Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu’s three-second time-stop attack ends, revealing two deep, crossing wounds across Lucas’s chest. The livestream viewers identify the device she used as the same time-stopping item used against Bright City’s City Lord.
• Grande rushes to protect Lucas, but Clumsy Bear intercepts him. The two grapple at close quarters, while Huang Xiaowen and You Jiali get clear.
• Lucas realizes the attack bypassed his legendary leather armor: it has vanished, and gray-blue scales have emerged across his torso, showing his Sea Monster Body passive is developing.
• As his health rapidly falls, Lucas pulls out and injects a syringe of dark-blue liquid. Ling Chu tries to stop him but cannot catch him before he uses Wave Treading to dash out of reach.
• Ling Chu holds back, intent on leaving Lucas to the skeletons as she promised. She suspects the syringe is not an ordinary healing potion, since it could not repair the Death Erosion wounds.
• Lucas’s body begins changing dramatically: dark veins spread beneath his skin, his muscles swell, and he grows taller.

Character developments

• Lucas shows genuine fear for the first time, then responds decisively by using a hidden contingency. His sea-monster traits and physical transformation suggest his power comes with a growing bodily cost or alteration.
• Ling Chu stays cautious and tactical. She recognizes that her wounds have gravely weakened Lucas but avoids rushing in, both wary of his remaining abilities and mindful of her promise to the skeletons.
• Grande demonstrates fierce loyalty by abandoning his attack on the others to reach his captain.
• Clumsy Bear proves strong enough to halt Grande and stubbornly holds him in place.

Character interactions

• Grande charges toward Lucas, but Clumsy Bear intercepts and locks him in a strength contest. Their rivalry turns into a heated exchange of insults as they struggle.
• Huang Xiaowen urges Clumsy Bear to restrain Grande, while You Jiali and Huang evade the charge.
• Ling Chu and Lucas face off at a distance: she attacks, he escapes and injects the mysterious substance, and she watches rather than pursuing.

Significant themes

• Hidden abilities and escalating danger: Even a successful surprise attack cannot guarantee victory against a powerful opponent with reserves and escape skills.
• Transformation and its cost: Lucas’s Sea Monster Body makes him stronger but increasingly alters his human form.
• Loyalty and promises: Grande’s instinct is to protect Lucas, while Ling Chu’s decision to hold back reflects her commitment to the skeletons.
• Information and uncertainty: The livestream chat identifies Ling Chu’s weapon, but Lucas’s syringe and the effects of his transformation remain unexplained.

Plot points and events

• Lucas explains why he built his laboratory: he wants to create an obedient army of Test Subjects and, above all, develop additional Special Professions for himself. After years of failed research on human–Sea Monster fusion and other modifications, he injects himself with the lab’s most promising—though unfinished—formula.
• The injection transforms him dramatically: he grows taller and more muscular, develops scales and claws, and his legs merge into a powerful fish tail. His pain and fear fade, replaced by a surge of strength.
• Lucas identifies Ling Chu’s Music Box as the likely source of the effect that left him unable to sense anything. Believing it cannot be used again soon, he decides to kill her and take her equipment.
• Using his tail to launch himself, Lucas attacks with two water-coated blades. Ling Chu blocks the first strike, narrowly avoids the second, and faces a third aimed at her neck.
• With her Ghostly Steps on cooldown, Ling Chu chooses to endure the attack rather than spend Omni Reset. She activates Bone Armor and positions herself to also benefit from the Water-Scale Armor.
• Before Lucas’s blade lands, Emily, Raphael, and the other two Skeleton Mages cast Ice Armor on Ling Chu, encasing her in four additional layers of protection.

