Chapter Summaries

Loyalist’s team prepared to bring Yang Qingfeng into Transia, while his parents agreed to protect the virtual world for their son’s sake. Yang Qingfeng entered the game under the ID “Pants Mage” and woke in the Midnight Chamber, where he was reunited with Murphy and his father.

• Loyalist’s superiors ordered him to oversee Yang Qingfeng’s transfer and treatment at a suburban villa, and his superior asked for a testing link so he could enter the game himself.
• Loyalist met Yang Qishan and Beef Bowl when they arrived with the unconscious Yang Qingfeng, then explained that a special helmet would let their son enter Transia.
• Yang Qishan said he wanted his son to live another life, and he and Loyalist agreed that Transia would be real if it gave Yang Qingfeng a chance to live.
• Yang Qingfeng followed a light into a new body and completed the registration form under the ID “Pants Mage.”
• Murphy welcomed Yang Qingfeng to Transia, and Fireworks Beef Pot rushed to embrace his son but struck the Midnight Chamber’s invisible barrier.

Yang Qingfeng awakened in Transia as a soul separated from his damaged body, and Murphy learned that he had only fifty days before his spirit began to crumble. Murphy arranged a quest to save him, while Alpha explained that the game was helping stabilize Ah Feng and warned his family not to remove his helmet.

• Yang Qingfeng awoke and reunited with his father, Beef Pot, and his cousin, Brother Cat, before Murphy gave him a computing orb and discovered his seven character traits.
• Murphy led the family to Lich Bella, who diagnosed Ah Feng's leaking spirit and said a Ghost Grimoire could help transform him into a lich or Netherworld Knight.
• Murphy triggered the limited-time quest "Save the Sleeper" for Brother Cat and Beef Pot, who left to pursue the means of saving Ah Feng.
• Beef Pot contacted Alpha, who explained the quest's medical purpose, warned that Ah Feng must keep his helmet on, and said he could remain online around the clock.
• Beef Pot resolved to clear the Black Iron Trial and reach the Filthy Swamp, while Murphy imagined building a loyal force called the "Children of Midnight."

Murphy learned that A-Feng had become a fragile spirit and would need Bella’s help, while Bella urged him to consider Adele’s feelings and revealed her interest in cooperating over the Ghost Codex. Meanwhile, Honest Dogdan struggled with his new grave-bearer class until Hogg recognized that his command scepter could make obedient undead servants a profitable resource.

• Bella explained that A-Feng could not return to his body and would need at least seven days of treatment before waking.
• Bella asked Murphy what he intended to do about Adele, and Murphy said she was free to choose but his heart belonged to someone else.
• Dogdan regretted choosing the grave-bearer class because he lacked an undead servant to practice controlling, and Car and Good Pigeon discussed ways to help him.
• Car returned with Lumina’s plan: Dogdan would help Hogg in the Smugglers' Woods in exchange for an obedient undead servant.
• Hogg realized he could use the command scepter to supply undead servants to Murphy’s warriors and decided to capture more undead near Plague Town to sell.

Dogdan visited the Bloodclaw Clan with Cheche and Good Pigeon, received a skeleton cavalryman, and learned about Hogg’s command baton and a possible new source of quests. Hogg then led Nash and his hunters into the Filthy Swamp to meet the plague warlocks, intending to claim the marsh for the Bloodclaw Clan.

• Cheche and Good Pigeon flew Dogdan to Smugglers' Forest, where Nash welcomed them and secretly gave the players keys to their smuggling shares.
• Hogg let Dogdan choose a skeleton soldier, and Dogdan bound himself to a skeleton cavalryman with Hogg’s help.
• Cheche asked Hogg about his command baton, and Hogg hinted that the Bloodclaw Clan might give it to trusted friends in the future.
• Cheche and Good Pigeon decided to help Meow Shark raise his reputation with the Bloodclaw Clan so players could benefit from its potential rewards.
• Hogg led Nash and a party of hunters through a hidden route into the Filthy Swamp and revealed his plan to claim it as a home for the Bloodclaw Clan.
• Hogg and Nash headed toward Plague Town to meet the plague warlocks and assess the territory they hoped to inherit.

