Chapter Summaries

Alice explained the Little Cabbage Faction’s exclusive-material supply and auction system to the developer players, then invited them to bid on nearly a thousand products at the Micro Base. Ye Xulun searched for materials for magic-powered weapons and was left wondering about Bingguan’s large metal orders after learning she was building a ship.

• Alice assured the developer players that existing partners would receive priority for exclusive agreements on new materials, provided they stayed competitive.
• Alice warned that malicious bids could lead to a permanent blacklist and directed the players to the Micro Base’s material auction after their meal.
• Ye Xulun searched the metal listings for materials to make magic-powered firearms, bows, and crossbows, but balked at the high prices.
• Ye Xulun questioned Alice after seeing Bingguan bid on dozens of metals, and Alice explained that Bingguan needed them to build a ship.
• Alice privately recognized Bingguan’s potential as a major future client but said nothing about what Bingguan might do with the ship.

Alice explained Little Cabbage’s faction’s market strategy and sources of income while discussing a buyer’s large order for shipbuilding materials. Little Cabbage lamented that the Wood Elf Civilization lacked advanced weapons, and Alice wondered whether she should have chosen the Naga Civilization instead.

• Little Cabbage woke from a dream about hiding Flower Nectar and asked Alice to bring her some.
• Alice explained that the faction sold high-end materials through selected buyers to avoid disrupting the market and attracting policy restrictions.
• Alice described the faction’s profitable weapon sales and soldier-training program, which covered its heavy research and cultivation costs.
• Little Cabbage spotted a buyer’s order for a million tons of materials, and Alice said the buyer was likely experimenting with a warship.
• Little Cabbage complained that their civilization had no tanks, and Alice explained that the Wood Elf Civilization would need to unlock advanced Living Wood technology before it could produce large-scale weapons.
• Alice looked at Ice Crown and thought that, if she had chosen the route, she would have picked the Naga Civilization.

Ice Crown’s neglected East Sea Coast had become a thriving Naga faction with a refined city, productive villages, and a shipbuilding port. After arriving at the church, Ice Crown reunited with Little Fairy with Athlete’s Foot, who reported that Gou Dan’s Father had agreed to a seafood barbecue collaboration.

• Ice Crown’s faction developed the East Sea Coast into a prosperous port city with nearly ten thousand people and a large shipbuilding base.
• Ice Crown and her developer teleported into the church, where Little Fairy with Athlete’s Foot embraced her.
• Ice Crown protested that Little Fairy still treated her like a child and reminded her of their old teasing.
• The developer asked how the negotiations had gone, and Little Fairy said Gou Dan’s Father had agreed to a special seafood barbecue event.

Ice Crown explained her faction’s rapid coastal development and its urgent need to earn money by exporting seafood and opening sea routes to the Western Islands. Little Fairy revealed that the powerful captain she had found was on his way, and the developers identified him as Li Gou Dan, the top Wind Demon player.

• Ice Crown reflected on how her big sister’s engineers and researchers had helped her Naga faction grow, while the faction neared the end of its funds.
• Ice Crown described her plan to sell seafood through Wang Gou Dan Barbecue and send two ships toward the Western Islands to find population, resources, and trade opportunities.
• Ice Crown asked Little Fairy about the promised combat-profession captain, explaining that her faction needed a strong player to lead its sea expeditions.
• Little Fairy said the captain was coming that afternoon and was among the top ten players.
• A developer player identified the seventh-ranked player as Li Gou Dan, the number-one Wind Demon player.

Xi Ye reviewed the players’ progress and prepared Main Base’s defenses against threats from D-Earth and the New World. With his new deterrent ready, he planned to use Yang Rui to expand the game worldwide.

• Xi Ye read his classmate’s journal about adapting marine life with Nars genes and reflected on the time needed to evolve citizens.
• The Super AI reported that Player Icecrown had begun building a ship and would finish it in five days.
• Xi Ye checked the faction rankings and the Black Goat Map’s exploration, keeping players away from the cities because they might face biological weapons.
• Xi Ye confirmed that the Membrane Crossing Magnetic Field and Reshaping Force Field Device were ready to counter D-Earth’s nuclear threats.
• Xi Ye learned that Yang Rui had escaped abroad with Main Base’s help and ordered the Super AI to track him as a way to bring the game worldwide.

