Chapter Summaries

Richard, Molly, and their allies drove the Crystal Man into the Devil Magic-Devouring Vine field, where he broke free and prepared to attack them. A mysterious black projectile shot from the ruins and shattered him, leaving the group stunned.

• Richard proposed using the Devil Magic-Devouring Vines against the Crystal Man by driving him into their field.
• Molly used her crown and Third Eye to hold the Crystal Man and push him back while her subordinates helped; Richard then battered him farther away with Death Finger.
• The Crystal Man landed among the Devil Magic-Devouring Vines and provoked them by resisting, until a massive vine hurled him deep into the field.
• The Crystal Man burned a clearing through the vines and escaped into the air, then dived toward Richard, Molly, and their allies.
• A black light streaked from the ruins and struck the Crystal Man, shattering him into fragments that the vines consumed.

Richard and Molly's group escaped the Ancient Ruins after crossing the Devil Magic-Devouring Vine field and agreed to part ways aboveground. Molly's group stayed behind to watch Richard leave, admitting they still suspected he might try to take the Energy Furnace.

• Molly recalled that flying over the Devil Magic-Devouring Vine field would provoke an attack, and Xize urged the group to leave the ruins quickly.
• Richard crossed the field first, found and collected fragments of the Crystal Man, then waited as Molly's group crossed with Hulk and beat him for his mistakes.
• Richard offered to split the Crystal Man fragments according to their fifty-fifty agreement, but Molly's group declined and continued toward the exit.
• Richard and Molly's group emerged aboveground in the afternoon and said goodbye beside the river.
• Molly admitted that her group had been guarding against Richard because they did not understand why he had given up the Energy Furnace so easily, then watched him leave to the southeast.

Molly’s group left with the Energy Furnace to prepare its fusion, while Xize warned Molly that he might be unable to join their next operation. Later, Bi Bi tried to track Richard but lost his trail, then used a falling branch to choose a direction and headed southeast with the White Dove.

• Molly checked that Richard had left, and Xize said he believed Richard had noticed something they had overlooked about the Energy Furnace.
• Xize told Molly he needed to rest and might not participate in the next operation, confirming her worries about his condition.
• Molly led her group north with the Energy Furnace to begin preparing its fusion procedure.
• Bi Bi arrived at the riverbank with the White Dove and failed to find Richard’s trail.
• Bi Bi blamed the White Dove, used a falling branch to pick a direction, and headed southeast to look for Richard.

After returning to Faro City, Richard worked with Circe to decipher the Energy Furnace blueprints and ran repeated experiments in Eden Garden. He achieved an initial breakthrough and began refining a cheaper, safer Monkey Version, though much of the manufacturing process remained ahead of him.

• Richard frequently visited Circe to study ancient writing and symbols, then continued experimenting in Eden Garden late into the night.
• Pandora told A Fu that Richard was conducting high-energy experiments involving energy conversion and storage, while A Fu pretended to understand.
• A Fu accused A Nan of stealing parts from his Magic Puppets and chased the skeleton away as Pandora took Little Bell for a walk.
• An explosion sounded from the Hazardous Materials Sector, but Richard recognized the destruction as evidence that his experiment had succeeded.
• Richard explained that he had deciphered most of the Energy Furnace blueprints with Circe's help and had confirmed that he could develop his own simplified version.
• Richard collected a crystallized sample for further testing and began another round of work, planning to replace heavy metals with safer materials.

Su, Molly, and the others prepared Hulk for fusion with the Energy Furnace by making him drink a Strengthening Potion, intended to help his body endure the process. Hulk finished four increasingly foul pots, while Molly remained worried about Xize, who was resting behind a sealed stone door.

