Chapter Summaries

Richard’s group destroyed the Super-Breeding Species in the ruins and continued through the forest, while Tinwood struggled against the species’ guerrilla forces and hesitated to ask Richard for help. At a dangerous underground lake, Molly summoned a Crystal Ship, and Hulk powered it with the Energy Furnace so the group could cross.

• Richard collected tissue from the White Giant Ant, then Molly had One-Eye burn the remains before the group continued through the ruins.
• Tinwood’s forces dwindled as the Super-Breeding Species harried them with guerrilla attacks, and he decided to keep fighting rather than ask Richard for help.
• Richard, Molly, and their companions reached a vast underground lake, where Molly warned that flying across could trigger a deadly defense.
• Molly summoned a Crystal Ship from beneath the lake and explained that it was the only safe way to cross and needed the Energy Furnace to operate.
• Hulk channeled energy through the ship’s helm, and the Crystal Ship carried the group away from shore into the lake.

The Crystal Ship was attacked by a powerful Water Monster, and the crew barely escaped after Hulk and the others poured energy into the helm. Hulk then collapsed when his exhausted body could no longer safely handle the Energy Furnace, leaving the ship nearly powerless as the monster resumed its attack.

• The Water Monster struck and entangled the Crystal Ship, but Molly ordered the crew to boost its energy output until it broke free.
• Hulk collapsed and lost control of the Energy Furnace after pushing himself while exhausted from the earlier fight with the ants.
• The Water Monster caught up with the slowed Crystal Ship and attacked the crew with energy beams from its eye-covered tentacles.
• Wood and Camel were injured amid the crew's frantic defense, and a third tentacle emerged.

Molly incapacitated three of the Water Monster’s tentacles, but the Crystal Ship remained trapped as more tentacles surrounded it. Richard revealed four Energy Furnaces, destroyed the threat, and drove the ship at speed to the opposite shore.

• Molly used blood and her Third Eye to petrify three tentacles while Hulk prepared to sacrifice his life to restart the Energy Furnace.
• Richard pointed out that Hulk’s plan might leave everyone stranded, and Hulk collapsed after spitting up blood.
• The Water Monster surrounded the Crystal Ship with seventeen new tentacles, and Richard unleashed energy that shattered them.
• Richard revealed four Energy Furnaces embedded in his body and took control of the ship’s wheel.
• Richard powered the Crystal Ship across the water at more than ten times its previous speed, crushing two Water Monsters and reaching the opposite shore.

After crossing the water, Molly learned that Richard had made his four Energy Furnaces himself, and he offered to trade or sell her more. The group reached Molly’s destination, a palace filled with boxes whose contents she said were more precious than Energy Furnaces.

• Molly asked Richard how he obtained his Energy Furnaces, and he said he had made them using materials from the Ancient Ruins.
• Richard offered to make and sell Molly new Energy Furnaces or trade two of his for her existing one, but Molly decided to consider the offer.
• Richard asked where Molly’s group was headed, and Su checked a written scroll before Molly confirmed the destination was the nearby building.
• Molly and the others entered a palace and found its great hall piled with boxes.
• Molly told Richard that the boxes held things more precious than Energy Furnaces, then signaled to Su.

Richard and Molly discovered that the first half of the ruins contained a vast treasure of jewels, which Richard gave to Molly as an investment in her effort to restore the Sika Kingdom. They agreed that Richard would claim the next section’s spoils, and he opened its massive door despite a warning of deadly danger, unleashing a wave of white light that engulfed everyone.

• Su opened the chests, revealing heaps of valuable jewels, and Richard realized Molly had sought money to fund her restoration effort.
• Molly offered Richard his agreed share, but Richard refused it and called the gift an investment in her.
• Richard explored beyond the palace and found a huge blue door that he believed led to the latter half of the ruins.
• Molly and her group joined Richard, agreed to help explore, and accepted that he would keep all the next section’s gains while they could retreat if danger became unavoidable.
• Molly warned that the only intelligence about what lay beyond the door urged caution, and Richard activated his four Energy Furnaces and opened it.
• A surge of white light poured through the doorway and swallowed Richard, Molly, and the others.

