Chapter Summaries

Tang Zheng defeated the Floating City's remaining leaders, secured the city, and discovered a way to join its Guild through the management system. After accepting the invitation, he gained control of the Guild Weapon and confirmed that they had cleared [Floating City].

• Tang Zheng killed Imlaris after Imlaris explained that Tang Zheng's spellcasting depended on changing his level and warned that enemies could counter it.
• Tang Zheng killed Saphis Xoth, then ordered Nfirea to conceal the Floating City and send Monster Mercenaries to defeat and imprison the Guardian supervisors.
• Tang Zheng and Nfirea opened the Floating City's management system and searched its Guild member page for Tang Zheng's name.
• The system sent Tang Zheng an invitation, and he accepted, joining the Guild under his real name.
• Nfirea offered Tang Zheng the Guild Weapon, and Tang Zheng found that he could wield it as they cleared [Floating City].

Valerian learned that the guardian deity wanted him to become Cardinal and lead cooperation with the Council State against the Floating City. Tang Zheng entered the Golden Palace with Gelos Hornfury and disabled its three guardian golems with the proper code phrase.

• Valerian learned from Four Elements that the Theocracy’s guardian deity wanted him to become Cardinal and promote cooperation with the Council State.
• Four Elements explained that the Floating City posed a threat they could not face alone, and Valerian agreed to the plan.
• Tang Zheng and Gelos Hornfury entered the Golden Palace, where Gelos explained that most of its former treasures had been spent over the centuries.
• Three level-90 Krypton Gold Golems began to activate, and Tang Zheng spoke their code phrase to stop them before they attacked Gelos.

Tang Zheng claimed the Nameless Spellbook and learned how to use it to master spells, then tested Control Amnesia on Silver Olive to edit her memories. He began reviewing her extensive personal log and planned to use Shadow Clones to help alter it and bring the Floating City’s powerful NPCs under his control.

• Tang Zheng took the twelve rings from Gelos Hornfury and examined the Nameless Spellbook and the hearts that could restore the True Dragon Lord Corpses.
• Tang Zheng used the Nameless Spellbook and a Shadow Clone to learn a spell instantly, then returned to the Starlight Observation Tower with Gelos Hornfury.
• Monster Hanzo brought the unconscious Silver Olive to Tang Zheng, who opened her personal log and cast Control Amnesia to make its contents editable.
• Tang Zheng found that Silver Olive’s settings contained too much information to revise quickly and decided to use Shadow Clones to help with the work.

Silver Raven scavenged valuables from the Beastman-devastated city of Miest, while Shamar and his crew grew alarmed by signs that the annual raids had become more destructive. After hearing rumors that the Beastman Kingdom might be preparing a full-scale invasion, Shamar offered his members the option of fleeing to the capital.

• Shamar led Silver Raven through ruined Miest to loot an apothecary and other likely sites for valuables left behind by the Beastmen.
• At their cave hideout, the mercenaries vomited after recalling the human flesh feast in the city, and Shamar beat the bearded member who objected to their scavenging.
• A young Thief told Shamar that the invasion seemed unusually severe and that black-market rumors said the capital was gathering food.
• Silver Raven members feared a full-scale invasion and speculated that the mysterious unit that had checked the Beastmen in past years had failed to appear last year.
• Shamar recalled that the mysterious force was made up of Clerics from the Slane Theocracy, then told his crew they could sell their loot and flee to the capital if they thought it was too dangerous.

Silver Raven’s Captain Shamar tried to escape a band of Dragonkin and Werewolves, but an Undead used magic to learn the way to the Kingdom’s capital. Queen Draudillon Oriculus was still dealing with the country’s urgent affairs as the visitors headed toward her city.

