Chapter Summaries

Ling Chu took control of Food Island, then accepted the Holy Army’s stolen supplies from Xia Chunying and removed her Soul Mark. The chapter ended with Autumn Snow learning that the Holy Army’s warehouse had been emptied.

• Ling Chu and her companions explored Food Island after the meerkat guards departed.
• Xia Chunying traded Ling Chu the Holy Army’s supplies in exchange for the removal of her Soul Mark.
• Ling Chu removed the Soul Mark, and Xia Chunying felt relieved that she was no longer under threat.
• Autumn Snow struggled to manage the Holy Army Fleet’s dwindling food and snake-venom casualties while Xia Chunying pretended to be obedient.
• A subordinate told Autumn Snow that all the food and supplies in the warehouse were gone.

Autumn Snow discovered that Xia Chunying had emptied the Holy Army Fleet’s warehouse and given its resources to Ling Chu in exchange for removing a deadly restriction. She brought Xia Chunying before the hungry crew, who demanded an explanation and blamed her indulgence.

• Autumn Snow found the warehouse completely empty and learned that Xia Chunying had been the only person to enter it.
• Autumn Snow confronted Xia Chunying, who admitted that Ling Chu had demanded the resources to remove a restriction inside her.
• Xia Chunying defended her choice by saying Ling Chu had removed the restriction and promised not to attack the Holy Army again.
• Autumn Snow slapped Xia Chunying twice, then dragged her onto the deck before the gathered crew.
• Autumn Snow accepted responsibility, but the crew demanded to know how she would make up for the stolen food and reserves.

Autumn Snow killed her sister Xia Chunying for betraying the Holy Army, then watched the Fleet fracture as members departed. A system announcement declared that District 666 would merge with District 234 and District 520, erasing the sea region boundaries.

• Holy Army players blamed Xia Chunying for their troubles and demanded that Autumn Snow kill her or lose their support.
• Autumn Snow realized Xia Chunying had repeatedly betrayed her and stabbed her through the heart, declaring that she deserved death under Holy Army rules.
• Autumn Snow felt both grief and release after killing Xia Chunying, accepting that she was now alone and had no weakness left.
• Zhao Dafeng reaffirmed his loyalty to the Holy Army Fleet, while many other players left it.
• The system announced that District 666 would merge with District 234 and District 520, and the Public Chat Channel merged.

After servers 234 and 520 merged with Server 666, players reacted to Ling Chu leading all four rankings, while newcomers questioned how her small Ghost Ship fleet had surpassed major crews. Ling Chu examined the rankings and noticed a Mechanical Fortress player had displaced Autumn Snow in the Justice Points Ranking.

• Ling Chu and her crew discussed the latest server merge and the players lost in the high-temperature disaster.
• Players in the Public Channel welcomed newcomers from Servers 234 and 520 and debated Ling Chu's dominance across the rankings.
• Ling Chu checked the Bounty Ranking and saw that members of the Circus fleet filled most of the top positions besides Ghost Ship members, with Smiley in second place.
• Newcomers compared the Circus and Mechanical Fortress fleets with Ling Chu's five-member Ghost Ship and questioned how she had become Number One on all four lists.
• Ling Chu opened the Justice Points Ranking and saw Engineering Men Have No Love overtake Autumn Snow for second place.

Ling Chu learned that the server merge had reshaped the crew rankings and that the Holy Army had dwindled, then asked Great Strength Creates Miracles about the unfamiliar Circus crew. Circus captain Joker watched footage of Ling Chu's Skeleton army and grew curious about her.

• Ling Chu found the Holy Army ranked forty-eighth with only 120 members remaining and noticed Xia Chunying's avatar had gone dark.
• Clumsy Bear recognized Great Strength Creates Miracles from the Midnight Canteen challenge, and Ling Chu accepted his friend request.
• Great Strength Creates Miracles warned Ling Chu that Circus captain Joker and his crew had killed every Pirate Hunter in District 234.
• A woman showed Joker footage of Ling Chu fighting the Holy Army and explained her Ghost Pirate abilities and the crew's strengths.
• Joker watched Ling Chu summon Skeletons and said she was interesting.

