Chapter Summaries

Trapped underground and hunted by monsters, Vivian and the survivors reached the brink of despair before Mutated Sheath Blade Insects broke through from above and rescued them. Linsey descended into the mine as the insects drove the attackers back, leaving him to assess the survivors and the corrupted monsters.

• Vivian exhausted herself digging toward the surface while the monsters repeatedly forced the group to flee, and she eventually collapsed after asking Mill to protect everyone.
• Vivian awoke in Mine 2 and spotted the monsters closing in on the unaware survivors, then warned everyone as they prepared for a hopeless fight.
• A square opening broke through the ceiling, letting sunlight and Mutated Sheath Blade Insects fall into the mine.
• Vivian identified the insects as allies, and they attacked the twisted monsters and pursued them into the darkness.
• Linsey descended through the opening, asked about the survivors, and appraised a monster corpse as a corrupted, poisonous Invader.

Linsey rescued Vivian and the trapped survivors with the Mutated Sheath Blade Insects, then learned that intelligent enemies called Aberrants were withdrawing deeper into the mine. He appointed Red Stone to manage the mine and prepared to investigate the remaining creatures himself.

• Linsey found Vivian exhausted, soothed her into sleep, and sent the Mutated Sheath Blade Insects through the cave to slaughter the monsters.
• Linsey noticed that some slain creatures were labeled Invaders and others Aberrants, and concluded the retreating enemies were intelligent or commanded.
• Mill recounted the survivors’ ordeal, and Linsey thanked Red Stone for helping his subordinates.
• Linsey invited Red Stone to join him and appointed him to manage the mine while promising him access to Forest City’s learning structures.
• Linsey supplied food, water, and medicine for the survivors, ordered them to return to the surface, and left soldiers with Red Stone while he continued investigating the mine.

Linsey and Vivian explored the mine while discussing Vivian’s worries about her father, her inability to become an Awakened, and her wish to learn swordsmanship. At the end of the mine, Linsey noticed that the monsters had left no bodies or blood and followed the trail toward their suspected nest.

• Vivian told Linsey she was worried about her father, Yarrowen, but did not want her willfulness to endanger others.
• Vivian asked whether she could become an Awakened by the next Harvest Day, then said she wanted to learn swordsmanship to protect people.
• Linsey promised to teach Vivian to wield a sword as they continued deeper into the mine.
• At a newly formed crack, Linsey pointed out that the monsters had left no corpses or blood and had not been seen eating anyone.
• Linsey checked the Strategic Map, saw the explored routes disappear several kilometers underground, and led Vivian toward the suspected monster nest.

Linsey and Vivian discovered that the aberrations were controlled by a nearby mastermind and raced deeper underground after finding neutral markers under attack. They found several hundred humans held underground as livestock, and Linsey recognized that they had likely been trapped and raised there since birth.

• Linsey killed a watching aberration and inferred that the others acted with intelligence directed by their controller.
• Linsey found more than a hundred neutral markers surrounded by aberrations and hurried toward them after seeing one marker disappear.
• As Linsey fought his way forward, the aberrations retreated and left the neutral units behind unharmed.
• Linsey covered Vivian's face with a Filtering Cloth as they approached the source of the foul stench.
• Linsey and Vivian found hundreds of filthy, terrified humans with green pustules, and Linsey concluded that they had been raised as livestock.

Linsey discovered that the Mutated Ones kept humans in captivity as raw materials for experiments with the Corruption Poison. After the Mutated Ones collapsed the tunnels to block the way, Linsey received a new mission to eradicate the ancient enemies, and he explained their purpose to Vivian.

• Linsey tried speaking to the captive humans in several languages, but found they had been reduced to unintelligent livestock.
• Linsey used the Decryption Game Module to uncover that captives were fed Corruption Poison, transformed into Mutated Ones if they survived, and processed as food if they failed.
• The tunnels shook and collapsed, sealing off the paths underground, and Linsey used the Adventure Map to realize the Mutated Ones had blocked their escape route.
• Linsey reassured Vivian that the tremor was caused by fleeing Mutated Ones and checked the completed Emergency Rescue mission, its reward, and a new Underground Kingdom mission.
• Linsey told Vivian that the captives were raw materials used to infect people with Corruption Poison and create Awakened.

