Recaps

The Transian forces caught the Twilight researchers trying to escape through the ratmen’s tunnels and fought their way toward the Explorer. Murphy and Claire cornered the Explorer, who transformed into a werewolf, but Bablo killed him with one shot from his holy relic, Midnight Luck.

• The Explorer ordered his cultists to abandon the failing ratmen assault and erase their laboratory before escaping through the tunnels with their research data.
• Cheche’s group blundered into the cultists’ escape route, and the Explorer attacked Yuan, killing him with three corrosive beams.
• The players and Blood Covenant knights fought the cultists and ratmen as Murphy arrived and called Claire underground to stop the escape.
• Claire broke through the ground with her Paragon power, then cut down most of the cultists before Murphy restored her to peak condition with Time Exile.
• The Explorer transformed into a werewolf and charged Murphy, but Bablo shot it apart with his Blood Dread holy relic, Midnight Luck.

After Murphy’s warriors rescued the Blood Dread pirates, he sent the players to hunt the fleeing ratmen and learned that they were rapidly adapting to warfare. Murphy examined Bablo’s relic, Midnight Good Fortune, extracted its blueprint, and unlocked a mechanical version for himself.

• Murphy offered Beast Within as a prize to the player who killed the most ratmen within three days, and the players charged into the tunnels to pursue them.
• The Blood Pact shield knight thanked Murphy for the rescue, agreed to report the Blood Dread Clan’s support for the coming war, and bought sample firearms for Lord Heather.
• Bablo warned Murphy that the ratmen were learning quickly and had likely fought organized sieges before, suggesting a new danger in the Dark Mountains.
• Murphy asked Bablo to inspect Midnight Good Fortune, and Bablo let him handle the Blood Dread relic after Murphy offered Necessary Evil in return.
• Murphy used the Myriad Manifestations Device to extract Midnight Good Fortune’s blueprint, unlocking its mechanical version, then invited Bablo to visit a casino.

Murphy rescued the Bloody Captain’s pirates, uncovered Dusk’s experiments and its infiltration of the Tower of Rings, and learned that Heru might have ties to the cult. At Baphomet Gorge, Velanse revealed that ratmen had destroyed Majewa City and driven her from her homeland.

• Murphy arranged care and shelter for the rescued pirates, sent Adele to prepare the Shadowy Half-Elves’ relocation, and received evidence from the suspected werewolf’s remains.
• Murphy examined a Maker-made injection device and the cultist’s diary, learning that Dusk’s Scholar faction had created ratmen and werewolves as weapons.
• Murphy discovered that Dusk had manipulated King Louis’s purge of the Tower of Rings, framed Lina Firm Anitara, and recruited mages including Paniel and possibly Heru.
• Murphy decided to investigate Heru’s possible ties to Dusk and seek the escaped Lina as an ally against the cult.
• At Baphomet Gorge, Velanse told Murphy that ratmen had destroyed Majewa City and asked where they had come from.

Murphy Embraced Vilanth, gaining a death-defying talent and the Shadow Spider Sword, then revealed his theory that Twilight’s agents had colluded with ratmen to destroy Mejewa. Vilanth accepted the alliance and left to find the traitor within her family.

• Vilanth described how ratmen tunneled into Mejewa and helped devastate the city alongside another power, while Murphy suspected a conspiracy.
• Murphy Embraced Vilanth, who survived through the Spider Lady’s protection, and gained Weaver’s Embrace and the Shadow Spider Sword.
• Murphy told Vilanth that Twilight had infiltrated Mejewa and likely used ratmen as part of a betrayal that brought down her city.
• Vilanth vowed to expose the traitor and seek the other Shadow Elf families’ help, while Murphy urged her to identify spies among her followers.
• Murphy sent Vilanth to recover her strength and bring her followers to Transia within five days, and she left determined to find the traitor.

The Tablet Expedition advanced through Baphomet's Great Dungeon, with Winnie explaining the risks and costs of summoning minotaurs to Touching Your Poverty. The group found the hidden church containing the gnolls' Tablet of Civilization, where the Bonechewer King urged them to retrieve it and offered to help Hogg become the gnolls' representative of civilization.