Ling Chu and her companions rescued Slachi, a badly injured sea demon, from the shore and learned that the Mermaid princess Sveti might attack the island while searching for her missing royal jade token. They brought Slachi aboard the Ghost Ship, where he received treatment and a hot meal, leaving him overcome with emotion.

• Ling Chu spotted Slachi unconscious on the shore, and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon helped revive him with medicine and hot chocolate milk.
• Slachi warned Ling Chu that Sveti might bring reinforcements to attack the island after losing her royal jade token.
• Ling Chu showed Slachi the token she had found, then ordered Clumsy Bear to carry him to the Ghost Ship rather than flee.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon treated Slachi's severe wounds, while You Jiali brought him hot yellowtail porridge.
• Slachi ate the warm porridge and cried as he remembered how Sveti had starved and mistreated him.

Ling Chu learned that Slachi was Jita’s husband and decided to take him to the Mermaid Royal Palace to report Sveti’s actions. At the palace’s underwater location, Slachi found Lantern Coral Fruit that could let them breathe underwater for the journey.

• Slachi thanked Ling Chu and the others for helping him, then revealed that Jita was his wife and that Sveti had enslaved him.
• Slachi explained that the Mermaid Royal Palace was difficult to reach, but Ling Chu’s royal Jade Tally would let her enter.
• Ling Chu decided to seek the Mermaid King’s help and set off with Slachi aboard the Ghost Ship.
• At dawn, Slachi guided them to the sea above the palace, which lay three thousand meters beneath the seabed.
• Slachi retrieved Lantern Coral Fruit, which could grant them underwater breathing for two hours.

Ling Chu and her companions used Lantern Coral Fruits to breathe underwater and followed Slachi to the hidden Mermaid Race city. They reached the royal palace, where mermaid guards barred their way.

• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon identified the Lantern Coral Fruits and stayed behind to brew underwater breathing potions while Ling Chu shared the fruit with the others.
• Ling Chu and her companions ate the fruits, grew gills, and swam underwater with Slachi leading them toward the palace.
• The group found a grove of Lantern Coral Fruits, gathered more, and continued into the dark depths.
• Slachi opened a hidden entrance in a reef, revealing a beautiful mermaid city filled with cottages, palaces, and mermaids.
• Ling Chu and her companions approached the royal palace, but a guard stopped them and forbade outsiders from entering.

Ling Chu entered the Mermaid royal palace to report Sveti’s attempt to seize her island, but learned the Mermaid King was unwell and was stopped by Serki, who took back Sveti’s jade token. Sveti’s royal consort then arrived and challenged Serki’s right to bring her back.

• Ling Chu presented Sveti’s jade token to the palace guards, who let her and her companions enter.
• Slachi admitted that he did not know the way to the Mermaid King’s palace, and the group encountered Serki with his young son.
• Ling Chu told Serki that Sveti had tried to take over her island and asked to report the matter to the Mermaid King.
• Serki said the King was recuperating and promised to bring Sveti back, then took the royal jade token from Ling Chu.
• Sveti’s red-tailed royal consort arrived and insisted that handling Sveti was his responsibility, challenging Serki as her uncle.

Ling Chu confronted Seliuxi over Sveti’s attempt to seize a human island, then left after Seliuxi sent guards to retrieve his daughter. In the mermaid city, Slachi showed the group local shops, and Ling Chu became interested in mermaid gauze as a way to cope with the heat.

• Ling Chu identified Seliuxi as the Mermaid King's consort and judged that she could defeat him.
• Serki confronted Seliuxi for letting Sveti violate royal law, but Seliuxi dismissed his concerns and sent guards to bring Sveti back.
• Ling Chu and her companions left the palace, ending the threat to their island without confronting Seliuxi.
• Slachi guided the group through the mermaid city's shops and described local goods, including food, sea-sound conches, and mermaid gauze.
• Ling Chu entered a mermaid gauze shop and found the cool, lightweight fabric suited to the high-temperature disaster.

Ling Chu and Slachi discovered that Slachi’s wife, Jita, had been taken to the Hatchery, where female mixed-blood Sea Monsters were forced to carry Mermaid eggs. Slachi revealed the Hatchery’s brutality and broke down, leaving Ling Chu and her companions to face the danger of rescuing Jita.