Little Fairy brought Ice Crown to Li Gou Dan's crowded tailor shop, where Ice Crown learned that Li Gou Dan's mother made expensive third-grade enchanted clothing and considered ordering a set. Ice Crown discovered that Little Fairy had already placed an order and was waiting to ask about its progress.

• Gondolin's booming population kept Li Gou Dan's Tailor Shop crowded with customers seeking clothing and custom designs.
• Little Fairy explained that Li Gou Dan's mother was a skilled tailor and third-grade enchanter whose custom outfits cost at least a thousand Main Base points and were booked far in advance.
• Little Fairy described how Li Gou Dan supplied her mother with high-grade cotton and elemental silk so she could develop her enchanting skill.
• Ice Crown considered borrowing public funds to order enchanted clothing, which could also help her practice the Breathing Technique.
• Li Gou Dan came out to greet Little Fairy and confirmed that her mother was inside, prompting Little Fairy to ask about her own clothing order.

Ice Crown toured Li Gou Dan's tailor shop and learned how much money and specialized training its high-grade clothes required. After seeing Aunt Guang carefully boil elemental silk, Ice Crown and Little Fairy left with Li Gou Dan to discuss their voyage.

• Li Gou Dan explained that the shop had not yet recouped its costs because deposits did not cover its expensive materials, labor, soil, and rent.
• Ice Crown reconsidered training an enchanter after realizing that developing her own professions and the tailor business would strain the Main Base's resources.
• Ice Crown watched Aunt Guang boil Frost Element silkworm cocoons and learned that high-grade tailoring required knowledge of several fields, including plant studies, beast taming, energy shaping, and alchemy.
• Little Fairy learned that elemental spiders could produce valuable silk and complained that the Main Base had bought her spiders for far less than their value.
• Li Gou Dan suggested they talk elsewhere about the voyage, and Ice Crown eagerly agreed.

Li Gou Dan met with Icecrown to discuss Icecrown’s nearly completed East Route ship and considered joining her faction as its captain. After seeing the vessel and hearing its capabilities, Li Gou Dan asked for a day to decide, leaving Icecrown unsettled by the pressure she seemed to radiate.

• Li Gou Dan and her companions discussed the lack of players choosing life professions while eating at a cheap inn in Gondolin.
• Li Gou Dan described her dangerous efforts to explore the West Coast and asked Icecrown about the ship she had heard was being built.
• Icecrown showed Li Gou Dan a massive, black-coated cargo ship equipped with elemental cannons and automated defenses, explaining that it was nearly finished.
• Icecrown said she had only twenty percent of her equity left for recruiting and cautiously asked what terms Li Gou Dan wanted.
• Li Gou Dan said she would consider the offer and give Icecrown an answer the next day.
• Icecrown noticed that Li Gou Dan’s gentle refusal carried an intimidating presence like that of an instructor at the Main Base.

Li Gou Dan told Zhang Minjun that she would leave to captain a voyage and negotiated a weekly visit, then went to the Main Base to discuss Icecrown’s contract with Grandpa Lu. There, she and Xi Ye found Grandpa Lu transformed into a strange, silent shape that Wei Lin suspected was a Phoenix Egg.

• Li Gou Dan told Zhang Minjun she would soon leave for one or two years, and Zhang Minjun agreed to see her once a week if she logged off and returned home.
• Zhang Minjun asked Li Gou Dan to check on the younger Li family members in the sect and see how her estranged husband was doing.
• Li Gou Dan said she would find someone to replace her in the Pakistan bodyguard assignment and then left the Tailor Shop.
• Li Gou Dan teleported to the Main Base to discuss the Icecrown contract with Grandpa Lu, but found him transformed into a strange lump.
• Xi Ye questioned whether the lump was a phoenix descendant, and Wei Lin said Grandpa Lu might have entered dormancy as a Phoenix Egg.
• Wang Gou Dan saw the lump and exclaimed that it looked like a huge butt.

Li Gou Dan sought Xi Ye’s advice about joining Ice Crown’s seafaring faction, while Wang Gou Dan came looking for Grandpa Lu about the Seafood Market. Ice Crown then privately offered Li Gou Dan a guaranteed twenty percent share, leaving Xi Ye impressed by her resolve.