Hogg and Nash entered Blight Town by posing as loyal survivors of King Kenport’s defeat, while Hogg secretly surveyed its defenses for Murphy. Murphy revealed that Duchess Triss’s Eye of Reconnaissance spell was sharpening Hogg’s perceptions and told him to finish scouting the gnoll warlocks’ stronghold.

• Hogg and his guards surrendered to Blight Town’s skeleton forces, and he claimed to serve King Kenport and bring news from Transia.
• After waiting for the town’s response, Hogg pretended to grieve over Kenport’s death and persuaded a Bone-Biting vanguard captain to take him and Nash to Lord Rendflesh.
• Hogg entered Blight Town and observed its hidden mage towers, skeleton-making construction tower, and numerous gnoll warlocks and servant liches.
• At the top of the tower, Hogg noticed a monitoring orb and realized his thoughts and observations had become unusually sharp.
• Murphy spoke to Hogg through the Eye of Reconnaissance, explained that Duchess Triss was maintaining the spell, and ordered him to complete his scouting.

Murphy watched Hogg through Triss’s long-range Eye of Surveillance as Hogg persuaded the plague warlock Ripping Flesh to supply his clan with command scepters and skeleton armies. Ripping Flesh also offered Hogg a chance to become a hunting priest if he brought back a goatman priest’s intact heart from the Dark Mountains.

• Triss demonstrated her advanced Eye of Surveillance to Hru and told him he could apply for the remaining mage-tower post in the coming Midnight Tower.
• Murphy used Hogg’s vision to inspect Ripping Flesh’s tower and warned Hogg that the warlock was approaching.
• Hogg claimed to be Kenport’s trusted confidant and used Murphy’s knowledge to convince Ripping Flesh that he had been close to Kenport.
• Hogg asked Ripping Flesh for support against the vampires threatening his clan, and Ripping Flesh agreed to send him to its apprentice Lameclaw for more command scepters.
• Hogg asked about becoming a hunting priest, and Ripping Flesh said he could change classes if he brought an intact goatman priest’s heart from the Dark Mountains.

Hogg secured an army and high-grade command rods from the Plague Clan, but Crooked Claw poisoned the rods and demanded three vampire hearts as the antidote. Hogg left with seven days to find them or risk becoming a gnoll zombie.

• Hogg used Ripsflesh's backing to make a Bonechewer vanguard apologize, then arranged for Nash to scout the town while it went to collect an army.
• Hogg met Crooked Claw at the Construct Tower and saw the Plague Clan's corpse-making operation as Murphy watched through Hogg's eyes.
• Crooked Claw first offered Hogg weak command rods, then traded ten high-grade rods for unusual materials for its research.
• Crooked Claw revealed that it had coated the high-grade rods with poison and gave Hogg seven days to bring it three vampire hearts for the antidote.

Hogg negotiated with Lameclaw for seven Nether Knights and agreed to retrieve King Kenport’s corpse, while Murphy and Triss planned a raid dungeon around the Plague Venom clan’s stronghold. The chapter ended with Murphy adding legendary creatures, including Ninkinanka, to his plans for the heroes’ future map and encounters.

• Hogg accepted Lameclaw’s demand to retrieve King Kenport’s corpse in exchange for seven Nether Knights, and Murphy instructed him to seek out Bernice if he could choose one.
• Murphy assessed Plague Venom Town’s defenses with Triss and designed raid dungeon 003, “Land of the Rotting Corpses,” with the Construct Tower and Plague Venom Tower as its main stages.
• Triss explained that the Plague Venom clan planned to attack Ninkinanka in search of the Bonegnawer King’s lost treasure, and identified that conflict as a strategic opportunity for Murphy.
• Murphy decided to add Ninkinanka as an outdoor boss and asked Triss to record information about legendary creatures for a regional map for the heroes.

