Recaps

Hugserson met its ancestor, the King of Bonechewers, Lord Fiercefang, who explained the danger of the Hunting Lord and assigned it a role in delaying the god’s birth while supporting Hogg’s mission. Back in the material world, Hugserson helped the exhausted Hogg, who promised to care for Nanak and Hugserson’s children if it did not return.

• Lord Fiercefang told Hugserson that Botana had tried to use it and explained that the Hunting Lord must not be born before Hogg’s journey could secure the gnolls’ future.
• Fiercefang ordered Hugserson to become the Hunting Lord’s Chosen, purge Botana’s voodoo through its power, and delay the god’s birth while supporting Hogg and the Godslayers.
• Hugserson agreed to follow the plan but maintained its hatred of Murphy and its intention to avenge Botana.
• Fiercefang warned Hugserson that a future choice would determine the mission’s success and urged it to live for itself.
• Hugserson returned to its body and caught Hogg before he collapsed, while Nanak watched in surprise.
• Hogg told Hugserson to trust Murphy when the crucial choice came and promised to raise Hugserson’s children with Nanak if Hugserson did not return.

Hugsen accepted the Huntmaster’s blessing but resisted being remade, while the Bonechewer King showed him visions of the gnolls’ glorious past and urged him to help restore their people. Hugsen emerged ready to march on Transia, as Hogg’s growing army departed Blackeye territory with Popok and Nanak.

• Hugsen returned to Moss Valley with the Rending Claw Clan’s holy relic, Corrosive Wounds, and asked Lord Manson for Hunt’s Chosen warriors to fight Transia.
• Lord Manson agreed to bring Hugsen’s request to Chieftain Amot and secretly ordered an investigation into where Hugsen had gone.
• Hugsen entered the Huntmaster’s blood pool with Deathclaw, and the Bonechewer King’s power helped him withstand the attempt to overwrite his mind.
• The Bonechewer King showed Hugsen visions of gnolls guarding the Creator’s works and urged him to help his people reclaim their former glory.
• Hugsen endured the blessing, shared its burden with Deathclaw, and ordered the priests to prepare an army to march on Transia in the Huntmaster’s name.
• Hogg left Blackeye territory with an army assembled by gnoll players, while Popok escorted his injured sister Nanak and boasted of the future he would build for the clan.

As gnoll players gathered under Moonlit Mad Wolf, they built tribes and began a campaign to conquer the Dark Mountains on the Wise Wolf’s journey to the Broken Fang lands. Mad Wolf planned to expand the Azure Wolf Army through coordinated raids and prepare for a possible war against the Broken Fang tribe.

• Furry Immortal livestreamed the Azure Wolf Army’s march and explained how gnoll players could conquer followers, form tribes, and choose development paths.
• Furry Immortal described the gnoll player community, its tribal leaders, and the exclusive “Journey to Find Our Roots” quest.
• After the livestream, Furry Immortal met Moonlit Mad Wolf, who planned to split the 108 minor tribes into three groups to conquer seventeen small tribes.
• Mad Wolf aimed to grow the warband before confronting the 4,000-member Sandfang tribe and eventually the Broken Fang tribe, despite Furry Immortal’s doubts about their numbers.
• Mad Wolf argued that player information-sharing and coordinated command could let gnoll tribes overcome larger forces, and told Furry Immortal to recruit experienced faction-war strategists.
• Mad Wolf declared the Azure Wolf Army would unite the gnolls as the Whip of Chaos, and Furry Immortal enthusiastically joined his call to scourge the world.

Murphy prepared Transia’s defenses against the gnolls while news that the Wolfblood Holy Sword had fallen threatened to draw Nordtov into the war. In the real world, Sister Cement told Mrs. Shui she had less than twenty days to live, but Mrs. Shui returned with a gaming helmet so Cement could enter the other world before she died.