• Wang Gou Dan explained that he had come to find Grandpa Lu about developing the Seafood Market, and Li Gou Dan said she had come to seek him too.
• Xi Ye encouraged the two Gou Dans to ask him for advice, and Li Gou Dan asked whether joining Ice Crown’s faction would be worthwhile.
• Xi Ye described Ice Crown’s faction and warned that Li Gou Dan’s likely share would be lower than those of less powerful members, though the faction suited her goal of seeing the sea.
• Ice Crown sent Li Gou Dan a private message inviting her to join and promising her twenty percent of the shares.
• Xi Ye realized Ice Crown intended to make up the promised share from her own portion and admired her determination.

Li Yichen waited at the manor, hoping to reconcile with Li Min Jun, but Li Jia Yi ordered him thrown out. His sister Li Siyan visited to see her niece and warned him that Li Jia Yi shared his cold-hearted nature.

• The Li family prospered through Li Gou Dan's achievements in Pakistan and at the Kunlun Martial Arts Competition, while Li Yichen was left out of the rewards.
• Li Yichen asked Lao Wang whether Li Min Jun had returned and insisted he would accept being thrown out if she would come back.
• Li Jia Yi arrived, dodged Li Yichen's attempt to hug her, and told Lao Wang to throw him out before her mother returned.
• Li Siyan arrived after Li Yichen was thrown out and said she had come to see Li Jia Yi.
• Li Yichen claimed that Li Jia Yi would always care more about him than her relatives, but Li Siyan said her cold heart resembled his own.

Li Gou Dan told her aunt she would be away for one or two years, then left Pakistan after giving its leader a sect communication device and promising to help him. Meanwhile, in the Steel Empire’s Underground Palace, the lich Kersu faced questions about whether the person he had summoned would ever return.

• Li Gou Dan told Li Siyan she would be gone for one or two years and reassured her that her cousins in the sect were doing well.
• Li Gou Dan asked Li Siyan to tell the person waiting outside not to visit while she was away.
• Li Gou Dan told Pakistan’s leader she had to leave for personal matters and gave him a communication device, promising to help if he needed her.
• In the Steel Empire’s Underground Palace, a burly figure asked Kersu whether the person he had summoned could still return.

Kersu and the others learned that the Master’s lingering Dark Energy would sustain them for only a year, so Marina proposed two possible paths to survival: find Alice or travel west to investigate the rift. The chapter ended with Kersu agreeing to locate Alice while the group considered seeking news of the missing Master.

• Meng Jia Lagu De confronted Kersu, who warned him that a fight would waste their dwindling energy.
• Marina asked how long their bodies could last, and Kersu said one year in the palace or one month outside without fresh life force.
• Marina argued that Alice’s recovering soul flame meant she might have found a way to survive and could be somewhere in the Steel Empire.
• Kersu agreed to cast a Prophecy Spell to locate Alice, at the cost of half his energy.
• Marina proposed traveling west, where she believed the rift mentioned by the Master might provide news of him.

Li Gou Dan attended a farewell dinner with the Special Forces soldiers before her flight, while Wang Ye stayed away because he was heartbroken about her leaving. She found him under the moonlight and asked him to come with her.

• Li Gou Dan joined the soldiers for a farewell dinner and learned that Wang Ye was absent, supposedly busy with the new Dragon Group members.
• Wang Ye admitted to the deputy captain that he felt unworthy of pursuing Li Gou Dan because of her status and strength.
• Li Gou Dan arrived with her suitcase and told Wang Ye that her flight was still two hours away.
• Li Gou Dan seriously invited Wang Ye to come with her.

Li Gou Dan took Wang Ye from the airport to the East Coast to watch her ship’s sea trial, using a Teleportation Array to bring him to a gathering of green giants. Wang Ye remained confused as Gou Dan introduced her First Mate and handed him protective clothing to board the ship.

• The deputy captain told the team that Li Gou Dan had secured Old Man Li’s approval for Wang Ye to leave active service and join her.
• Li Gou Dan hurried Wang Ye from the airport toward the East Coast, explaining that her ship was having its sea trial.
• Li Gou Dan led Wang Ye into a grove, told him to close his eyes, and transported him to a place crowded with green giants.
• Little Fairy teased Wang Ye and argued with Li Gou Dan about what form he might take after shapeshifting.
• Li Gou Dan confirmed that the sea trial had not started and gave Wang Ye protective clothing so she could show him her ship.

Wang Ye inspected Li Gou Dan’s enormous battleship and questioned its unusual movable gun turrets. When a vast insect swarm approached, the developer player calmly ordered the ship to fire, leaving Wang Ye stunned.