Linsey entrusted Vivian with organizing the rescue of the humans kept underground while he pursued the aberrants who had destroyed the tunnels. He caught up with the retreating enemies, killed them, and discovered the Flesh Bomb they had used to collapse the passages.

• Linsey decided Vivian would lead the effort to bring the captive humans to the surface while he hunted the aberrants.
• Linsey sent Vivian back on a Snow Wolf with a Little Wild Man, instructing her to alert the territory and arrange a road, supplies, and a rescue team.
• Linsey used Earth Escape to bypass the collapsed tunnels and followed the hostile markers underground.
• Linsey emerged into a tunnel and killed a group of aberrants with flaming spears before continuing his pursuit.
• Linsey shot down aberrants trying to activate another tunnel collapse and found a Flesh Bomb in one of their hands.

Linsey fought his way through the Underground World, tracked the aberrants’ controller, and confronted him in a cavern. He revealed that the Extinction Crown had revived but that he had forced it back where it came from.

• Linsey killed more than a hundred aberrants and used their behavior to estimate that their controller was four kilometers east.
• Linsey claimed the Withered Claw Amulet and Withered Overlord Flower, then wore the amulet to pass unnoticed among mindless aberrants.
• Linsey rejected the aberrants’ corrupted materials and followed a strong source essence fluctuation to an underground cavern.
• Linsey found a man controlling corrupted water and confronted him about keeping humans captive.
• The man recognized Linsey’s life source essence and warned him against opposing their side, while Linsey drew his sword and said he had forced the revived Extinction Crown back where it came from.

Linsey fought a powerful aberrant in an underground cavern, using his unusual weapons and abilities to overcome the enemy’s attacks and regeneration. After surviving the aberrant’s Flesh Bomb, Linsey tracked the wounded figure fleeing through the chaos.

• The aberrant attacked Linsey with a corrupted, poisonous punch, but Linsey burned away the poison and cleaved into his arm with the Lava Jet Stream Sword.
• Linsey revealed that he came from the Elemental Realm, unsettling the aberrant, who connected him to the ancient conflict with the Extinction Crown.
• Linsey struck the aberrant with a Poison Thorn Arrow empowered by the Annihilation Blade, weakening his body and soul.
• Linsey switched to the Gem Swift Sword and Red Horn Mistletoe to pierce the aberrant and disrupt his regeneration, causing Flesh Bombs to form in his body.
• Linsey sheltered behind a fortification as the Flesh Bombs exploded, then used his modules to aim at the wounded aberrant fleeing through the cavern.

Linsey defeated a Fifth Stage aberrant, but discovered it could revive unless its flesh and Source Material were completely destroyed. He planted a Withered Overlord Flower seed in the aberrant’s corpse and prepared to use the wandering low-stage aberrants as fertilizer.

• The aberrant devoured low-stage aberrants to heal its body and partly repair the soul damage caused by Linsey’s Annihilation Blade.
• Linsey attacked with his strongest sword combination and split the aberrant in two.
• Linsey’s map and Hunting Notes showed the aberrant was still present, and Scouting revealed it was dead but could revive through its Fifth Stage memory.
• Linsey used clue combination to learn ways to permanently kill aberrants and considered burning the corpse, but chose to test the Withered Overlord Flower seed instead.
• More low-stage aberrants entered the cave, and Linsey planted the seed in the corpse before aiming his bow at them.

Linsey cultivated a Withered Overlord Flower from the Fifth Stage aberrant’s corpse, producing Purification Fruits that boosted Constitution and resistance to Corruption Poison. After discovering a vast underground aberrant nation on his map, he headed deeper to continue hunting.

• Linsey reinforced the damaged cave while the Withered Overlord Flower absorbed the aberrant’s corpse and Bone Meal to accelerate its growth.
• Linsey found a Source Material Core on the corpse, an unusually powerful drop for a Fifth Stage aberrant, and wondered whether it had revived without regaining its former strength.
• The Withered Overlord Flower consumed nearby aberrant corpses and drew Corruption Poison from the cave’s water, while its roots avoided Linsey.
• The flower purified the cave and produced five Purification Fruits; Linsey ate one, gained its benefits, and kept the remaining fruits and a seed.
• Linsey expanded his underground scouting range, found Red Dots throughout a vast aberrant settlement, and continued deeper into the darkness to hunt.

