Chapter Summaries

Ling Chu shared what she had learned about Autumn Snow and Xia Chunying, then the Scorching Sea Furnace disaster arrived as the sun split into two. With the dining room growing dangerously hot, she installed and activated a Mana air conditioner to cool it.

• Ling Chu told the others that Autumn Snow had gouged out Xia Chunying's eyes, and they discussed the Goddess of Light, Adrian, and how Xia Chunying's soul mark could keep her spying.
• Ling Chu decided the group would stay put and wait for a conflict between Autumn Snow and Adrian to create an opportunity.
• A system notification warned that the Scorching Sea Furnace disaster would begin in ten minutes, and the sun split into two as the temperature rapidly rose.
• Ling Chu took out a Mana air conditioner, had Skeleton Henchmen install it, and cooled the sealed dining room.

Ling Chu and her allies stayed cool and prepared as the Scorching Sea Furnace heat disaster arrived, while other players struggled with soaring temperatures and air-conditioner prices. Ling Chu sold spare air conditioners to allied captains and asked Mickey Meow Witch for hemp clothes and shoes to protect her skeletons.

• Ling Chu outfitted more rooms with air conditioners and served iced honey-kumquat juice before the system announced the Scorching Sea Furnace disaster.
• Players complained in public chat about extreme heat and costly supplies, and Guo Guo's Dad accused Squid Ball of withholding a prediction; Squid Ball posted pictures of her air conditioning and iced drinks in reply.
• Ling Chu offered the captains in her ally channel spare mana air conditioners for 800 sea shells each, and Give You a Dalieba, National Server Little Luban, and Mickey Meow Witch each bought one.
• Give You a Dalieba celebrated surviving the heat with air conditioning, while Ling Chu asked Mickey Meow Witch for heat-insulating hemp clothes and shoes for her skeletons.

Ling Chu prepared for the prolonged heat disaster by buying linen clothes for her skeletons. In Bright City, Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms fled guards after her handmade dolls were exposed, but the crowned man leading them revealed a monstrous mouth on the back of his head and bit her wrist.

• Ling Chu accepted Mickey Meow Witch's offer of two hundred linen clothing sets and stored them for the skeletons.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms saw two suns appear over Bright City, where a protective barrier kept the heat from becoming severe.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms hid in a tavern, but guards found her and she escaped amid the bartender and owner's attempt to delay them.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms ran through the alleys and found herself surrounded by soldiers and a crowned, bearded man.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms attacked the crowned man, whose head twisted around and whose mouth bit her wrist, making her drop her dagger.

Adrian Goldensui revealed his monstrous form to Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms and learned that she served the Death God. Intrigued by the power of rebirth, he offered to support her faith in exchange for loyal puppet spies and soldiers, then killed two guards who witnessed the bargain.

• Adrian introduced himself as the Graf Feast Lord and revealed the extra eyes, ears, and face on his body to frighten Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms identified herself as a follower of the Death God and declared that she had come to spread his faith.
• Adrian became interested in the Death God's power to bring the dead back to life and asked what the girl needed.
• Adrian showed her the tavern owner and server, whom she had turned into puppets, and offered freedom, souls, and a Death God statue in exchange for more puppets loyal only to him.
• Adrian killed the two guards who had brought in the puppets and told Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms that they could begin.

On the fifth day of the high-temperature disaster, Ling Chu and her companions endured the heat aboard the Ghost Ship while Squid Ball struggled to learn her new attack skill. As the ship headed for the island where Titch had found the Elven Stone Slab, Ling Chu spotted a spreading bank of foul-smelling seaweed beneath a layer of mist.

• Ling Chu read the Shark Daily’s advice for surviving the extreme heat while the Ghost Ship’s Skeleton Henchmen cooled the deck with freshwater.
• Huang Xiaowen borrowed Ling Chu’s newspaper with Telekinetic Grab, and Ling Chu learned that Lingering Wind and Fading Moon was practicing Healing Technique on fish.
• Squid Ball told Ling Chu and Huang Xiaowen that she had repeatedly failed to activate Star Drawing Technique, and Ling Chu offered to practice with her that night.
• Ling Chu noticed salt frost covering the Ghost Ship’s hull and mist rolling over the sea as the high heat evaporated the seawater.
• Ling Chu saw a vast, spreading bank of seaweed surging up from beneath the water and smelled its nauseating stench of decay.

