Chapter Summaries

Players auctioned Gelman Bonechewer’s spoils while Murphy returned to Chardo Port and discussed weapons development and vampire redemption with Maxim. There, Minx gave Murphy a powerful new calculating-orb, and Murphy proposed putting Chardo Port’s factories back to work for a greater cause.

• Players auctioned Gelman’s high-grade equipment, while the Canglang Army’s gnolls prepared to claim their quest rewards.
• Murphy departed for Chardo Port as the halflings hired Transian instructors and bought weapons technology to strengthen their airship forces.
• Murphy told Maxim about Transia’s next-generation weapons, then tasked him with selecting Blood Eagle elites for Old Flynn’s organ-enhancement project.
• Minx gave Murphy an advanced calculating-orb module built by Old Bach and improved by Minx, Sulfek, and Ruyi.
• Minx told Murphy that Chardo Port would mass-produce advanced calculating orbs and establish a Mechanical Church college in Transia.
• Murphy named the new orb Afterlife and proposed restarting Chardo Port’s factories for a larger purpose.

Murphy negotiated with Minx and the Steam Lords to manufacture aircraft engines, artillery, and computing orbs for Transia’s war effort. Minx pledged the halflings’ support against Twilight and said the Steam Lords would investigate the Explorers’ Guild and take action if it aided Twilight’s schemes.

• Minx toured Murphy through Chardo Port’s industrial district and explained the halflings’ manufacturing capacity and their interest in exchanging technology with the Explorers’ Guild.
• Murphy asked the halflings to build specialized fighter engines, and Minx agreed after studying the blueprints, though mass production would take at least half a year.
• Murphy proposed commissioning large-caliber artillery and Minx promised that halfling weapons would not be used in civil wars between the continent’s civilizations.
• Murphy ordered ten thousand customized computing orbs, and he and Minx discussed vehicles and combining a tank’s armor and firepower with a walker’s agility.
• Minx agreed to help the otherworlders reactivate the Sun Ship and other Creator technologies, oppose Twilight, and support Little Bach’s investigation into the Explorers’ Guild.

Murphy prepared to return to Transia after learning that Mrs. Sunny had given birth to healthy twins whose faintly purple pupils might be connected to the Astral Rift, while Mannis warned him that Dagon’s fishmen were spreading. At the first settlement of the Feast of the Frenzied Fish, the players’ success unlocked a special mermaid character template.

• Murphy saw Halfling factories accelerating Transia’s military mechanization and considered adding heavy machine guns to production.
• Madam Funa told Murphy that Mrs. Sunny had given birth to twins, and that Mirian wanted him to attend their Avalon forest baptism because their pupils glowed faintly purple.
• Mannis assured Murphy that the twins were unlikely to suffer harm from the Astral Rift, but warned that fishmen were spreading into Kakhovka and threatened to turn villages toward Dagon.
• Murphy planned temples to the Great Disc and Vikanos near Lake Shurpel, while Mannis refused to ask Vikanos for a blessing because she was hunting him.
• Players gathered at the Great Disc Temple island for the first Feast of the Frenzied Fish settlement, where they showed off loot and eyed the merfolk’s weapons, armor, and sea-beast rewards.
• The settlement announced that players had turned in more than seventy thousand pairs of black fishman fins, unlocking hidden rewards and a mermaid character template for eligible female players.

Murphy’s new merfolk template let female players transform into merfolk, prompting a wave of delighted race changes and speculation about future playable races. As the players celebrated, Katerina explained merfolk origins and invited Sanwudou to the Great Reef Province, where her family’s powerful history began to emerge.

• Murphy used his Computing Orb ProMAX to reveal the merfolk template, and female players including Lady Judy and Sister Mao Tu logged out to change races.
• Lady Judy returned with a red merfolk tail, tested her underwater abilities with Little Ashina, and joined other newly transformed players swimming near shore.
• Cheche and the other students argued over why the template was female-exclusive and speculated that future updates might add dragonkin.
• Lady Judy and Potato Dad kissed and splashed into the water together, while Mao Tu dragged Xugou into the sea with her tail.
• Katerina told Sanwudou that merfolk were women blessed by the Abyssal Sovereign and invited him to a celebration for the Dragon Emperor’s queen in the Great Reef Province.
• Sanwudou offered to trade military merit for a sea serpent mount for Katerina, who offered him one of her family’s weapons and hinted that her parents were exceptionally powerful.