Character developments and interactions

• Lucas reveals his ambition to acquire multiple Special Professions and demonstrates how far he is willing to go by testing his incomplete formula on himself. His new power intensifies his confidence and greed, especially toward Ling Chu’s rare items.
• Ling Chu remains tactical under pressure. She assesses the cooldowns and costs of her abilities, then combines defensive equipment and summons rather than wasting a powerful reset.
• The Skeleton Mages act quickly to protect Ling Chu, showing their value as coordinated allies. Their four spells reinforce her defenses just as Lucas is about to strike.
• The fight becomes a direct contest between Lucas’s transformed strength and Ling Chu’s layered defenses; the chapter ends before the blade’s impact is resolved.

Significant themes

• Ambition and self-experimentation: Lucas’s desire to surpass the limits of a single Special Profession drives him to risk an unfinished transformation.
• Power and cost: Extraordinary abilities and rule-altering items carry uncertainty, side effects, or cooldowns.
• Tactical resourcefulness and teamwork: Ling Chu survives by managing limited abilities and relying on coordinated support.

Key plot points and events

• Lucas attacks Ling Chu with strength-enhancing drugs, but her four layers of ice armor absorb nearly all the force of his blade. He knocks her back, yet leaves only a shallow mark on her innermost bone armor.
• On the deck, Grande and Clumsy Bear are evenly matched. Huang Xiaowen spots D-03’s Slowing Mucus and devises a trap: she uses her Let’s Swap ability to exchange Grande’s position with a tossed Sea Shell, placing him directly over the slime.
• Grande’s feet become stuck. You Jiali briefly immobilizes him with Charm Control, allowing Clumsy Bear to knock him down. Grande struggles, but the mucus traps more of his body each time he moves; Clumsy Bear sits on his legs to keep him pinned.
• Seeing Lucas still attacking Ling Chu, You Jiali abandons the restrained Grande and rushes to help. As a bat, he crosses the battlefield, returns to human form, and uses Blood Burst on Lucas’s existing wounds. The first blast disrupts Lucas’s attack and lets Ling Chu retreat; You Jiali immediately prepares another.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu proves more resilient than she expected, recognizing the value of layering defensive magic.
• Huang Xiaowen shows quick tactical thinking, coordinating You Jiali and Clumsy Bear to neutralize a stronger opponent without needing to defeat him outright.
• You Jiali adapts rapidly: he helps set the trap, then shifts focus to protect Ling Chu when the danger escalates.
• Clumsy Bear follows Huang Xiaowen’s plan and uses his strength to pin Grande.
• Lucas is formidable but his existing wounds and Death Erosion leave him vulnerable when he makes forceful movements.
• The crew works cooperatively, combining swapping, charm, mucus, and brute force to overcome individual enemies’ advantages.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and improvisation: The crew wins advantages by combining abilities and exploiting the environment.
• Defense and tactical restraint: Ling Chu’s layered armor withstands a powerful attack, while trapping Grande proves more practical than trying to exhaust his durability.
• Strength has limits: Enhanced power does not guarantee victory when opponents use preparation, control, and existing injuries against it.

Plot points and events

• Lucas resists You Jiali’s Blood Burst by using his strengthened water control to wrest command of the blood around him.
• He turns on Ling Chu, hoping to kill her and reclaim his stolen armor and time-related items. Huang Xiaowen and Clumsy Bear interrupt his attack, while Ling uses Omni Reset to restore her skills and remove negative effects.
• Ling evades Lucas’s strike with Ghostly Steps. Lucas pursues her with a powerful Tidal Blade, but she opens the Death God’s Cloak and uses Return to Silence to swallow the water-wrapped weapon.
• Emily and the Skeleton Mages freeze Lucas’s tail. Huang Xiaowen distracts him with Storm Arrows, and Clumsy Bear’s flaming punch sets his scales alight. You Jiali attacks from behind, while Squid Ball’s beam forces Lucas into position.
• Ling releases the swallowed Tidal Blade. It retains its original speed and force, striking Lucas in the left shoulder.