• Murphy reviewed the tunnel and mine defenses planned for Barren Mountain with Lord Oufger and asked him to press King Louis to support the war effort.
• Master Yuri told Murphy and Lord Oufger that the Wolfblood Holy Sword had been corrupted and that Winter Wolf forces would come to destroy it.
• Murphy welcomed the news, expecting the fallen relic to force Nordtov to intervene against the gnolls.
• Sister Cement told Mrs. Shui that her body was failing and that she expected to die within twenty days, but she believed she would continue her journey in another world.
• Mrs. Shui returned to Sister Cement’s hospital room with a gaming helmet and invited her to enter the other world as a new player.

Sister Cement entered True Otherworld as a special case and learned that Murphy and Triss were vampires in Transia, not the Observers. With her body dying within twenty days, she was invited to explore the Golden Age technology and join Murphy’s Midnight Children, with her true career as a player set to begin after her death.

• Madam Shui forced Sister Cement to wear her custom helmet, which sent her past a mental safeguard and directly into the game’s opening sequence.
• Sister Cement selected the Blood Eagle Clan vampire template and entered the game without clothes, where Murphy and Triss explained that she was a special case and her real body had no more than twenty days left.
• Sister Cement realized Murphy and Triss were the Observers, but Murphy clarified that the Observers existed and that their technology had enabled the connection between worlds.
• Triss warned Sister Cement that her projection was made from Triss’s blood and that she could hear Sister Cement’s thoughts, while Murphy urged her to cooperate as a liaison for Blue Star.
• Sister Cement examined a biopod capable of diagnosing illnesses and synthesizing medicine, then recognized that her possible return to life could attract dangerous attention.
• Murphy welcomed Sister Cement, also called Cement Heart, to the Midnight Children and gave her twenty days to explore the Creator’s ruin before she would be resurrected in Scarlet Castle as an outsider.

Murphy and Triss discussed using Cement Heart’s expertise to secure powerful allies, while Sister Cement worried that the vampires might misuse a prototype. At the field hospital, Major Ron awoke, mourned Dunn, and confronted Fraser over the Pioneer Legion’s use of psychic plagues, then resolved to return to the Pioneer Fortress and demand answers from Marshal Loren.

• Triss warned Murphy that Cement Heart might make a remarkable discovery, and Murphy explained that her expertise could help win allies for Transia.
• Murphy and Triss shut down the elevator for privacy while Sister Cement failed to open it and worried that the vampires would use a dangerous prototype.
• Major Ron woke in the field hospital and learned that Dunn had died at Blackflame Pass while Ron had lost his left leg to amputation.
• Fraser and the other commanders comforted Ron, but Ron revealed that the gnolls’ psychic plagues matched weapons used by the Pioneer Legion in Xico City.
• Ron accused the Tower of Rings and the psychics of betraying their country, then demanded that Fraser help him return to the Pioneer Fortress to confront Marshal Loren.

Major Ron rushed to confront Marshal Loren over the plague that killed his men, forcing the Pioneer Legion’s secret compromise with the Tower of Rings into the open. Loren had Ron and his adjutant arrested, then admitted to General Soros that the old deal had returned to haunt them and vowed to make those responsible pay.

• Major Ron asked Loyalty Bro to fit him with a prosthetic leg and arrange passage to the Ancestral Forest so he could reach the Pioneer Fortress.
• Loyalty Bro fitted Ron with a prosthetic, and Ron’s captain chose to accompany him to the fortress despite the risks.
• Ron and his captain confronted Marshal Loren, accusing him of using the same plague as the gnolls and demanding justice for the dead at Position Eight.
• Ron resigned his commission by throwing his insignia onto Loren’s desk, then warned that the Pioneer Legion would watch Loren’s response; Loren ordered both men arrested.
• General Soros picked up Ron’s insignia, and Loren confessed that the Tower of Rings had supplied the plague before vowing to make those responsible pay.