• Li Gou Dan flew Wang Ye to the harbor, where she proudly showed him her battleship.
• Wang Ye examined the ship’s massive guns and challenged the developer player’s explanation of its mechanical turrets.
• The developer player explained that the guns were operated remotely by mechanical arms inside the Ship Cabin.
• A huge swarm of insects surged toward the harbor, and Wang Ye tried to find Li Gou Dan so they could escape.
• The developer player activated the mechanical turret and ordered it to annihilate the swarm, leaving Wang Ye incredulous.

Wang Ye watched Li Gou Dan's warship annihilate an immense insect swarm and learned that its weapons and defenses far surpassed his expectations. After touring the ship's luxurious interior, Li Gou Dan asked when they could depart, only to learn they still needed to train the crew.

• Li Gou Dan's warship used Gatling Guns to destroy a vast insect swarm in seconds, leaving Wang Ye stunned.
• Wang Ye criticized the ship as an obsolete, vulnerable design, but the developer revealed its advanced air defenses and missile-interception system.
• The developer demonstrated the Shaping Cannons' laser fire and explained that torpedoes and missiles were ineffective against higher-level technology.
• Li Gou Dan brought Wang Ye aboard the ship, where the developer showed them its luxurious cabins, restaurants, pools, and other facilities.
• Li Gou Dan asked when they could set sail, and the developer told her that they first had to train the crew.

Li Gou Dan learned that captaining the newly built ship meant training a large crew and recruiting specialists, while Bingguan urged her to use her military connections to find an expert. At the harbor, Meng Jia Lagu De and Marina watched the ship’s faction destroy a massive insect swarm in seconds and realized how dangerous an attack on the city would have been.

• Bingguan explained that Li Gou Dan would need to prepare sailors, weapon operators, repair specialists, doctors, cooks, and entertainers for the ship.
• Li Gou Dan learned that Bingguan could supply basic crew members, but the faction lacked cooks, doctors, bards, and mechanical experts.
• Bingguan proposed recruiting a developer player to teach the crew and remain aboard to oversee maintenance.
• Bingguan suggested that Li Gou Dan use her Dragon Group connections to recruit a senior military technical officer, then advised her to make Wang Ye sign a contract first.
• Meng Jia Lagu De and Marina watched the harbor’s defenders eradicate the hundreds of billions of flying insects within seconds and feared what would have happened if they had attacked.

Gou Dan spun an elaborate story for Wang Ye about Luofu’s secret realm, its advanced technology, and its plans to cooperate with Central China. Wang Ye believed him and prepared to report back, while Xi Ye watched the exchange and considered using the story to explain Luofu to the world.

• Wang Ye questioned whether the industrialized land could really be Luofu’s secret realm, and Gou Dan claimed it was a vast world rich in resources.
• Gou Dan told Wang Ye that Luofu’s elders disagreed over whether to share the realm with all humanity or cooperate with Central China, and Wang Ye argued that Central China should keep it.
• Gou Dan claimed Luofu had welcomed foreign scientists and developed advanced technology while keeping the continent’s native civilization primitive.
• Wang Ye tried to contact Old Man Li and his superiors, but Gou Dan warned that Luofu’s tens of thousands of Gene Surgery-enhanced cultivators could take extreme measures if the secret leaked.
• Xi Ye watched Gou Dan’s deception on a screen and considered refining the story as a public explanation of Luofu.

Wang Ye learned about the available gene surgeries and considered choosing the Green Titan before denying any interest in it after Li Gou Dan teased him about weak kidneys. Elsewhere, Marina challenged Kersu to prove the master's technology was real, and Kersu revealed that a mysterious ship at East Coast Port could be summoned.

• Li Gou Dan explained that Green Titans gained a powerful extra body while keeping their original bodies, then had Wang Ye sign a contract giving Li Jia Yi all the value he created in the Star Sea.
• Wang Ye compared the Developer, Elf, and Green Titan races, ruling out the first two because he preferred combat abilities and feared an unpredictable transformation.
• Wang Ye nearly chose the Green Titan, but after Li Gou Dan connected the race to kidney problems, he claimed it had no appeal to tough men like them.
• Marina questioned Kersu's claims about the master's technological arsenal and asked him to produce convincing proof.
• Kersu told Marina that a ship the master had once ridden lay at East Coast Port and could be summoned, though he agreed it might be understood as a monster.