Chapter Summaries

After the attack on Origin Harbor, Murphy and Princess Fleur learned that Prince Bai was suffering from a temporary soul-loss syndrome, while the players pursued research and repair work in the city. The chapter left Prince Bai staying under Transian protection and the players collecting Creator technology scrap as engineers worked on a new driver for an advanced machine tool.

• A Callum Empire official explained that Prince Bai's soul-loss syndrome was temporary, and Princess Fleur agreed to host and protect him while he recovered.
• Triss described Prince Bai's history and discussed the Callum Empire's secrets with Murphy, who proposed letting players interact with him; Princess Fleur consented, and Murphy said Li Ji was on her way.
• Little Hand defended the manuals he and Yaya had copied from the Great Library of Isus, explaining that its books were protected against theft and that Yaya had learned shadow techniques and poison recipes.
• Old Man Ma told Meow Brother and the other players that the advanced machine tool needed a new driver rather than extensive repairs, and urged them to collect more discarded technology for the project.
• Old Man Ma showed the players a powerful battery component and explained that repairing such scrap could enable better batteries and power armor back home.

The Hymn of Loyalty Guild found a Creator device that let them travel a century into the past, and Murphy learned that Mannis might be able to retrieve Creator programming knowledge through time. The players returned safely, but Murphy sent Mannis to help the Explorers' Guild while forbidding further use of the dangerous device.

• Brother Loyalty explained that the Guild was searching for Creator machines that had shut down before their programs were formatted, so their code could be recovered.
• Mengha activated a clock-like device with a standard battery, sending the nearby Guild members a hundred years into the past.
• Mannis warned Murphy that the device had damaged the timeline, and Murphy turned its dial to bring the players back to the present.
• Mengha identified several intact Creator devices that could be activated, but Mannis refused to let the players use the clock for another trip.
• Murphy asked Mannis to travel back and bring forward Creator programming knowledge, and Mannis agreed to try while avoiding the Creator's active defenses.

Murphy arranged for players to entertain Prince Bai and earn his favor while Lady Liji explained the dragonkin’s temporal reverie and the reincarnation of their personalities. The chapter left Murphy heading to the port to meet his sovereign and a strange gnoll, with the Secretblood clan’s mystery unresolved.

• Mannis arranged for Little Ashina and A-Feng to receive a quest to tour Origin Harbor with Prince Bai and earn an encrypted database as an advanced reward.
• Little Ashina and A-Feng met Prince Bai, who asked them to arrange food and entertainment, and they contacted Loyal Bro for help.
• Lady Liji arrived at Origin Harbor, drew the Sangha Empire’s guardians’ attention, and told Murphy she had chosen sixty dragonkin to become her Rain Maidens.
• Liji explained that upper dragonkin underwent three bouts of temporal reverie, each replacing their personality while preserving their true nature, and that Prince Bai was in his second bout of his third cycle.
• Liji told Murphy she knew little about the Secretblood clan’s agreement with the Dragon Emperor, but said it involved mutual aid and a destiny woven by mortals.
• Murphy left to meet his sovereign and a strange gnoll at the port after Liji urged him to investigate the Secretblood clan himself.

Murphy and Lord Paine debated how to unite the vampires and resist the Mother of Midnight’s corruption, settling on a concise Oath of Great Revenge alongside Paine’s more comprehensive scripture. Murphy revealed plans for a Holy Blood Warband and a unified vampire kingdom, then said he intended to meet the Creator among the stars.

• Hogg arrived in Origin Harbor with Lord Paine aboard a Perfect Aviation airship and addressed a welcoming crowd from Sangha.
• Lord Paine gave Murphy his completed Midnight Canon, but Murphy argued there was not enough time to implement its detailed rules before the Mother of Midnight became fully corrupted.
• Murphy presented Triss and his concise Oath of Great Revenge, and proposed using it alongside Paine’s scripture to unite vampires against Chaos.
• Murphy proposed forming a Holy Blood Warband under Lord Paine’s command, with elite fighters from every vampire clan serving as an independent force against major threats.
• Murphy showed Lord Paine his plans to allocate territories for the vampire clans in Transia and revealed his intention to establish a unified vampire kingdom, with Triss as its ruler and himself behind the throne.
• As they neared Greenshade Palace, Murphy told Lord Paine that his ultimate destination was among the stars, where he intended to confront the Creator.