Colonel Fraser learned that Ron and George “Iron Hand” Robinson had been imprisoned for allegedly plotting a rebellion, then returned to the Shadowvale front after Mirian explained Ron’s strategy and urged him to trust his brother. Meanwhile, the Silvermoon Company decided to explore the Blackflame Pass position, where its members hoped to find relics and prepare for the Silver Trial.

• Colonel Fraser received word that Ron and George “Iron Hand” Robinson had been stripped of their posts and jailed, and Marshal Loren ordered him back to the Shadowvale front.
• Mirian told Fraser that Ron had deliberately forced Marshal Loren to address the scandal and had trusted Fraser to manage the consequences.
• Fraser thanked Mirian and left to return to the front, while Mirian resumed her administrative work and noted Boss Huo and Boss Cat-and-Rabbit’s contributions to Transia.
• Little Ashina proposed that the Silvermoon Company explore Blackflame Pass after the tainted psychic energy there had weakened.
• Pomegranate warned the group about dangers beneath the position, while Orchid revealed she had unlocked her fourth ancestral power and planned to attempt the Silver Trial.
• Madam Water agreed to lead an expedition to Blackflame Pass, and Little Ashina went to recruit more people for the search.

The explorers returned to Blackflame Pass to search its ruined encampments and recover Lord Heather's relic, where they found undead warriors and fought Dark Lord’s infected gnolls. Orchid stayed behind to hold off the creatures and begin her Silver trial, with a certain Yuan providing covering fire.

• The Silvermoon Company’s planned midnight departure was delayed after Madam Judy’s drinking contest left the tavern in chaos, and the group set out for Blackflame Pass the next morning.
• At Blackflame Pass, Loyalty Brother warned that the ruins beneath the rear encampments might still contain undead, and Giant Shark’s team found thousands of undead warriors in an underground cavern.
• Little Ashina called the explorers to Encampment Eight, where infected gnolls were attacking near Lord Heather’s relic, and the players rushed to join the battle.
• Loyalty Brother repaired the walker, Pink Pear drove it through the infected, and Nightstalker Bat Puppet’s rocket helped the Silvermoon Company retreat.
• Orchid awakened her ancestral frost powers and stayed behind to begin her Silver trial, ordering a certain Yuan to help the others retrieve Lord Heather’s relic.
• Orchid invoked her Winter Essence Incarnation and declared that the time to ascend to Silver had come, while a certain Yuan prepared to cover her with gunfire.

Murphy led an assault on Dark Lord Chosen hiding beneath Blackflame Pass, but discovered that some had already escaped. Meanwhile, Orchid completed her Silver Trial at Outpost Eight and was found unconscious inside a layer of ice.

• Murphy issued a quest for players to reach Blackflame Pass and hunt the Dark Lord's servants, then traveled there with Vilanser, Bonnie, and vampire guards.
• Murphy tracked the Dark Chosen into the tunnels and helped destroy the group with Omega's purifying light, but found footprints showing that others had gone farther underground.
• Vilanser attempted to divine the escapees' direction and warned Murphy that the Dark Lord might establish a cult to target him.
• Murphy learned that the first outsider had reached Silver rank and discovered that the achiever was a woman who had completed her Silver Trial.
• Catbro and Sister Pomegranate found Yuan protecting the unconscious, ice-covered Orchid among the frozen Infectors at Outpost Eight, and concluded that she had advanced to Silver rank.

Orchid celebrated becoming the first Silver-tier player, then returned to Blackflame Pass and tested her powerful combat exoskeleton against a Darkness's Chosen. The players discovered that absorbing a Darkness Core granted a dangerous explosive skill, leaving them with a possible new weapon and a serious risk.

