Chapter Summaries

Yang Bo left Sky Cloud Star with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin to travel to the Aquamarine Empire competition, while continuing his work in Second World. At a vineyard, he refused the Butler’s request to deal with rats and overheard a hint that the wine cellars might be involved in a theft.

• Yang Bo considered safer ways to protect his Second World character and decided to stick to ordinary methods rather than make dangerous weapons.
• Yang Bo boarded a spaceship with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin, and learned that the competitors and their companions would share quarters during the journey.
• Yang Bo noticed through the Mental Seed that Lin Yue was using Water Ball to clean her home, then slept and later spoke with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin about their lives in the game.
• Yang Bo returned to Second World and went with Adam to hunt rabbits at a vineyard, where Adam speculated that his brother had run into trouble in the game again.
• The Butler asked Yang Bo to deal with rats in the winery’s Wine Cellar, but Yang Bo refused and overheard the Butler and a knight discussing hiring Rat Hunters to conceal missing wine.

Yang Bo decided to improve his game character’s combat ability with darts, bought weapons from Loden, and practiced until he could reliably hit a target. At the Sheriff's Office, he heard that Viscount Houston's winery had burned down after a rat catcher started a fire in the Wine Cellar.

• Yang Bo decided to buy a house for his game character, then went to the gym, where Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin admired his physique.
• At the market, Yang Bo met Loden, a blacksmith, and ordered twelve darts and a javelin.
• Yang Bo retrieved the weapons from Loden, practiced throwing darts, and used his Dynamic Vision to learn each dart’s flight path and hit the target consistently.
• At the Sheriff's Office, Yang Bo heard that Viscount Houston's winery had caught fire when a rat catcher tried to get rid of rats in the Wine Cellar.

Yang Bo helped Locke uncover theft and fraud at Houston Winery, earning a house and arranging work for Adam with the City Guard. The chapter ended with Adam astonished by Yang Bo’s connections as they entered Green City together.

• Yang Bo pointed out suspicious reused wine-barrel stoppers and suggested using them to pressure the winery workers into speaking.
• Locke’s investigators learned that the Butler and managers had stolen wine, concealed poor production, and bought cheap barrels that ruined the wine’s flavor.
• Locke rewarded Yang Bo with a house and its deeds, though Yang Bo planned to keep living outside the city and rent the house out.
• Yang Bo asked Locke to give Adam a job, and Locke agreed after the Dean provided a letter of introduction.
• Yang Bo brought Adam through the city gate, where the guards greeted him warmly and left Adam impressed by Yang Bo’s standing.

Yang Bo helped Adam join the City Guard, then prepared for the upcoming trip to the Aquamarine Empire by passing an etiquette assessment. With twelve days left before arrival, he considered his plans for his territory and how to raise money.

• Yang Bo introduced Adam to Locke, and Adam completed the procedures to become a City Guard patrolman.
• Yang Bo took Adam on patrol, where Adam bought drinks for his squad and learned he should give gifts to the officers at the Sheriff's Office.
• After logging out, Yang Bo ate dinner with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin, then discussed competing in the Swordplay Competition and profiting from his matches.
• Yang Bo passed the etiquette assessment and learned about noble crests and the Aquamarine Empire's customs.
• Yang Bo checked on the people with Mental Seeds, noted that twelve days remained until arrival, and wondered how to make money using his noble identity.

Yang Bo learned that nobles profited from taxes and duels, then joined Locke and Green City’s knights to rescue a merchant caravan from robbers. After helping break the robbers’ cavalry charge with his bow, Yang Bo learned that a colleague wanted to buy the credit for his cavalry kill.

• Yang Bo warned Adam to remove his status badge and impressed Andy and the other students with his well-proportioned rooster sculpture.
• Yang Bo heard that bandits became active during the autumn harvest, then Locke summoned him to help a merchant caravan under attack.
• Yang Bo climbed a slope and shot a robber cavalryman as the robbers turned to face Green City’s knights.
• Green City’s knights defeated the robber cavalry, and the remaining bandits fled; Yang Bo received praise for disrupting their charge.
• Locke told Yang Bo that a colleague offered fifty Gold Coins and a valuable bow in exchange for credit for his cavalry kill.

Yang Bo received payment and recognition for his role in rescuing a caravan, then donated part of his earnings to Green Academy. After logging out, he weighed the risks and rewards of cavalry work and told Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin that he was learning gardening and carving.