Hogg returned to Smuggler's Woods with stolen psionic artifacts and a thousand elite skeletons, then helped Lady Adele reunite Bella with Bernice. After Adele promised to seek Murphy’s approval for the Bloodclaw Clan’s claim to Smuggler’s Woods, she assured Hogg that she would protect the gnolls’ territory.

• Hogg gave Little Ashina a poisoned command scepter and arranged for her team to hunt Wolfsbane vampires for antidotes.
• Hogg equipped Nash with a command talisman and scepter, then led Knight Seven to meet Lady Adele and Bella.
• Bella embraced Bernice after Hogg brought her back, and Adele arranged to take Bernice to Scarlet Castle for examination.
• Adele confirmed that Bella had found no surveillance spells on Bernice and thanked Hogg for completing the task.
• Hogg asked Adele to make Smuggler’s Woods part of Transia under the Bloodclaw Clan’s rule, and Adele promised to pass his request to Murphy and protect the territory.

Murphy approved delaying a decision on Hogg’s clan joining Transia’s administration until after the Black Disaster, while worrying that the bloodline contract was deepening Adele’s dependence on him. Meanwhile, Huo Zhengting persuaded Dorothy to take a casino proposal to Adele, aiming to open Transia’s first casino within a week.

• Murphy told Adele to reassure Hogg but wait until after the Black Disaster to consider granting his clan a permanent fief and administrative seat.
• Adele asked whether Murphy wanted her to leave him, and Murphy dismissed her concern before privately lamenting the bloodline contract’s effect on her.
• Dorothy entered Huo Zhengting’s office cautiously, avoided a psionic trap, and demanded her share of the scratch-ticket profits.
• Huo refused to discuss the earnings and urged Dorothy to help launch a larger business venture with the Blood Rat Gang and Shadow Intelligence Bureau.
• Huo gave Dorothy a plan for a casino aimed at Northern and Western merchants, promising it could open within a week and provide jobs and influence for her gang.
• Dorothy questioned the casino’s risks, while Huo urged her to bring the plan to Adele and argued it could strengthen Dorothy’s position in Transia.

Huozhengtingting secured Dorothy’s support for a casino and accepted Little Rich Guy’s investment while discussing how to attract merchants and noble patrons. He decided that becoming a vampire might let him pursue the plan without being seen as a foreign threat to Transia.

• Dorothy left Village No. 3 to report the casino development plan to Lady Adele, while Sinking Fish warned Huozhengtingting about the work still required to open it.
• Little Rich Guy triggered Huozhengtingting’s wraith trap, then invested forty gold bars in the casino and asked for some Wraith Seeds.
• Huozhengtingting explained that the casino could draw merchants traveling between Batassin and Crimson Citadel by serving as an official stop along their route.
• Little Rich Guy suggested attracting merchants by offering access to nobles and royal connections, including Count Andre, but Huozhengtingting worried that this could threaten Lord Murphy’s interests.
• Huozhengtingting decided to join the Blood Eagle Clan as a vampire so he could pursue the royal connections without appearing to be a foreign operator.

All Good and Rich Bro tried to persuade Count Andre to invest in their casino, but he refused until All Good argued that financial independence would help him stand as an equal to his sister and elders. Andre agreed to consider the proposal by midnight the next day, while the players left believing they had found the key to his ambitions.

• Count Andre refused to invest in the players' casino, saying it would undermine his family's dignity and help foreigners fleece Nordlanders.
• All Good warned Andre that Vesta's long-term investments could not quickly fund the rebuilt White Mountain faction before the Black Calamity.
• After the Thorn Nightwalker maids held blades to the players' throats, All Good argued that Andre had to become financially independent if he wanted his sister and elders to treat him as an equal.
• Andre dismissed the maids and promised to give the players an answer by midnight the next day, then reconsidered whether Vesta was acting on his sister's behalf.
• Outside the diplomatic quarter, All Good and Rich Bro celebrated surviving the meeting, and All Good said Andre was obsessively devoted to the Wolf Queen.

Count Andre decided to invest in Treasure Bay, an otherworldly casino, and borrowed money from Murphy, who planned to spend the territory’s treasury on development before the Black Calamity. In Batasin City, Palien learned Andre would attend a banquet for Nordtovian merchants and urged local merchants to pool funds and secure a stake in the casino before outsiders did.

