Chapter Summaries

O'Glan rejected the ship’s meager dinner and went to buy food from Fang Zheng’s lavish table. She agreed to pay an outrageous price for cups of instant noodles, leaving her and her companions waiting for their meal.

• O'Glan spat out the grilled fish and refused to eat the ship’s plain food.
• O'Glan and her cousin saw Fang Zheng and the sailors enjoying a lavish dinner, but her cousin stopped her from confronting him by reminding her that Fang Zheng had killed Connie.
• O'Glan’s cousin asked Fang Zheng’s magical servant whether they could buy food, and Fang Zheng agreed.
• The magical servant prepared cups of noodles and demanded payment of one Platinum Coin per cup before handing them over.
• O'Glan protested the price, then agreed to pay for one cup for everyone in her party.

Fang Zheng and his companions enjoyed dinner aboard the Black Raven before he opened a Mage Mansion for them to rest in. Nymph stayed behind to watch a mysterious ship following them, while O'Glan left unaware that her cousin was plotting something.

• Fang Zheng, Kuria, Nanali, and Tilia discussed O'Glan's decision to buy instant noodles for her group and whether charging the rescued passengers was fair.
• O'Glan waited in the cold, hoping to see where Fang Zheng and his companions would sleep, while her cousin urged her to return to the cabin.
• Fang Zheng opened a Mage Mansion and sent his companions through the glowing doorway.
• Nymph warned Fang Zheng that a magically concealed ship was following the Black Raven, and he told her to keep watch and alert him if anything happened.
• O'Glan rushed toward the doorway, hit its magical barrier, and returned to the cabin with her cousin, who watched her leave with a strange smile.

A servant of the Lord of Crimson Flame was ordered to capture Fang Zheng and his companions using the Ghost Fleet. As Fang Zheng’s ship neared the Bay of Lost Souls, Captain Fox asked Hecate to perform a rite for the dead, at Tilia’s suggestion.

• The Lord of Crimson Flame spared his failed servant and ordered him to capture Fang Zheng and the original targets with the Ghost Fleet.
• The servant screamed in agony as the Lord’s flames changed him, then concealed his injuries from O’Glan aboard the ship.
• Fang Zheng’s voyage continued peacefully, with O’Glan and the other rescued passengers keeping their distance and eating instant noodles.
• Captain Fox told Fang Zheng that sailor tradition required a rite to soothe the dead at the Bay of Lost Souls and asked Hecate to conduct it.
• Fang Zheng learned that Tilia had prompted the request, and Tilia smiled and flashed him a V sign from the deck.

Fang Zheng agreed to Tilia’s request for Hecate to perform a requiem, while anticipating that Hecate would eventually get even with her. As their ship entered Bay of Lost Souls, Captain Fox told O’Glan about the treasure-fueled massacre that had turned the port into a haunted stretch of water, and a sailor announced that the bay lay ahead.

• Fang Zheng asked Hecate to help with Tilia’s requiem request, and Hecate agreed despite Fang Zheng’s expectation that she would later retaliate against Tilia.
• Captain Fox explained to O’Glan that ships had to remain on deck while crossing Bay of Lost Souls, where spirits were said to search cabins for living people.
• Captain Fox recounted how a mysterious fleet left treasure at Golden Bay, sparking a massacre in which no one survived.
• Captain Fox said that later ships vanished or sank, causing Golden Bay to be abandoned and renamed Bay of Lost Souls.
• A sailor announced that Bay of Lost Souls was ahead, and O’Glan recoiled from the dark cabin entrance.

Fang Zheng and his companions sailed into the eerie Bay of Lost Souls, where Hecate’s music soothed the crew but failed to prevent the Black Raven from striking something unseen. Fang Zheng cast a True Knowledge Spell to uncover what was wrong with the bay.

• Fang Zheng and the others inspected the clear, silent bay and found that its eerie waters blocked his Divination Spell.
• The Black Raven passed sunken ships as Hecate played her Triangle Scepter, and Fang Zheng understood the affection behind her music.
• The ship suddenly shuddered after striking something, though Captain Fox saw no wreck or reef nearby.
• Nymph warned Fang Zheng that something was wrong, so he cast a True Knowledge Spell and the world changed before his eyes.