Mogni Qiong lent Boss Huo money to fund a financial scheme in Kafuhovka, where Boss Huo and Raven planned to advance the God of Wealth’s influence and weaken Nordtov’s hold on the region. After Chenlong claimed the first Ghost Warship, Mogni decided to get one himself and watched Boss Huo get dragged into the sea by Shen Yu.

• Boss Huo told Mogni Qiong that he wanted to borrow gold coins to finance a plan with Raven in Kafuhovka.
• Boss Huo explained that their fundraising and Ponzi schemes could turn the region against Nordtov and potentially let Transia reclaim it without a war.
• Mogni gave Boss Huo the key to his halfling vault and suggested he seek more backing from Little Ashina, Madam Water, and Brother Loyalty.
• Boss Huo described how their financial games could help the God of Wealth grow into a powerful deity, then offered Mogni a stake in the scheme.
• Chenlong claimed a Ghost Warship, prompting Mogni to decide to get one of his own.
• Shen Yu dragged the water-fearing Boss Huo into the sea, while Mogni laughed from shore before flying away on Stinky Treasure.

Murphy agreed with Dena to turn the Feast of Frenzied Fish into a permanent merman-hunting event and learned that Katerina came from a powerful family. Meanwhile, the raven presented Consul Mirian with a plan to destabilize Kafuhoka through a covert financial scheme, and she had to decide whether to approve it.

• Dena proposed that Great Reef Province hire Transia’s warriors to hunt mermen across Atlan, and Murphy agreed to make the Feast of Frenzied Fish a permanent event.
• Murphy suggested establishing a Great Reef Temple at Lake Shuerpos and asked for Katerina to be stationed at Scarlet Castle, but Dena explained her powerful family and obligations would prevent it.
• The raven presented Mirian with a plan to raise investment through shell companies and trigger a financial collapse in Kafuhoka.
• Mirian questioned the scheme’s consequences, and the raven argued it would weaken a hostile neighbor and avoid a military conflict.
• The raven gave Mirian a file on an ambitious, disloyal northern officer who could serve as their agent in Kafuhoka.

Chinese 003 recruited the indebted Major Ivankov to manage Count White Mountain’s trading company in the Kafhoka region, using his debts and resentment toward Marshal Heraclius to pressure him into accepting. Crow Brother began training Ivankov to look and act like a successful businessman, but the chapter ended before Ivankov chose his new identity.

• Blood Rats abducted Major Ivankov over his gambling debts, and Chinese 003 revealed himself as the man behind the recruitment plan.
• Chinese 003 offered Ivankov a share in a trading company backed by Count White Mountain and promised help escaping his stalled military career.
• Ivankov questioned the company’s supposed business and tried to avoid signing, but 003 presented a pistol and insisted he had no real alternative.
• Ivankov signed the company papers and followed 003 into a warehouse being prepared for the business.
• Crow Brother instructed Ivankov to change his appearance, bearing, and identity, then coached him through introducing himself.

Murphy reached the borderlands aboard the Carpe Hammer and learned that Brigadier General Fraser had survived through a symbiote implantation, gaining powerful regenerative abilities at the cost of a dangerous risk of losing control. Fraser left the medical bay pledging loyalty to the Creator faction, while Murphy and his researchers began planning to develop more symbiote-enhanced soldiers.

• Murphy discussed Madam Liji’s growing following with Adele and considered keeping the Yunlan Temple outside Transia.
• Murphy and Adele found Fraser awake in the medical bay, where Mosna explained that the symbiote had enhanced his body but could rampage if he lost control of his emotions.
• Fraser accepted that he could not return to his former life and agreed to monitoring, testing, and service to the Creator faction.
• Fraser revealed intense hunger and rushed to the kitchen after Murphy told him his father would soon arrive.
• Mosna explained that Murphy’s purification of the symbiote had activated a genetic imprint guiding Fraser toward absolute loyalty to the Creator.
• Heru reported that the symbiote could support further organ alterations, and Murphy proposed hunting tainted symbiotes as a hidden objective in a future operation.

Fraser told Count Leon how the symbiote crystal had saved his life and agreed to retire from the army, while resolving to use the Capet family’s wealth to fight evil in secret. Murphy and Count Leon then discussed Transia’s refugee crossings, the Capet family’s political future, and their shared opposition to the Dusk.