• Orchid logged back in after her advancement reset and received the server-wide announcement that she had reached Silver, raising the level cap to 30 and unlocking advanced classes and skills.
• Orchid checked her new Silver Body attributes and talents, then shared a meal with Yuan before they headed back to Blackflame Pass.
• Orchid equipped the King of Bone-Biting's combat exoskeleton and used it with a chainsword and shield to help defeat a Darkness's Chosen.
• Dog Egg absorbed the creature's Darkness Core and gained Dark Form, but using the skill caused him to lose control and explode, leaving a massive crater.
• Meow Brother retrieved the unchanged Darkness Core and suggested it might be an upgraded version of Last Stand Pact's power boost.

Murphy learned that Dark Cores could unleash the Lord of Darkness’s divine power when used by his heroes, and he arranged for Triss to turn them into dangerous victory wine. Meanwhile, Shani received a report of a possible Dragonflame Lina and an unknown deity’s chosen one in Borneo City, forcing her and Lord Panying to change their route.

• Villanthe explained that Dark Cores vanished when Murphy’s Omega power purified the Dark Chosen, but could cause destructive bursts when the heroes used them.
• Villanthe divined that most Dark Chosen remained in the tunnels at Blackflame Pass, while some had fled toward the ratmen, and agreed to help Murphy’s heroes track them down.
• Murphy told Triss to let Cement try to repair the dismantled biopod and proposed using Dark Cores to enhance the heroes’ victory wine.
• Triss agreed to experiment with the Dark Cores and make the heroes’ victory wine into powerful suicide weapons against the gnolls.
• Shani received a report that a psychic possibly identified as Dragonflame Lina and a mysterious woman had appeared in Borneo City, so she and Lord Panying planned to visit there first.

In Bernier City, Chuchute and the badly injured psionicist Lena prepared to travel east toward Callem while hiding from those tracking them. When Thorn Assassins ambushed them, Lena fought them off, and Chuchute chose an escape route through Transia aboard a ship carrying displaced serfs.

• Chuchute watched Bernier City's busy trade while Lena checked her lessons and discussed their journey east to Callem.
• Lena explained that Triss in Transia might help Chuchute with the divine power protecting her, while Chuchute said she had chosen to avoid the Land of Origins because it could expose her to danger.
• Room service arrived at their door, but Lena stopped Chuchute and attacked the Thorn Assassins outside with dragon's breath.
• Lena drove back the vampires and retreated with Chuchute toward the window as the building caught fire.
• Chuchute chose to jump into the market, steal clothes, and board a ship carrying serfs to Transia; Lena agreed, despite fearing they would have to cross the Dark Mountains during the Black Calamity.

Shani and Payin pursued Lina to recruit her and discussed Oksana’s corrupted memories and the danger of the Warp. Shani’s attempt to persuade Lina failed, so Payin appeared, and Lina agreed before he could punish her with his cursed eyes.

• Shani told Payin that Lina had escaped aboard a slave ship bound for Transia, and Payin insisted on joining the pursuit.
• Shani reported that Oksana had visited the Eden District ruins to recover erased memories, succumbed to Warp influence, and arranged her own death; Payin ordered her to avoid the ruins and keep the matter secret.
• Payin gave Shani Source’s power signature and the Heart of Thorns, ordering her to destroy Source’s hideouts and visit Murphy for cleansing after each attack.
• Shani boarded the slave ship and urged Lina to go to Transia and meet Murphy, but Lina refused and declared she would rather die than deal with him.
• Payin appeared before Lina in a crimson glow, and Lina immediately agreed to join rather than face his cursed eyes again.

Murphy received Lina and her apprentice as a gift from Venerable Lord Payn, who had sealed them in coffins, and learned Lina was near death after being judged for five sins. Murphy chose to turn Lina into his progeny, while Femis planned to spread otherworldly entertainment through Transia and demonstrated a new psionic technique.