Richard found himself alone in an endless snowfield and discovered that it was an illusion showing scenes from his past. After meeting his younger self, he began to suspect how the illusion worked and approached another newly appeared house to test his theory.

• Richard entered a boundless snowfield, found the blue gate gone, and walked toward a distant Black Tower that never seemed to get closer.
• Blue Lion Kingdom Cavalry appeared and told Richard that the palace celebration was waiting for him, then rode away as a white house appeared.
• Richard opened the house and watched a memory of his homecoming, including his younger self meeting his new chief guard, Edward Anglie.
• Richard's younger self addressed him directly, and Richard said the scene was interesting if treated as a game.
• Richard returned to the snowfield, saw the Black Tower closer and another house appear, then headed toward it to test his theory.

Richard witnessed the massacre of the palace and watched Huizi die after she asked why the soldiers were killing everyone. He left the burning scene and opened a third white house, where he met his younger self reading in their old bedroom.

• Richard entered the second white house and saw soldiers slaughtering people in the burning palace and plaza.
• A Black Armor Soldier shot Huizi with a crossbow bolt as she tried to escape, and she struggled to stay alive.
• Huizi recognized Richard and asked why everyone was being killed; Richard explained that their society's reaction to development beyond its era had brought this price.
• Huizi said farewell to Richard and died, and Richard silently closed the door behind him.
• Richard walked to the third white house and found his child self in his old bedroom, who calmly remarked on meeting his future self.

Richard reached the earliest memory house in the illusion, found it entirely empty, and emerged before the Black Tower. In the ruins, he discovered that the tower was a tiny object inside a vast chamber, and a mechanical voice granted him Level Ten access to Barta’s first floor.

• Richard left the third memory house and continued across the snowy plain toward the Black Tower.
• After three hours, Richard entered an enormous house representing his memories from before his current body was born, but found only a blank white space.
• Richard left the empty house, saw the towering Black Tower close at hand, and was engulfed as the illusion fractured.
• Richard awoke before the blue door in the ruins and saw Molly and the others still motionless in the illusion.
• Richard entered the vast chamber and found a ten-centimeter Black Tower on one of its stone platforms.
• A mechanical voice detected Richard, granted him the lowest Level Ten access permit, and restricted him to Barta’s first floor.

Richard learned that the Black Tower led into Digo, an ancient space he could explore after passing its first-level access check. Inside a vast chamber of transparent cubes, he discovered that one cube contained the exact contents of his Space Iron Ring, leaving him to conclude that he was stealing from himself.

• Richard questioned Yogum and learned that it was a task-performing creation of the Ou Di Na De Alliance, and that it had generated the memory-based illusion he escaped.
• Yogum identified the place as Suandosrogis Digo and told Richard he had access to its first level, Barta.
• Richard entered the Black Tower and arrived in an enormous space filled with floating transparent cubes and a multilingual sign.
• Richard found a cube containing an exact copy of the laboratory equipment in his Space Iron Ring.
• Richard removed items from his ring and watched a hand inside the cube mirror his actions, leading him to conclude that the cube held the ring's contents.

Richard discovered that Space Iron Rings connected to Barta’s transparent cubes, forming a vast network that could transport matter. He learned that Barta had 256 levels, but his lowest-level authority prevented him from accessing the upper ones.

• Richard tested the Space Iron Ring and confirmed he could place the beaker in a transparent cube and retrieve it through the ring.
• Richard realized Barta was a logistics network that used Space Items as receiving points to transport supplies across distance.
• Richard counted one million transparent cubes on Barta’s first level and learned from Yogum that he could not access higher levels.
• Richard used repeated questions to determine that Barta had 256 levels and speculated that the other stone platforms might contain similar systems forming Digo.