• Winnie summoned a minotaur and taught Touching Your Poverty about its gold-ring offering, the chance of summoning a lethal hell bull, and the costs of other powerful summons.
• Triss told the group that the minotaur had sensed danger, while Hogg used the Bonechewer King's whispers to guide them toward the tablet.
• The expedition reached a hidden church atop a stone pillar, and Hogg struggled against the Bonechewer King as it tried to take control of his mind.
• Triss helped Hogg yield control temporarily, allowing the Bonechewer King to reveal that the tablet was inside the church and offer to help Hogg represent gnoll civilization.
• Triss called the Bonechewer King Phile and warned it to behave; it agreed to cooperate after the tablet was retrieved and said the matter was important to both it and the Scarlet Witch.

Triss, Palanno, and their companions stormed the goatmen church to stop a Warp ritual and recover the gnoll Civilization Tablet. Murphy’s Omega program purified the church and destroyed the Corrupted priest, and the chapter ended with Murphy asking Hogg to explain himself before the recovered relic.

• Palanno smashed through the church doors and charged the servants conducting a blood ritual that was opening a connection to the Warp.
• Triss attacked the goatman priest while Hogg and Monyqiong tried to remove the Civilization Tablet, and the priest used a talisman to trap Palanno in Baphomet’s nightmare.
• The priest immobilized Hogg, Monyqiong, and the manticore, but Murphy’s Omega program released a purifying halo that freed the party and burned the Corrupted priest to death.
• Monyqiong brought the recovered Civilization Tablet to Murphy, who turned to Hogg and asked him to answer his questions.

Murphy questioned Phile, the Bone-Biting King, about the gnolls’ origins and the Golden Age, learning how Phile became their king and lost the Fourth Calamity. Phile also explained why Dusk sought the Pact of All Life and revealed that he had led its followers to a Creation Site.

• Murphy inspected the gnoll Civilization Stone Tablet and learned it could make Hogg the gnolls’ spokesperson and grant him an evolution.
• Phile revealed that he was a third-generation gnoll named Perfect, created in the Golden Age to lead the gnolls, and that he awoke after the Eden district had vanished.
• Phile described uniting the gnolls, binding himself to the Civilization Stone Tablet, and losing the Fourth Calamity before returning to his people’s original homeland.
• Phile explained that Dusk wanted the Pact of All Life so its followers could approach the Heart of the World without suffering the Creator’s punishment.
• Phile admitted that he had told Dusk about the first Creation Site it discovered and asked Murphy to send his soul to the Creation Engine after his death.

Murphy and Triss learned how the Bone-Biting King had encountered the Dusk and discovered their interest in the World's Heart, while Triss challenged his claim to serve the Creator. After the group acquired a valuable cursed grimoire, they confronted goatfolk cultists who let them leave rather than risk Murphy's purifying power.

• The Bone-Biting King explained that he had told an advance force where to find a Creator ruin, later refused to join the Dusk, and suspected they sought civilization tablets to reach the World's Heart.
• Murphy said Mannis had tasked him with helping the World's Heart ascend to godhood, and the Bone-Biting King suggested finding the Eye of the World to locate it.
• Triss accused Fierro of manipulating the gnolls and creating a corrupted Lord of the Hunt, and Fierro admitted his mistake before relinquishing control of Hogg.
• Triss identified the cultist's grimoire as a fragment of the Book of Ten Thousand Curses, and Murphy checked that it carried no dangerous power.
• Murphy, Triss, Hogg, and their allies faced a Nightmare High Priest and his goatfolk cultists, who ordered them out of Baphomet's underground palace.
• Murphy decided to accept the cultists' departure offer and leave with the grimoire rather than waste time fighting them.

Murphy assigned Winnie to map Baphomet’s grand dungeon and prepare it for future adventurers, while Touch Me Poor began his initiation task. At the Genesis Site, Hogg asked Murphy to secure the Filthy Swamp, Baphomet Canyon, and Barren Mountain for the gnolls, and Murphy ordered the underground laboratory restarted so Hogg could become their representative.

• Murphy appointed Winnie the Blood Eagle Clan’s permanent Maze Exploration Officer and promised to grant her a wish if she completed a map of Baphomet’s grand dungeon.
• Murphy assigned Touch Me Poor to organize a map of the dungeon’s upper levels, and Triss gave him a manual for summoning minotaurs.
• Triss brought Hogg, Knight Palanno, and the civilization slate to the Genesis Site, where Murphy learned the exhibition hall could hatch another Millennium Egg and restart its sealed biological laboratory.
• Triss warned that restarting the laboratory would weaken the sanctuary’s defenses, but Palanno pledged the Bloodbound Knights’ support for Hogg’s safety.
• Hogg agreed to try to become the Sage Gnoll and asked Murphy to secure the Filthy Swamp, Baphomet Canyon, and Barren Mountain as a homeland for his people.
• Murphy accepted Hogg’s request and ordered the underground biological laboratory restarted to prepare for Hogg’s spokesperson binding.

