered troops to block the Skeleton Army.
• Wu Heng told Hartel to keep his and Wen Mansha's presence secret, then traveled to the Zombie World and checked on the recovering level 18 thief.
• Wen Mansha told Hartel to prepare to accompany her and Wu Heng that night.

Wu Heng interrogated the captured thief and learned that Bryce, a merchant in Nilari City, had hired him to kill Wen Mansha and supplied the Ghost Train tickets. Wu Heng planned to investigate the Second Prince, then returned to Serted Fortress, where Wen Mansha introduced Hartel as a gift to help them.

• Wu Heng threatened the thief with resurrection and soul experiments until the thief agreed to answer his questions.
• The thief named Bryce as his employer and said Bryce had hired him in Nilari City for two hundred gold and two train tickets; he also warned that the Second Prince had many powerful allies and an army.
• Wu Heng told the wraiths that he would investigate the Second Prince's location and kill him if an opportunity arose, then returned to Serted Fortress through a portal.
• Wu Heng and Wen Mansha ate dinner, fed their child, and discussed the difficulty of managing their expanding territory.
• Wen Mansha called Hartel into the bedroom and presented her as a reliable helper who could support Wu Heng and ease his burdens.

Wu Heng left Wen Mansha and traveled to Nilari City to investigate the Second Prince, only to find the city on alert after an attack on the Prince's Mansion. He learned that the attackers were believed to have come from Luntam City.

• Wu Heng told Wen Mansha he was leaving and ordered Kranmu to stay behind and protect her.
• Wu Heng reached Nilari City by train, where he and the Three Wraiths found soldiers inspecting everyone at the gates.
• Wu Heng teleported into the city and sent Granda and Beni to investigate while Xiaoxiao stayed with him.
• Wu Heng entered a tavern and overheard customers say that Luntam City had attacked the Second Prince's residence the previous night.
• Wu Heng realized the citywide search was for the attackers and wondered who had claimed they came from Luntam City.

Wu Heng investigated the Second Prince’s supposed residence in Luntam City and discovered that the Prince’s Mansion was a decoy, then questioned gang members while searching for the real hiding place. The chapter ended with people outside the city discussing how to locate the Second Prince, and Viola was asked whether her profession could track him.

• Wu Heng learned from Granda and Beni that the Prince’s Mansion was a trap, but reasoned that the Second Prince was probably hiding elsewhere in the city.
• Wu Heng evaded a patrol inspection at the tavern and spent the night planning how to find the Second Prince.
• Wu Heng followed Granda’s map, defeated members of the Crimson Wind Gang who tried to rob him, and questioned their leader’s corpse, which claimed the Second Prince was at the mansion.
• Wu Heng and Beni raided the gang’s base, killed its occupants, and learned from the Gang Leader’s corpse that Bryce was a level 18 professional handling intelligence work in the city.
• Outside the city, an elderly figure reported that the lockdown made entering difficult and that he had found no trace of the Second Prince; someone asked Viola whether her profession could track him.

Wu Heng infiltrated the Crimson Wind Gang, killed its members, and used their corpses to learn about the city’s hierarchy and money trail while sheltering a kidnapped girl in his Mansion Spell. After confirming the thief had deliberately fed him false information, Wu Heng ordered the normal experimental procedure to begin on him the next day.

• Wu Heng learned from the dead gang leader that Bryce was a high-level city intelligence professional, then disguised himself and prepared for the gang members’ return.
• Wu Heng killed three returning gang members, questioned the corpses, and discovered the gang managed a market and handed most of its income to city officials and guards.
• Wu Heng questioned the kidnapped girl, then sent her into his Mansion Spell to keep her safe and out of sight.
• Wu Heng reviewed the gang’s records and reports before returning through the Portal to the prison with Granda and Xiaoxiao.
• Wu Heng told the thief that his information about Bryce was false and withdrew the comfortable conditions he had promised.
• Wu Heng ordered the Skeleton Alchemist to begin the normal experimental procedure on the thief the following day, with extra skeletons assigned because of the thief’s level.

Wu Heng questioned a captive girl about the Second Prince’s propaganda, then prepared to deliver Silver Coins to the guard commander while his wraiths investigated the city’s defenses. The chapter ended as Wu Heng met the commander at the guard building.