Richard assessed the knowledge left behind in Barta and decided to focus on studying its preserved information. He gained permission to move the Black Tower, but his discoveries led him to reconsider the risks of storing valuables in Space Items.

• Richard identified two thousand grids in Barta as containing well-preserved information worth researching and resolved to study them and crack the "Yogum" program.
• Richard asked "Yogum" to move Barta, and his application was approved because no higher-authority visitor rejected it.
• Richard picked up the Black Tower and confirmed that it could not be placed inside Space Iron Ring Number Eight, though other Space Iron Rings could hold it.
• Richard decided not to store the Black Tower in another Space Item, reasoning that its contents might be vulnerable, and tucked it inside his clothes before looking toward Molly and the others.

Richard ended the ruins expedition with Molly and returned to Faro City, where he began seeking help deciphering ancient languages. Meanwhile, Bi Bi slept beneath a tree as a White Dove arrived.

• Richard woke Molly and her companions from an illusion and told them he had finished exploring the ruins.
• Molly accepted her share of the jewels, said she would return to the Sika Kingdom, and departed with her subordinates.
• Richard left for Faro City and returned there two days later.
• Richard visited Circe to ask her to help decipher ancient languages found among his gains from the Black Tower.
• Bi Bi slept beneath a crooked-necked parasol tree, and a White Dove landed nearby and called out.

Bi Bi learned from White Dove that the escaped man had returned and hurried toward the city center to catch him. In the forest, Tinwood fought off wave after wave of strange creatures until an intruder disrupted the enemy’s assault plans, prompting Tinwood to investigate.

• White Dove woke Bi Bi and told her that the escaped man had returned.
• Bi Bi left with White Dove and followed the scent toward the city center, determined to catch him.
• Tinwood killed a black tiger-like creature and destroyed the crystal ball it had been carrying.
• Tinwood fought through eleven successive assault squads of strange creatures while their attacks wore him down.
• Tinwood learned that an intruder had disrupted the strange Super-Breeding Species’ attack plans, and he went to investigate.

Annie, Nancy, and Gelo entered the forest to meet Annie’s people for a trade, but found it unnaturally silent and were attacked by strange creatures. After defeating more than twenty of them, they were exhausted and found themselves surrounded by several hundred more.

• Annie, Nancy, and Gelo waited for their guide, then carried their Lead Boxes deeper into the forest when no one arrived.
• Annie and Nancy noticed the forest was unnaturally quiet, and Annie proposed going farther before suspending the trade if they found no one.
• More than twenty strange creatures with Bone Blades surrounded the group and attacked.
• Annie and Nancy fought the creatures while Gelo supported them with Enhancement Spells, and the three eventually killed them all.
• As the exhausted group prepared to leave, several hundred strange creatures emerged and surrounded them.

Annie, Nancy, and Gelo were surrounded by bizarre creatures until Tinwood arrived and rescued them. After learning they had brought refined mineral powder, Tinwood warned that the creatures were blocking the forest’s exits and sent Annie to report the crisis to Richard as he went to face another approaching horde.

• Annie, Nancy, and Gelo prepared to fight the surrounding creatures, but a golden Treant named Tinwood appeared and helped them slaughter the attackers.
• Annie explained that she had brought Nancy and Gelo to deliver refined mineral powder for the monthly trade, and Tinwood collected the four Lead Boxes.
• Tinwood told Annie that bizarre creatures might surround the paths out of the forest, and Annie decided Richard needed to hear about the danger.
• Tinwood sensed several thousand creatures approaching and urged Annie to contact Richard while he held them off.
• Annie took out her Crystal Ball and wondered why Tinwood had asked her to report the crisis instead of contacting Richard himself.

Richard left Circe’s residence after Annie warned that the forest near Tinwood was in grave danger, and he flew north at full speed to help. Bi Bi arrived at Richard’s courtyard too late, recognizing his scent in the white streak that had just vanished beyond the horizon.