• Count Andre asked Murphy whether the Transian government would permit and protect his investment in Treasure Bay, and Murphy agreed not to oppose the project.
• Andre said Vesta would manage his investment and asked Murphy for a loan, which Murphy agreed to provide with below-market interest.
• After Andre left, Murphy ordered Adele to deliver funds to Vesta and decided to spend nearly all of the treasury on Transia’s development before the Black Calamity.
• Knight Palien received notice that Count White Mountain would attend the evening reception for the Nordtovian merchants and recognized that the banquet might have political significance.
• Palien and the Batasin merchants discussed plans for the casino and its transport links, then agreed to pool their money through the Batasin Chamber of Commerce to invest before the Northmen.

Sinking Fish coordinated Treasure Bay’s casino preparations while balancing her work with her long-running relationship with Work's-Going-Great. Shy Flower secretly filmed the couple, but an unexpected interruption left her injured and exposed.

• Sinking Fish reviewed Closed Moon’s supply list and ordered Mora to deliver it to the Batasin Merchant Guild, setting a five-day deadline and asking her to report progress to Pink Bunny.
• Sinking Fish and Shy Flower discussed the lifelike NPCs, Star Soul Eagle’s cooking business, and their plans after work before Sinking Fish went to inspect the casino construction site.
• At the construction site, Mudman proposed Nordic-style decorations for the casino, and Work's-Going-Great offered him a future work opportunity.
• Sinking Fish and Work's-Going-Great revealed they had been together for almost five years and discussed her wish to become financially independent before making their relationship public.
• Shy Flower hid in a tree and recorded the couple, but Little Weiming startled her, causing her to fall and twist her ankle; Sinking Fish and Work's-Going-Great found her.

Old Huo and Pink Cat Rabbit prepared Treasure Bay Casino for its trial opening, which drew northern merchants and players and showed strong potential. Old Huo ended the night arranging to bring displaced farmers and their families to Transia as workers.

• Old Huo and Pink Cat Rabbit inspected the nearly finished Treasure Bay Casino and discussed uniting the five farms around the newbie village, while Cat Rabbit shared his ambition to help govern Transia.
• Northern merchants and young nobles tried the casino’s games during its trial opening, and Old Huo saw the venue attract customers and potential investors.
• Xiu Hua proposed a separate entertainment venue for merchants’ servants after noticing they waited outside the casino, and Old Huo told her to record the idea.
• A northern merchant offered to invest in Treasure Bay, and Old Huo asked him to pay with serfs or displaced farmers instead of gold or supplies.
• The merchant explained that his brother could help recruit landless farmers from the Kavhoka Great Plain, including women and children, and Old Huo agreed to take entire families.

Murphy learned that Treasure Bay had secured a deal to bring 18,000 displaced farmers from Kavhoka, prompting him to address the need for laws and tax collectors while arranging for Mirian to negotiate with Colonel Fraser. After seeing Treasure Bay’s rapid growth, Murphy decided to turn it into a military recovery base with a field hospital.

• Mirian told Murphy that Treasure Bay had agreed to accept 18,000 dispossessed Kavhoka farmers in exchange for a 10% stake, and explained how Nordtov’s political system enabled the deal.
• Murphy ordered Mirian to work with Professor Malcolm on casino licensing and keep the Blood Rat Gang in check, then agreed to recruit tax professionals.
• Murphy told Mirian that Colonel Fraser’s military observer group was bringing 25,000 troops to the Dark Baronies, and asked her to explain the Bloodclaw Clan’s asylum request to him.
• After Mirian left, Murphy saw that Treasure Bay had reached Stable status and that the other player-run settlements were also developing.
• Murphy flew to Treasure Bay, saw its growing business and construction, and decided to establish a field hospital there as a wartime recovery base.

Loyalty and Sharon struggled to refit Transia’s arsenal and considered seeking help from the halflings or engineer Suluk Flywheel. Meanwhile, Adeline Biki Seville applied to join the Riptide Knights, triggering a hidden quest that tasked the players with helping her survive the Black Calamity and become a Grail Knight.