• Count Leon found Fraser ravenously eating aboard Murphy's Hammer, and Old Huguenot warned that the seemingly healthy young man might not be Fraser.
• Fraser explained the symbiote crystal’s role in his recovery, agreed to retire from the army, and told his father he would build the family’s power before pursuing his mission in Transia.
• Murphy showed Count Leon how refugees were being smuggled into Transia and offered them work and shelter while denying them freedom.
• Murphy warned Count Leon that King Louis might restrain the powerful Capet family and urged caution about the New World, then proposed a future alliance with the Church of Holy Light.
• Count Leon asked Murphy to help ensure Fraser would not be alone, and Murphy said Fraser would have to handle his love life himself.
• Murphy and Count Leon agreed to cooperate against the Dusk infiltrators in the Plantagenet Kingdom.

After the Creator’s war machines failed, the Aztecs’ advance pushed the United Confederation of New States toward collapse, while Mayor Pat struggled to find help. Meanwhile, Twilight’s Reverend Superior prepared to leave the New World with a valuable trophy, abandoning the colonists to their fate.

• The chapter described how Old World settlers had nearly destroyed the Ganote clans and their demigods across the Spirit Plains over fifty years.
• A defense officer told Mayor Pat that the Aztecs had captured Machute and New Bourbon, and that the Seventh Colonial Regiment had been handed over to the Ganote.
• Mayor Pat urged the colonists to hold the line, but the officer warned that the Creator’s machines were irreparable and proposed abandoning southern towns to regroup.
• Mayor Pat privately realized that the Old World powers and the Bosia Confederacy could not help, and considered retreating north.
• A Ganote servant told Mayor Pat that a ship from the Seven Islands Alliance had arrived with weapons, prompting him to head for the harbor.
• The Reverend Superior told Twilight’s followers to transport their trophy by ship to the Old World, accepting that the colonists would be left to face the Aztecs and Ganote.

The Dusk leaders planned to exploit a captured Sentinel and sacrifice their allies to reach the Worldheart, while the Scholar prepared to risk himself against Murphy. In the New Federation, Mayor Pat heard that an assassin had killed the chairman and immediately plotted to claim the position.

• The Prelate General showed the Scholar a high-ranking female Sentinel he had captured and revealed that he had located the Worldheart but needed the Sentinel Legion's authorization to reach it.
• The Scholar said Source had become isolated and proposed using the vampires' Bloodseal ritual to target Murphy and Lord Paine, even if the plan cost him his life.
• The Prelate General ordered the Slave Master to support Source's operations in the Kingdom of Castia and said Widia would help with the scepter of God's third decision-maker.
• The Prelate General asked the Scholar to breach the captured Sentinel's firewall before the Sentinel Legion could rescue her.
• A Seven Isles Alliance captain offered Mayor Pat a batch of forbidden plague weapons to help defend against the Ganot attackers.
• Mayor Pat's Ganot servant reported that an Aztec assassin had killed the New Federation's chairman, and Pat hurried ashore, secretly hoping to become the next chairman.

Murphy attended the mountain folk twins’ blessing ceremony and discussed their growing integration into Transia, their plans to aid kin in Saxony, and possible political futures with Sharon. After learning that Three Jin of Sweet Potato Liquor had become Transia’s 300th Silver-rank heroic spirit, Murphy planned a new player-summoning system with race-based allocations and paid features.

• Murphy blessed Sir Valand and Lady Sunny’s twins at the sacred pool, and Sir Valand pledged the mountain folk’s support for Transia.
• Sharon told Murphy that the mountain folk were embracing trade and that Sico City might become Transia’s sacred city of the dead once Neferet and Bayek helped free her parents from the undead ritual.
• Sharon explained that the elders were gathering fighters to aid mountain folk in Saxony against the Plantagenet Kingdom, and Murphy said Transia would offer moral support while militias and adventurers could help unofficially.
• Murphy and Sharon discussed the possibility of an independent mountain folk principality in Saxony and future regional federations resisting the Plantagenet Kingdom and Nordtov.
• Murphy received notice that Three Jin of Sweet Potato Liquor had become the 300th Silver-rank member after defeating a Chaos Warlord, unlocking the achievement “Transia’s Three Hundred Warriors.”
• Murphy decided to summon more foreign heroic spirits using allocations based on Transia’s racial population and to introduce paid race-changing options for new players.