• Richard received Annie’s urgent message and told Circe he had to leave, while Circe agreed to continue searching for a way to decipher his script with Nellide and Hai Di.
• Richard activated the four Energy Furnaces and flew toward the forest near Tinwood, planning to make Tinwood repay him for the strain and loss of vitality.
• Hai Di and Nellide watched Richard’s rapid departure before Circe ordered them back to their books.
• Faro City’s governor identified Richard as the powerful Wizard who had left and told a Black Robe Wizard to investigate without disturbing him.
• Bi Bi tracked Richard’s scent to his courtyard, then realized he had just flown away and escaped her again.

Bi Bi recovered from another failed attempt to catch her target and set off after his scent, while Sherlock arrived at Richard’s locked courtyard hoping to deliver a letter. In the forest, Tinwood led Annie, Nancy, and Gelo through repeated attacks until a massive force of strange creatures surrounded them.

• A White Dove prompted Bi Bi to follow her target’s freshest scent, and she left with the bird.
• Sherlock found Richard’s courtyard locked, spoke briefly with Bi Bi, and then departed without delivering the letter.
• Tinwood guided Annie, Nancy, and Gelo to a safe area as the strange creatures’ attacks grew stronger and more frequent.
• Tinwood sensed danger and tried to lead the others away, but he realized they had already been surrounded.
• More than fifteen thousand strange creatures, directed by Black Beetles and Red Beetles, encircled the weakened Tinwood and his companions.

Richard arrived just as Tinwood and the others were about to be overwhelmed, then fought the Super-Breeding Species through the night. He discovered that beetles commanded the creatures, but their numbers kept replenishing, so he tasked Tinwood with finding their core before Richard ran out of strength.

• Tinwood charged the bizarre creatures, but Richard’s attack from the sky scattered them and rescued Tinwood, Annie, Nancy, and Gelo.
• Richard agreed to postpone questioning Tinwood about his failure to report the crisis and examined the creatures for their command centers.
• Richard identified the beetles as the creatures’ command centers and repeatedly attacked them, fighting from night until dawn.
• Richard learned the creatures could replenish faster than he could destroy them, while Tinwood revealed that more groups and beetles were relocating in the south.
• Richard told Tinwood to use the forest trees to locate the creatures’ core so they could end the invasion before Richard exhausted himself.

Richard persuaded Tinwood to search the forest for the Mother Insect, then set off toward a reported battle that might have been a trap. Meanwhile, Bi Bi entered the forest alone, mistook an ambush by strange Black Panther creatures for a trap laid by her target, and chased the survivors deeper into the woods.

• Richard drank a healing potion and convinced Tinwood to connect with the entire forest despite the harm it would cause him.
• Tinwood sensed a disturbance near the northeastern edge of the forest and saw what might have been the Golden Beetle Mother Insect in a battle.
• Richard considered the possibility that the report was bait but decided to investigate and sped toward the disturbance.
• Bi Bi reached the forest with White Dove, ordered it to stay behind, and entered alone.
• Bi Bi noticed the forest was unnaturally still before more than fifty strange Black Panther creatures attacked her.
• Bi Bi killed most of the attackers, concluded they were part of her target's trap, and pursued the survivors deeper into the forest.

Bi Bi fought her way through the forest and mistakenly attacked the Golden Beetle’s territory, where the beetle’s creatures eventually trapped her in spider silk. As the Golden Beetle approached to swallow her, it sensed something in the Southwest Region and saw an intense white light.

• Bi Bi fought through waves of bizarre creatures and found a Golden Beetle resting in a clearing, but realized she had come to the wrong place.
• Bi Bi apologized and tried to leave, but the Golden Beetle sent more than a thousand creatures to attack her, and she killed them.
• Bi Bi warned the Golden Beetle to let her go, but it summoned more than two thousand creatures, which she defeated using one of them as a weapon.
• Bi Bi charged toward the Golden Beetle, but dozens of spiders bound her in tough webs until she was immobilized.
• The Golden Beetle approached Bi Bi to swallow her, then turned toward the Southwest Region as an intense white light appeared.