• Silver Raven left its cave hideout to sell its loot, but Uur and her Dire Wolf intercepted the mercenaries.
• Captain Shamar abandoned his men and fled, but Uur caught him and cut off both his legs.
• Dragonkin Chief Ska arrived with twenty Dragonkin, and an Undead used Human Species Charm on Shamar to learn the capital’s location.
• Ska led the group toward the Kingdom’s capital while Uur warned that they should not kill its people because the ruler had inherited True Blood.
• Queen Draudillon Oriculus complained about her workload as Dejire discussed the recent attacks on the Theocracy and the war between the Kingdom and the Empire.

Dejire and the chancellor discussed the Draconic Kingdom’s worsening Beastman invasion and learned that an unfamiliar squad was approaching the capital. In the Floating City, Tang Zheng continued managing the stronghold and reflected on his completed alterations to Silver Olive’s memories.

• Dejire and the chancellor weighed the Beastmen’s massive invasion and the Slane Theocracy’s failure to send aid.
• Dejire revealed that her great-grandfather, a True Dragon Lord, had contacted her before the new year, explaining why she had withheld the Theocracy’s donation.
• An armored general reported that an unfamiliar Beastman squad was rapidly approaching the capital.
• Tang Zheng woke in the former Elf Player’s room and considered how Players’ species may have influenced their preferences.
• Tang Zheng observed Silver Olive, whose memories he had altered to identify him as the Floating City’s God-King, and planned to modify Gelos Hornfury’s memories next.

Tang Zheng reviewed the Resurrection Ring and received intelligence about the Slane Theocracy, the Council State, and the Draconic Kingdom while planning the Floating City’s work. After learning that ores and Dwarf-forged weapons could be exchanged for Game Gold, he considered expanding mining and forging but realized the city first needed more food.

• Tang Zheng examined the Resurrection Ring · Common, which let its wearer revive at full HP inside the Guild Stronghold after death, and kept it as his left-hand ring.
• Gelos Hornfury reported that the monster Doppelgänger was maintaining Tang Zheng’s presence in the Abelion Hills, while the Slane Theocracy’s attempted cooperation with the Council State had received no response.
• Tang Zheng rejected sending a Hanzo to investigate the Council State and ordered Zesshi Zetsumei to continue monitoring it; he also told the Slane Theocracy to assist the Draconic Kingdom if it requested help against the Beastman invasion.
• Gelos Hornfury presented Coin Exchange Box data showing that ore and Dwarf-forged weapons could be exchanged for Game Gold, and Tang Zheng considered moving Dwarf craftsmen into the Floating City.
• Tang Zheng realized that expanding mining and forging would require provisions, and noted that magical creations could not be exchanged for Game Gold through the Coin Exchange Box.

Tang Zheng planned new ways to earn Game Gold and selected spells while postponing the Floating City’s item inventory. On the Draconic Kingdom’s eastern battlefield, human forces repelled the Beastman invasion, and Opdix’s team rested afterward until a collector approached him about the queen’s thank-you letter.

• Tang Zheng ordered ore prospecting and refining in the Abelion Hills and herb gathering in the Great Forest of Evasha, then decided to use his mana on memory alterations and make more magical paper.
• Tang Zheng reviewed his expanded spell list, chose practical spells from several systems, and told Gelos Hornfury to postpone sorting the Floating City’s items until the end of the month.
• Opdix and his Worker team, Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus, fought alongside Crystal Tear and the Draconic Kingdom’s forces as the black-clad Werewolf squad killed the Beastmen’s strongest fighters and broke their line.
• The Beastmen fled east, and the victorious soldiers began clearing the battlefield to prevent an epidemic.
• At camp, Opdix admired the thank-you letter Queen had written him, and a collector offered to buy it.

Sera Burea proposed recruiting Adamantite Rank adventurers from the Kingdom and the Empire to eliminate the powerful Werewolf Troops, while Opdix warned that the plan was dangerous and costly. In the Re-Estize Kingdom, Kialé was taken from a brothel by men sent by Lord Sakhuronte, leaving her fate unknown.