Murphy and his companions took Hogg to the Creator’s underground laboratory, where Hogg became the gnolls’ new civilization representative and gained enhanced intelligence. Hogg then bound itself to Murphy with the Geas of Eternal Life and prepared to build its influence among the Dark Mountains’ gnolls.

• Murphy, Triss, Hogg, and Palanno explored the geothermal machines beneath the Swamp Exhibition Hall and entered the reactivated biological laboratory.
• Murphy and Triss placed the gnoll civilization tablet in the certification device, and Hogg underwent the representative-binding process in the biological pod.
• Hogg chose intelligence as its enhancement, saw a vision of the first gnoll, and nearly answered the Hunting Lord’s call before Triss and Murphy snapped it out of the trance.
• Hogg resolved to seek out the Plagueblight Clan and Rending-Flesh in the Dark Mountains, while Murphy offered to take it to the Dark Valley and help it select godslayer warriors.
• Hogg asked Murphy to bind it with Lord Paine’s Geas of Eternal Life, and both of them crushed the bloodstones to complete the bond.
• Hogg privately addressed Murphy as the Messenger of the Creator and Sir Alpha.

Hogg departed with Palanno for Shadowvale to meet the Butcher and Lord Paine, while Murphy prepared to become a Bloodkin civilization candidate. During authentication, Murphy entered Salokdar’s memories and witnessed the Bloodkin’s plans to alter their species and the catastrophe that followed.

• Palanno promised that the Blood Oath Clan would return to Transia’s front lines, and Murphy gave Hogg Golden Age armor and instructions for choosing Godslayer Warriors.
• Hogg told Murphy that the Creator had personally devised the Alpha Plan and called him the Creator’s Chosen One, pledging the jackalmen’s loyalty to him.
• Murphy and Triss discovered that the damaged Bloodkin Civilization Slate could authenticate a Blood Eagle candidate, and Triss persuaded Murphy to undergo the process.
• Murphy entered Salokdar’s memories in Eden District, where the Bloodkin planned genetic changes to their species and discussed the coming completion of the Creation Engine.
• Murphy witnessed a memory of Salokdar rescuing Oksana amid collapsing ruins as a voice blamed the Bloodkin for destroying a blueprint and warned that a corrupted piece had to be left behind.

Murphy recovered memories from Salokdar’s blood that might reveal the vampires’ original sin and the Sanghai Empire’s origins, then gained new ancestral powers and began his Silver Trial. After collecting a curator’s reward, he prepared to test Creator technology at the Desolate Mountain.

• Murphy awoke from the blood-memory experience and told Triss he had seen evidence about the vampires’ original sin and the Sanghai Empire, but needed to verify it.
• Murphy’s authentication granted him the Psychic Aura · Blood Eagle, the ancestral powers Dark Night Claws and Scarlet Arcana, and triggered his Silver Trial.
• Murphy tested his ability to manipulate blood on Triss, who explained that the power was associated with the Secret Blood Clan.
• Murphy discovered a curator’s reward and unlocked achievements for helping Hogg and hatching two Millennium Eggs.
• Murphy told Triss about Salokdar’s memories, then collected five high-energy batteries and two Fixed Energy Matrix Generators from the warehouse.
• Murphy planned to test the shield generators’ power at the Desolate Mountain.

Murphy and Triss helped Shani undergo the Thorn Clan’s inheritance ritual in the Land of Creation, where she uncovered the vampires’ role in the first Warp invasion and the deliberate erasure of the survivors’ memories. Shani nearly succumbed to the returned memories’ corruption, and Triss told her they had to fight the Warp rather than flee.

• Murphy and Triss made Shani remove her psionic items before letting her enter the Land of Creation, then explained that she had to complete the Thorn candidate ritual to access her clan’s inheritance.
• Shani warned Murphy and Triss about her Ghostly Haunting supernatural law, gave Murphy the Envy fragment, and entered the biopod for authentication.
• Murphy experienced a brief, embarrassing resonance with Shani’s Ancient Dream, in which their consciousnesses inhabited Salokdar and Oksana during an intimate memory.
• After the ritual, Shani revealed that the ancient vampire grand dukes’ Perfect Life project in the Eden District triggered the first Warp invasion, which the Sentinel stopped, and that the survivors’ memories had been deliberately erased.
• Shani began to panic as she suspected a hidden force was drawing the vampires back toward the past, so Murphy slapped her to bring her out of the Warp’s influence.
• Triss reminded Shani that Dusk served the Warp and said they had to fight unless they were willing to kneel before it.