Character developments

• Lucas reveals that the experimental injection has heightened both his physical transformation and his ability to sense and control water. He adapts to You Jiali’s earlier tactic, but his depleted health and opponents’ coordinated attacks leave him vulnerable.
• Ling Chu remains composed under pressure and uses her skills strategically—first to evade, then to turn Lucas’s own attack against him.
• You Jiali shifts tactics after Blood Burst is countered, contributing through a well-timed close-range attack.
• Huang Xiaowen, Clumsy Bear, Emily, and Squid Ball work together to restrain, distract, and redirect Lucas.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and counterplay: Lucas counters a tactic that worked once, while Ling finds a new use for her cloak.
• Teamwork: The group’s coordinated efforts create openings that no single fighter could reliably produce.
• Weaponized power and reversal: Lucas’s powerful attack becomes Ling’s weapon when she returns it at its original force.
• Ice and fire: Lucas is successively frozen and burned, reflecting the group’s layered assault and the chapter’s title.

Character interactions

• Lucas directly challenges You Jiali after countering Blood Burst and targets Ling as the greatest threat to his stolen possessions.
• Huang Xiaowen’s arrows and Clumsy Bear’s strike buy Ling time; Emily and the Skeleton Mages further slow Lucas.
• You Jiali, Squid Ball, and the others keep Lucas occupied and steer him into Ling’s trap.
• Ling’s final move turns Lucas’s own Tidal Blade against him, ending the chapter with him wounded.

Chapter Summary: “Death Waltz”

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu and You Jiali bring down Lucas, the Nautilus’s formidable captain. You Jiali’s Tidal Blade opens a deep wound in Lucas’s shoulder, and Ling Chu follows with Blood Burst, worsening his injuries until he collapses.
• Ling Chu confirms that Lucas is nearly dead but still alive. A system notice reveals his abnormal soul can be contained for 30 Divine Power—enough to bring her close to unlocking the Death Realm.
• Before extracting his soul, Ling Chu honors the Skeletons’ wish to take revenge. They bind Lucas in heavy chains and blindfold him; Ling Chu also cuts tendons in his wrists and tail to prevent him from using Wave Treading. She gives him a Basic Health Potion so he will not die prematurely.
• Ling Chu uses Pirate is More of a Bandit on Lucas, gaining one point of Strength rather than the class inheritance she hoped to steal.
• With Lucas defeated, the remaining fight is against the Nautilus’s scattered crew. After restoring her mana, Ling Chu tells her allies to retreat, then teleports into the densest group of pirates and unleashes Death Waltz.
• The death-energy domain rapidly drains the pirates’ life force. They collapse in groups, while the energy flows back to Ling Chu, easing her fatigue and restoring her health. The Skeletons are unaffected, and Titch rallies them to charge the weakened crew.

Character developments

• Ling Chu shows careful control despite the battle’s intensity: she verifies Lucas’s condition, takes precautions against his abilities, keeps him alive for the soul reward, and uses her power strategically against the larger crew. The potential Divine Power from Lucas gives her a major step toward opening the Death Realm.
• Lucas is finally subdued after proving a dangerous opponent. Even unconscious, he is treated as a possible threat because of his water-based mobility.
• You Jiali plays a decisive role in Lucas’s defeat by exploiting the opening created by Ling Chu’s attack.
• Titch steps into a leadership role, urging the Skeletons to press their advantage once the pirates begin falling.

Character interactions

• You Jiali and Ling Chu coordinate their attacks to defeat Lucas.
• Ling Chu balances her own goal of obtaining Lucas’s soul with her promise to let the Skeletons vent their anger, allowing them to chain and restrain him.
• She communicates with Huang Xiaowen and the others through the Crew Channel, directing them away from Death Waltz’s area.
• Titch rallies the Skeletons, who charge while the weakened pirates are unable to fight back effectively.