Ling Chu brought the Ghost Ship through toxic, algae-choked waters and reached the island where Titch believed the Sacred Stone Slab was hidden. She followed Hemlock into a cave, where hundreds of creatures with glowing green eyes noticed the group.

• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon warned the crew that toxic algae had contaminated the seafood, and Ling Chu ordered the fishing gear hauled in.
• Ling Chu sailed the Ghost Ship through the rotting seaweed zone and anchored at the island Titch identified as the location of the Sacred Stone Slab.
• Ling Chu brought You Jiali, Clumsy Bear, Titch, and Hemlock ashore, where the system identified the island as unclaimed and set a 48-hour stay limit.
• Hemlock guided Ling Chu and the others to a cave, since Titch could not remember its location.
• Ling Chu entered the cave first and found hundreds of creatures hanging from the walls, their green eyes fixed on the group.

Ling Chu revived Philip in the cave and learned that Lucas had stolen the Elven Stone Slab after capturing and killing Titch’s crew. Philip admitted that he had betrayed the others under threat, and Titch attacked him.

• Ling Chu found the Stone Tablet’s empty recess on the platform, while Titch said the bones had been there before and now seemed more numerous.
• Ling Chu used Bone Revival on a skeleton, bringing Philip back to life and surprising Titch and Hemlock.
• Philip recognized Titch and Hemlock, then learned that both had become a skeleton and a spirit.
• Ling Chu asked Philip what had happened, and he recalled Lucas drugging the crew, throwing Titch into the sea, and taking the others to an island to demand the Stone Slab’s location.
• Philip admitted he had revealed information to Lucas to avoid being buried alive, and Titch punched him in the skull.

Ling Chu learned how Philip and Lucas had been trapped by the cave’s poisonous-gas mechanism after stealing the Elven Stone Slab, then found a hidden escape passage beneath the pedestal. Examining carvings of five eyeless dragons, she suspected the polished wall concealed something and tapped it at the spots matching their eyes.

• Titch beat Philip while Ling Chu watched, then stopped when she told him to.
• Philip explained that Lucas had promised him freedom and five million Sea Shells for leading him to the Elven Stone Slab.
• After Philip and Lucas triggered a poison-gas trap, Lucas escaped through a secret passage beneath the pedestal while leaving Philip behind.
• Ling Chu gathered the bones scattered in the cave into her Ring and lifted the pedestal to reveal the dark passage beneath it.
• Ling Chu and You Jiali noticed the five carved dragons had no eyes, and Ling Chu tapped the polished wall at the corresponding spots.

Ling Chu discovered the real Elven Stone Slab No. 7 in a hidden chamber and realized Lucas had taken a fake. After bringing the tablet back to the Ghost Ship, she asked Squid Ball how long it would take to decipher it.

• Ling Chu activated the cave’s hidden mechanism and opened a secret chamber containing a second Elven Stone Slab.
• Ling Chu suspected Lucas’s tablet was fake and ordered Philip to retrieve the chamber’s tablet; Philip took it without triggering a trap.
• Ling Chu put the tablet in her Ring Space and led everyone back to the Ghost Ship.
• Ling Chu showed the tablet to Squid Ball, explained that Lucas had taken a fake, and asked how long deciphering it would take.

Squid Ball deciphered the Number Seven Stone Slab, revealing a cryptic clue about reversing heaven and earth and testing an abyss. Ling Chu learned that Autumn Snow had the slab taken from the Qingshan Ship stored in Bright City’s convention hall for an upcoming auction, while Autumn Snow vowed to avenge Xia Chunying and questioned her about strange equipment aboard the Ghost Ship.

• Squid Ball spent three hours comparing the Number Seven Stone Slab with the Elven Ancient Book, then read its translation aloud to Ling Chu and the others.
• Ling Chu decided the message was too unclear to interpret without more clues and privately asked Xia Chunying to find out where her sister’s Elven Stone Slab was and photograph it.
• Xia Chunying remembered that Autumn Snow had stored the slab seized from the Qingshan Ship in the convention hall storeroom and learned that Bright City planned to auction it and offer a bounty for its decipherment.
• Xia Chunying secretly told Ling Chu where the slab was and about the planned auction.
• Autumn Snow promised Xia Chunying she would avenge her injury and the Holy Army’s deaths, then asked whether Xia Chunying had noticed any strange equipment aboard the Ghost Ship.