• Locke explained Yang Bo’s rewards, including 80 Gold Coins, a bow, armor-piercing arrows, a possible promotion, and a week off patrol.
• Yang Bo returned to his comrades, who praised his archery, while Adam asked to join him on future missions.
• Yang Bo donated 20 Gold Coins to Green Academy, delighting Dean Eddie and stirring envy in the Swordsmanship Association’s young assistant.
• Yang Bo logged out and considered the costs and risks of earning Gold Coins as a cavalryman, deciding that archery seemed more profitable.
• At dinner, Liu Jingxiang asked about Yang Bo’s repayment and his studies, and Yang Bo said he was learning gardening and carving.

Yang Bo avoided joining Locke’s patrol outside the city and instead noticed concealed marks suggesting a coordinated plot within the city. He followed the suspected marker’s movements toward the noble district but kept the discovery to himself, waiting to see what would happen.

• Yang Bo discussed the limits of virtual professions with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin, then resolved to stay alert rather than blindly follow Locke.
• The academy suspended classes for harvest-season patrols, and Yang Bo joined Adam, Sandy, and Loden inside the city instead of riding out with Locke.
• While patrolling, Yang Bo spotted repeated, carefully camouflaged marks on stone walls and suspected bandits were planning something.
• Yang Bo noticed a man carrying traces of materials matching the marks, then saw a new mark appear after the man passed an intersection.
• Yang Bo inferred that the suspect was heading toward the noble district, but chose not to report his findings yet and prepared to watch for an opportunity to gain credit.

As Devon Star drew near, Yang Bo continued investigating the bandits’ plan in Green City and learned that Aquamarine swordfighters were challenging him ahead of the competition. When bandits attacked Norton Farm, Yang Bo spotted two people heading toward the noble district and waited to see how events unfolded.

• Yang Bo concluded that bandits planned to enter Green City through grain-cart traffic, gather near the noble district, and possibly escape by taking nobles hostage.
• Liu Jingxiang told Yang Bo that Aquamarine Empire swordfighters were provoking him, and he decided to investigate their wealth before accepting any challenges.
• Yang Bo and the others resumed their game-world patrols as the autumn harvest continued and their shifts grew longer.
• A rider announced that bandits had attacked Norton Farm, prompting knights from two Sheriff's Offices to ride to its aid.
• Yang Bo saw two people turn toward the noble district and let them pass, hoping to earn a greater reward by stopping them after the nobles had suffered losses.

Yang Bo and his squad uncovered a bandit ambush disguised as Viscount Harin’s carriages and rescued the Viscountess. The Garrison General ordered an investigation into the noble district’s apparent collusion, while Yang Bo and his companions received praise for their actions.

• Yang Bo spotted that the carriages, coachman, horses, and knights seemed suspicious, then signaled Sandy, Lord, and Adam.
• Yang Bo killed the bandit holding Viscount Harin’s wife and daughter hostage, while Sandy and Lord attacked the disguised coachman and knights.
• Yang Bo and his squad fought off the bandits and stopped four pursuing knights by shooting the lead horse, then Adam blew the warning whistle.
• The East District Sheriff reported the incident to the Garrison General, who heard Yang Bo’s explanation and ordered the suspects taken away for questioning.
• The Viscountess thanked Yang Bo and accused guards in the noble district of colluding with the bandits; the Sheriff praised Yang Bo, Sandy, Lord, and Adam.

Yang Bo and Adam received praise for foiling a kidnapping and theft plot, while Green City moved against the Fierce Tiger Thieves. Yang Bo refused Dean Eddie’s offer of dangerous training and planned to reach the Aquamarine Empire, investigate the Pirate Boss identity, and build a research institute.

• The Sheriff of the East District praised Lord, Sandy, and Handy for stopping the attackers, and Yang Bo was promised two merits.
• Interrogation revealed that the captured knights served the Fierce Tiger Thieves, prompting the Noble Council to send the Black Armor Cavalry and raid the thieves’ hideouts.
• Dean Eddie praised Yang Bo’s observation and archery, but Yang Bo refused his offer of a dangerous way to gain strength.
• Yang Bo and Adam practiced archery, and Yang Bo showed Adam his costly Horn Bow.
• Yang Bo logged off, planning to investigate the Pirate Boss identity after reaching the Aquamarine Empire and then build a research institute in his territory.

Yang Bo arrived on Devon Star for the Swordplay Competition and used his Pirate Boss identity, Viscount Bart, to investigate a tax increase at the noble service department. There he met his old friend Allen, who offered to look into tax exemptions and subsidies for Bart’s planned research investment of at least twenty billion.