Significant themes

• Power and calculated strategy: Ling Chu combines combat abilities, items, and timing to handle both Lucas and the larger crew.
• Control and containment: Defeating Lucas is not enough; Ling Chu must ensure he cannot escape or die before his soul can be claimed.
• Power’s cost and reward: Death Waltz consumes a huge amount of mana, but its life-draining effect restores Ling Chu while devastating her enemies.
• Loyalty and vengeance: Ling Chu honors the Skeletons’ desire for payback, and they respond with renewed commitment to the fight.

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu’s Death Waltz devastates the Nautilus crew, while the Ghost Ship’s skeletons press their attack. With Captain Lucas captured, the ship crippled, and First Mate Grande immobilized in Slowing Mucus, the pirates’ resistance collapses.
• Senior crewman Harvey raises a white flag and announces the Nautilus’s surrender, despite Grande’s furious objections. Titch orders the pirates to disarm and crouch; the skeletons confiscate their weapons, and the remaining holdouts are subdued.
• During the livestream, viewers identify Lucas and several other pirates as targets of the Tide Hunters, a group that posts bounties. Lucas’s bounty alone is worth 500,000 Sea Shells, prompting Ling Chu to consider collecting the rewards.
• Ling Chu closes the stream and learns that the fight earned her 980 faith points, converted into 9.8 Divine Power—far more than her previous stream.
• Raine wakes after being knocked unconscious and emerges to find the Nautilus defeated and its crew imprisoned. Seeing Grande chained and slime-covered, he is stunned. Ling Chu calls to him, apparently recognizing him as a useful source of information about the Tide Hunters.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu demonstrates how overwhelming her power and tactics can be, and treats the victory pragmatically: she cares about strengthening the Ghost Ship’s reputation, gaining Divine Power, and potentially earning bounty money. She also sees Raine as a possible guide.
• Harvey chooses survival over loyalty to Grande, reasoning that surrender is preferable to fighting after Lucas’s capture.
• Grande remains defiant and insults Harvey, but his anger cannot change the outcome; the skeletons eventually free him from the mucus only to chain him.
• Titch takes control of the surrender, using a warning shot and clear orders to secure the prisoners.
• Raine shifts from confusion to alarm as he realizes his ship has fallen while he was unconscious. Ling Chu’s friendly summons heightens his unease, especially with Lucas bound nearby.

Significant themes

• Survival over pride: The pirates surrender once the odds become hopeless, while Grande’s defiance proves ineffective.
• Pragmatic victory: Ling Chu values winning over honorable methods, using poison, sabotage, and released test subjects as part of the battle.
• Power and reputation: The livestream turns the Ghost Ship’s victory into a public warning and helps Ling Chu attract faith and Divine Power.
• Opportunity in defeat: What begins as a captured pirate crew becomes a potential source of bounty rewards and information.

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu questions Raine, a former informant for the Nautilus, about nearby Tide Hunters. He identifies an outpost on Gray Bay Island and confirms that captured pirates are usually worth more alive.
• Ling Chu decides to deliver the Nautilus crew to the Tide Hunters for bounties. The Skeletons bind the ordinary crew with rope and chain the senior members, including the loudly protesting Grande.
• While You Jiali and Clumsy Bear guard the prisoners and record the cargo, the Skeletons move the Nautilus’s supplies—food, cloth, rope, and other goods—onto the Ghost Ship.
• Ling Chu and the others search Lucas’s lavish Captain’s Cabin, intending to seize its valuables. The mismatched luxury furnishings suggest they were plundered from various places.
• Squid Ball claims a deep-sea ironwood bookshelf for her Divination Room; Lingering Wind and Fading Moon admires the chandelier, and Huang Xiaowen settles onto the sofa. Ling Chu gives them permission to take everything.
• Hemlock discovers that Lucas has been using his skull as a candle lamp. Ling Chu removes the candle and stores the skull, while Hemlock jokingly vows revenge.
• Despite the cabin’s many expensive furnishings, Ling Chu finds no money chest or safe. Suspecting Lucas has hidden his fortune elsewhere, she scans the room with her Eyepatch.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu is shown to be pragmatic and opportunistic: she plans to claim bounties on the captured crew, salvages useful cargo, and authorizes stripping the cabin of its furnishings.
• Raine recognizes Ling Chu’s intentions but, frightened, cooperates rather than risk provoking her.
• The Skeletons efficiently restrain the prisoners and handle the looting, even silencing Grande when his cursing becomes tiresome.
• The women accompanying Ling Chu reveal their personal priorities through the furnishings they choose: books, better lighting, and comfort.
• Hemlock’s indignation at Lucas’s treatment of his skull adds comic friction. Ling Chu helps recover it, while Hemlock proposes using it to frighten Titch.