Princess Fleur and Nefertari waited for Berdinos while teasing each other, as King Louis prepared to arrive in Origin Harbor for the diplomatic gathering. The chapter left Louis eager to meet Murphy and the other leaders attending the Pharaoh’s banquet.

• Murphy welcomed Hogg at the Green Palace and learned that mental pressure near the Origin had left Hogg unable to feel his legs.
• Nefertari told Fleur she planned to return to the Moon’s Holy City, and Fleur dragged her to Berdinos’s prayer room to have her brain examined.
• Nefertari recognized the scent of powdered putrefaction flowers in Berdinos’s ritual bowl and explained that they could be used in spirit-vision potions.
• King Louis prepared to arrive in Origin Harbor with Queen Elizabeth and Lady Margaret, then heard that several foreign leaders, including Murphy and Princess Chuchute, were already there.
• King Louis said he looked forward to meeting Murphy and attending the Pharaoh’s banquet.

At Princess Fleur’s banquet in the Green Shade Palace, Murphy mingled with rulers while Prince White slipped away to play a game and Andre panicked over his investment in the otherworlders’ trading company. The evening ended with Prince White celebrating a winning match as a Sanghai noblewoman and a blond man hurried out of the garden bushes.

• Princess Fleur hosted a banquet where Murphy chatted with the Wolf Queen, Triss, King Louis, and other dignitaries, while Prince White and Princess Chuchute competed over the roasted sandstorm bug.
• Prince White used Cloudmist Art to leave a convincing illusion at the table, then called Cheche and A-Cha to play Battle of the Gods on his calculating orb.
• Murphy asked Ruyi to fix Astral Dragon · Ao’s stats after Triss said Prince White was enjoying the game despite his losses.
• Murphy and Triss watched Liji project an illusion to flirt with King Louis, then Count Andre pulled Murphy aside to beg him to stop the trading company’s rapid growth.
• Murphy told Andre he could not back out of the scheme, while Prince White shouted that he had won a match and reached Bronze.
• A blond man and the mayor of Origin Harbor’s wife hurried out of the bushes, leaving Murphy and Andre stunned.

The human team restarted the Creator’s ultra-precision machine tool after Da Xian Yin Cha found a jammed part, and Murphy claimed it for Transia. The machine’s AI began optimizing its control program and preparing war production, while the Sanghaians agreed to learn from the team; Murphy then turned their attention to repairing power armor and reaching the solar ships.

• Gu Jun and Chu Qi landed after their clash as Lord Ma prepared to start the machine tool’s fourth test.
• Da Xian Yin Cha found and removed a twisted part jammed in the gearbox, allowing Lord Ma to start the machine tool’s self-check.
• The machine tool passed its self-check at reduced efficiency, awakened its AI Forger-4175, and offered to optimize the control program and produce war weapons.
• Murphy arrived with Princess Fuli’er and the Sangaian mechanics, accessed the machine, and transferred its ownership to Transia’s Strategic Materials Administration.
• Lord Ma offered Princess Fuli’er the team’s control program and help understanding the Creator’s coding system, and she welcomed them as honored guests.
• Murphy told Da Xian Yin Cha to prepare to repair the Sage Wolf Armor and receive more power armor as the team moved closer to the solar ships.

Lu Yan advanced to the individual tournament final against Nangong Ze while players at Origin Harbor received custom weapons before the delegation departed for Ptolemy's royal city. When the leaders noticed Transia had no sand-king carriage, Princess Fleur revealed that Murphy had been assigned a special mechanical scarab ship because he was the Creator's Chosen.

• Lu Yan defeated his opponent in round four, then was announced as a finalist against Nangong Ze of the Imperial Capital Military Academy.
• Mengha used the automated machine tool to make customized combat daggers and short swords for players, who received the weapons as work allowances before leaving Origin Harbor.
• Governor Hood arrived at Origin Harbor and agreed to make the Feast of the Mad Fish a permanent event; Murphy and Triss discussed attending the Sea Abyss Celestial's procession as part of a future player event.
• Murphy confirmed to the gathered leaders that the Creator's relics could be claimed by anyone who awakened them and warned that other forces were seeking them.
• The leaders questioned why Transia had no sand-king carriage, and Princess Fleur explained that Murphy had been given a higher-grade mechanical scarab ship as the Creator's Chosen.

Murphy and the delegation traveled toward Ptolemy aboard the Sanghai Empire’s experimental airship, the Heart of Ptolemy, as they examined the empire’s technological achievements and the mystery of the Creator Engine’s collapse. Princess Fuli’er sought Murphy’s judgment on whether the Sanghai people deserved the Creator’s legacy, but he withheld his decision until he could investigate the past and visit the Origin Holy City.