• Sharon told Loyalty that the arsenal’s production line needed professional help, and they agreed to pursue aid from both the Steam Lords and Suluk Flywheel.
• Loyalty abandoned his goal of producing semiautomatic weapons and considered developing communications equipment for the army.
• Uncle Fuding prepared to discuss a proposal from the village chief of Treasure Bay with Taipal and the Riptide Knights’ squad leaders.
• Adeline Biki Seville and her retainer, Liwen Hood, arrived at the Riptide Knights’ camp, and Biki applied to join the order with Baron Kudell’s recommendation.
• Uncle Fuding triggered the hidden quest “Seville’s Silver Dawn,” which asked the Riptide Knights to help Biki survive the Black Calamity and pursue knighthood.

Taipal and Uncle Fording recruited Biji as a prospective ally and arranged a major equipment order for the Stromgarde Knights. After paying the deposit, the knights officially founded their stronghold, while Taipal suspected that guiding Biji toward the Holy Light was part of a hidden quest.

• Taipal explained the Stromgarde Knights’ beliefs and circumstances to Biji, who agreed to learn more before deciding whether to join.
• Biji and Lady Liwen helped arrange an order for knightly equipment, which grew to 300 sets and required a 30,000-gold deposit.
• Uncle Fording sought funds from the players and learned that Old Huo might be able to lend the knights the money they needed.
• Three days later, Uncle Fording delivered the deposit, and Taipal and the knights marked the official founding of their stronghold, Stromgarde.
• Marlin teased Taipal about Biji, and Taipal revealed his hidden quest to guide her into the Holy Light and his belief that it might lead to a surprise.

Menghaha dismantled her computational orb to investigate how it worked, prompting a mysterious observer to confront her through Murphy and warn her not to disrupt other players’ experiences. Murphy then offered her a quest to help develop Transia’s own computational orbs, while Menghaha remained shaken by the observer’s question about which world was real.

• Little Ashina brought Menghaha tools so she could attempt to dismantle a computational orb in the woods.
• Menghaha removed the orb’s crystal before its self-destruct sequence completed, shutting down its interface and finding mysterious black spots inside the crystal.
• Murphy and Femis arrived after Femis tracked the damaged orb, and Femis teleported Little Ashina away.
• A mysterious observer speaking through Murphy told Menghaha that she could investigate freely but must not disrupt other players’ experiences, then revealed her surname and address.
• The observer questioned whether Menghaha could be sure her own world was real, before Murphy returned to himself and praised her skill.
• Murphy offered Menghaha an introduction to Femis’s psionic organization and a hidden quest to help make computational orbs for Transia, while Menghaha resolved to write another report.

Meng Haha’s dismantling of a computational orb triggered a hidden quest and an urgent real-world inquiry, while Murphy enjoyed Transia’s progress and discovered Muddy Sauce’s plan to build steam-powered trucks. The chapter ended with Pink Cat Bunny funding the project and Murphy recognizing the players’ growing ambition.

• Sister Pomegranate told the Silvermoon Pride that Meng Haha had earned a recommendation to join the Psionic Guild, but Lady Shui demanded that Meng reveal her identity or leave the team.
• Meng Haha called Sister Pomegranate to say she was going to the capital as a witness in an urgent inquiry and instructed her to have Lumina return to the country through an embassy-arranged route.
• Murphy assessed his player recruitment plans as he flew through Transia, then overheard Muddy Sauce pitching a steam-truck factory to Pink Cat Bunny.
• Pink Cat Bunny questioned how Muddy Sauce would obtain steam engines, and Muddy Sauce revealed that he had recruited engineers to build them by hand.
• Pink Cat Bunny invested his personal funds in the Winterwind Vehicle Factory and advised Muddy Sauce to develop military vehicles and secure research funding from Lord Maxim.
• Murphy concluded that Pink Cat Bunny was organizing the village chiefs into a political faction and silently encouraged the players to pursue their ambitions.