• Ling Chu bought Shark Silk garments, then Slachi recognized Urga chained in the shop.
• Urga told Slachi that Jita had been taken to the Hatchery, and Slachi rushed out in panic.
• Ling Chu caught up with Slachi and stopped him from drawing attention from Mermaid guards and onlookers.
• Ling Chu brought Slachi and the others into an alley and asked him about the Hatchery.
• Slachi explained that Mermaids used female mixed-blood Sea Monsters to carry their eggs and described how Jita’s older sister had died after being taken there.
• Slachi said he had become Sveti’s slave to protect Jita, then wept as he feared what would happen to her.

Ling Chu and her companions followed Slachi to find the hidden hatchery and rescue Jita. They located a guarded courtyard and heard distressed voices inside, but had not yet found a way in.

• You Jiali urged Slachi to let them help rescue Jita, and Ling Chu agreed to lead the mission.
• Slachi guided Ling Chu's group into the ruined outskirts, where he thought the hatchery was located.
• Ling Chu used the Sun Compass to track the hatchery's Warm Sea Stones and find a desolate courtyard guarded by merfolk.
• Ling Chu left Clumsy Bear and Squid Ball to keep watch, then searched the courtyard's rear wall with Slachi, You Jiali, and Huang Xiaowen.
• Ling Chu heard someone breathing heavily and crying inside, then found a crack in the roof that let her look into the courtyard.

Ling Chu and Slachi discovered that Mermaids were forcing captured Sea Monsters to carry Mermaid eggs, and Slachi found his wife Jita among the prisoners. Their rescue plans grew more urgent when Seliuxi selected Jita to bear offspring for the Mermaid King and ordered her taken to the palace in two days.

• Ling Chu and Slachi watched Mermaids cut open a Sea Monster and remove a Mermaid hatchling, then spotted Jita chained among the captives.
• Ling Chu warned Slachi that the guards were too strong to attack, and You Jiali persuaded him to retreat and make a plan.
• Squid Ball messaged Ling Chu that Seliuxi had arrived at the Hatchery, so she returned to watch through the roof.
• Seliuxi chose Jita as a vessel for the Mermaid King and ordered her prepared for an operation in the palace bedchamber on Tide Day.
• A guard forced food into Jita's mouth, while Slachi despaired that Seliuxi would take her away.

Ling Chu and her companions abandoned their first attempt to reach Jita and met Mermaid Princess Atasha, whom Ling Chu recognized from the gambling ship. Atasha took them to a restaurant, leaving Ling Chu with a possible plan to rescue Jita from the royal palace.

• Ling Chu led the group away from the hatchery, and Slachi despaired that he could not save Jita.
• Slachi explained that Jita would be taken to the royal palace on the next Tide Day, three days later, but warned that rescuing Jita could bring the royal mermaids after them.
• A giant seahorse knocked Clumsy Bear's seaweed cake away, and its rider, Atasha, apologized before recognizing Ling Chu.
• Ling Chu recognized Atasha as the mermaid from the gambling ship and considered rescuing Jita directly from the royal palace.
• Atasha invited Ling Chu and her companions to a restaurant and treated them to warm stone skewers, reminding Slachi of Jita.

Ling Chu learned that Atasha’s sister Sveti may have arranged her capture to remove her as a rival for the Mermaid throne, and decided to recruit Atasha. She then revealed that Seliuxi was secretly seeking Mixed-blood Sea Monsters to incubate the Mermaid King’s eggs, leaving Atasha stunned.

• Atasha told Ling Chu that Sveti was her younger sister and that their mother had grown distant from her while favoring Seliuxi.
• Ling Chu realized Atasha’s capture could have benefited Sveti, since the Mermaid throne passed to the eldest daughter.
• Atasha recalled that Sveti had directed her to a reef forest to find Moon Tide Flowers, where the Golden Finger Gambling Ship captured her.
• Atasha began to suspect Sveti had lured her into danger to claim the throne, and Ling Chu decided to bring her into their group.
• Ling Chu told Atasha that Seliuxi was secretly searching for Mixed-blood Sea Monsters to incubate eggs for the Mermaid King.

Ling Chu showed Atasha the hatchery where pregnant sea monsters were being used to bear mermaid infants, but Atasha still hoped her mother had not approved of it. After her mother refused to see her and Sveti admitted to luring her into capture, Atasha swam away in despair.