• Farm serfs arriving in Rapidflow Fortress were processed at the port and sent to quarantine before being assigned work and settlements.
• The port authority forwarded two sealed coffins and a letter from Grand Duchess Shani to Crimson Castle, and Murphy hurried back to investigate.
• Triss explained that the coffins held Lina and her apprentice, and that Venerable Lord Payn had instructed Murphy to recruit Lina directly.
• Femis opened Lina's coffin, and Triss revealed Lina was dying after Payn used Sinful Judgment on her; Murphy decided to make her his progeny.
• Femis announced plans to distribute otherworldly works through a Computation Orb network and accepted responsibility for showing films to troops.
• Femis demonstrated her Crimson Wrecking Ball technique, and Murphy asked her to teach it to him.

Lina was unwillingly revived as a vampire through Murphy’s Embrace, then admitted she had directed the astral rift that swallowed Cadman City and agreed to help rescue its surviving inhabitants. She explained how the Tower of Rings’ Grand Dean had been activated and described the sacrifice of the mage Maredin.

• Lina awoke from the Embrace and resisted the forced urge to submit to Murphy, who told her he wanted to restore her freedom but lacked primordial blood.
• Lina confessed that she had directed the astral rift over Cadman City, accepted responsibility, and asked Murphy, Triss, and Femis to spare her apprentice Chuchu.
• Murphy told Lina that one hundred thousand people remained trapped in the astral plane and urged her to help stop Twilight from sacrificing them to create World-Burning Demon Troops.
• Lina read the reports on Twilight and vowed to search the Dark Mountains, rescue the trapped people, and burn down the Tower of Rings, now a Twilight stronghold.
• Lina explained that the Grand Dean had been activated after Maredin brought back an unknown object from the Dark Mountains, and that it had guided the Tower of Rings’ operations.
• Lina said Maredin had died with thirty high-ranking psychics while helping the Sun Boat destroy the Bone-Biting King’s territory and end the Fourth Black Disaster.

Triss explained the Tower of Rings’ history and its transformation after the Fourth Calamity, while Femis revealed that she was becoming a spirit destined to reach the demigod realm. When Qiuqiu Te awoke, her divine knife exposed her connection to Kukulkan, and Murphy learned that she blamed Old Finok for devastating her homeland; he took her to hear the dead man’s story.

• Triss described the Tower of Rings’ founding, its former reputation as humanity’s hidden guardians, and its shift toward aggressive intervention after the Fourth Calamity.
• Murphy said the group needed to meet the Grand Dean, whom they suspected was a Golden Age AI, while Femis insisted she was ready to learn the group’s secrets.
• Femis explained that Avalon had told her she would awaken her talents and advance toward demigodhood as a spirit born from its seed of divinity.
• Triss, Murphy, and Femis opened the time-frozen box and woke Qiuqiu Te, whose obsidian knife released powerful solar energy when Triss took it.
• Qiuqiu Te said she had come from the New Continent to save Kukulkan and her kingdom, and accused the white Demon King of slaughtering her people.
• Murphy showed Qiuqiu Te Old Finok’s statue, recognized him as the Demon King she described, and offered to tell her how he had died and why he was not as evil as she believed.

Murphy passed Kulkulkan’s Sun Grail trial and learned that the Astral Titans had sworn the Frontier Pact to fight the Warp in exchange for the Creator’s gifts. Kulkulkan warned that some Titans planned to break the pact, leaving Murphy alert to a dangerous conflict among the gods.

• Murphy warned Chuchute that the Dusk might be manipulating her, and she explained that Kulkulkan had sent her to find knowledge that could purify the god.
• Chuchute presented Kulkulkan’s Sun Grail and challenged Murphy to touch it as a test of trust.
• Murphy revealed himself to Kulkulkan as Alpha, and the god’s sunfire spared him while driving Chuchute away and burning Avalon’s hiding place.
• Murphy received the Grail’s memories and witnessed the Titans swearing the Frontier Pact before the Creator’s appointed defender.
• Kulkulkan explained that the Titans had fought the Warp for over a thousand years and warned Murphy that some of them planned to tear up the pact.