• Su made Hulk drink the Strengthening Potion after reminding him that his previous fusion attempt had left a scorched mark on his chest.
• Ice Block cooled the potion, and Su refused Hulk’s requests to delay drinking it or add anything to improve its taste.
• Molly ordered Hulk to drink immediately while she continued watching the sealed room where Xize was resting.
• Hulk drank the first pot, then learned from One-Eye that he would need three more pots that day and still more on following days.
• Hulk smashed through a castle wall in despair, pulled himself back inside, and drank the remaining three pots.

Hulk successfully achieved an initial fusion with the Energy Furnace, while Richard’s reverse-engineering project advanced to a crucial production test. The chapter left Richard heating Lead-Gray Powder in a furnace.

• Molly and Su’s team fused the Energy Furnace into Hulk, and their magic restrained him as the fusion filled his body with light.
• Molly confirmed the fusion had succeeded and warned Hulk to control the Energy Furnace and develop his ability to use it.
• Richard continued reverse-engineering the Energy Furnace using his prior research and materials from the ruins.
• Richard started a production-line test, collected the resulting Lead-Gray Powder, and placed it in a furnace to melt.

Richard created and tested four improved Energy Furnaces, which fused into his body and greatly increased his energy supply. He concluded they could overcome his weakness in prolonged battles, but their burden and life-force cost required further testing.

• Richard melted Lead-Gray Powder and Crystal Man remains to craft four improved Energy Furnaces.
• Richard fused the four furnaces into his wrists and shoulders, then tested their output by producing dozens of energy balls.
• Richard found the furnaces could supply energy continuously and let him endure battles of attrition.
• Richard judged that the furnaces strained his body and consumed life force at full power, and he considered testing them under extreme conditions.
• Richard left the room to pursue another way of testing the Energy Furnaces.

Bi Bi followed a trail to Faro City and set out to find her target within three days. Elsewhere, an expanding army of strange creatures battled the forest’s defenders, and Tinwood worried that the conflict would threaten the Metal Clunkers before deciding to wait before contacting the kid.

• Bi Bi reached Faro City with the White Dove and warned it that they had three days to find her target.
• Giant mosquitoes, Weird Bees, and Black Beetles stripped the forest, produced battle creatures, and assembled an advancing army.
• The strange creature army defeated the defending beasts and claimed the battlefield, while beetles consumed the corpses and replenished their forces.
• Tinwood learned that the front had suffered heavy casualties and worried that the Metal Clunkers were in danger.
• Tinwood considered notifying the kid but chose to wait and watch the unknown person behind the invasion.

Richard tested the Energy Furnace’s combat capabilities in Eden Garden and concluded that four furnaces could put him beyond an ordinary Level 4 Wizard. Elsewhere, Hulk’s Energy Furnace test spiraled out of control, leaving Molly and the others facing a dangerous emergency.

• Richard used the Energy Furnace to break through an explosion, destroy a target, evade its fragments with repeated Void Transfer Spells, and melt what remained.
• Richard unleashed four Energy Furnaces at nearly full power, damaging the testing ground, and reflected on their strength and the Ancient Wizard Civilization’s technology.
• Molly gathered Su, One-Eye, Ice Block, and the others outside a remote castle to supervise Hulk’s Energy Furnace test.
• Hulk activated the furnace and became engulfed in expanding light as its output continued to rise.
• Molly ordered Hulk to shut down the furnace, but Hulk said he could not control it, and his skin began splitting as his body swelled.

Molly discovered that Xize had died in his sealed room, then received his final letter with advice for the kingdom’s next move. With Hulk unable to draw out enough of the Energy Furnace’s power, she considered whether to seek help from the powerful stranger who had explored the ruins with them.

• Molly and the others helped Hulk stop his Energy Furnace output at forty-five percent, and Molly warned him that exceeding this limit could make him lose control.
• Molly broke open Xize’s sealed room and found his untouched supplies, belongings, and silver-white ashes, confirming that he had died.
• Molly grieved while the others cleaned the room and buried Xize and his belongings.
• Su gave Molly a letter Xize had left behind, which suggested seeking help from the stranger who had explored the ruins with them.
• Molly heard Su’s concerns about trusting the stranger and decided to consider the suggestion before making a choice.