• Ling Chu took Atasha to spy on the hatchery, where she saw chained sea monsters and a newly extracted mermaid infant.
• Atasha said she would confront her mother and try to persuade her to release Jita if the surrogate egg-laying scheme was real.
• The guards refused Atasha entry to the royal bedchamber, and the Mermaid King coldly told her to leave and ordered guards to remove her.
• Sveti mocked Atasha and admitted she had lied about moon-tide flowers to get humans to capture her.
• Atasha swam away from the palace, lost in grief, as the water grew colder and the surroundings more desolate.

Atasha arrived at the Warm Stone Skewer Shop with her uncle Serki, who agreed to help Ling Chu rescue Jita and investigate whether the Mermaid King was being controlled. Ling Chu used Sveti's Jade Tablet to enter the palace that night and began sneaking into the Mermaid King's bedchamber.

• Atasha came to the shop with Serki, who said he trusted her and would help the group get into the palace on Tide Day.
• Serki suspected his sister, the Mermaid King, had been controlled by Seliuxi and asked Ling Chu to investigate her bedchamber.
• Serki promised to watch the Hatchery and keep Jita safe until Tide Day, and offered to bear his sister's wrath if the rescue went wrong.
• Ling Chu revealed her invisibility skill, accepted Sveti's Jade Tablet from Serki, and entered the palace after nightfall.
• Ling Chu activated Curtain of the Dead and swam toward the bedchamber, but a guard noticed a strange current between the guards.

Ling Chu sneaked into the Mermaid King's bedchamber, discovered the King was sick and overheard Seliuxi plotting against Atasha. She escaped and rejoined Serki, leaving the two of them to discuss what she had learned.

• Ling Chu entered the Mermaid King's bedchamber and found the sleeping King with eerie green discoloration on her skin, then took photos with the System Panel.
• As Seliuxi arrived, Ling Chu hid beside the Mermaid King and heard the maidservant admit she had imitated the King's voice to drive Atasha away.
• Seliuxi ordered the maid to keep everyone out of the bedchamber until tide day passed and privately planned to eliminate Atasha afterward.
• Ling Chu waited for Seliuxi and the maid to leave her alone, then used her Invisibility Skill to escape the bedchamber.
• Serki met Ling Chu in the garden, and she told him they would talk back there.

Ling Chu and Serki learned that the Mermaid King suffered from Soul-Loss Syndrome and sought the cure while investigating Seliuxi’s plot. Serki returned with the rare ingredients, and the witch doctor began preparing the antidote as Ling Chu’s group finalized their Tide Day plan.

• Ling Chu told Serki and Atasha what she had seen, and Serki identified the King’s condition as Soul-Loss Syndrome caused by eating Soul-Devouring Algae.
• Serki took Ling Chu and Atasha’s concerns to a witch doctor, who agreed to make a cure within two days.
• Serki’s Guards caught the witch doctor’s apprentice spying, and the apprentice confessed that Seliuxi had paid him to report anyone seeking the cure.
• Serki told the witch doctor that Seliuxi intended to rebel and harm the King and Princess, then left with trusted Guards to gather the required ingredients.
• Ling Chu’s crew spent two days surveying the Hatchery, its guards, and possible escape routes for Tide Day.
• Serki returned with the medicinal ingredients, the witch doctor began preparing the antidote, and Ling Chu’s group finalized their plan.

Atasha blessed Huang Xiaowen’s Ice Crystal Dagger before Ling Chu’s group prepared to rescue Jita on Tide Day. As Jita was taken from the Hatchery in a sealed shell sedan, a small bat slipped inside, and a mysterious voice called her name.

• You Jiali reported the guards’ route, and Ling Chu explained that the group would strike inside the palace rather than in the eastern Trench.
• Atasha blessed Huang Xiaowen’s Ice Crystal Dagger, raising its quality to legendary and giving it a chance to freeze an enemy into an Ice Sculpture.
• On Tide Day, guards put Jita into a Giant Clam shell sedan, and a small black bat slipped inside.
• Squid Ball told Ling Chu that Jita and the disguised head chef were in the sedan, while Ling Chu gave Huang Xiaowen the Gambler Coin to activate triple Luck.
• Jita feared she would be killed after incubating the King’s eggs, then heard a low voice call her name from inside the sealed sedan.