Fang Zheng’s group discovered that a powerful magical item had concealed the dangerous Bay of Lost Souls beneath an illusion. After their ship struck a wreck and began taking on water, Fang Zheng decided to head for the bay’s port for repairs and investigate the item.

• Fang Zheng ordered Nymph to dispel the illusion, revealing wrecks and hidden reefs throughout the waters.
• Nymph reported that a powerful magical item near the port had generated the illusion and that she had temporarily sealed it.
• Sailors discovered a huge breach in the ship’s hull, and Fang Zheng used a wall of force to keep the seawater out.
• Captain Fox said the ship needed repairs, so Fang Zheng chose to reach the port in Bay of Lost Souls despite the wrecks.
• Fang Zheng asked Hecate to clear the wrecks, and she raised her Triangle Scepter and sent blue radiance toward them.

Hecate used the Triangle Scepter to clear the wrecks blocking the Black Raven’s route to Bay of Lost Souls, while Nymph lost her sense of the ship pursuing them. Ambassador Ruden learned the pursuers had vanished near the bay and was ordered to follow them there.

• Hecate summoned Azure Flames that erased the shipwrecks blocking the Black Raven’s path, and Captain Fox ordered the ship onward.
• Nymph told Fang Zheng she could no longer sense the ship that had been following them, and Fang Zheng decided to leave it alone for now.
• A Magic Battleship carrying Ambassador Ruden lost contact with its target and learned the Black Raven had disappeared near Bay of Lost Souls.
• Ruden hesitated to pursue the Black Raven into the dangerous bay, then asked the hidden expert aboard for instructions.
• The expert ordered Ruden to follow the target and bring back the group alive or dead, and Ruden hurried to relay the command.

Fang Zheng’s group explored the bone-strewn Dock at the Bay of Lost Souls, where he questioned the story that treasure hunters had killed one another and uncovered clues that the tale was incomplete. O'Glan briefly saw a hoard of gold and jewelry in a ruined cellar, but it vanished before anyone else could see it.

• The Black Raven docked at the Bay of Lost Souls, and Captain Fox ordered the crew to repair the ship while Fang Zheng and the others went ashore.
• O'Glan assigned her guards to watch the area, then followed Fang Zheng’s group despite her cousin’s reluctance.
• Fang Zheng noted the hundreds of unburied corpses and argued that the old story raised questions about why returning crews had left the bodies and why no one had searched for the treasure.
• O'Glan spotted a shining hoard beneath a broken wall and called the others over, but the treasure disappeared before they arrived.
• Fang Zheng gave the empty cellar a meaningful glance and led the group onward, while O'Glan remained baffled by what she had seen.

Fang Zheng and his companions explored the bone-strewn Bay of Lost Souls, where a powerful illusion made them hear a bustling town and then the massacre Captain Fox had described. Fang Zheng suspected the illusion was tied to a divine or demonic artifact, but the group continued deeper without finding its source.

• Fang Zheng questioned the inconsistencies in Fox's story and suspected the tragedy at Bay of Lost Souls was connected to the illusion-producing magical item.
• Kuria thought she saw a huge pearl, but Fang Zheng and the others saw nothing, prompting Fang Zheng to warn that a large-scale illusion covered the area.
• O'Glan and the others heard sounds of a nearby tavern, and Fang Zheng cast a Protective Barrier while explaining that ordinary defenses could not stop a full-immersion illusion.
• The sounds shifted into a battle and massacre, frightening Kuria and Nanali, while Fang Zheng confirmed that no Undead aura was present.
• Fang Zheng led the group onward through the ruins as they heard what seemed to be the massacre Captain Fox had described.

Fang Zheng and his companions explored the Bay of Lost Souls and discovered that the place they could see was a projection covering the real location in another world. Nymph identified the projection’s core ahead and said she could try to open a passage there.

• Fang Zheng noticed the Bay of Lost Souls had no undead aura despite the massacre and the bones scattered across it.
• Fang Zheng learned that Nymph could not hear the strange sound until she adjusted her detection frequency to match it.
• Nymph determined that the sound came from the real Bay of Lost Souls, hidden behind a projection in a spatial fissure.
• Fang Zheng asked whether they could enter the real location, and Nymph said she could try to control the magical item generating the projection.
• Nymph pointed out that the projection’s core was directly ahead.

