Chapter Summaries

Richard summoned Pandora to fight the Black-skinned Stitched Monster, which had overwhelmed him with its strength. Pandora eventually pinned it down and defeated it while reciting the Nine-Nine Table, and Richard pursued the fleeing necromancer into a stone building.

• Richard blocked the Black-skinned Stitched Monster's punch with his Reaction Shield, then retreated and summoned Pandora.
• Pandora charged the monster but was initially knocked down, prompting the necromancer to mock Richard and offer him a place in his experiments.
• Pandora recovered, slammed the Black-skinned Stitched Monster to the ground, and battered it while reciting the Nine-Nine Table.
• The Black-skinned Stitched Monster stopped moving as Pandora reached the Six-Character Table, while the necromancer watched in terror.
• The necromancer fled into a stone building, and Richard followed him inside.

Richard killed the ordinary human Necromancer after the man’s acid attack backfired, then freed the Naru Glory Fisherman’s crew and gave them half an hour to escape the island. The sailors raced for the harbor while Pandora remained absorbed in reciting the Seven-Character Table.

• Richard discovered the Necromancer had no mana and tried to bargain for details of his research, but the Necromancer threw acid that killed him instead.
• Richard found the Necromancer’s notes difficult to read and decided to search through the research materials himself.
• Pandora kept punching the dead Black Stitched Monster while struggling to remember the end of the Seven-Character Table.
• Captain Morgan told Williams and Tomya he had heard Ghost Ship rumors years earlier, and the three discussed what they hoped to do if they survived.
• Richard killed a Green-skinned Stitched Monster in the cave prison, opened the sailors’ cells, and warned them to reach the harbor within half an hour.
• The freed sailors hesitated at first, then rushed out of the cave toward the harbor after Richard announced that twenty-nine minutes remained.

Richard let Captain Morgan and his crew leave Undead Island so he could study the dead necromancer’s research without interference. While Pandora continued learning multiplication, Richard discovered that Stitched Monsters were living people modified with corpse tissue, and he began examining the research for useful knowledge.

• Richard watched Captain Morgan and his crew sail away on the Ghost Ship, then returned to the stone building.
• Pandora remembered that seven times seven was forty-nine, and Richard told her to continue with the Eight-Character and Nine-Character Tables.
• Richard spent the following days disposing of Stitched Monster corpses and sorting through the necromancer’s research materials.
• Richard learned from the necromancer’s notes that Stitched Monsters were living people altered with foreign tissue and that the process damaged their brains.
• Richard concluded that creating Stitched Monsters was poor value but recognized that the necromancer’s methods could still aid his own research.

Richard studied the Stitched Monsters and found ways their altered bodies could improve his research into spell defense shields, Blood of the Gods, and Eden Garden’s energy system. He discovered that their artificial gel converted metabolic heat into electricity, potentially enabling reliable power generation for Eden Garden.

• Richard extracted a gray compound from the Purple and Black Stitched Monsters’ shells that could strengthen the Reaction Shield as a layered composite.
• Richard found that the Stitched Monsters’ enhanced hearts had been transformed from ordinary human hearts, and he considered applying the same principles to Blood of the Gods.
• Richard discovered that the Stitched Monsters’ powerful hearts produced intense metabolic heat and that a layer of gel surrounded their internal organs.
• Richard determined that the gel had thermoelectric properties and converted the Stitched Monsters’ heat into energy as they moved.
• Richard concluded that the necromancer had artificially synthesized the gel and that mastering it could let him build Thermoelectric Generators for Eden Garden.

Richard finished analyzing the necromancer’s research but found no explanation for how the necromancer had discovered the knowledge behind the Stitched Monster. He uncovered the necromancer’s diaries, which revealed that the man was named Defoe and ended with his discovery of a buried entrance beneath a deep pit.

• Richard noticed that the necromancer’s records covered only shallow applications of the Stitched Monster’s knowledge, leaving the source of that knowledge unexplained.
• Richard completed his analysis of the materials but found no answers to his questions.
• Richard discovered a hidden compartment in the necromancer’s room and found old diary scrolls inside.
• Richard read that Defoe had been a merchant who survived a shipwreck and became stranded on the island.
• Richard learned that Defoe found a deep pit, discovered an iron-covered entrance beneath its soil, and prepared to open it.

Richard read Defoe’s diary and learned how an ordinary castaway became the Necromancer after discovering a treasure filled with mysterious scrolls. He located the hidden entrance beneath the stone table and descended into the treasure’s vault.

• Richard finished reading Defoe’s diary, which recounted his experiments, his return to the island, and his transformation into the Necromancer.
• Richard concluded that the treasure and its scrolls, rather than the island or its legends, had caused the events surrounding the Necromancer.
• Richard used Gaze of the Eye to discover a concealed entrance beneath the enormous stone table.
• Richard used Lord of the Winds and Wind Brute Force to move the table, opened the iron cover, and went inside.

Richard explored the Necromancer’s underground hall and found a trove of research scrolls bearing the Black Spirit Empire symbol. The discovery strengthened his resolve to visit Moore and investigate the Black Spirit King’s ultimate secret, though he first planned to study the scrolls and solve his research problems.