• Wu Heng asked Li Yahong about trackers and learned that the devices she knew required satellite positioning, so he decided to rely on wraiths to locate targets.
• Wu Heng questioned a captive girl, who said the Second Prince blamed Luntam City for invading the border and turning occupied cities into undead territory.
• Wu Heng told the girl he would let her go after a few days, then discussed how the victor’s account became accepted as truth with the Three Wraiths.
• The next morning, Granda inspected the corpse she controlled, and Wu Heng told her to disguise its signs of decay and change its movements.
• Wu Heng set out with three bags of Silver Coins while Beni reported that the guard building’s highest-level professional was level 14.
• Wu Heng arrived at the guard building’s back entrance and met the commander, who scrutinized him as his armed soldiers stood nearby.

Wu Heng discovered that the Minister of Political Affairs was a Mystic Association member and arranged to capture her. After questioning her corpse, he learned that the Second Prince was hidden somewhere in the city, though she did not know the location.

• Wu Heng paid the commander and was promised responsibility for the South Urban Area if the gang continued to perform well.
• Beni found that the Minister of Political Affairs was a Level 13 professional who wore a Mystic Association ring and collected the gang's money.
• Wu Heng, Granda, Beni, and Xiaoxiao agreed to capture the minister that night.
• Beni killed the minister and another man, and Wu Heng teleported into the estate to take both corpses back to the gang headquarters.
• Wu Heng searched the minister's belongings and found letters outlining plans against Luntam City and the First Prince.
• Wu Heng used Talk with Dead, and the minister's corpse told him that the Second Prince was in the city but hidden in an unknown location.

Wu Heng learned that six level 18 professionals were in Luntam City and considered whether to target them, but the disappearance of the Minister of Political Affairs triggered a citywide search. After the search, the President Commander summoned Wu Heng to meet him.

• Wu Heng questioned two corpses and learned the locations of six level 18 professionals, including three at the Prince's Mansion and one following Clifford.
• Wu Heng decided to wait for a good opportunity to target the professionals, while Granda warned that his current identity would make it hard to approach them.
• City guards ordered the Crimson Wind Gang to help search for a wanted criminal, and Wu Heng sent Beni to gather information while Granda assembled the gang members.
• Beni told Wu Heng that the Minister of Political Affairs and another man had disappeared, prompting a citywide search that lasted through the night.
• After the search, Wu Heng saw a carriage guarded by soldiers and was told that the President Commander was waiting for him; Beni revealed that the level 18 commander was inside.

Wu Heng ambushed the President Commander, captured him alive, and impersonated him to enter his mansion. He realized the disguise would not last and agreed with Granda to target the Minister of Intelligence next.

• The President Commander accused Heath of colluding with assassins and threatened him over the missing Minister of Political Affairs, so Wu Heng attacked and defeated him.
• Granda and Beni killed the personal guards while Wu Heng’s summoned allies helped subdue the President Commander.
• Wu Heng disguised himself as the President Commander, ordered the bodies hidden, and resurrected the captive to keep him alive for questioning.
• Wu Heng returned to the President Commander’s Mansion without raising suspicion, though Granda warned that his disguise would soon be exposed.
• Wu Heng agreed to target the Minister of Intelligence when Granda suggested the next victim.

Wu Heng summoned Minister of Intelligence Bryce to discuss the missing Minister of Political Affairs, suspecting Bryce had ties to the Second Prince. While Viola’s group debated who had taken the missing minister, Wu Heng searched the President Commander’s mansion and discovered a hidden collection room containing a Fire Scale Evil Sword.

• Wu Heng sent a guard to invite Minister of Intelligence Bryce over and told Beni to find him and report his appearance.
• Wu Heng avoided eating the mansion’s breakfast, then sent Xiaoxiao and Granda to search the rooms for valuables.
• Viola met with a group in an abandoned cabin, where they discussed the missing Minister of Political Affairs and suspected an unknown assassin might be connected to Treasure Island.
• Wu Heng used a key from the President Commander’s Spatial Ring to open a concealed collection room behind a fireplace.
• Wu Heng spotted a weapon labeled Fire Scale Evil Sword (Wonder) among the collection.

Wu Heng killed Minister Bryce and took his place, while Wen Mansha learned that Dragon had arrived at Serted Fortress with the Serpent Emblem Conglomerate. The chapter ended with Dragon’s identity still uncertain to Wen Mansha and Hartel.

• Wu Heng found the Fire Scale Evil Sword and examined the weapons, armor, valuables, and documents from the President Commander’s Spatial Ring.
• Beni reported that Minister Bryce had arrived, so Wu Heng prepared an ambush with Cassius and Sparkle.
• Wu Heng lured Bryce into the Secret Room, where Sparkle and Wu Heng killed him.
• Wu Heng revived Bryce, imprisoned him beside the President Commander, and left disguised as Bryce with the waiting guards.
• Hartel told Wen Mansha that Serpent Emblem Conglomerate representatives had entered Serted Fortress and that their leader resembled Dragon.

