Chapter Summaries

The players and Plantagenet soldiers fought to hold their position while Maxim and Lainia led the decapitation strike against the Clawsplitter Warlord. After the warlord died and his banner fell, the enemy broke, leaving Colonel Fraser to reflect on a victory worthy of his family history.

• Great Shark led the surviving newbies in a frenzied charge, while Qin Ye rallied players to rescue Colonel Fraser's trapped artillerymen.
• Peachy saved Fraser from gnoll assassins, reconciled with him, and led his soldiers toward the Transians.
• Qin Ye and Fraser joined forces and prepared for a final stand while Maxim and Lainia attacked the warlord's tent.
• The Clawsplitter Warlord died, and the fall of his banner sent the kobolds and gnolls fleeing.
• Fraser ordered a counterattack, then collapsed from his leg wound and said the battle deserved a place in his family's history.

After the Transian players and Maxim dealt the gnolls a costly defeat, Peachy faced Count Leon’s anger over Fraser’s injuries while Kuderel defended her and promised to pass on his old knightly heirlooms. Fraser awoke and refused to leave the army, warning his father that the gnolls could bypass the Maginot Line through Cato and that betraying Transia would make the Capet family a target.

• Maxim and Leonia defeated the Rending Claw Warlord, while the players’ victory destroyed a gnoll vanguard position at the cost of heavy casualties.
• Peachy worried over the wounded Fraser as Count Leon arrived and accused her of failing to keep his son safe.
• Kuderel confronted Hugues, demanded the return of his hidden heirlooms, and promised to teach Peachy to find her own Holy Grail after the Silver Trial and Black Calamity.
• Fraser awoke and rejected Count Leon’s plan to remove him from the army, warning that the gnolls could circle through Cato and threaten the Capet family’s roots and interests.
• Fraser stopped Count Leon from considering letting the gnolls through the Maginot Line, warning that Transia’s warriors would retaliate against the Capet family.

Fraser and Count Leon prepared to reinforce the Cato region against the Black Calamity, while A-Feng’s field hospital treated wounded Plantagenet soldiers with surgery and mechanical prosthetics. Major Ron hurried toward the front, determined to repay Fraser by fighting at Blackflame Pass.

• Count Leon accepted Fraser’s warning and decided to coordinate with the Wolfsbane Clan to strengthen the Cato region’s defenses.
• A-Feng amputated a wounded artillery captain’s corrupted leg, and Loyal Bro fitted him with a mechanical prosthesis under the soldiers’ war insurance.
• Loyal Bro demonstrated a steam-powered mantis blade prosthesis, persuading a young soldier to buy an upgrade package and drawing interest from other wounded soldiers.
• The Chief Multi-Turret Acolyte summoned Loyal Bro to watch Old Flywheel perform a steam-heart replacement, while Loyal Bro planned to ask him about developing heavier weapons.
• Major Ron rushed through the Filthy Swamp toward Shadow Valley and told Captain Robinson that he would serve at Blackflame Pass and win a battle to honor Fraser’s sacrifice.

Murphy and the Transians cashed in enormous war honors for Blackflame Pass’s best equipment after defeating the Cleaver Claw vanguard, forcing Lord Heather to revise the rewards. As the Cleaver Claw army prepared to attack, Potana revealed a secret plan with Yuan involving the dead buried beneath the pass.

• Transian veterans spent their honor points on Blackflame Pass’s military supplies, and Shark sold dwarf-crafted plate armor through the Transia Tavern app.
• Murphy told Lord Heather that the honor system had been adjusted, while she cursed the cost of equipping his warriors and warned that the Cleaver Claw army would attack within five days.
• Mannis warned Murphy that Lord Heather possessed a dangerous third power that surfaced when she became angry.
• Murphy promised to return to Blackflame Pass within three days, and Lord Heather asked him to keep his warriors ready for the coming siege.
• Potana prepared to attack Blackflame Pass despite losing provisions and allies, while Yuan revealed that her agents had concealed the danger beneath the pass and urged Potana to use their formula.