• The players and monarchs boarded their respective Sand King Beetle carriages, while the delegation examined the Sanghai Empire’s steel scarab airship and discussed how its people had imitated Creator technology.
• The procession crossed into the Thousand-Year Sea of Sand, where Mossna explained that creation energy had likely transformed the region’s terrain when the Creator Engine went out of control.
• Murphy speculated that Quirion and the elves might have helped protect the Sanghai people during the disaster, while Mossna reported that she could detect no signal from the apparently shut-down Creator Engine.
• Princess Fuli’er asked Murphy what he thought of the Heart of Ptolemy, and Mossna criticized its flaws before praising the Sanghai people’s progress despite their lack of systematic education.
• Murphy told Fuli’er that the Sanghai people seemed most worthy of inheriting the Creator’s legacy but said he would decide only after learning the truth of the ancient disaster and visiting the Origin Holy City.
• Mossna rebuked the Aztecs for neglecting their Creator-given technology, and Fuli’er argued that they could still improve and build closer ties with the Sanghai people.

King Louis planned to pursue Sangha’s Creator-relic research, ease tensions with Transia, and seek new opportunities abroad, while Her Majesty Angelina considered sending André to the Whispering Hills ruin. As the convoy neared Ptolemy, the Pharaoh prepared to welcome the foreign researchers and show them the Empire’s relic collection.

• King Louis decided to establish a research institute and invite Sangha to join an excavation of the Creator’s ruin beneath Greeny Island’s northern sinkholes.
• King Louis planned to return the mountains of Sax to Transia to begin negotiations, develop the kingdom during a period of peace, and eventually address Helms Island and expansion into the New World.
• Her Majesty Angelina resolved to claim the Creator’s ruin in the Whispering Hills, but André volunteered to lead the expedition and urged her not to harm their ancestor Shani.
• The White Prince told an official to handle plans for the Twelve Golden Men and Cloudmist restricted zones without involving him in domestic politics.
• Pharaoh Thutmose II learned that the convoy would reach the royal city the next morning and prepared to welcome the foreign guests at the palace holding the Empire’s relics.

Murphy and the allied leaders arrived in Ptolemy, where the pharaoh welcomed Murphy as the Creator’s returned messenger and promised the Sanghaians’ cooperation. At Morhan Palace, the Sanghaians offered the Explorers’ Guild ten Divine Guard power armor suits in exchange for sharing repair knowledge, and King Ma asked to use—or acquire—a workshop.

• Happy Stick and the other players discussed hunting sandstorm worms and proposed recruiting veteran Sangaian sub-squads to explore buried cities.
• Murphy, Triss, and the allied leaders arrived at Ptolemy and marveled at the city and the Great Pyramid of Isus.
• The pharaoh bowed to Murphy as the Creator’s messenger, and Murphy used the Omega Program to test the pharaoh’s purity before accepting his worship.
• The pharaoh offered the visitors lodging and announced that the Sanghaians would give the Explorers’ Guild ten Divine Guard power armor suits in return for knowledge.
• King Ma and Got Tea When Free agreed to share their power armor repair achievements and asked to visit a Sangaian workshop, preferably to obtain one.

Murphy and his allies inspected the Sanghai Empire’s power armor workshop as foreign researchers taught the royal mechanics to improve the machines’ control programs. The Sanghai craftsmen chose to study both the Creator’s original system and the foreigners’ alternative, and Murphy secured another batch of power armor suits while a master craftsman offered Mengha a chance to see a crashed Sun Ship.

• Triss argued that the foreigners had received too few power armor suits, while Adele said the Sanghai Empire’s loyalty and future gifts mattered more than immediate gains.
• Murphy told Triss and Adele that he viewed the Sanghai deal as a partnership and would not treat the otherworlders as subordinates.
• Mengha explained to the Sanghai mechanics that the Creator’s original control program could be improved, and Zaizao Yaowan urged them to pursue truth rather than accept answers blindly.
• Murphy offered the royal master craftsman a choice between the Creator’s original program and the foreigners’ alternative, but an apprentice persuaded him to take both.
• Murphy signaled Mengha to charge for both programs, and the royal master craftsman agreed to deliver another ten power armor suits before offering Mengha a visit to a crashed Sun Ship.