Linsey continued hunting the Abyss School’s aberrants underground, but failed to extract information from them and found a vast tunnel collapse blocking his route. He concluded that he needed to expand his forces and take control of the entire world to end the threat.

• Linsey defeated a Fifth Stage aberrant and threatened him for information, but the aberrant tried to self-destruct, so Linsey killed him.
• Linsey reflected that none of the aberrants he had captured would reveal the Abyss School’s secrets and rejected the idea of disguising himself to infiltrate them.
• Linsey saw the humans captive at another breeding site and confirmed on the Strategic Map that Vivian had led troops from Insectfolk Canyon to rescue them.
• Linsey discovered that a collapse spanning several kilometers had sealed off the Underground World’s passages.
• Linsey realized he could not clear the entire underground by himself and decided to build up his forces and bring the world under control.

Linsey discovered infected humans helping aberrants manage captive people and killed them after they attacked him. He learned nothing about the aberrants’ organization before setting off to dig a route to the surface, troubled by what made someone human.

• Linsey planned to build an underground base and connect several areas with a route to the surface.
• Linsey found infected humans managing livestock alongside aberrants and saw them order the aberrants to attack him.
• Linsey killed the humans who charged him, leaving one alive to question.
• Linsey tortured the surviving man, learned he knew nothing about the aberrants, and killed him.
• Linsey began digging toward the surface and wondered whether humanity depended on body, mind, or both.

Sand Dune returned from his mission in Green Swamp with little intelligence and was attacked by a powerful vulture in the mountains. Just as he was badly injured and facing death, Vivian arrived with an army of Insectfolk to rescue him.

• Sand Dune headed back toward Banyan Forest after learning that Green Swamp enslaved the Awakened from Yarrow Camp but had no plans concerning Banyan Forest.
• Sand Dune camped in the mountains, then spotted a wind-controlling vulture magical beast diving toward him.
• Sand Dune used the terrain and his bow to fight the vulture, but it broke several of his ribs and proved to be a Fourth Stage beast.
• Sand Dune threw aside his notes and map as the vulture prepared to attack him again.
• Vivian arrived with Insectfolk, and one of their massive insects severed the vulture's wing as she asked Sand Dune if he was all right.

Sand Dune survived a vulture beast attack, advanced his hunter skill to the Fourth Stage, and returned with Vivian to the transformed Insectfolk Canyon. He found the canyon unsettlingly covered in living fungal growth, but Linsey welcomed him and offered him rest and a meal.

• Sand Dune killed the vulture beast with an arrow through its eye and advanced his hunter skill from the Third Stage to the Fourth Stage.
• Vivian reassured Sand Dune and explained that the Insectoid Tribe had pledged loyalty to Mr. Linsey and that its troops were modified worker bees.
• Vivian gave Sand Dune roasted meat from Mr. Linsey, and the food restored his strength.
• Sand Dune arrived at Insectfolk Canyon and saw that its landscape had been replaced by a vast, living fungal carpet filled with threatening insects.
• Linsey emerged from a fissure in the fungal carpet, greeted Sand Dune, and invited him to rest and eat before discussing work.

Linsey brought Sand Dune into the Insect Nest and used an Enhanced Healing Pod to heal his chest injury and enhance his physical abilities. Sand Dune emerged stronger and more loyal to Linsey, eager to use the pod again.

• Linsey led Sand Dune and Vivian through the eerie underground Insect Nest, showing Sand Dune its Creep and hidden passages.
• Linsey opened a Creep Blockade and revealed an Enhanced Healing Pod, then invited Sand Dune to enter it.
• Sand Dune hesitated at the frightening fleshy pod but trusted Linsey and lay inside.
• The pod’s fluid healed Sand Dune’s broken ribs and enhanced his physical abilities.
• Sand Dune emerged delighted with the results and asked Linsey if he could use the pod again.

Linsey expanded the Zerg Nest and planned its growth and attacks while assessing the Mutated Ones’ stages and the danger they posed. He worried that a Sixth Stage enemy could infect dead Zerg and turn them into monsters.