Fang Zheng and Tilia entered the inner world to locate the magic item, which Nymph warned could destabilize the boundary between worlds if removed. They arrived in a burning, bloodstained Golden Bay and headed southwest, where figures appeared ahead of them.

• Nymph warned Fang Zheng that the magic item held the two worlds apart and that taking it could cause the inner world to collapse into spatial fragments.
• Fang Zheng left Hecate to protect Nymph and the others, then entered the black gate with Tilia.
• Fang Zheng and Tilia emerged in a burning version of Golden Bay, far from the matching square in the Plane projection.
• Nymph directed Fang Zheng southwest, and he and Tilia ran through the deserted streets toward the Dock.
• Fang Zheng stopped and pulled Tilia into the shadows when several dark figures approached down the street.

Fang Zheng discovered that the skeleton sailors around Golden Bay were living people concealed by an illusion and deduced that a magical item had trapped the souls of the dead. A Main World quest forced him to break the demiplane seal, and he resolved to free the souls despite the danger.

• Fang Zheng watched a group of skeleton sailors patrol and sensed that they had the aura of living people, not undead.
• Fang Zheng deduced that a magical item had concealed Golden Bay and its trapped sailors' souls from the Main World.
• Fang Zheng received the Sea of the Undead quest, which required him to break the demiplane seal to free the souls.
• Fang Zheng worried about the consequences of failing the quest and considered the potential reward to his Dimension Point conversion rate.
• Fang Zheng accepted his duty as a Paladin and vowed to seize the magical item and free the bound souls.

Fang Zheng found the Eye of Myriad Phenomena, a divine artifact powered by time, and set out to remove it to break the Demiplane barrier. He grabbed the scepter but was unable to take it away.

• Fang Zheng located the Eye of Myriad Phenomena floating in the square and scanned its abilities.
• Fang Zheng realized the artifact could help him develop his Time Ability and decided to take it.
• Fang Zheng used a True Knowledge Spell and discovered Undead were working on ships at the Dock.
• Fang Zheng told Tilia to cover him, cast protective spells, and teleported to the scepter.
• Fang Zheng grabbed the Eye of Myriad Phenomena but found that he could not remove it.

Fang Zheng asked Nymph to disable the scepter linking two worlds while he and his allies held off the Undead. After two minutes of fighting, the Undead bombarded the plaza with green-flamed shells, weakening the summoned Angels as Nymph’s work continued.

• Nymph told Fang Zheng that disabling the scepter would take at least ten minutes and that he had to protect her while she worked.
• Fang Zheng sent Nanali and the others back to the ship, then had Nymph begin cracking the scepter’s permissions.
• Fang Zheng summoned the Holy Sword Asura and the Dog-headed Asura Angel to fight the approaching Undead creatures.
• The Angels fought off the Undead sailors while Tilia blasted enemies approaching Fang Zheng from the rooftops.
• The Undead fired green-flamed shells into the plaza, filling it with smoke and noticeably weakening the Angels.

Fang Zheng endured the Undead sailors’ bombardment while Tilia destroyed their battleships, then seized the Eye of Myriad Phenomena after Nymph cracked its permissions. The scepter’s removal destabilized the entire space, leaving Fang Zheng fleeing with Tilia as waves, Ghost Ships, and the collapsing sky pursued them.

• Fang Zheng ordered Tilia to destroy the battleships bombarding the square, and she blasted several ships and swept the harbor with a beam.
• Tilia evaded a barrage, while Fang Zheng held off the Undead sailors with holy magic and fortified defenses.
• The scepter’s owner confronted Fang Zheng and sent a towering wave toward him as Nymph announced she had cracked its underlying permissions.
• Fang Zheng grabbed the Eye of Myriad Phenomena, causing the space to collapse and erasing the owner’s mark from the scepter.
• Fang Zheng rescued Tilia and fled as waves, Ghost Ships, and falling pieces of the sky chased them through the collapsing world.