• Sera Burea told Opdix that the Werewolf Troops included three Hero Realm fighters and argued that adventurers from other countries could help defeat them.
• Opdix warned Sera Burea that the Werewolves and their Gray Dire Wolves were too powerful and that the Kingdom could not afford to hire foreign Adamantite Rank teams.
• Inspector Stavan visited a brothel to choose slaves, grew angry when the manager had no Elf merchandise, and ordered the girls presented to him.
• Kialé despaired after realizing she might never see her younger sister again and was about to be whipped by Stavan.
• Two men announced that Lord Sakhuronte sent his regards, seized Kialé, and knocked her unconscious before carrying her away.

Ninya reunited with her sister Kialé and agreed to join Eight Fingers, but a mysterious gray figure abducted her and Brain to the Floating City. Brain awoke in a trial ground, discovered he had grown stronger, and faced an advancing metal statue.

• Arche introduced Ninya to Brain, Sakhuronte, Peshrian, and Edström while worrying about her family’s renewed debt.
• Ninya reunited with Kialé after the Security Department brought her to the estate, then agreed to join Eight Fingers to keep her sister safe.
• A gray figure appeared, seized Ninya and Brain, and transported them away after saying the Leader had waited long enough.
• Brain woke in the Floating City’s Warrior Trial Grounds and realized his strength had increased.
• A metal statue came to life and charged Brain with its weapon.

Brain endured a punishing battle with a Warrior Golem, unaware that Tang Zheng had placed him in the Warrior Trial Grounds to test his growth. After confirming the trials’ effects, Tang Zheng tested an Assimilation Potion on the God-kin Captain and successfully brought a True Dragon Lord Corpse under his control.

• Brain fought the Warrior Golem until he was exhausted, then fainted when the God-kin Captain demonstrated his superior strength against it.
• After a day and night of training, the God-kin Captain left the Warrior Trial Grounds and reported to Tang Zheng that his strength had recovered to the Demon Gods tier.
• Tang Zheng explained that Brain and Ninya were using the trial grounds to develop their abilities, ordered their memories erased after their current sessions, and noted their progress limits.
• Tang Zheng gave the God-kin Captain an Assimilation Potion, and the Captain assimilated into the True Dragon Lord Corpse, making it move under his control.
• Tang Zheng concluded that the potion could provide high-end combat power, unlike the low-level Shadow-Stealing Bats he could produce from corpses.

Tang Zheng tested Assimilation, considered the risks of True Dragon Lord’s Blood, and learned that the Draconic Kingdom had repelled the Beastmen under suspicious circumstances. Brain and Ninya then reappeared at the Eight Fingers Security Department headquarters, where Arche greeted them.

• Tang Zheng had the God-kin Captain test the Thunder Dragon Lord Corpse’s abilities, then used its Control Ring to end the Assimilation and cast Super-Regeneration on him.
• Tang Zheng confirmed that candidates needed Demon Gods-level strength to qualify for Assimilation and discussed using True Dragon Lord’s Blood to raise potential candidates, despite its dangerous soul curse.
• Tang Zheng learned that the Draconic Kingdom had driven back the Beastmen without known aid from the Slane Theocracy or Baharuth Empire, and suspected the True Dragon Lords might be involved.
• Tang Zheng received a coincidental adventurer’s commission and wondered whether it was a trap connected to the Draconic Kingdom.
• Brain and Ninya appeared in the Security Department headquarters in Re-Estize, confused and bruised, and Arche came downstairs to greet them.

Brain and Ninya discovered that they had lost half a month and gained strength after encountering Zurrernorn. Meanwhile, Blue Roses accepted a lead about a mysterious ruin in the Draconic Kingdom, and Adamantite adventurer teams began converging on its capital.