• Linsey treated Sand Dune, strengthened his constitution, and sent him back to the Banyan Forest after he had rested.
• Linsey reviewed the Level Two Insect Nest and found that reaching Level Three required a population of 3,000, which would take many months to breed.
• Linsey used Tunnel Bugs and the Zerg information network to clear the Underground World and coordinate attacks without leaving the Mother Nest.
• Linsey reserved his final sub-base slot and considered how to make the third base distinctive.
• Linsey outlined the five stages of Mutated Ones and noted that Fifth Stage Ascendants could revive unless completely destroyed.
• Linsey feared that a Sixth Stage enemy might infect Zerg corpses and create powerful monsters.

Linsey told Vivian they would return to the Banyan Forest to prepare for the Sports Meet and the territory’s new pledges, while sharing news about the Green Swamp and his eventual journey to the City of Law. He entrusted Vivian with the territory’s future, insisting that young people like her must hold and develop it after he leaves.

• Linsey told Vivian they would leave the Insect Nest the next morning to prepare for the Sports Meet and accept new factions into the territory.
• Linsey explained that the Green Swamp might hold a life-force treasure and reassured Vivian that her father, Brother Bull, and Sister Fanny were alive as forced laborers.
• Linsey said the Green Swamp would likely take at least a year and a half to send an army, giving the territory time to strengthen its Zerg forces.
• Vivian asked whether Linsey would leave for the Dust Road World after repairing the connection between worlds, and Linsey confirmed he would head to the City of Law.
• Linsey explained that powerful Awakened could overturn the territory’s military advantages and that he would have to confront such threats himself.
• Linsey told Vivian he could not take the territory with him and entrusted its management and future development to her.

After returning to the Banyan Forest, Linsey met with Hilude, who used her ability to perceive fate to share what she had learned about his goals and the dangers ahead. Before they parted, Hilude asked why his fate had been impossible to trace before he was thirteen.

• Linsey reunited with Hilude, whose abilities had stabilized at the Third Stage even though her legs remained paralyzed.
• Linsey took Hilude to the hidden book room, where she explained that the messengers’ information was incomplete but that she had supplemented it by peering into fate.
• Hilude bargained for Linsey to cook for her every day for twenty days, then revealed that the world-repairing connection existed in the south, likely in the Green Swamp Depths with a Seventh Stage Awakened.
• Hilude said the adventurer who had left an adventure journal was alive but in poor condition inside the Green Swamp, though she could learn nothing more.
• Hilude warned Linsey that the City of Law had been transformed by a king’s power and that an Eighth Stage Righteous Walker made the danger there immense.
• Hilude asked Linsey why she could find no script for his fate before he was thirteen, despite knowing he came from the World Border.

Linsey reflected on his past and discussed Forest City's growth with Vivian when a new quest called "Rebels in the Darkness" appeared. The quest asked him to aid people resisting violence and liberate oppressed humans.

• Linsey told Hilude that he had to confirm something in the City of Law World before deciding what to do next, and he left the library without explaining how he had reached the World Border.
• Hilude saw Linsey and Vivian together, glimpsed fragments of fate, and collapsed from her wheelchair after exhausting her source essence.
• Linsey remembered being sent away from the City of Law at thirteen and returned his attention to work when Vivian called him.
• Linsey and Vivian discussed Forest City's growing population, the possibility of building another academy, and the requirements for advancing its Civilization level.
• Linsey's Task Bar displayed the quest "Rebels in the Darkness," which offered a Spotlight Stone and Attribute Skill Experience Points for helping those resisting violence.

Linsey investigated the phrases “Rebels in the Darkness” and “Oppressed humans,” rescued captives, and planned more academies to educate them. He discovered Hilude unconscious from depleted Emotional Source Material, then prepared to receive delegations arriving for the Sports Meet.

• Linsey used the Strategic Map to locate another Mutated One settlement, and his insectoid forces rescued the humans held there and sent them toward the Banyan Forest.
• Linsey told Vivian to establish two more Forest Academies and have Hilude train teachers to support the rescued humans.
• Linsey found Hilude unconscious beneath her wheelchair and learned that her Emotional Source Material was depleted.
• Linsey carried Hilude toward his home, where Hammer told him that eastern factions’ envoys had arrived for the Sports Meet.
• Linsey asked Hammer to arrange separate receptions for every delegation.