Murphy learned that the Sentinels may have represented the Creator after Eden fell, then asked Shani to find the framed Plasticity Master Lina Firm Annetara. At Wolf Castle, he told Hru that his mentor had joined the Dusk, and Hru chose to help investigate him.

• Murphy asked Mannis when the first deity was born and concluded that the Sentinels might have represented the Creator and protected the World's Heart after Eden's destruction.
• Mannis said it could not visit the time of Eden's fall, revealed that Fallen Virtue had been lost after the Avalon Church's destruction, and offered future secrets in exchange for Murphy breaking its seals with the Creator's power.
• Murphy gave Shani a journal describing Lina Firm Annetara's framing and asked her to find Lina and arrange a meeting in Transia.
• Murphy left Shani to rest with Triss and went to Wolf Castle, where he told Hru that his mentor had faked his death and joined the Dusk.
• Hru denied receiving messages from his mentor, then chose to join the Shadow Intelligence Bureau and help confront him; Murphy warned him of the danger and gave him source blood.

After Shani left the Land of Creation, Murphy and Triss discussed the secrets of Eden and the approaching Black Calamity, while Murphy prepared to launch the expansion in twenty-five days. Meanwhile, players cleared a ratmen nest and Uncle Qin found evidence that the ratmen were genetically engineered weapons, leaving him suspicious that a scientist had infiltrated Transia.

• Murphy and Triss used the Creator’s Leisure Soda, which improved their condition and advanced their subspace resistance and detection talents.
• Triss suspected Shani knew the location of Eden and that the history of Oksana’s death had been distorted; Murphy proposed questioning Old Edward and Lord Pailing about the past.
• Murphy decided to end the closed beta in twenty-five days and launch the Black Calamity expansion, while he and Triss promised to face the crisis together.
• Sister Pomegranate led the Blood Eagle players in an assault on the ratmen nest as players from other races joined the battle and searched its rooms.
• Uncle Qin found a diary describing the ratmen as genetically engineered biological weapons created under Lord Scholar, and he pocketed the diary and a chart.
• The players burned the giant mother rat, and Uncle Qin suspected that a scientist from an organization had infiltrated Transia.

After A-Cha'en won Murphy's ratman hunt, Sister Pomegranate planned to transfer to the Thorn Clan to strengthen her combat role. Meng Haha uncovered evidence that the ratmen were unfinished biological weapons and warned the authorities, while Brother Loyalty began investigating the possibility of a hidden advanced civilization.

• A-Cha'en won the ratman hunting contest by a wide margin and claimed Murphy's staff-sword, while Sister Pomegranate decided to seek a transfer to the Thorn Clan.
• Sister Pomegranate explained to Little Ashina and Lumina that Thorn Clan training would suit her monk abilities and help her serve her team, and she planned to ask Murphy and Grand Duke Triss for permission.
• Qin Ye gave Meng Haha notes and diagrams from the ratmen's laboratory, and she found that the ratmen were created through genetic engineering and still had three stages of enhancement ahead of them.
• Meng Haha warned the Young Lady and Lady Adele about the potential ratman threat, and Adele established a Ratman Task Force with Meng Haha as its leader.
• Meng Haha reported her suspicions to Brother Loyalty, who decided to investigate whether Transia concealed a highly advanced technological civilization.

Hogg recruited Ripsoul to help him unite the gnolls and prevent their corruption by the fallen Hunting Lord. Ripsoul agreed to aid the Wise Wolf, and they planned to gather the Plague-Poison clan and restore Crippleclaw.

• Murphy arranged a tour of Transia for Shadow Valley’s half-elf delegation while Hogg met with the undead Ripsoul.
• Ripsoul recognized the Bone-Biting King’s influence in Hogg and learned that Hogg intended to become the gnolls’ civilized representative, not their king.
• Hogg revealed that the Hunting Lord was about to become corrupted and warned that the gnolls would be doomed if its influence spread.
• Hogg urged Ripsoul to help him rally the Plague-Poison clan and build support for a gnoll homeland aligned with Transia and its allies.
• Ripsoul accepted Hogg’s plan, despite warning that the Splitclaw clan threatened his weakened people.
• Hogg gave Ripsoul the phylactery containing Crippleclaw, and Ripsoul suggested asking Nefertari to restore his mind and guide the gnolls toward the Death Moon.