• Yang Bo and the other contestants arrived in Wan Dao City, where he noticed a billboard challenging him and learned from Liu Jingxiang about the slave trade and gladiator arena.
• Yang Bo explored the surveillance-free coastline, adopted the Pirate Boss’s noble persona, and slapped a guard at the noble service department to gain entry.
• Yang Bo demanded an explanation for his increased taxes and discovered his identity’s full name was Bart Saint Hortman Vincent Altena, a member of a hereditary Senate family.
• Allen arrived, greeted Bart as an old friend, and explained that he was stationed at the department while the Empire’s officials sought to raise taxes.
• Yang Bo asked Allen about tax exemptions for investing in research and said he planned to invest at least twenty billion.

Yang Bo returned to Bart’s territory, arranged to invest in space research, and began recruiting scientists while keeping his identity hidden. The chapter ended with Jerry Butler revealing that the family was pressuring Bart to marry and had supplied six candidates, including a female Earl.

• Yang Bo and Allen discussed investing 20 billion, resisting proposed tax increases, and attending a masked ball before Yang Bo destroyed a visiting noble’s carriage and flew away.
• Yang Bo returned to his territory, planted another Mental Seed in Jerry Butler, and ordered him to buy nearby islands and prepare an account for Alliance remittances.
• Yang Bo told Zhang Bozhen that he had taken the people who tried to set him up as underlings, then received tens of billions of Credit Points through the account.
• Yang Bo told Jerry Butler that he planned to invest in space research and had recruited three top scientists, who decided to travel to Devon Star to meet him.
• Jerry Butler told Yang Bo that the family was urging him to marry and had provided six candidates, including a female Earl.

Yang Bo returned to his island territory, showed Jerry Butler his newly strengthened fire ability, and explored the estate before heading to Wan Dao City. After encountering the Aquamarine Empire’s hostility toward Alliance visitors, he stayed in and planned to meet Allen at a masquerade ball.

• Yang Bo questioned the marriage candidates, then told Jerry Butler that three scientists from Dimensional Modification Company were helping him research ultra-high-temperature materials and demonstrated a nearly ten-thousand-degree fireball.
• Yang Bo toured his estate, rewarded gardener Val with a doubled retirement pension, and drove around the island before deciding to visit Wan Dao City.
• In Wan Dao City, Yang Bo found a hostile billboard and learned that Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin had faced restrictions and insults while sightseeing, so they stayed in their lodging.
• Yang Bo found a message from Allen inviting him to visit his manor and attend a masquerade ball, deleted old messages from Bart's past, and returned to playing games.
• Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin invited Yang Bo to watch the Swordplay Competition opening ceremony, but he declined and suggested watching the Virtual Projection at their lodging.

Yang Bo attended a masked gathering aboard a yacht with Allen before watching the Aquamarine Empire Swordplay Competition’s opening ceremony. He recognized the Forty-Sixth Princess as the woman he had encountered at the gathering.

• Yang Bo met Allen at his estate, and they traveled together to a masked gathering aboard a yacht.
• Yang Bo and Allen mingled with guests; Yang Bo had sex with a masked woman in a bathtub, while Allen later discovered his partner was an old acquaintance.
• After returning to shore, Yang Bo changed back into his own identity and went to his hotel to watch the competition’s opening ceremony.
• The Crown Prince and the Forty-Sixth Princess addressed the ceremony, and Yang Bo recognized the Princess as the woman he had encountered that afternoon.

Yang Bo drew Zhao Song, a highly ranked Aquamarine Empire competitor, as his first opponent and faced a hostile crowd and biased commentary. He pretended to be on the defensive before defeating Zhao Song with a decisive counterattack.

• Yang Bo learned that his first match was against Zhao Song, ranked thirty-second in the empire’s qualifiers, and told Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin he was confident.
• Zhao Song mocked Yang Bo and Alliance competitors while boasting to fellow competitors that he would crush him.
• Yang Bo and Zhao Song’s match drew more than 10.8 billion blue coins in wagers, as the host publicly disparaged Yang Bo and praised Zhao Song.
• Zhao Song attacked fiercely, while Yang Bo retreated and blocked his blows, appearing to be driven toward the edge of the ring.
• Yang Bo used his strength to turn Zhao Song’s blade aside and won by knockout, then calmly left the ring.

Yang Bo defeated Zhao Song in the Swordplay Competition, sparking outrage among nobles and a profitable upset for bettors. After returning to the game, he learned that his next opponent would be Holly, a flexible and unpredictable swordsman.