Happy Stick led 120 professional players through the Hunting Guard's tomb to complete the first stage of the Sage Wolf epic quest. After they defeated the dire wolf king Benny and found the Bonechewer King's artifact shield, they discovered that Phantom Thief Frostfang and Phantom Thief Blackhand had already stolen the two weapons they sought.

• More than 1,400 newbies logged in, exchanged their honor for equipment, and left Blackflame Pass for safer work at Wolf Fort or the Maginot Line.
• Happy Stick gathered the 120 players with the first-stage quest and led them from Wolf Fort toward the Hunting Guard's tomb, where players discussed their Ancestral Powers and plans for the Silver Trial.
• The group reached the tomb and fought through its undead, with Dog Egg using Nefertari's Calm Undead spell to give them a short rest.
• The players resumed their advance and defeated Benny, the dire wolf king, freeing its soul and revealing the Bonechewer King's legacy.
• Happy Stick found the artifact shield but discovered a note saying Phantom Thief Frostfang and Phantom Thief Blackhand had already taken the combat dagger and hunting shortsword.

The players divided Bonechewer King’s Miracle Creations and Sovereign-grade loot, learning that the gear belonged to an ancient high-tech Security Chief series. After distributing the treasure, they realized the fallen Hunting Guards might be turned into undead servants and called for Miss Nefertari.

• Sanwudou explained that Yaya and Little Hand used the Spider Lady’s blessings and flash powder to steal two items, though Little Hand died helping Yaya escape.
• Happy Stick appraised Bonechewer King’s loot, and Brother Bang distributed Soul Ripper and Trampler to the shield tanks while promising the group a share of future treasure.
• Madam Shui explained her guild’s theory that gnolls were created during the Golden Age, then secured the Hunting Crown for the Silvermoon Group in exchange for crafting offers.
• Little Rich won the Cognitive Calibrator and Life Support System, Carriage won the Personal Teleporter, and Cat Brother bought the Sunfire Radiance greatsword.
• Dogdan claimed Benny, King of the Direwolves, to make an undead servant, prompting Meow Brother to summon Miss Nefertari to inspect the Hunting Guards’ bodies.

Nefertari agreed to turn the Hunting Guards’ remains into undead servants for the players, but the Rending Claw Clan launched an early assault on Blackflame Pass before the preparations were complete. As the Transians rushed to defend the pass, Major Ron and Major Dunn witnessed their inventive weapons and fearless suicide attacks.

• Nefertari examined the Hunting Guard corpses and offered to make Silver-rank undead servants for the players in exchange for the elite Black Iron undead and help transporting them to Xike City.
• The players began moving the corpses, but the Transia Main Quest announced that more than fifty thousand gnolls, kobolds, and bandits were advancing on Blackflame Pass.
• Nefertari sent the players off to battle and prayed to the Death Moon for their victory as they flew toward the front.
• The Rending Claw Clan bombarded Blackflame Pass with meteors, while Major Ron directed artillery support and urged Major Dunn to seek shelter at the Transians’ Third Position.
• Major Dunn watched the Transians use Loyal Bro’s Iron Fist rocket launcher and saw Zi Shu and other players charge the gnolls with explosives strapped to themselves.

The gnolls’ all-out assault overwhelmed Blackflame Pass’s first and second defenses while Murphy and the players made a desperate last stand to buy time. Triss activated a Nocturne barrier behind Murphy, leaving the exhausted defenders temporarily protected and the gnolls facing a promised reckoning three days later.

• Newbies flocked to Blackflame Pass, where they used explosives and suicide attacks against the advancing gnolls, but the first defense fell and the second line began to collapse.
• Maxim ordered the Blood Oath Clan to reinforce the artillery position, forced Lisa and the Shadow Rangers to remain on the line, and sent Dorothy’s group to plant mines.
• Gnoll elites broke through the underground tunnels and attacked the third line, while Murphy’s players fought the main force on Hill Two.
• Great Shark and Lord Qin drank victory liquor, said they would return in three days, and charged into separate groups of gnolls.
• Murphy asked Triss for support, and she transferred Nocturne cores to Blackflame Pass while reserving one for Fort Valor.
• Triss activated the Nocturne barrier behind Murphy, who recovered Little Ashina’s dropped gear and warned the gnolls they would die in three days.