Murphy learned why Kulkulkan wanted to amend the Frontier Pact and negotiated for her to transfer her fire-based purification symbolism to the Holy Light. Kulkulkan agreed and asked Murphy to help cleanse her corruption and protect the Aztecs, who guarded the Heart of the World.

• Murphy questioned Kulkulkan about breaking the Frontier Pact, and she explained that the gods had been trapped fighting the Warp for over a thousand years without a way to retreat and recover.
• Kulkulkan described how Liuguk's death led to Wam's birth and said Wam's ability to return to the material world had shown the other gods what they lacked.
• Kulkulkan asked Murphy to find the Spider Lady's original shrine and intervene in the Aztec Kingdom, while Murphy insisted she make amends for her past desertion.
• Murphy proposed that Kulkulkan grant the Holy Light seed her purification-by-fire symbolism, and Kulkulkan agreed to help the seed grow and empower its followers.
• The Everlasting Manner warned Murphy that Kulkulkan might be trying to claim motherhood of the Holy Light and expose it to corruption, so Murphy demanded she strip away the power instead.
• Kulkulkan accepted Murphy's offer and asked him to help cleanse her, speak well of her to the other gods, and protect the Aztecs and the Heart of the World.

Murphy survived his encounter with Kulkan and sought Avalon's help in granting the seed of the Light the symbol of Healing, which could establish new knight paths. Avalon agreed to help in exchange for Murphy finding the Spider Lady's original shrine, while revealing that the Warp was corrupting its aspects and that the Mother of the Forest was in danger.

• Murphy emerged unharmed from the Sun's Fire, comforted Triss, and told her that Kulkan had granted the seed of the Light the symbol of Purification by Fire.
• Murphy planned to ask Avalon for Healing and seek the Earth Holy Grail's aid in creating Protection Knights, while Triss took the Sun's Holy Grail to Chuchute.
• Murphy told Lina to keep her distance because the blood pact could intensify her feelings for him, and Adele advised Lina to await Source Blood and prepare for battle.
• Murphy asked Avalon about the Frontier Pact and requested Healing for the seed of the Light in exchange for undertaking a mission.
• The Maiden of the Moon said the Frontier Pact would break and tasked Murphy with finding the Spider Lady's original shrine to help her complete her fated separation.
• Avalon showed Murphy the Mother of the Forest being consumed by darkness and explained that freeing the Spider Lady would also help save Avalon from corruption.

Murphy learned that Princess Padella Chuchute Osiris had come from the powerful Aztec Sun Kingdom to demand aid against the undead and expose the Explorers' Association's crimes, while he uncovered the kingdom's formidable arsenal. Natalie agreed to join Lina's mission against Dusk, and the two prepared to seek a fortune-teller in Gloomy Valley.

• Natalie accepted responsibility for her father's crimes and promised Chuchute that the Avalon Church would help make amends in the New World.
• Chuchute revealed her identity as King Osiris's daughter and accused the Explorers' Association of poisoning Kulkhan and massacring the people of Machut; Murphy suspected someone had disguised their actions to provoke conflict.
• Murphy told Chuchute to conceal her identity in Transia for now and arranged for Mirian to teach her diplomacy.
• Chuchute and Murphy exchanged weapons, and she revealed that the Aztec Kingdom had tens of thousands of Artificer's weapons and hidden vaults capable of arming ten legions.
• Lina asked Natalie to join her search for Dusk's scholarly faction and the missing Cardmen; Natalie agreed to bring Witch Hunters and set out with Lina for Gloomy Valley.

A goatfolk raid led by Poll destroyed a Rending Claw Clan fortress and potion fields, which were producing ingredients for a psionic plague. After learning that ratfolk might guard a nearby life-eater mushroom farm, Captain Daims sought help from the Sin Dwarves before the planned assault.