Fang Zheng carried Tilia through the collapsing, spatially fractured Plane while following the chain to Little Angel, as Ruden’s ship found the Black Raven. With Fang Zheng still missing, an armed man crept up behind O'Glan aboard the Black Raven.

• Fang Zheng used the chain linked to Little Angel to navigate the shifting spatial fragments while carrying Tilia and evading his pursuers.
• Ruden’s ship crashed through the distorted waters, spotted Bay of Lost Souls and the Black Raven, and prepared to intercept it.
• Nanali and the others waited aboard the Black Raven as the sea and Bay of Lost Souls shook and crumbled around them.
• O'Glan complained that Fang Zheng had not returned, unaware that a richly dressed man approached her with a black dagger.
• The richly dressed man raised the dagger and drove it toward O'Glan.

Fang Zheng and his companions escaped the collapsing Bay of Lost Souls and returned to the Black Raven, where O'Glan's cousin revealed that he served a cult and had tried to capture her as a sacrifice. After he invoked his master and died in green flames, the Sea of Death rose against the ship as the familiar enemy voice threatened Fang Zheng again.

• Fang Zheng shielded himself and Tilia from a water ambush, then escaped through the Teleportation Gate as the Bay of Lost Souls collapsed.
• Fang Zheng, Tilia, and Nymph returned to the Black Raven, where Captain Fox said the ship was not yet repaired.
• O'Glan's cousin stabbed her, but Hecate knocked him away and the guards pinned him to the deck.
• O'Glan's cousin admitted that he served a cult and had twice tried to capture her as a sacrifice for his master.
• O'Glan condemned her cousin, who summoned the ruler of the Sea of Death before green flames consumed him.
• The sea boiled around the Black Raven, and the familiar voice threatened Fang Zheng again.

Fang Zheng transported the Ghost Fleet to Chaos Fortress and sent his Undead Army to destroy it. When the fleet was nearly defeated, its commander emerged as a Dragon Lich, leaving Fang Zheng facing a powerful new threat.

• The Ghost Fleet surrounded the Black Raven, and Fang Zheng used Fūka to transport the ships and himself to Chaos Fortress.
• Fang Zheng summoned Chaos Fortress’s undead forces and ordered them to attack the Ghost Fleet.
• The Ghost Fleet bombarded the advancing undead, but the stronger Death Maidens and other troops overwhelmed its undead sailors.
• As the Ghost Fleet neared defeat, its commander unleashed a torrent of black seawater and emerged as a Dragon Lich.
• Fang Zheng recognized the Dragon Lich from the Holy Temple’s archives and braced for its attack.

After the Ghost Ships vanished, the Black Raven’s crew repaired the vessel while Fang Zheng stayed behind to deal with the threat. A Vanriel warship arrived seeking a fugitive aboard the Black Raven, and Tilia’s attack sparked a clash with its powerful defender.

• Tilia took command and ordered the Black Raven’s crew to repair the ship while Captain Fox prepared to depart as soon as Fang Zheng returned.
• Hecate treated O'Glan’s wounds, and Captain Fox learned that a Vanriel escort vessel was approaching.
• The Vanriel Guard signaled that it had come to arrest a fugitive aboard the Black Raven, and Nanali and Kuria reacted with alarm.
• Tilia fired a crimson beam at the warship, but its defender turned the attack aside and sent a barrage of ice spikes toward the Black Raven.
• Hecate summoned meteors that swallowed the incoming ice spikes.

Hecate fought Waist Muss after he demanded Nanali Flikshir’s arrest, while the Black Raven’s crew struggled to withstand the heat and shockwaves from their battle. Ruden prepared to attack the merchant ship, still confident that his side would win.

• Waist Muss announced Vanriel’s arrest warrant for Nanali Flikshir and asked Hecate to hand her over, but Hecate refused and attacked his warship with meteors.
• Waist summoned a seawater whale, which Hecate destroyed with an Azure Flame dragon, while Nymph’s Magic Equipment protected the Black Raven’s crew from the scalding steam.
• Waist ordered Ruden to handle the Black Raven and engaged Hecate himself, attacking with seawater, a crystal sword, and ice spikes.
• Hecate countered Waist’s attacks with meteors and unleashed a vast burst of light, while Ruden watched their battle and resolved to go all out against the Black Raven.