Murphy prepared Transia to defend Blackflame Pass without the players, then led the Blood Eagle Clan and Plantagenet soldiers on a nighttime assault to retake Position Two. The chapter ended as Murphy and his forces plunged toward the gnolls and kobolds, ready to strike.

• Murphy warned Maxim that the Serenade Barrier might not withstand Clawcleaver Matriarch, ordered preparations for retreat, and sought a way to counter the kobolds.
• Murphy recruited Major Ron to seize the Brass Dwarves’ artillery position when the time was right, then invited the Plantagenet soldiers to join a nighttime hunt.
• Murphy urged Maxim to accept sourceblood and promised that their loyalty would endure without the blood pact.
• Murphy led two thousand Blood Eagle fighters into the sky, joined by Major Ron’s soldiers, and dived toward the gnolls and kobolds at Position Two.

Murphy and the allied forces retook ground at Blackflame Pass and reinforced it with trenches, barbed wire, and heavy crossbows, turning the positions into a formidable defense. As the Transians prepared another assault, kobolds broke into Tunnel 219 and surrounded its soldiers, prompting Murphy to fly in with his upgraded, newly named chainsword.

• The four vampire clans attacked the gnolls at night, and Major Ron’s soldiers helped retake Position Two before falling back at dawn under the gnolls’ counterattack.
• The gnolls lost squads to mines and mortars, while Transian troops reinforced Position Three with barbed wire and trenches and installed more defenses across the pass.
• Lord Heather armed Position Three with over a hundred and fifty Automatic Hunter Crossbows and ordered the rear positions upgraded as Murphy called the pass a coming Verdun.
• Murphy asked President Natalie and her Witch Hunters to hold off the gnolls while engineers fortified Shell Crater 217, and Natalie ordered Mr. Crow to stay in the trench.
• Doris delivered Murphy’s repaired chainsword, which he named Crimson Witch after examining its upgrades and Triss’s enchantment.
• A vampire reported that kobolds had breached Tunnel 219 and surrounded its soldiers, so Murphy flew off with Crimson Witch to rescue them and test the weapon.

While veteran players planned how to reinforce Transia’s defenses, the gnolls launched a major assault on Position Two before the veterans could respawn. Old Huo led the administrators, manufacturers, and other support players through a crimson gate to join the battle as Murphy and Maxim struggled to hold the line.

• Veteran players discussed recruiting serfs, modifying Steam Walkers, using aerial bombs, retaking Position Two, holding Courage Fort, and pressing the Winter Wolf General to yield Krim Fortress.
• At Position Two, Maxim spotted the gnolls gathering for an attack, but a meteor destroyed Hill 215 and killed more than one hundred Blood Pact retainers before the gnoll main force charged.
• Maxim and the Transians counterattacked, while Murphy returned to the fight and Triss discovered a Gold-rank Hunting Priest from the Bloodscar Clan disrupting her magic.
• Battlefield observers streamed the assault, and Old Huo gathered Cat-Rabbit, casino guards, craftsmen, stonemasons, and other support players to reinforce Position Two and rescue Samoyed at Courage Fort.
• Old Huo raised the Transian banner and led the Manufacturing and Administration Corps through the crimson gate toward the battlefield.

Cheche and Sir Sain joined the fighting at Blackflame Pass, where Wam granted divine power after receiving 999 enemy heads and Gaia unleashed a devastating earthquake. Triss told Lord Heather that Gaia had declared the pass sacred ground and that the Brass Dwarves faced one last chance to hold it.

• Cheche and Sir Sain were accidentally sent into the Star Realm, where Mannis returned them to the battlefield and Cheche saved Sain from a deadly fall.
• Sir Sain filmed the battle from the air as Murphy, Triss, Lady Water, Varland, and the players fought the gnolls and kobolds.
• Mad Shark asked Wam for divine aid, and the players gathered 999 heads to earn the Berserker's powerful blessings.
• A fanatic earth priest channeled Gaia's power, triggering an earthquake that destroyed Position Two and killed thousands of gnolls and countless kobolds.
• Triss explained to Lord Heather that Gaia had declared Blackflame Pass sacred ground and urged him to speak with the High Lord of the Brass Dwarves.