Molly and her group failed to complete their operation at the lake and decided to seek Richard's help. Richard agreed to meet Molly, then asked Sherlock to gather books about continental royal families, but Sherlock was distracted by a high-profile banquet connected to the Emperor of the Soma Alliance.

• Molly led her group across the lake to carry out their operation without outsiders, but they returned a day later badly injured and exhausted.
• Molly told Hulk that she had saved his Energy Furnace for a later attempt and said they would now ask outsiders for help.
• Molly's group decided to contact Richard, hoping their unrevealed resources would persuade him to assist.
• Richard received Molly's request to meet in two days and accepted, then sent a message summoning Sherlock.
• Richard asked Sherlock to collect books about royal families, but Sherlock said he was attending a Faro City banquet linked to the Emperor of the Soma Alliance.

Sherlock brought Richard a large collection of books about royal affairs, and Richard learned the truth about the Princess. Molly then summoned him to discuss another Ancient Ruins expedition, offering a powerful healing spell tool as compensation.

• Sherlock explained the celebrations in Faro and invited Richard to the banquets, but Richard declined.
• Sherlock delivered a box of books about royal affairs to Richard, who began reading them.
• Two days later, Richard finished a book and concluded that he had learned the truth about the Princess.
• Molly sent Richard an urgent message, and he met her and her companions outside Faro City.
• Molly asked Richard to help them reach the Mid-section of Ancient Ruins and offered him a restorative spell tool instead of a share of the gains.

Richard negotiated with Molly, the Blood Princess wanted by the Sika Kingdom, and explained why her promise of a future favor did not convince him. Molly confirmed her identity and sought his support, but Richard asked her to offer something more immediate.

• Molly offered Richard a rare healing scroll and a favor within two years, but Richard doubted she would survive long enough to fulfill it.
• Molly’s companions surrounded Richard when he revealed that he knew she was the Blood Princess, but Molly stopped them and had Su check whether he had been followed.
• Richard explained how he had deduced Molly’s identity from her subordinates’ words, her spellcasting, and her knowledge of the Ancient Ruins and Sika politics.
• Molly admitted she was the Blood Princess and explained that she aimed to restore the legitimate royal bloodline against the nobles controlling the kingdom.
• Molly asked Richard to support her restoration, but he said he needed a more realistic offer than a promise of future rewards.

Richard negotiated terms with Molly and her group, then left with them to explore the Ancient Ruins. Bi Bi arrived at the forest too late to find them and blamed her bad luck.

• Richard demanded a share of the first half of the ruins’ gains, information and assistance for the latter half, and control over when the group could retreat.
• Molly accepted Richard’s terms after confirming his share and that she would decide when danger required them to leave.
• Richard urged them to depart immediately, and Molly led her subordinates and Richard out of Faro toward the ruins.
• Hours later, Bi Bi reached the forest, discovered the group had already left, and complained to a White Dove about missing them again.
• Bi Bi punched a tree, making it shake and tilt as the White Dove flew away.

A Black Beetle established a breeding site in Tinwood’s forest, prompting the forest’s beasts to rally against the strange creature swarm. Tinwood confronted the invading army and began the decisive battle, leaving the forest engulfed in combat.

• A Black Beetle laid eggs on a Fungal Mat, and the emerging cactus-like creatures killed the beasts and Demonized Creatures that attacked them.
• A White Wolf reported the intrusion to Tinwood, who ended his concessions and marched to confront the invaders as the forest’s creatures gathered behind him.
• Tinwood killed the Black Beetle and its newly hatched Strange Cheetahs, then warned the creature swarm to leave his territory.
• The strange creature army advanced with a Red Beetle overhead, and Tinwood crushed the beetle he had captured before the armies met.
• Tinwood attacked the swarm with his electrified, whip-like arms, breaking its formation as the forest’s beasts and Demonized Creatures charged.