Meow Brother and Bang discussed how to select pilots and manage the twenty power armor suits Sangha had provided, while Murphy attended the Pharaoh’s banquet before being summoned to meet Thutmose II. The Pharaoh signed Murphy’s Sacred Covenant and explained that Khufu would gather the remaining signatures, leaving Murphy to ask about Sangha’s ancient history and connection to the Creator.

• Bang told Meow Brother that Sangha had provided twenty power armor suits and that pilots needed mechanical expertise, so Loyalty Anthem and qualified players would help select operators.
• Meow Brother and Bang agreed that the armor should remain under centralized control and be rented to players, while Bang urged guilds to recruit trainee pilots for a future Transian rapid-response force.
• Qin posted a power armor pilot recruitment notice, and Yan Sang of the Big Bird Squad applied because he had experience as a civilian airline pilot.
• Murphy attended the welcome banquet with Triss and Adele, watched the mummy dancers, and spoke with Crown Prince Khufu about the situation at the Abyss of Wraiths.
• Khufu led Murphy beneath the Great Pyramid of Isus, where Thutmose II signed the Sacred Covenant and said Khufu would collect signatures from the other thirty-two pilgrim families.
• Murphy asked Thutmose II to explain Sangha’s history before the Golden Age and its connection to the Creator.

Murphy discussed an ancient Sanghe poem and the Empire’s changing approach to energy with Triss and Hogg. As the Pharaoh’s birthday celebrations approached, Nefertari and A-Feng arrived in Ptolemy, and Murphy prepared the Transian delegation to attend the banquet.

• Murphy asked Triss about a poem describing a queen who led the first Sanghe people into the desert, and they considered whether the Sanghe had first encountered the Creator before the Golden Age.
• Hogg told Murphy that the Sanghe had finalized three aid agreements with the Gnoll Kingdom and requested help finding fuel-gold deposits; Murphy explained their new interest in alternative energy and gave Hogg a computational orb to contact Professor Malcolm.
• Murphy returned to his residence and was tackled by a fairy, while preparations for Thutmose II’s birthday celebrations continued across Palace Mountain.
• Nefertari returned to Ptolemy with A-Feng, who had become a priest of the Underworld and received training from Bayek.
• Murphy gathered the players in formal uniforms and ordered Master Qin to lead the Transian delegation and its gifts to the main hall behind Lord Palanor.

At Thutmose II’s birthday banquet, Murphy tried to save the Sangha Empire’s future after Chaos poison was used to assassinate the Pharaoh. As the guests turned on one another, Murphy sealed the unconscious ruler in his armor’s pod and urged Khufu and Frier to get him to the Holy City of Origin.

• Triss explained to Murphy how the Pilgrim Families shared power in the Sangha Empire and how successive pharaohs had weakened their influence.
• Lord Palanno presented a protective jade made from the remains of the Lord of the Hunt, and the Pharaoh placed it around Khufu’s neck.
• Old Qin presented Transia’s sculpture, made from remnants of the Lord of the Hunt, the Worldburner, and the Scepter of God.
• Mannis warned Murphy that the timeline had changed, and Murphy knocked the poisoned wine from Thutmose II’s hand before trying to purify the poison already inside him.
• A Pilgrim Family pharaoh accused the vampires of assassination, and mummy dancers attacked the guests, binding Triss and Adele and overwhelming Palanno.
• Murphy placed the unconscious Thutmose II in the War Marshal armor’s Beta Sealing Module and told Khufu and Frier to take him to the Holy City of Origin while he fought to break through.

Murphy, Triss, Adele, and the gravely wounded Palanno escaped through Ptolemy City while enemies closed in and the Sanghai Empire descended into crisis. As Murphy’s group headed toward the coast, Fleur took charge at the palace and rallied the Empire’s leaders around the incapacitated Pharaoh.

• Murphy and Triss fought off their pursuers, learned that the Venerable Lord Pain had stayed behind to hold back the attackers, and called for help while Murphy’s communications were disrupted.
• Triss led Murphy, Adele, and Palanno toward an escape route as Mannis warned them not to use the Astral Plane because chaos-corrupted demigods were lying in wait.
• Triss revealed she had several secret escape tunnels, while Murphy planned to reach the coast and rely on the Origin Vanguard’s safeguards rather than travel to the Abyss of Wraiths.
• The Venerable Lord Pain defended Khufu and the containment pod holding Thutmose II as Dead Moon Church forces accused Murphy and demanded that he surrender.
• Berdinos arrived with news that the Abyss of Wraiths seal had failed, Bayek had been killed, Jomini had been gravely wounded, and border oases were suspected of rebelling.
• Fleur ordered Berdinos to secure Palace Mountain and conceal the crisis, then asked the Venerable Lord Pain and the honored guests to protect her family and help the Empire.