After Gaia destroyed Position Two, Lord Heather and the players pushed into gnoll-held territory, recovered some lost gear, and hunted down the Bladeknuckle Grand Commander. The chapter ended with Meow Brother rallying the players to kill the surrounded commander.

• Gaia wiped out Position Two, and Lord Heather led an assault on Position One while the players followed and looted the battlefield.
• Lucky Rich Bro found a kobold burrow containing much of the players' dropped gear, and Taipal and other Riptide Knights searched the spoils for their armor.
• Lucky Rich Bro joined the fight with his griffin after Meow Brother called for help distracting the wyverns covering the gnoll commander's retreat.
• Meow Brother's squads and other players ambushed the commander; Old Qu and Little Ashina killed two priests before protective totems blocked further ranged attacks.
• Lord Qin, Great Shark, and hundreds of players surrounded the Bladeknuckle Grand Commander, who vowed to fight to the death.
• Meow Brother called on the players to charge and kill the commander.

Botana planned another assault on Blackflame Pass with help from Dusk, while Origin and the Explorer discussed Murphy’s growing threat. Little Sharon delivered Murphy’s gift to Manager Luna, and it exploded in the Witch’s Café.

• Botana dismissed the gnolls’ losses at Blackflame Pass and prepared to advance, while her warlord carried the Wolfblood Holy Sword as it was corrupted by the Hunting Lord’s power.
• Botana contacted Origin through a pearl bracelet and asked Dusk to restrict the gods at Blackflame Pass; she revealed her plans to exploit the battlefield’s corpses and attack beneath the defenders’ positions.
• Botana offered to arrange Murphy’s assassination, but Origin refused and ended the call after learning Murphy was at Blackflame Pass.
• The Explorer told Manager Luna that Jude Law had been killed and that Dusk’s operations kept failing because of Murphy; Luna ordered him to find someone capable of killing Murphy.
• Little Sharon arrived at the Witch’s Café with a mechanical squirrel from Murphy and detonated it, calling it payment from Xico City’s vengeful souls.

Lord Paine’s raid in Chardo Port destroyed the Source’s double and uncovered a psychic plague, while Murphy prepared halfling walkers as a new tactical force in Shadow Valley. The chapter left Murphy sensing that something major was approaching and ordering the remaining walkers prepared within ten days.

• Lord Paine destroyed the Source’s disposable double with Evernight, recovered its energy signature, and ordered Grand Duchess Shani to use it to track the Source’s strongholds.
• Lord Paine told Professor Malcolm that Sharon’s explosive had carried an unusual power that disrupted the Source’s portal, and he allowed Sharon to continue as an engineer.
• Old Flywheel delivered a modified halfling walker to Shadow Valley, where Hell Tiger, Mouse Superheavy, and Steel Leopard began learning to drive it.
• Old Flywheel explained to Murphy that the walkers were designed as agile mobile artillery platforms and described their six-legged systems.
• Murphy proposed using psychic powers to arm the remaining walkers, told Old Flywheel to finish them within ten days, and asked him to build a one-handed chainsword.

Murphy learned why Lady Spider wanted Mossy Valley and was assassinated at Blackflame Pass, but the Vial of Rebirth brought him back. Triss nearly surrendered to a destructive power after seeing him die, then recovered when Murphy revived in her arms.

• Murphy watched the halflings train in their steam-powered walking machines and recruited players with vehicle-driving skills as tank crews.
• Vilanser warned Murphy of a conspiracy, gave him a Vial of Rebirth, and explained that Lady Spider wanted Mossy Valley reclaimed for its primordial shrine.
• In the astral plane, Mannis revealed that the shrine connected mortals and gods, and that it was essential to gathering faith and creating a god.
• An assassin stabbed Murphy with a poisoned blade at Blackflame Pass, and Vilanser pursued the attacker into an astral rift.
• Triss nearly gave in to a call to merge with destructive power as she held Murphy's corpse, but a purifying slap stopped her.
• Murphy revived when the Vial of Rebirth shattered, and Triss embraced him.