Significant themes

• Piracy and power: Ling Chu’s crew takes the Nautilus, its supplies, and its prisoners, blurring the line between pirates and those who hunt them.
• Practicality and resourcefulness: Captives are kept alive for higher bounties, and even ordinary supplies are valuable to the growing community on Hope Island.
• Loot as both wealth and utility: The cabin’s possessions are treated not only as valuable goods but as useful objects for the crew’s rooms.
• Comedy amid brutality: The rough treatment of prisoners and Hemlock’s skull-lamp grievance are played for humor.

Plot points and events

• Ling Chu discovers a hidden room behind a bookcase by twisting a pipe marked “Secret room button.”
• The room contains twenty-one chests of Sea Shells. She gathers 23,265,819 in total, astonishing the crew.
• Other chests contain luxury goods and dozens of fake Elven Stone Slabs.
• Suspecting Lucas kept any important finds on him, Ling Chu asks You Jiali to search the unconscious man. You Jiali finds a dark-blue storage pouch and trades it to her.
• The pouch holds more slabs: most are convincing-looking fakes, but the last one is genuine Elven Stone Slab No. 8.
• Squid Ball recognizes the genuine slab’s credible elven writing and reads aloud the counterfeits’ insulting, absurd inscriptions.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu’s sharp observation uncovers the secret room, and her suspicion leads her to search Lucas’s belongings for the real treasure.
• Huang Xiaowen’s delight at the fortune turns to bemusement at Lucas’s enormous collection of fakes.
• You Jiali promptly carries out Ling Chu’s request and sends the pouch to her.
• Squid Ball demonstrates growing familiarity with elven language, helping confirm the genuine slab and exposing the fake inscriptions.
• Lucas emerges as a remarkably unlucky collector: after years of hunting slabs, he has accumulated mostly counterfeits, though he did secure one real artifact.

Significant themes

• Fortune and misfortune: The crew’s extraordinary windfall contrasts with Lucas’s long-running failure.
• Deception and gullibility: Lucas’s collection is full of fakes, many crafted to mock whoever finds them.
• Trust and expertise: Ling Chu relies on careful inspection, while Squid Ball’s developing knowledge provides an independent way to judge authenticity.

Key events

• Ling Chu discovers that the supposed Elven Stone Tablet No. 8 is a forgery, but adds it to her collection anyway. She now holds six of the nine tablets and sees a chance of eventually finding them all.
• She empties the Nautilus’s hidden room and Captain’s Cabin, taking even the furniture and carpet. Before leaving, she copies the ship’s sailing chart, hoping its many years at sea will point to useful islands.
• The Nautilus’s immense stores are transferred to the Ghost Ship: food, water, everyday supplies, and thousands of weapons. Ling Chu keeps the thirty-three exquisite-quality weapons for herself and considers sending surplus equipment to Hope Island’s city guard.
• She examines Lucas’s and Grande’s weapons. Lucas’s unique-quality daggers double the power of water skills, explaining their effectiveness alongside his Tidal Blade. Grande’s unique-quality machine gun is extraordinarily heavy, but his profession’s abilities perfectly offset its drawbacks.
• The Public Channel notices Ling Chu’s wealth points have surged nearly tenfold and speculates that she has looted the Nautilus. Her growing fortune earns the Ghost Ship its nickname as “rich as a nation,” while the community jokes about joining its crew.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu proves thorough and practical: she salvages everything, preserves useful information, and evaluates loot for both immediate use and future value. She recognizes that Lucas’s daggers are best saved or sold until someone with water skills can use them effectively.
• Huang Xiaowen laughs at the crude tablet forgery and later points out the machine gun’s agility penalty. Lingering Wind and Fading Moon observes that the tablets themselves look convincing despite their false inscriptions.
• Squid Ball jokes that Lucas would have bought a home-made tablet too, underscoring his reputation for paying high prices for supposed artifacts.
• The discussion of Grande’s weapon reveals how well his abilities complement his equipment, while Ling Chu considers whether a skeleton could wield it despite its weight.