The Transian survivors fought their way out of the Ptolemaic royal city in power armor after the Pharaoh’s assassination, while Ayu warned that a secret anti-Creator faction had set a trap at the Holy City of Origin. General Bhopal’s mutinous sunship headed toward Murphy under Eden’s control, and Bhopal prepared to reclaim it for the empire.

• Eat Dates and Die held back the Underworld undead while Horse King and the mechanics activated twenty suits of Sandsea Guard power armor.
• Loyalist Brother led the newly equipped pilots out of the workshop, and Master Qin’s surviving players joined them as they prepared to break out west.
• Ayu warned Horse King and Master Qin that a secret faction had infiltrated Sanghae and planned a trap at the Holy Land of Origin, offering to guide them to the crashed Thousand-Year Quicksand first.
• A rebel mechanic attacked Ayu after the captives were freed, and Master Qin shot him before ordering the group to leave immediately.
• General Bhopal learned that Eden had seized control of the sunship and was taking it to Murphy, then ordered Eden to identify loyal troops so he could retake the vessel.

Murphy and his companions continued toward the Origin Holy City as the Sanghai Empire descended into civil war, and he intervened in a clash between rival oasis forces. He launched the second phase of the main quest, rallying players and the Torrent Knights to enter the Land of Origins and fight the rebellion.

• Murphy used Time Exile and Triss used Time Slow to keep the dying Palanno alive, then Murphy read Palanno’s list of romantic obligations and carried him onward in a coffin.
• Adele reported that players and Sanghai engineers were heading toward the crashed Thousand-Year Quicksand, while a Twilight-aligned faction had helped stir unrest in the empire.
• Murphy and Triss concluded that rival Pilgrim Families and political tensions had fueled the turmoil, and Murphy ordered players to gather for the second phase of the main quest.
• Murphy sent George and his astral wolves to break up a battle between two oasis forces near the Isus Delta.
• At Chardo Port, Knight Taipal rallied players and mercenaries to join the campaign, telling them to fight anyone exploiting the Sanghai chaos.

Five-Spoke Wheel organized mercenary leaders as auxiliary troops for the Sea of Sand campaign, while Niu Hongwei entered True Otherworld and joined a group of new players emerging from a pyramid at Pom Oasis. The chapter left the newly arrived heroes preparing to fight Senta Oasis’s advancing soldiers and defend Origin Port.

• Five-Spoke Wheel offered mercenary leaders equal battle shares and certified treasure maps as rewards, but required them to follow orders and sign a deadly pact.
• Five-Spoke Wheel explained to Guochan 037 that the mercenaries were a test of command and part of a plan to train players in coordinating auxiliary forces.
• Five-Spoke Wheel revealed that 3,500 new players would arrive near Pom Oasis to capture Origin Port, with Lord Kudel and the little mummy’s family arranged to help them.
• Niu Hongwei entered the game, discovered his rejuvenated body, and punched through stone doors to escape his starting tomb.
• Niu Hongwei learned from a half-elf player that the newcomers had spawned at Pom Oasis, then met a Pom family guard who issued calculation orbs and urged them to stop Senta Oasis’s soldiers from taking Origin Port.

After 3,500 newbies appeared in the Porm Great Pyramid, Paratrooper organized them to defend Origin Harbor and secured weapons, armor, and transport from the Porm family. Inspired by Paratrooper’s suggestion, the Porm defense chief decided to lead an assault on the Senta Oasis while the players headed for the harbor.

• The Porm family treated the appearance of 3,500 newbies as a miracle and gathered them at a training ground with weapons and armor.
• Paratrooper proposed dividing the newbies into Assault, Fire Support, and Reserve groups, and Old Niu, July Three, and Lord Sumu Has Arrived volunteered to lead teams.
• Paratrooper negotiated with the Porm defense chief for vehicles and better equipment, and the chief gave the players weapons, armor, and exoskeletons.
• The newbies set out for Origin Harbor on Iron King scarab carts, and Paratrooper urged the defense chief to consider attacking the Senta Oasis.
• The Porm defense chief decided to leave a third of his soldiers behind and lead the rest in a surprise attack on the Senta Oasis.