Murphy decided to expand the player population after seeing how many gnolls had joined the Creator’s faction, while the development team announced 3,500 new player slots and stricter race-change requirements. As players discussed valuable starting-race templates, Tan recognized that Goji Berry Tea’s offer to sell his headset might involve enemy agents and alerted Loyal Brother.

• Murphy saw that more than 4,500 player slots were available and planned to increase the player population to 10,000, saving the rest for emergencies.
• The development team announced 3,500 new slots for the upcoming DLC and required new players to earn reputation, military merit, and money before changing races.
• Goji Berry Tea and Tan from Erxian Bridge discussed the announcement, rare race templates, and whether Old Liu should sell his Mountain Folk template; Old Liu sold it for five figures.
• Tan asked Goji Berry Tea about an old classmate who had offered to buy his headset, then contacted Loyal Brother and told Goji Berry Tea to log off while officials came to speak with him.
• Goji Berry Tea received a call from a government contact and realized that enemy agents might have been operating nearby.

Murphy prepared a more linear training path for the growing player base and assessed the approaching conflict with Dusk. Triss warned that Dusk would target him through exposed forces and hidden traps, and the pair prepared to travel to Xike City to meet their guide to the Land of Origin.

• Triss brought Murphy a drink and documents detailing exploration quests and Sangha Empire customs, including work compiled by Professor Malcolm, Maxim, Adele, and Sharon.
• Murphy explained his plan to guide new players through successive training areas, build an undead army, and strengthen Transia ahead of a final conflict with Dusk.
• Triss argued that Dusk would avoid a direct confrontation and instead use exposed enemies and a series of traps to kill Murphy while he was in the Sangha Empire.
• Triss reminded Murphy that he could still travel to the New Continent and reach the Heart of the World with the Aztecs and Sentinel Legion if the Old Continent campaign failed.
• Murphy and Triss planned to go to Xike City the next day to meet the little mummy, who would guide them through the Land of Origin and help Triss approach Bayek about her Death Moon Church wanted status.
• Murphy joked that Triss had jinxed their trip by hoping it would go smoothly.

Murphy visited Nefertari in Siko City as she organized the undead and prepared to return to the Land of Origin, where she planned to seek help controlling the city’s growing undead population. He agreed to support the Siko dead’s disciplined revenge against the Plantagenet Kingdom, and Nefertari accepted a long-term role overseeing her Moon Cult in Transia; the chapter ended with Murphy explaining Vam’s plans for war spirits and a possible divine realm in Ice Bay.

• Nefertari rushed to assemble an undead research report and asked Murphy to help manage Siko City’s increasingly powerful undead before she departed for the Pharaoh’s birthday banquet.
• Murphy toured Nefertari’s undead-run workshop, where the Moon Cult recycled battlefield wreckage and assembled dragon cavalry units.
• Nefertari revealed that Count Siko-Mel was building an elite undead army to seek revenge on the Pioneer Legion, and Murphy said he would not oppose them so long as they remained under control.
• Nefertari asked to take five dragon cavalry units to the Death Moon Church for study, and she agreed to oversee her Moon Cult in Siko City as a long-term representative of the church.
• Murphy met the Vam Temple’s Soulforger students and explained that Vam was preparing war spirits for the Divine War and might make Ice Bay a divine realm in the mortal world.

Murphy stopped an Aztec Sky Warrior attack on players near the Feathered Serpent Temple and learned that the Aztecs were fighting Dusk’s allies in the Spirit Plains. After the clash was resolved, the captain agreed to help build the temple and accompany Murphy and Chuchut to the Sanghai Empire, while Murphy began to suspect the Aztecs had been created by the God of Crafts.

• Murphy spotted Aztec Sky Warriors attacking rookie players near the unfinished Feathered Serpent Temple and flew in to intervene.
• Murphy defeated and captured most of the Sky Warriors before Chuchut arrived and explained that the clash began over the temple’s improper rites.
• The captain told Chuchut that the Aztecs had joined the Ganot people against invaders on the Spirit Plains and that their God of Crafts legacy had stopped working.
• Chuchut explained the God of Crafts’ trial to the captain, who then apologized to Murphy and agreed to help complete the temple and train players as Sun Warriors.
• The captain asked to accompany Chuchut to the Sanghai Empire to learn how to overcome the trial, and Murphy agreed to take him along.
• Chuchut described the God of Crafts’ creation of the Aztec clans, prompting Murphy to wonder whether the Aztecs were a race of homunculi.