Hogg rallied Transia’s leaders and veteran players to join a quest to enter Moss Valley and kill the Lord of the Hunt before it was born. More than two hundred players accepted the legendary quest, which would select 120 participants after Hogg’s quest chain ended.

• Tearflesh explained that the Church of the Death Moon welcomed Hogg’s offer to make Nefertari its future guardian of faith, while warning that Twilight had secretly advanced the Black Calamity and corrupted gnoll clans.
• Murphy restored Tearflesh’s severed hand and asked it to teach his warriors hunting-priest techniques without requiring them to worship the Lord of the Hunt.
• Hogg entered the Avalon temple in Shadow Valley, where Murphy, representatives of the four vampire clans, Avalon Church leaders, and veteran players gathered to support its god-slaying mission.
• Hogg revealed that it was the Bone-Biting King’s chosen heir and called on Transia’s warriors to follow it into Moss Valley and destroy the Lord of the Hunt.
• Murphy distributed the orange legendary quest, and more than two hundred players accepted despite warnings that the quest was extremely difficult and only 120 would ultimately be selected.

Murphy organized the preparations for a godslaying expedition against the Lord of the Hunt, setting trials for the players and assigning Adele to manage the shadow elf vampires. After learning that Mejewa might become part of their conflict, Adele considered a possible future as its ruler, while Palanno confronted Murphy over his relationship with her.

• Natalie, Ironfist Turner, and Knight Liwen announced that their gods had ordered them to join the campaign against the Lord of the Hunt, and Murphy pledged support from the vampire clans.
• Murphy and Hogg laid out two training stages for the players and gave them ninety days to recover the Bonechewer King's weapons from a guarded tomb.
• Happy Stick and Meow Brother set off with other players for Wolf Fort after Murphy confirmed that the godslaying squad's places were open to anyone who proved worthy.
• Murphy asked Adele to lead Vilanser's remaining shadow elf followers, then revealed that Dusk's destruction of Mejewa could force them to return there and suggested Adele might rule the city if it were rebuilt.
• Adele agreed to lead the shadow elves and said she might eventually accept ruling Mejewa, while Murphy told her she was free to refuse.
• Palanno confronted Murphy about Adele, but Murphy explained that he had given her his Source Blood, and Palanno agreed to let him keep the rose while warning him not to break his oath.

Maxim and Murphy prepared the Transian forces to hold the Shadowy Valley against the gnolls, while Murphy proposed offering dying soldiers the choice to become vampires or return to battle through mechanical modifications. The chapter ended with Maxim accepting responsibility for the plan and Murphy urging Kudell to fulfill his duty to Transia.

• Maxim and Kudell surveyed the Shadowy Valley, where Maxim planned to hold the gnolls while Kudell commanded the Maginot Line.
• Murphy presented Maxim and Kudell with a plan to offer dying soldiers a vampire embrace using diluted primal blood, along with war insurance that could return them to battle through mechanical modifications.
• Kudell condemned the plan as coercive, and Murphy insisted he would do whatever was necessary to keep the gnolls out of Transia.
• Maxim stopped their argument, took the documents, and promised the Shadowy Valley would become a graveyard for Transia's enemies and a resting place for its fallen defenders.
• Murphy told Kudell he would fight alongside his people and asked him to fulfill his duty to Transia.

Major Ron learned from Fraser that Murphy and Maxim were building the People's Army around elite veterans and could rapidly expand it, possibly using vampires to escape the Black Calamity. On the road to Blackflame Pass, Murphy explained his plan to replace blood pacts with shared ideals and ordered Maxim to pursue Laennia while he dealt with High Lord Paine.

• Major Ron questioned why Murphy kept the People's Army to three thousand soldiers, and Fraser explained that veterans formed its core and that experienced workers and reservists could quickly expand the force.
• Fraser argued that Murphy could turn the soldiers into vampire warriors who could escape the gnolls by flying, prompting Ron to understand why Fraser was writing a will.
• Murphy told Maxim that soldiers would be asked to sign a document and that he wanted to replace blood pacts with Source Blood and shared ideals as the basis for the Blood Eagle Clan.
• Murphy and Maxim discussed Lord Heather, the Blood Oath Knights, and High Lord Paine during their journey to Blackflame Pass.
• Murphy used the blood pact to make Maxim reveal that he and Laennia had reached second base, then ordered Maxim to win her over and promised to handle High Lord Paine.