• Richard used Dark Vision to explore the underground hall and found chests filled with valuables, including untouched crystal coins.
• Richard opened several wooden chests and discovered scrolls containing research on Temperature Difference Colloid Material and other subjects.
• Richard noticed the Black Spirit Empire symbol stamped on every scroll and connected the hall to the Black Spirit King’s treasures.
• Richard considered how little was known about the Black Spirit Empire and suspected that someone had erased much of the world’s history.
• Richard decided he needed to visit Moore to pursue the Black Spirit King’s ultimate secret, then packed the hall’s contents into Eden Garden.

Richard developed a powerful new defensive shield and an enhanced Blood of the Gods potion, then turned to the problem of upgrading Eden Garden’s energy system. His research pointed him toward Temperature Difference Colloid Material as a possible solution to the electricity shortage.

• Richard tested a four-layer composite shield that combined non-Newtonian fluids, reactive armor, and an air shield, and named it the Fourth Form Shield.
• Richard created the Blood of the Gods (Intermediate) · Evil God's Power potion, which could give him enough physical strength to contend with a Formal Wizard but still risked deadly heart failure if overused.
• Richard concluded that spells and generators could not provide Eden Garden with enough electricity without a reliable energy source.
• Richard began his final research project to upgrade Eden Garden’s energy system and considered Temperature Difference Colloid Material.

Richard used the Crystal Walls’ abundant heat to build thermoelectric generators, bringing Eden Garden into the electrical age. After wiring the garden and upgrading its equipment, he created a sunrise-like lighting display on a Crystal Wall.

• Richard discovered that the Crystal Walls were immense, seemingly inexhaustible heat sources that could power thermoelectric generators.
• Richard mounted generators along all four Crystal Walls, then wired them to a central storage room filled with Lead-Acid Batteries.
• Richard connected the stored electricity throughout Eden Garden, enabling electric laboratory equipment and freeing Pandora from operating a hand-cranked generator.
• Richard installed light bulbs across the laboratories and set up an electrical control console in the Main Laboratory.
• Richard flipped a switch and lit an arrangement of lamps on the Crystal Wall to simulate a rising sun.

Richard completed a simulated day-and-night lighting system in Eden Garden and prepared to leave the island for supplies and a voyage to Moore. While he was away, Pandora overloaded the system by turning on too many switches, and Richard caught her trying to hide what she had done.

• Richard tested the lighting system as Eden Garden passed through a simulated day and night, then decided to leave the island to restock supplies and answer Hai Di's letters before traveling to Moore.
• After Richard left the Main Laboratory, Pandora sneaked in to play with the lighting controls because she was tired of studying mathematics.
• Pandora activated multiple suns and stars at once until the overloaded circuit blew its fuse and plunged Eden Garden into darkness.
• Richard returned with a ball of oily green flame and found Pandora pretending she did not know why the lights had gone out.
• Richard smacked Pandora on the head as she admitted she had caused the failure, and she complained about being punished.

Richard arrived at Clover Port after returning from Undead Island and asked a tavern owner about ships heading north. He learned that the Rob Kingdom had blockaded the sea while at war with the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom, leaving ships stranded in the port.

• Richard sailed into Clover Port after nearly a month away from Hague Port, having obtained the Black Spirit King's second treasure on Undead Island.
• Richard entered the Fire Wine tavern and asked its owner whether any ships were heading north.
• The tavern owner told Richard that no ships could sail north because the Rob Kingdom's fleet had blockaded the sea.
• Richard learned that the Rob Kingdom and the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom had been at war for nearly half a month, and the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom was faring poorly.

Richard learned that the war between the Rob Kingdom and the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom had blocked the northern sea route, leaving a land detour as an alternative. As he considered traveling north, Bade of the Blue Feather Merchant Group invited him to join their caravan for three silver coins.

• The tavern owner explained that the Rob Kingdom had surprised the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom with its early victories, and that the war was now deadlocked.
• The tavern owner told Richard that merchants could travel north by land through the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom and other countries, then return to sea.
• Richard paid the tavern owner for the information and ordered bread while considering whether to take the land route.
• Bade introduced himself as leader of the Blue Feather Merchant Group and invited Richard to travel with them from Lokesi toward Bing Ya for three silver coins.

Richard agreed to travel north with the Blue Feather Merchant Group and spent the day buying supplies for Eden Garden. He joined the caravan the next morning, met the talkative Harvey, and stopped him from confronting Bade over their different fares.

• Richard accepted Bade’s offer to travel north, paid him three silver coins, and arranged to meet the group the next morning.
• Richard bought iron, copper, glass, ceramic jars, and other basic materials at the harbor market.
• Richard met Bade and the Blue Feather Merchant Group beside their loaded wagons and mercenary guards, then boarded the Four-Wheeled Carriage.
• Richard met Harvey, who described his plans for a future life as a knight and revealed that Bade had charged him only one silver coin.
• Harvey prepared to confront Bade about Richard’s higher fare, but Richard grabbed him and stopped him.