Wen Mansha learned that Dragon and other Serpent Emblem Conglomerate members had arrived in Serted Fortress and chose to welcome them while contacting Wu Heng. In the Yeke Kingdom, Wu Heng escaped after searching the Minister of Intelligence's office, while the Second Prince struggled to understand how several officials, including two Level 18s, had vanished.

• Wen Mansha rejected Hartel's suggestion that she flee and sent gifts of watches and Fountain Pens to Dragon's party.
• Dragon heard that Luntam City's army had breached Serted Fortress after its northern wall collapsed and accepted the gifts as his group passed through.
• Wu Heng searched the Minister of Intelligence's office for information about the Second Prince, but Beni warned him that soldiers were coming to kill him on sight.
• Wu Heng escaped by teleporting, sent Granda and Beni to monitor the city, and returned to the searched district as guards began arresting people and conducting house-to-house searches.
• Wu Heng teleported into an empty room at the tavern to spend the night while the Second Prince wondered whether the city was haunted and ordered his people to focus on how the missing officials had disappeared.

The Second Prince ordered a plan to lure out his enemies while Wu Heng investigated his captive’s experiments and imprisoned the city’s President Commander and Minister of Intelligence. The thief realized that Wu Heng had truly captured the two officials.

• The Second Prince agreed to use a Body Double as bait and ordered his people to deploy the city’s elites and investigate Luntam City.
• A woman disguised as a smoke wraith watched the city’s searches and worried that the people behind the officials’ disappearances were more dangerous than expected.
• Wu Heng reviewed the Alchemy Skeleton’s records, learned that the thief had been fed Corpse Cores, and ordered virus injections for the next day’s experiments.
• Wu Heng revealed the President Commander and Minister of Intelligence in their Iron Cages, then had Cassius and Sparkle take them to separate cells.
• The thief overheard Wu Heng’s conversation and realized that he had captured the two officials.

Wu Heng interrogated the captured Minister of Intelligence and President Commander, learning that Ghost Train tickets came from a limited-use item held by someone among the kingdom’s higher-ups. After securing the prisoners, he searched the Minister’s belongings and asked Granda and Beni to review the documents for clues.

• Wu Heng told the Minister of Intelligence that a captured assassin in Luntam City had identified him, then asked where the Second Prince was and how the Ghost Train tickets were made.
• The Minister said an item held by people above him produced a limited number of tickets, but he did not know who possessed it; Wu Heng rewarded him with food and ordered the prisoners guarded.
• The Minister, President Commander, and Chrysus compared their captures, discussed Wu Heng’s disguise and the research base, and considered how to escape.
• Xiaoxiao reported that the prisoners had no escape plan, while Wu Heng noted that they would soon be injected with the virus instead of receiving Corpse Cores.
• Wu Heng examined the Minister’s Spatial Ring, found a Wonder heavy crossbow, equipment, and two Ghost Train tickets, then gave the Minister’s documents to Granda and Beni to investigate.

Wu Heng reviewed intelligence about the Second Prince and arranged for a messenger to request a meeting in hopes of locating him. After learning that the Second Prince would give a speech in the city square three days later, Wu Heng had a new lead to pursue.

• Granda and Beni reported that the Second Prince was preparing planted agents and that their materials identified spies in Luntam City.
• Wu Heng ordered the Skeleton Alchemist to inject three prisoners with the Zombie virus, and all three transformed into Zombies.
• Wu Heng contacted Wen Mansha, gave her the spy list, and asked her to send a messenger to request a ceasefire meeting with the Second Prince.
• Wen Mansha told Wu Heng that the Serpent Emblem Conglomerate's hero had visited Serted Fortress, and Wu Heng arranged a Ghost Train ticket for her to use in an emergency.
• Beni returned and told Wu Heng that notices announced the Second Prince would give a speech in the square three days later.

Wu Heng learned the new intelligence minister’s code phrases and heard that powerful figures were gathering near Wen Mansha, so he planned to send her train tickets for escape. He then went to the city notice board, where a bard promoted the Second Prince’s coming speech and spread accusations against Wen Mansha and Ditalio.