Significant themes

• Wealth and power: The Nautilus’s hoard transforms Ling Chu’s already formidable resources and sparks envy and fascination among other survivors.
• Practicality over appearances: An impressive weapon’s value depends on who can use it effectively; professional skills can overcome major limitations.
• Deception and uncertain authenticity: The fake tablet shows how easily mystery and a buyer’s enthusiasm can be exploited.
• Accumulation and preparation: Ling Chu’s exhaustive salvage reflects the value of stockpiling supplies, weapons, and information for future challenges.

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu assigns a powerful six-barreled rotary gun to the Skeletons squad, telling Titch to find a skilled shooter and test its recoil.
• With the battle over, Ivy and the kitchen assistants are brought out of hiding and escorted to the Ghost Ship. Lucas has been defeated, Grande captured, and the Nautilus’s senior crew chained; its feared flag has been torn down.
• Ling Chu helps Ivy contact her sister Ella through a paired Voice Conch. The Wood family, who have waited anxiously for news, learn Ivy is safe and reunite with her by voice.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon treats the wounded Test Subjects, including D-03. Many are wary of help, and some cannot understand her.
• The Test Subjects choose the sea as their refuge. D-03 dives in first, and the others follow. When one injured member falls behind, D-03 and two companions return to support it.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu shows practical leadership in distributing captured weapons and compassion in giving Ivy’s family a chance to reconnect. She leaves the sisters together, then gently prompts Lingering Wind and Fading Moon to move on.
• Titch eagerly takes charge of the machine gun, revealing his enthusiasm and experience as a former gunman.
• Ivy moves from fearful uncertainty to tearful relief when she learns her family is safe and hears Ella’s voice.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon treats the Test Subjects patiently, respecting their fear rather than forcing care. She comes to understand why some refused treatment and is moved by their solidarity.
• D-03 expresses gratitude for her help, then leads the group toward the sea. The group’s return to help an injured companion shows their enduring bonds.

Significant themes

• Safety and reunion: After captivity and uncertainty, Ivy’s contact with her family offers emotional closure and hope.
• Belonging and refuge: The Test Subjects have been changed so profoundly that human society may reject or endanger them; the sea becomes the only place they can call home.
• Compassion without coercion: Lingering Wind and Fading Moon offers care while respecting the Test Subjects’ choices.
• Solidarity amid loss: Though the Test Subjects have lost their former lives, they still look after one another, suggesting their future need not be entirely hopeless.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Aboard the Ghost Ship, Lucas is tied up and tortured by the surviving sailors from the Wine Barrel. Each takes a turn whipping him for his past betrayal, including drugging and burying them alive.
• Titch joins in, punishing Lucas for the deaths of his crewmates and for betraying the man who once rescued and cared for him. He also lashes Lucas on behalf of Hemlock, whose head Lucas cut off and used as a bedside lamp.
• Emily takes her turn, striking Lucas for killing her, her parents, and Little Yellow, and for destroying her home.
• When Andrew is handed the whip, he cannot bring himself to strike Lucas. Memories of raising Lucas as his son overwhelm him. He blames himself for failing to recognize Lucas’s cruelty and for not preventing the village’s destruction.
• Emily challenges Lucas to face the innocent lives he took. Lucas laughs, boasts about his former power and wealth, and says he accepts defeat—but refuses to show remorse, insisting that the winner makes the rules and the loser bears the blame.