• Arche told Brain and Ninya that it was September 27, prompting Brain to realize they had lost half a month and become stronger.
• Brain warned Ninya to forget what had happened and what had been said, then invoked Zurrernorn with fear and reverence.
• Lakyus returned to Blue Roses and discussed Princess Renner's proposal to abolish slavery with her companions.
• Tina argued that the proposal might benefit powerful figures by pushing slavery underground and giving them a weapon against rivals.
• Lakyus presented the Adventurer's Guild's lead on a mysterious ruin in the Draconic Kingdom, and Blue Roses agreed to depart the next day.
• By October 10, Adamantite adventurer teams from several countries had arrived in Ronde, while Draconic Kingdom forces had suspended their own ruin investigations.

Tang Zheng sent Doppelgänger to the Draconic Kingdom, where it joined an Adamantite Rank adventurer gathering to investigate a mysterious Demi-Human force suspected of helping repel the Beastman invasion. As the meeting began, organizer Sera Burea realized that nearly every country’s Adamantite teams had arrived, far more than he expected.

• Tang Zheng received Doppelgänger’s report about the suspected Demi-Human force and ordered it to avoid conflict with the other adventurer teams.
• Doppelgänger entered the tavern with Enri and Verdant Leaf Witch, where members of the Adamantite Rank teams and the Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus workers were waiting.
• Enri greeted Gagaran of Blue Roses, and Doppelgänger went upstairs to join the leaders’ meeting.
• Sera Burea welcomed the gathered leaders and proposed introductions, privately wondering why so many teams had responded to his invitation.
• Doppelgänger recognized the gathering as part of the Supreme God-Kings’ scheme and reflected on the Adventurer’s Guild’s origins in the Slane Theocracy.

Six Adamantite-Rank Adventurer teams and a Worker team gathered to pursue a ruin in the Draconic Kingdom, while Sera Burea revealed that powerful Werewolf Demi-Humans also sought it. The teams entered the Gray Hills in uneasy factions and encountered territorial Mud-Armored Rhinos on the way to the ruin.

• Sera Burea introduced the gathered leaders, including Opdix of the Worker team Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus, and six Adamantite-Rank teams formed three uneasy factions.
• Sera Burea explained that the ruin had drawn the attention of Werewolf Demi-Humans with three Hero Realm experts, prompting the Doppelgänger to ask where they came from.
• Dejire and the chancellor discussed hiding the Undead's presence, the Werewolves' clashes with nobles, and using the adventurers to learn their purpose and limit their influence.
• Six Adamantite-Rank teams and Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus entered the Gray Hills, where Blue Roses and Free Will, Silver Thread Bird and two other teams, and Crystal Tear and Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus traveled in separate alliances.
• The adventurers encountered a group of territorial Mud-Armored Rhinos blocking their route toward the ruin.

The Adamantite Rank adventurers reached the valley where Sera Burea had found the ruins, and Doppelgänger sent an Angel inside to investigate. The Angel was destroyed, and Shadow-Stealing Bats poured from the valley as the group prepared to fight.

• Lakyus let each adventurer keep any Mud-Armored Rhino they killed, and the teams slew all twenty-one before continuing their journey.
• After several days of travel, the adventurers reached the gourd-shaped valley near the Draconic Kingdom's border and learned that the Goblins and Trolls once there were gone.
• Doppelgänger proposed using a monster to scout the valley and summoned an Observer Dominion Angel, which soon disappeared amid shrill cries from inside.
• Doppelgänger warned Enri and the Verdant Leaf Witch and cast Silence as over a hundred Shadow-Stealing Bats emerged and attacked the adventurers with sonic Shockwaves.
• Doppelgänger recognized the bats as creatures from Black Crevice Alley and knew Tang Zheng had already used Monster Hanzo to investigate the abandoned cave.

Evileye helped the Adamantite Rank teams defeat a swarm of Shadow-Stealing Bats, and the adventurers prepared to investigate the valley. Nearby, Ska’s Werewolves waited to ambush them, while Ska declared they would take the ruins’ treasures by force if necessary. At the Floating City, Tang Zheng finished producing ten thousand Tenth-Tier Blank Magic Scrolls and ended his scroll-making work.