• Granda reported that the replacement intelligence minister had arranged cultured code phrases for intelligence handovers and guard rotations.
• Wu Heng told Granda and Beni that a hero had gone to Serted Fortress after a level 18 professional tried to assassinate Wen Mansha, and he planned to give her train tickets for her family.
• Wu Heng left the room as bartenders arrived to clean it, then appeared in an alley and joined the crowd at the notice board.
• A bard praised the Second Prince’s upcoming speech, condemned Ditalio, and falsely accused Wen Mansha of eating children and spreading plagues.
• People in the crowd questioned whether the assassins had been caught and speculated that the authorities might begin another conscription.

Wu Heng returned to Serted Fortress, checked on Wen Mansha and the baby, and prepared a Ghost Train escape plan for Wen Mansha and Hartel. Back at his other residence, he discovered that three professionals converted into Zombies had reached level 19, then arranged for a rescued girl to stay with Wen Mansha; the chapter ended with Wen Mansha and Hartel joining him in the bedroom.

• Wu Heng left Treasure Island and returned to Serted Fortress, where Beni reported killing scouts and he found a map of checkpoints near the fortress.
• Wu Heng reunited with Wen Mansha and the baby, discussed the dragon's route and the planned messenger to find the Second Prince, and gave Wen Mansha and Hartel Ghost Train tickets for emergencies.
• Wu Heng checked the surveillance footage and learned from Xiaoxiao and Granda that all three professionals converted into Zombies had reached level 19.
• Wu Heng returned to Serted Fortress, freed the rescued girl from the Mansion Spell, and let Wen Mansha arrange work for her until it was safe to return.
• Wen Mansha and Hartel entered Wu Heng's bedroom in nightwear, and Wen Mansha asked what he thought of Hartel's outfit.

In Nilari City, rebels planned to kill the Second Prince’s speech double, while Wu Heng monitored his evolving Zombies and checked on Li Yahong’s base. After the speech double was attacked and killed, Wu Heng learned that the Divine Punishment Cult Witch had taken part in the assault.

• Rebels in an abandoned cabin agreed to target the Second Prince’s Body Double during the speech to drive more officials and nobles out of Nilari City.
• Wu Heng checked the three captured Zombies, learned they were developing wings and one was growing extra eyes, and ordered the Skeleton Alchemist to keep feeding them Corpse Cores.
• Li Yahong told Wu Heng that Qi Hancai’s South Korea Base had secured grain deals and that photocopied Talisman books were on their way; she also reported that the pharmaceutical factory was producing fifty thousand tablets daily.
• Wu Heng returned to Nilari City and watched the Second Prince’s speech through a skeletal sparrow, concluding that the speaker was a Body Double.
• An explosion followed the speech, and Granda later reported that black-robed attackers had killed the Body Double.
• Granda showed Wu Heng a vision of the Divine Punishment Cult Witch attacking the convoy with smoke that became charging beasts.

Wu Heng learned that the Heavenly Philosophy Cult had joined the First Prince’s plot to claim the throne, while another force was targeting officials in the city. After lying low for three days, Wu Heng prepared to investigate the emptied Prince’s Mansion, as four newcomers received an extraordinary item to track a target.

• Granda and Beni shared visions of an attempted assassination of the Second Prince’s Body Double, during which Viola escaped and Beni devoured a dead assassin’s wraith.
• Beni’s memories revealed that the assassins belonged to the Heavenly Philosophy Cult and had agreed to help the First Prince secure the throne.
• An old man used a scroll to question the dead assassin, learned that five attackers had gathered in a wooden cabin north of the city, and teleported away after discovering they were not behind the officials’ disappearances.
• Wu Heng returned to Zombie World, examined a talisman book, and learned that the Zombies had not yet advanced beyond level 19.
• Three days later, Wu Heng learned that the wooden cabin was empty and the Prince’s Mansion had been cleared of its high-level professionals, so he decided to investigate the mansion.
• In a village, three men and one woman received a verdigris-covered oil lamp and a target’s hair, which they could use to track him.

Wu Heng searched the Prince's Mansion for clues about the Second Prince, then uncovered memories showing that the Second Prince had ordered the slaughter of a city lord's family. As assassins attacked the Second Prince's hiding place and the city's army converged, Beni reported that he had escaped using a ticket.

• Wu Heng and the Three Wraiths searched the Prince's Mansion, but the clothes and valuables they tested could not track the Second Prince.
• Granda found a ghost trapped in a necromantic circle, and Wu Heng freed it so Granda could devour it and retrieve its memories.
• The ghost's memories revealed that the Second Prince had ordered Lord Burns and his household killed after Burns refused to hand over command of the city.
• Wu Heng heard that troops and high-level professionals were converging on a western residential district, and he went to investigate the fighting.
• Beni returned and told Wu Heng that the Second Prince had escaped using a ticket.