Murphy visited Blackflame Pass to assess its defenses and discuss Transia’s purchase of burning gold with Lady Heather. He left Maxim behind to coordinate with her after offending her by calling Loren a “shorty.”

• Blood League retainer knights escorted Murphy and Maxim to Blackflame Pass, where Murphy surveyed its defenses and learned the forces stationed there.
• Captain Heather urged Murphy to bring his soldiers to the pass, but Murphy explained that Shadowvale’s defenses would provide a fallback if the pass fell.
• Heather revealed her identity as a dwarf vampire and told Murphy that burning gold powder was already on its way to Transia, with a halfling airship chartered for transport.
• Murphy praised Heather and gave her liquor, then angered her by insulting Loren as a “shorty” and fled into the sky after deflecting her thrown shield.
• Heather calmed down over the liquor and offered to advise Maxim on the Silver Trial, while Murphy left him to discuss military affairs at the pass.

Murphy flew to Hunger Mountain to meet the halfling warlord Siuk Flywheel, hoping to do business and recruit ogres against the gnolls. After persuading Big Strong and his brothers that he was an invited guest, Murphy was summoned into Siuk Flywheel’s laboratory and challenged to explain the contents of a computing orb.

• Murphy escaped Lord Heather’s anger and flew toward Hunger Mountain, while surveying Blackflame Pass and worrying that its defenses would not withstand the gnolls’ weapons and tactics.
• Murphy passed the Brass Fortress and concluded that the gnolls would probably focus their attack on Transia rather than assault the fortified dwarf city.
• Murphy landed among four ogres and offered them meat, explaining that he had come to meet their boss, Siuk Flywheel.
• Big Strong doubted Murphy’s story until Twoegg recognized the Core Orb as an item belonging to Siuk Flywheel.
• Murphy offered Siuk Flywheel money and proposed hiring the four ogres to fight gnolls in exchange for two meals of meat a day.
• Siuk Flywheel spoke through the Core Orb, told Murphy to stop manipulating the Four Hungry Brothers, and invited him into his laboratory to explain the computing orb.

Murphy explored Sluik Flywheel’s factory inside Hunger Mountain, met the steam automaton Molly, and discovered Flywheel was repairing another automaton with a mechanical heart. Flywheel confronted Murphy over the stolen shipment, and Murphy proposed becoming a new client and buying all his stored computing orbs.

• Murphy saw bugbears operating a large factory that produced weapons and armor for the gnolls.
• Molly searched Murphy, examined his transforming rifle, and warned him that Sluik Flywheel was a brilliant engineer and alchemist.
• Murphy entered Flywheel’s laboratory and helped him restart Dina’s mechanical heart while asking about the Twilight and Flywheel’s weapons sales to the gnolls.
• Flywheel revealed that he had hidden tracking devices in the weapons and refused to join Murphy’s war against the Twilight.
• Flywheel threatened Murphy with a coil pistol over the stolen shipment, and Murphy offered to buy all of Flywheel’s stored computing orbs.

Murphy negotiated with Shuke Flywheel to buy calculation orbs and acquire his weapons, troops, and factory assets, while proposing ambitious communication and administrative systems for Transia. After Shuke rejected Murphy’s attempt to pay nothing, Murphy revealed a newly discovered fuel-gold deposit and offered it as payment, leaving Shuke to consider the deal.

• Shuke Flywheel revealed that he had 36,700 cracked calculation orbs, and Murphy agreed to buy them if Shuke customized them for Transia’s information and communication systems.
• Shuke examined Murphy’s core orb, discovered its scrambled psychic factors and enhanced functions, and offered Murphy a twenty-percent discount.
• When Murphy asked for more core orbs, Shuke offered to obtain unfinished prototypes from Chardo Port for 100,000 gold coins each.
• Murphy offered to buy Shuke’s weapons, mercenaries, raw materials, and factory production lines, then admitted he did not intend to pay with money.
• Shuke ordered his automaton bodyguard to remove Murphy, but Murphy showed him raw fuel gold from a newly discovered Transian deposit and offered it as payment.