Character developments

• Titch expresses both anger at Lucas’s betrayal and grief for the crew he lost, while also defending the loyalty he once showed Lucas.
• Emily turns her personal grief into a demand for accountability, speaking for her murdered family and the village’s victims.
• Andrew is torn between love for the child he raised and horror at the man Lucas became. Rather than strike him, he collapses under guilt and sorrow.
• Lucas remains defiant and unapologetic. Even while severely injured, he treats his past crimes as the price of ambition rather than moral wrongdoing.
• Hemlock adds a bitter, darkly comic note, insisting that Lucas also answer for humiliating treatment of his severed head.

Significant themes

• Revenge versus justice: The survivors seek to settle personal scores, but the scale of Lucas’s crimes makes punishment feel inadequate.
• Betrayal and failed trust: Lucas repaid care and loyalty with violence, harming both his crew and the people who raised him.
• Guilt and grief: Andrew’s anguish shows that responsibility for catastrophe can haunt even those who did not commit the crimes themselves.
• Power and morality: Lucas’s “winner takes the throne” outlook reduces violence to success and failure, exposing his lack of remorse.
• The limits of vengeance: Emily and the others can punish Lucas, but no beating can restore the dead or repair what was destroyed.

Character interactions

• The sailors act collectively, each naming the person or grievance behind a lash.
• Titch confronts Lucas directly, recounting the life-saving kindness Lucas repaid with betrayal.
• Emily invokes the memories of her parents and Little Yellow, while the ghost dog responds with a bark.
• Emily urges Andrew to strike, but he cannot reconcile the beloved child he remembers with the murderer before him.
• Emily then challenges Lucas to confront his victims; he answers with laughter and defiance rather than regret.

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu reveals that every Elven Stone Slab Lucas spent years pursuing was a fake. The genuine slabs had been hidden elsewhere, and Lucas had repeatedly missed them—including after murdering people to obtain the counterfeits.
• The revelation devastates Lucas. He stops resisting the Skeletons’ whippings, and Titch eventually kills him.
• Lucas’s death earns Ling Chu 10,000 justice points and advances her Bounty Hunter class to tier six. She extracts his heavily contaminated soul and contains it in a Soul Orb, gaining 30 divine power.
• With her divine power now above 100, Ling Chu unlocks access to the Death Realm Passage, though she postpones exploring it.
• Ling Chu and the Skeletons prepare the captured pirates and the damaged Nautilus for transport. They sail toward Gray Bay Island, where the Tide Hunters Guild has an outpost.
• To avoid attracting attention, Ling Chu has the Ghost Ship use ordinary-looking wine-barrel sails. But the Nautilus is recognized, setting off an alarm and bringing armed harbor guards to the docks.
• Ling Chu disembarks carrying Lucas’s severed head and announces that she has come to collect a bounty from the Tide Hunters.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu shows that she understands how to hurt Lucas most effectively: rather than appeal to his conscience, she exposes the futility of his obsession. She remains practical afterward, prioritizing the bounty and delaying exploration of the Death Realm.
• Lucas is emotionally broken by learning that his prized collection and years of violence achieved nothing. His soul is also revealed to be corrupted by deep-sea power.
• Titch takes responsibility for killing Lucas after the latter falls silent.
• Ling Chu and the Skeletons coordinate the transport: some repair and sail the Nautilus while the rest guard the prisoners.
• Ling Chu and the harbor guards meet in a tense confrontation. The guards prepare to stop the notorious Nautilus, but Ling Chu identifies her purpose as collecting Lucas’s bounty rather than attacking the harbor.