• Evileye used Dragon Lightning to destroy most of the Shadow-Stealing Bats, and the adventurers finished off the rest.
• Doppelgänger said the bats’ fangs had value, and the teams divided the spoils before Sera Burea proposed that they investigate the valley together.
• Ska, Shadow Claw Uur, Trample Ufala, and the other Werewolves waited near the humans’ route and discussed their mission and plans for the ruins.
• Ska attacked Shadow Claw Uur for suggesting they might return home, then declared that the Werewolves would kill the human adventurers if they refused to hand over the ruins’ treasures.
• Tang Zheng placed his last Tenth-Tier Blank Magic Scroll on the Library shelves, completing a stockpile of ten thousand after six months of work.

Tang Zheng investigated the Eight Greed Kings’ rebellion and disappearance, suspecting that the Guild’s Forced Taxation feature had triggered an Easter egg but finding the circumstances surrounding their departure deeply mysterious. He summoned Angels and Demons to investigate the [Holy Lord] and [Fallen Lord] Classes, then prepared to use the Eleven-Sided Justice Die.

• Tang Zheng concluded that the Eight Greed Kings’ rebellion involved more than Forced Taxation and might have been a Guild Easter egg, while their later mental collapse, departure, and disappearance from the Guild system remained unexplained.
• Tang Zheng checked his status and began summoning Angels with Benevolent Armageddon and Demons with Malevolent Armageddon.
• Tang Zheng planned for Doppelgängers to ask Sera Burea and Viplang about their [Holy Lord] and [Fallen Lord] Classes, hoping to gain insight into a Special Class.
• Tang Zheng reviewed his clues to eight Special Classes and considered how they could inform his Class Construction.
• Tang Zheng summoned the Eleven-Sided Justice Die, a Divine-Tier item that temporarily set its holder’s Justice Value and resisted effects that altered it.

Tang Zheng used the Eleven-Sided Justice Die and a ritual to absorb holy and dark energy, but the energy he gained was not enough. Meanwhile, the adventurers left the ruins with captured Shadow-Stealing Bats, then encountered approaching Werewolf Demi-Humans on their way back.

• Tang Zheng rolled the Eleven-Sided Justice Die until it showed zero, then used Dispel Magic and his prepared ritual to absorb the Angels' and Demons' energy; afterward, he said it was not enough.
• Blazing Flame Crimson Lotus Opdix led the adventurers out of the cave, while Silver Thread Bird Freiwald described the ruins and Sera Burea emphasized their real prize.
• The adventurers discovered they could control Shadow-Stealing Bats with their broken fangs, and several teams left with the monsters they had captured.
• Lakyus offered her bat to Gagaran, who refused it, and Evileye gave Gagaran another; Lakyus said she wanted one for Renner, while Doppelgänger gave his bat to Enri.
• Doppelgänger and the other Adamantite Rank teams started back, and the adventurers spotted Werewolf Demi-Humans riding giant wolves toward them.

Ska and the Werewolf Troops attacked the Adamantite-Rank adventurers, who initially pushed them back before Ska used a Marrowstone Crystal to trigger a Berserk Transformation. As the adventurers began to suffer casualties, Doppelgänger and Evileye revealed more of their power and joined the fight, tipping the battle back toward the humans.

• Ska demanded the adventurers surrender their valuables, then ordered the Werewolf Troops to charge when they refused.
• Freiwald slowed the charge with his Bard ability, while the adventurer leaders engaged the werewolves in combat.
• Trample, Ufala knocked Gagaran back, but Tia and Tina intervened before Viplang stepped in to fight him.
• Lakyus blasted Shadow Claw, Uur away, prompting Ska to activate a Marrowstone Crystal that transformed the werewolves and Gray Wolf Monsters.
• The transformed werewolves counterattacked, overwhelmed the adventurers, and killed an adventurer from Lian Balian.
• Doppelgänger summoned a Purifying Principality while Evileye cast powerful magic, then Doppelgänger joined Sera Burea in attacking Ska.