On the sixth day of the extreme heat disaster, Ling Chu sold air conditioners and Condensation Devices for a fortune. Huang Xiaowen showed her a newspaper announcing Bright City’s first large-scale auction, which Ling Chu had already heard about from Xia Chunying.

• Autumn Snow told Xia Chunying that her tracking skill could not locate Ling Chu or her crew, and Xia Chunying worried about her sister’s pursuit of the Ghost Ship.
• As the heat reached 51 degrees, Ling Chu listed thirty-seven air conditioners and twenty Condensation Devices for sale, and buyers quickly purchased them all.
• Ling Chu explained that Condensation Devices could filter seawater into ice-cold freshwater, and the sales raised her savings to over 420,000 Sea Shells.
• Huang Xiaowen brought Ling Chu the Shark Daily, whose headline announced Bright City’s first large-scale auction and invited all players to attend.

Ling Chu learned that Autumn Snow’s Holy Army was holding a large auction in Bright City, drawing players with the island’s protection from the heat and promising enormous profits. Ling Chu decided to attend and pursue the Island Core, but she still needed a way to get there without paying the Holy Army.

• A newspaper announced Bright City’s auction, listing its fees, ticket prices, submission requirements, and location.
• Ling Chu explained that Autumn Snow was using the auction to attract players, raise the Holy Army’s profile, and establish a permanent base in Bright City.
• Autumn Snow posted photos and confirmed that Bright City was a survivable 35 degrees, prompting players to flock to the city and submit auction items.
• Ling Chu calculated that the Holy Army could earn at least twenty million Sea Shells and resolved to claim a share of the profits.
• Ling Chu agreed to attend the auction and target the Island Core, while her companions wondered how they could get tickets despite being blacklisted.

Ling Chu arranged to obtain a Teleportation Ticket through Star River Enters Dream so her crew could reach Bright City without contacting the Holy Army directly. She planned to disguise the Ghost Ship and its crew before arriving three days ahead of the auction, leaving her intent on seeing how Autumn Snow’s event unfolded.

• Ling Chu traded the Atonement Buddhist Shrine to Star River Enters Dream, who auctioned it to the Holy Army and gave her a Teleportation Ticket.
• Players discussed sharing Teleportation Tickets in Public Chat, while Ling Chu told her allies they could attend the auction if they wished.
• Ling Chu told her crew the ticket was secured and decided they would travel to Bright City three days before the auction to blend into the crowds.
• Ling Chu and her crew planned to replace the Ghost Ship’s skull sails, repaint its hull, and disguise themselves before entering Bright City.

Ling Chu and her companions arrived at Bright City aboard the disguised Ghost Ship, posing as wine merchants to avoid recognition by the Holy Army. They passed the harbor checkpoint and entered the city while Siji Dao remained unaware of them.

• Ling Chu and the others disguised the Ghost Ship as a merchant vessel and changed their appearances before docking at Bright City.
• The group hid the Skeleton Henchmen aboard the ship and went ashore as a crew of wine sellers.
• Ling Chu paid the Holy Army checkpoint three thousand Sea Shells to register the Wine Barrel and its six people.
• Ling Chu recognized Siji Dao near the checkpoint, but he failed to recognize her as she and the others passed him.

Ling Chu and her crew explored Bright City, where the Sea Lantern Festival gave her an opportunity to plan a search for the Island Core in the City Lord’s Office. They reunited after being distracted by the city’s stalls, and Huang Xiaowen won a round of a rune dice game.

• Ling Chu realized her companions had wandered off while she memorized the route to the docks, and she found Clumsy Bear longing for Seafood Meatballs.
• Ling Chu found Lingering Wind and Fading Moon choosing herbs and paid for the ones she wanted.
• Ling Chu found You Jiali filling a basket with vegetables, paid the vendor, and put the basket in her Storage Ring.
• Squid Ball bought Sea Mist Incense, and the stall owner told them that the Sea Lantern Festival would take place in five days.
• Ling Chu realized the City Lord’s Office might be empty during the festival and planned to search it for the Island Core.
• The crew found Huang Xiaowen at a Rune Guessing Big or Small stall, where she won with a Blazing Sun Rune and demanded her prize.