Richard traveled north with the Blue Feather Merchant Group, spending the journey studying scrolls while Harvey slept. As the caravan neared the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom, Bade warned them that a possible bandit trap lay ahead, and the caravan hurried onward toward the border.

• Richard convinced Harvey that the merchant group had charged him a discounted fee because they valued his strength, and Harvey promised to protect him.
• During the weeklong journey, Richard studied scrolls from the Black Spirit King's island treasure while Harvey slept in the carriage.
• Bade announced that the caravan was nearing the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom border and explained that the journey was about one-fifth complete.
• Bade warned Richard that mercenaries had found a dead tree deliberately blocking the road and suspected bandits were preparing to rob the caravan.
• After the mercenaries moved the tree, the caravan sped forward, and Richard told the newly awakened Harvey about the danger.

Richard and Harvey were stranded when bandits ambushed the merchant convoy and the other carriages fled. After Harvey killed a bandit who attacked their carriage, he and Richard faced the surviving attackers alone.

• Harvey promised to protect Richard as the convoy passed a suspicious dead tree without incident.
• Bandits ambushed the convoy farther down the road, and the mercenary captain ordered the carriages to charge through.
• Several carriages were left behind, including Richard's Four-Wheeled Carriage, when overturned wagons blocked the road.
• The bandits killed the wounded Grooms and attendants while the surviving convoy escaped without turning back.
• Harvey stabbed a bandit through the carriage door, then exited with Richard as the bandits closed in around them.

Harvey fought the bandits after the merchant caravan abandoned him and Richard, while Richard watched and prepared to intervene. Just as Richard decided to take matters into his own hands, the Gaze of the Eye revealed something that changed his plans.

• Harvey provoked the bandits into a one-on-one fight and killed the Cold-Blooded Doctor when he lunged at him.
• The Thief Leader ordered the bandits to attack Harvey together, and Harvey fought them with his back against the Four-Wheeled Carriage.
• Harvey killed two bandits, then beheaded a short bandit despite his mounting wounds and exhaustion.
• Richard confirmed the merchant caravan was not returning and prepared to attack the bandits with a fireball.
• Richard spotted something interesting through the Gaze of the Eye, dispersed the forming flame, and came up with a new idea.

Richard secretly gave Harvey a drop of Evil God's Power, restoring his strength and letting him tear through the thieves. The power began to fade, leaving Harvey exhausted and surrounded again.

• The Thief Leader urged the thieves to attack Harvey while he was exhausted.
• Richard atomized a drop of Blood of the Gods (Intermediate) · Evil God's Power and let Harvey inhale it.
• Harvey's strength surged, and he killed more than a dozen thieves as the others retreated in fear.
• Harvey's power weakened and its side effects left him barely standing.
• The thieves regained their courage, surrounded Harvey, and launched probing attacks.

Harvey and Richard were surrounded by thieves after the merchant group fled back into the ambush. Just as Richard prepared to fight, a Black Feather Arrow killed a thief, revealing that help had arrived.

• Harvey boasted that his newfound strength came from his potential, then despaired when he could no longer lift his sword.
• The merchant group members returned, and Harvey mistook their panicked flight from another ambush for a rescue.
• Richard saw that the merchant group was being pursued by armed thieves and that its mercenary squad was missing.
• The eyepatch-wearing Thief Leader ordered his archers and crossbowmen to aim at everyone and prepare to fire.
• Richard readied his Energy Storage Short Staff, but a Black Feather Arrow struck a thief in the back of the head before the Thief Leader could give the order.

A silver-armored Royal Guard cavalry force rescued the merchant caravan and Richard from bandits, then executed the captured gang. Captain Franklin ordered the survivors to meet the Princess of the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom, leaving Richard wondering whether the encounter would help or harm him.

• A silver-armored cavalryman killed a bandit with a Black Feather Arrow, and a hundred Royal Guard cavalrymen arrived, scattering the gang.
• The cavalrymen hunted down the fleeing bandits, impaled their heads along the road, and captured the eyepatched Thief Leader.
• Franklin identified himself as captain of the Royal Guard First Legion's Guard Cavalry Squad and ordered the Thief Leader beheaded.
• Harvey asked Franklin to let him join the Guard Cavalry Squad, but Franklin ignored him.
• Franklin told the caravan members, Harvey, and Richard that they had to thank the Princess, whose wish for quiet would decide their fate.
• Richard followed the group toward the Princess, wondering whether meeting her would be good or bad for him.

Richard encountered Princess Ruth at the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom’s border and asked her about White Stone Tower. Ruth panicked at seeing him but agreed to speak with him privately, while the soldiers speculated that he had become her thirty-eighth fiancé.

• Harvey tried to persuade Princess Ruth to let him join her army, but she ordered Franklin to drive him away.
• Richard recognized Princess Ruth inside the carriage and asked her questions, prompting her to flee in panic before returning barefoot and limping.
• Ruth warned Richard not to mention their past encounter at White Stone Tower Academy, then agreed to talk with him somewhere else.
• Richard boarded Ruth’s carriage, and the soldiers speculated that he was her thirty-eighth fiancé.