After Murphy returned from the dead, Triss put him in a biopod and activated the Swamp Forbidden Zone’s lethal defenses while vowing to find Luna. The players’ sudden disconnection ended when Murphy revived, and Loyalty Bro and Meow Brother concluded that his death could end the game, so they planned to keep him away from the front lines.

• Triss brought the critically wounded Murphy to the Swamp Forbidden Zone, activated its defenses, and placed him in a biopod to treat the poison suppressing his healing.
• Triss vowed to find Luna and kill her, then told Maxim to bring Adele and Femis to the zone and warned him to avoid anyone following them.
• The players lost their connection to the game, while Loyalty Bro learned that A-Feng’s brain waves had become chaotic and gave his family a cover story about a technical problem.
• Uncle Qin ordered Loyalty Bro to retrieve Sister Cement the following week and prepare another life-support kit for the mission.
• After the game restarted, Loyalty Bro learned Murphy had been ambushed just before the disconnection and suspected Murphy’s brief death had caused the shutdown.
• Loyalty Bro and Meow Brother agreed to keep Murphy away from the front lines and planned to mobilize guilds and player psionics against the gnolls.

After a Shadow Elf assassin poisoned Murphy, Triss and the others stabilized him while Villancer set out to retrieve an antidote and investigate the attacker. Murphy identified a likely Dusk plot against Blackflame Pass, sent Adele to inspect it, and followed Triss to receive protection against future attacks.

• Players complained that the sudden server shutdown had made them lose their equipment, and Triss used Murphy's notebook to prepare an explanation describing the shutdown as a testing feature.
• Triss placed Maxim in a biopod, while Villancer reported that Murphy had been poisoned by an Abyssal Spider Queen and left to retrieve a toxin gem that could cure him.
• Villancer identified the assassin's weapon as Avalon's Black Fang and said the attacker was probably an important Shadow Elf; Triss ordered her to turn her Avalon holy blade information into a quest and keep Murphy's survival secret from their enemies.
• Murphy awoke weakened, pulled A-Feng back to Transia, and reviewed the combat log before suspecting that a traitor from the Mejewa family had attacked him on Dusk's orders.
• Murphy sent Adele to Blackflame Pass to investigate a possible Dusk sabotage plot, then Triss took him away to give him a means of protection.

After the server shutdown, the development team explained the werewolf bug, introduced map safety tiers, and offered several ways to recover players’ losses. Meanwhile, Triss gave Murphy her ancestral power, Everlasting, and the two finally confessed their need for each other and became intimate.

• The development team announced that a werewolf-model bug caused the shutdown, temporarily disabled werewolves, and introduced map tiers and compensation options for lost equipment.
• Meow Brother urged players to combine the secret-cache quest, Vilanser’s item tracking, and gold compensation, and Vilanser assembled a 500-person expedition.
• Triss performed a forbidden ritual to transfer a portion of her ancestral power, Everlasting, to Murphy.
• Murphy swallowed the black pearl, resisted the evil god’s influence, and gained Everlasting, which also strengthened his time-based abilities.
• Triss told Murphy she feared losing him and admitted she needed him, and Murphy embraced her.
• Murphy and Triss kissed and became intimate, with Triss declaring that he was her Murphy.

Murphy purged Maxim’s blood pact and sent him back to Blackflame Pass, where he would prepare for a possible full retreat. In Shadowvale, the faithful learned that the gods were fighting the shadows of the Warp, raising the risk of chaos and increasing the pressure on the coming defense.

• Murphy told Maxim that his freedom did not erase his loyalty, advised him to seek Raven, and ordered him to prepare for a full retreat at Blackflame Pass.
• Maxim renewed his oath to Murphy before Triss and departed to fight the gnolls and help Lainnia.
• Roaring Lion of Hedong, Wolf of Western Sichuan, and religious representatives discovered that several gods had stopped answering prayers.
• Knight Liwen warned the faithful that the shadows of the Warp had attacked the Six Gods and urged followers of Wam and the Spider Lady to screen their ranks for heretics.
• Triss told Lord Hesse that divine powers would remain usable but gods could not be summoned to intervene, and said Murphy would soon return to his post.