Tinwood pursued the wounded Red Beetle to a river, where the Golden Beetle’s hidden forces sprang a trap. Tinwood revealed he had anticipated the scheme and unleashed a massive Energy Storm; the story then shifted to Sherlock and Lucia watching fireworks at a banquet in Faro City.

• Tinwood defeated most of the bizarre creatures but failed to kill the wounded Red Beetle, which fled toward a river.
• Tinwood chased the Red Beetle to the river, where hidden water creatures and a swarm of beetles surrounded him.
• The Golden Beetle, revealed as the Mother Insect behind the attack, fled while the other beetles commanded waves of creatures against Tinwood.
• Tinwood claimed he had seen through the trap and absorbed lightning before releasing a devastating Energy Storm.
• At a banquet in Faro City, Lucia admired fireworks with Sherlock, who went to fetch wine before someone grabbed a glass ahead of him.

Sherlock received a message from Spider Web asking Richard to meet their lord. Two afternoons later, Molly led Richard to an Ancient Ruins entrance hidden inside a well on an island in a lake on God Island.

• A member of Spider Web recognized Sherlock Melrose and gave him a letter for Wizard Richard requesting a meeting with their lord.
• Sherlock took the letter and returned to Lucia, then watched fireworks with her.
• Two afternoons later, Molly brought Richard and her group to Mo Luo Lake and flew with them to God Island.
• Molly led the group through the island to a smaller lake and then to an island in its center.
• Richard and the others moved a rock and lifted a stone slab, revealing the well that Molly identified as the ruins' entrance.

Richard followed Molly's group into an underground ruin, where they found bloodstains but no bodies and learned that something had been clearing away the dead. Molly led them to a gray-white high ground guarded by swarming ants, and Richard joined the group as the ants charged.

• Molly led Richard and the others through a well into the underground ruins.
• The group found bloodstains without corpses, and Molly and Female Wizard Su warned that the missing bodies had likely been eaten.
• Molly guided the group deeper through the ruins toward the gray-white high ground where they had previously been forced to retreat.
• Molly told Richard that fast, intelligent ants had overwhelmed her group with their numbers and asked him to help defeat them.
• Richard illuminated the approaching swarm and saw that the ants advanced in twenty-four coordinated clusters.
• Molly ordered an attack, and Richard joined her subordinates in testing the ants.

Richard realized that the ant swarm’s coordinated tactics came from hidden Control Hubs and began destroying them. As he continued hunting the hubs, the battle against the swarm remained underway.

• Richard and Molly’s group attacked the advancing ants, but the swarm absorbed casualties and forced them back to the edge of the Gray-White Highlands.
• Female Wizard Su tried to cast a large-scale spell from the air, but the ants focused their acid attacks on her and forced her to retreat.
• Richard reasoned that the ants’ coordination depended on hidden Control Hubs and used Gaze of the Eye to locate one beneath the swarm.
• Richard exposed and destroyed the first purple Control Hub, briefly disrupting the ants nearby before the swarm recovered.
• Richard found and destroyed additional Control Hubs while scanning through the ant swarm.

Richard helped Molly's group break the ant swarm by killing its Control Hub Ants, then urged them to pursue the survivors to their nest. There, Richard killed the enormous White Giant Ant with one Death Finger, leaving him surprised by how easily it fell.

• Richard killed the Control Hub Ants, disrupting the swarm and allowing Molly's group to bombard it until most ants fled.
• Richard warned Molly that the ants could multiply while the group was away, and Molly ordered everyone to chase the survivors.
• Molly's group caught the fleeing ants near their nest, where they found countless eggs spread across a Fungal Mat.
• The White Giant Ant emerged and charged the group, but Richard killed it instantly with a Death Finger from the Gloves of Extinction.
• Richard wondered why the Super-Breeding Species had offered so little resistance to his spell.