• A Star Realm rupture swallowed a Rending Claw fortress and thousands of acres of potion fields, killing or driving away the gnolls there.
• Gray-robed sorcerer Dennis explained to Poll that the ghostface flowers were a secondary ingredient in the psionic plague, and Poll resolved to carry out more ruptures for Governor Murphy.
• An elven ranger told Poll that Daims had found a life-eater mushroom farm and requested a Star Realm rupture to support its destruction.
• Poll warned that ratfolk might be guarding the underground farm, and the ranger hurried back to report the danger to Daims.
• Daims sent the ranger to seek help from Colonel Fenris Ironfist and the Sin Dwarves at Sin Fortress.

Huxson ordered the weakened Splitclaw Clan to stake everything on an invasion of Transia, while the Bloodscar Clan maneuvered to control his army and seize Splitclaw territory. The Army of Revenge prepared to march, with Huxson heading toward Blackflame Pass and Manson arranging a separate assault on Courage Fortress.

• Huxson heard reports that astral attacks and enemy raids had devastated Splitclaw territory, destroyed food and mushroom supplies, and left the clan facing starvation.
• Huxson ordered the Splitclaw Clan and its sixteen vassal clans to mobilize everyone for war, including females and cubs, and declared that they must conquer new territory or die fighting.
• Huxson offered the Splitclaw Clan's territory and treasured secrets as collateral for food and equipment, then agreed to leave the Bloodscar Clan in command of the army's operations.
• Huxson set out with the Army of Revenge, composed of sixty thousand Splitclaw warriors and forty thousand Bloodscar brutes, while Manson ordered Marshal Shute to capture Courage Fortress for the Bloodscar Clan.
• Manson arranged for Splitclaw lands to be seized and psychic plague to be sent to Gorgon Pass, then praised the Lord of the Hunt and watched the army prepare to march.

Gnolls attacked Fort Valor, where Frod led Vam’s Berserkers into battle with mines and Transian weapons, while cannons fired from the fortress walls. At Shadowvale, Old Qin and Five Wheels learned that Hugeson was blasting a path through Blackflame Pass and discussed using the pass and their tunnels for guerrilla warfare.

• Fort Valor sounded the alarm as the gnolls approached, and Vam’s Berserkers charged out before the other defenders had finished preparing.
• Frod ordered his warriors to hold behind a minefield and explained that Vam accepted the use of Transian weapons; the barbarians then used explosives and guns against the gnolls.
• After the gnolls crossed the minefield, Frod killed a Hunting Chosen in close combat as the cannons at Fort Valor opened fire.
• Hugeson used repeated Meteors to clear a path through the mines at Blackflame Pass, and scouts reported the gnoll army’s advance to Shadowvale.
• Five Wheels and Old Qin discussed relaying mines at the pass and using tunnels to stage ambushes and guerrilla attacks.

As the gnoll army advanced toward the Barrenlands, Qin launched a coordinated defensive operation and ordered players to abandon their improvised fighting style for professional command and control. The chapter ended with Miss Peachy and Uncle Fuding receiving orders for a night-long encirclement-and-ambush trial at Blackflame Pass.

• King Shark complained that the players were delaying their Silver promotions until a gnoll army broke through toward the Barrenlands, prompting him and the other players to prepare for war.
• Meow Brother briefed the Big Bird Squad on Qin's new command system, and Domestic 007 assigned them a concealed tunnel march as part of Operation Hungry Bird.
• Ge Bao told Meow Brother that his group had been assigned aerial reconnaissance, information delivery, and ordered fire support, while other forces received separate missions.
• Qin and Old Soldier of the Qing coordinated operations from the command post, where psions and Kadman People's Army recruits tracked the battlefield on a three-dimensional sand table.
• Qin ordered Miss Peachy and Uncle Fuding to follow his deputy at Blackflame Pass and conduct an overnight encirclement-and-ambush trial as battles began in multiple locations.