Ling Chu reunited with Star River Enters Dream and encountered Little Luban while exploring the city with her crew. After overhearing rumors about the tavern’s former owner and bartender, she questioned how conspicuous she had been, and Star River Enters Dream warned her to be more careful.

• Huang Xiaowen won two geese at a street stall, and Ling Chu told her crew to stay together.
• Ling Chu spotted Little Luban working at a blacksmith shop and recognized Star River Enters Dream when he came to collect his sword.
• Star River Enters Dream recognized Ling Chu by her aura, and she stopped him from saying her name by stuffing a seafood meatball into his mouth.
• Ling Chu noticed Little Luban had recognized her weapon and led everyone into a nearby tavern.
• Ling Chu overheard patrons discussing the mysterious disappearance or alleged killing of the tavern’s former owner and bartender, and Star River Enters Dream warned her that she was being conspicuous.

Ling Chu reunited with National Server Little Luban in Bright City and discussed the Ghost Ship’s arrival with Star River Enters Dream. As lodging costs threatened to drain the crew’s funds, they planned to share rooms while Little Luban and Clumsy Bear arranged cheaper places to sleep.

• Ling Chu met National Server Little Luban, who recognized her from her livestream, and learned that Mickey Meow Witch, Dalieba, and the others would arrive the next day.
• Star River Enters Dream said he had drifted at sea for seven days to reach Bright City and used his auction invitation to enter without paying the landing fee, making You Jiali suspicious of him.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon reported that rooms cost five hundred Sea Shells per night, while National Server Little Luban explained that permits were required to set up temporary shelters in the city.
• Ling Chu calculated the cost of lodging for the crew and proposed that the women share rooms to cut expenses.
• National Server Little Luban said he would sleep at his stall, and Clumsy Bear offered to share a room with the cook.

Ling Chu and her companions settled into Bright City, opened a stall selling wine, and explored the city. At a plaza before City Lord Adrian’s castle, they found residents worshipping a faceless statue of the Goddess of Light and learned that Autumn Snow had become the Saintess.

• You Jiali agreed to share a bed with Star River Enters Dream, while Ling Chu asked Little Luban about stall fees and taxes.
• Ling Chu rented a stall opposite Little Luban’s Blacksmith Shop and set You Jiali and Clumsy Bear to selling wine as she went exploring with the girls.
• Ling Chu and the girls toured Bright City, passed the castle, and Huang Xiaowen resisted entering the city’s casino.
• Ling Chu and the girls reached the plaza’s Goddess of Light statue, where a resident explained the goddess’s faceless appearance and invited them to hear the Saintess preach.
• Ling Chu identified the Saintess as Autumn Snow, and Huang Xiaowen suspected the Holy Army had already brainwashed the city.

Ling Chu and her companions discovered Lucas’s million-Sea-Shell bounty and considered approaching the City Lord for information. Nearby, Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms resented Adrian’s control over her and her confinement to making dolls before she bumped into Huang Xiaowen and disappeared into the crowd.

• Ling Chu recognized Lucas on a Bright City bounty order offering one million Sea Shells and suspected the City Lord knew more about his crimes and whereabouts.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms walked through the city with four guards, three of whom were dolls, while the guard leader reminded her that her time outside was limited.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms recalled how Adrian controlled her, rationed the souls she needed to grow stronger, and forced her to make dolls from corpses.
• Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms resented Autumn Snow’s status as a Saintess and mocked the townsfolk praying to the Goddess of Light statue.
• Huang Xiaowen accidentally bumped into Little Girl Stepping on Mushrooms, who shoved her and vanished into the crowd with her guards.

Ling Chu’s group learned about an ice wagon that could get them into the City Lord’s castle and went to scout its route. Huang Xiaowen used Telekinetic Grab to take the icehouse foreman’s key, leaving them with a way to access the icehouse.

• Ling Chu’s group sold wine and discussed how heavily the City Lord’s castle was guarded while sharing dinner around a campfire.
• Star River Enters Dream told Ling Chu that an unchecked ice wagon delivered ice from the southern icehouse to the castle each afternoon.
• Ling Chu, Huang Xiaowen, and You Jiali scouted the icehouse and watched workers take a wagon of ice toward the castle.
• Ling Chu decided they needed the foreman’s key, and Huang Xiaowen used Telekinetic Grab to make it appear in her hand.