• Yang Bo used Zhao Song's attempted change of technique against him, struck his face, and won by KO as the arena crowd cursed him.
• Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin celebrated with Yang Bo, who later found that viewers were calling him cunning while acquaintances from March Star congratulated him.
• Nobles beat Zhao Song, forced him to run naked around the arena shouting his name, and later heard that his Clan Leader had whipped him forty times.
• Jerry Butler saw that Yang Bo's five-hundred-million bet on Zhao Song's defeat had returned several billion, while Yang Bo defended himself in the game against Adam's complaints.
• Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin told Yang Bo that his next opponent was Holly, and he watched videos showing Holly's unusually flexible joints and tricky sword attacks.

Yang Bo defeated Earl Holly in the Great Arena after baiting him into a predictable attack, while Holly secretly profited by betting on Yang Bo to win. The chapter ended with Holly gleefully running his punishment laps and the Harif Family’s Clan Leader approving of his newfound ability to turn defeat into profit.

• Yang Bo and his companions discussed his upcoming match, while Holly learned that losers faced public punishment and decided to bet two hundred million on Yang Bo.
• Yang Bo placed another bet on himself, exchanged messages with Allen, Lin Yue, and White and the others, then prepared for the match with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin.
• Holly opened the match with his Wheel of Death technique, but Yang Bo dodged and probed until he countered Holly’s feint and knocked him out with a strike to the back of the neck.
• Yang Bo celebrated the victory with Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin and said he planned to arrange private challenges after one more match.
• Holly ran his punishment laps while shouting that he was an idiot, delighted that his bet had earned nearly 1.6 billion despite his loss.
• The Harif Family’s Clan Leader praised Holly for understanding how to profit from his defeat.

Yang Bo defeated Sun Yan in a brief match after noble swordsmen offered large sums to challenge him, turning the contest into an opportunity to earn money. The arena erupted in anger after Sun Yan lost, and an attack from a private room triggered a chaotic response.

• Yang Bo told Adam that contestants from the Alliance avoided public challenges to protect their profits, and Adam inferred that a guaranteed payment might persuade Yang Bo to compete.
• The royal spokesperson praised the Swordplay Competition’s fairness, and Yang Bo was matched against Sun Yan, a viscount known for quick victories who appeared to have a visual-type superpower.
• Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin told Yang Bo about public challenges offering up to a billion Blue Coins, and Yang Bo decided to screen offers while Zhao Song and Holly regretted not betting on him earlier.
• Yang Bo bet on himself again, while Sun Yan confidently wagered on his own victory and posted a taunting video before the match.
• Yang Bo defeated Sun Yan with a quick advance and won by KO, after which an angry spectator fired a Laser Cannon at the Energy Shield and nobles began hurling objects into the arena.

After humiliating Sun Yan, Yang Bo accepted Zheng Wusheng’s challenge for a six-hundred-million swordplay duel, inflaming the Aquamarine Empire’s nobles and drawing enormous wagers. As the duel approached, Yang Bo remained confident and continued preparing to exploit further challenges.

• Sun Yan was thrown out of the lounge, beaten by young nobles, forced to run around the arena with a trash can on his back, and later whipped by his Clan Leader.
• Yang Bo explained to Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin how he had used a feint and Sun Yan’s habit of overthinking to win their match.
• Yang Bo chose Zheng Wusheng as his next opponent, and the Swordplay Association announced their six-hundred-million duel after receiving the Emperor’s instruction to follow the rules.
• Yang Bo opened an Aquamarine Empire social media account, where Liu Jingxiang posted a taunt that prompted nobles to issue more challenges and boast about their wealth.
• Zheng Wusheng bet twenty billion on himself, while Sun Yan also wagered against Yang Bo, and the Association scheduled their duel for eight the following evening.
• Yang Bo discussed the coming duel and his plans with Adam, then told Liu Jingxiang he was eighty percent sure he would win.

Yang Bo defeated Zheng Wusheng by luring him into a predictable leap, then returned to his territory and learned that a princess had sent him a calling card. He arranged to meet her while planning a trip to Paradise Island with Allen, leaving his next encounter with the princess pending.

• Yang Bo baited Zheng Wusheng into leaping during their duel, then struck his exposed spine and won by KO.
• Holly and the others beat Zheng Wusheng for losing the match and their bets, and his Clan Leader later whipped him a hundred times.
• Yang Bo’s manager and assistant realized they would earn nearly sixty million Credit Points from his victory, while Yang Bo rested at the hotel.
• After drawing a bye for the next day, Yang Bo returned to his territory and discovered that a princess had sent him a calling card; he arranged to meet her for afternoon tea.
• Yang Bo and Allen discussed their recent gambling wins and losses, agreed to visit Paradise Island, and planned to attend its grand auction later in the month.