Murphy sought Sky Clan blood so he could add the Aztecs as a playable race, and his analysis revealed their Creator-engineered origins and a hidden message about the World Heart. He suspected the Creator’s genetic blueprint could be used in the Life Greenhouse and arranged with Lord Paine to move up their journey toward the Land of Sacred Blood.

• Murphy persuaded Chuchut to provide blood from Captain Alphis and a comparison sample, promising to send warriors to fight for the Aztec cause.
• Murphy analyzed Alphis’s blood and unlocked the Aztec/Sky Clan template, learning the Aztecs were enhanced humans created by the Creator.
• The Creator’s message warned Murphy that the World Heart held something vital, cautioned him not to trust the apparent facts shown by Original Sin, and granted him a genetic blueprint for Creator New Humans.
• Murphy connected the blueprint to the Life Greenhouse and contacted Lord Paine to ask about advancing their expedition.
• Lord Paine agreed that they could leave earlier, but warned Murphy that the other clans would be occupied fighting the Madblood Clan and could not support his plans.
• Murphy agreed to set out for the Life Greenhouse after they finished their business in the Sanghai Empire.

Murphy learned that the Aztecs were created by the Creator and realized the Life Greenhouse might provide real bodies for players, while Triss urged him to prioritize the Sanghai people. After receiving word that Penny and Bertie had encountered Salif, Murphy mobilized a response as Salif confronted his former protégés and prepared to fight them.

• Murphy told Triss that the Aztecs were new humans from the Heart of the World whose genetic blueprint could enhance other species, and Triss suggested the Life Greenhouse might create bodies for players.
• Murphy and Triss discussed making the Life Greenhouse the eventual goal of the players’ campaign, but Triss urged him not to abandon the Sanghai people’s future for it.
• Mosna reported that Penny and Bertie had encountered a Dusk member, and Murphy ordered his forces to prepare to surround the target while keeping in contact with Penny.
• Penny and Bertie refused Salif’s offer to return with him, and Bertie condemned Dusk’s actions and told Salif he had chosen the wrong path.
• Salif explained that he had joined Dusk to destroy shadow elf society’s existing system, then drew his blade and declared that he and the two youths would fight for survival.

Penny and Bertie faced Salif in a battle that brought Murphy and his allies to their aid, but they discovered they had killed a costly clone while the real Salif escaped with the Black Fang. Murphy trusted Penny and Bertie to join them, and the group began discussing the Abyssal Sisterhood and Edward’s possible ties to Twilight.

• Salif attacked Bertie and fought Penny inside a Hydra Shadow Barrier, and Penny declared Twilight her enemy.
• Murphy, Triss, Kudel, and the Warleader Armor arrived, and Eris struck Salif from hiding after the group forced him into a desperate fight.
• Eris and the others discovered that the slain Salif was a clone and that the real Salif had escaped with the Black Fang.
• Triss reasoned that Salif had staged the battle to help Bertie and Penny break with Twilight, and Murphy confirmed that he trusted them.
• Murphy and Triss discussed whether Twilight remnants had corrupted the Abyssal Sisterhood and debated Edward’s possible involvement.

Melia and Winnie Kolando met with Countess Laura to discuss the Kolando family's legacy and a possible campaign against the Wolf-Griffin faction. Winnie secured an alliance with Laura and Lady Femis, leaving Melia to confess that she wanted the Kolando family's past erased so she could remain with Happy Stick.

• Happy Stick escorted Melia and Winnie to meet Countess Laura, who asked for the Kolando family's safehouses and informants in exchange for compensation.
• Melia rejected Laura's proposal to use the Grayclaw faction against the Wolf-Griffin faction, while Winnie said she intended to settle the family's last business herself.
• Winnie offered Laura an alliance on the condition that the Kolando survivors receive a third of the profits, and Lady Femis arrived to support the terms.
• Happy Stick promised that foreign heroes would join the operation after their journey with Lord Murphy, and Laura agreed to work with the Midnight faction against the Wolf-Griffin faction.
• After Laura departed, Melia told Happy Stick she wanted the Kolando family's past erased so she and Winnie could start anew and she could stay by his side.