Significant themes

• Greed and wasted ambition: Lucas’s pursuit of the slabs has brought immense violence, yet he never possessed the genuine treasures.
• Justice and poetic consequences: Ling Chu uses the truth about Lucas’s failures to punish him psychologically, while his death rewards her in justice points.
• Power and corruption: Lucas’s deep-sea abilities have affected not only his body but also his soul.
• Pragmatism and calculated restraint: Ling Chu delays a newly unlocked opportunity and disguises her ship’s approach, choosing to focus on the immediate bounty instead.

Plot points and events

• Ling Chu arrives at Gray Bay Harbor carrying the head of Tattooed Lucas, leader of the Nautilus pirates. The Tide Hunters Guild verifies his identity with a magical appraisal device.
• She turns in Lucas and the 1,047 captured pirates. After checking their bounties and paying escort fees for those without listed rewards, the Guild awards her 948,600 sea shells.
• Asked her name, Ling Chu gives the false identity “Lei Feng” to maintain a low profile. You Jiali and Huang Xiaowen recognize the joke but suppress their laughter.
• Ling Chu also sells the damaged Nautilus to the Guild for 103,000 sea shells, deciding that selling is more worthwhile and convenient than dismantling it.
• The Ghost Ship leaves Gray Bay Island for Black Reef Island. Ling Chu still intends to take Ivy home and address Wood’s family and the island’s sick residents. Her companions are studying blood samples and research notes to find a cure.
• In her cabin, Ling Chu reviews the skills gained from reaching sixth tier as a Bounty Hunter. The chapter describes Criminal Pursuit Arrow, which can bind and slow a target; Bounty Sharing is mentioned but not yet explained.

Character developments and interactions

• Ling Chu displays confidence and efficiency: she calmly handles the bounty process, checks the ship’s value, and conceals her identity with a straight face.
• The Tide Hunters supervisor shifts from shock to respect after Lucas’s identity and the pirates’ numbers are confirmed. She pays Ling Chu, buys the ship, and suspects “Lei Feng” may become famous.
• You Jiali and Huang Xiaowen share a private moment of amusement at Ling Chu’s invented name.
• Ling Chu’s companions continue investigating the illness, linking the group’s practical mission to her potential advancement as a Plague Doctor.

Significant themes

• Reputation and anonymity: Ling Chu’s remarkable achievement draws attention even as she tries to stay unknown.
• Pragmatism and reward: She weighs the value of the ship and the bounty before acting.
• Justice and consequence: The pirates’ crimes are reflected in the substantial rewards collected for their capture.
• Power used to help or harm: Ling Chu’s Plague Doctor progression can come from either curing disease or spreading it, while she is currently pursuing a cure.

Key plot points and events

• Ling Chu reviews Bounty Sharing, a skill that lets her share Death Warrant tracking with up to five allies, making marked enemies easier to damage and impossible for them to hide from.
• With her divine power above 100, she uses Death Realm Passage to enter the Death Realm. Wandering souls bow to her, and the system identifies her as an Acting Death God.
• She discovers that the passage transports her physical body, suggesting the Death Realm could serve as an escape from danger.
• She follows a stone path to the Soul-Prison Tower, a core facility for containing anomalous souls. Her acting status limits her access to the first floor.
• Ling Chu formally imprisons Auston and Lucas, whose souls are pulled from her Ring of Bones and restrained in separate cells.
• She returns to the Captain’s Cabin, spending two points of divine power on the round trip. Curious whether others can enter with her, she brings You Jiali and Big Gold Tooth to test the passage.

Character developments

• Ling Chu gains a clearer understanding of her divine authority and its limits. She is intrigued by the Death Realm’s potential as both a refuge and a prison, though its oppressive atmosphere quickly wears on her.
• Auston and Lucas are reduced from infamous sea captains to imprisoned souls, their past crimes underscoring the justice of their confinement.
• You Jiali and Big Gold Tooth are drawn into Ling Chu’s next experiment, though the chapter ends before its result is revealed.

Significant themes

• Authority and responsibility: Ling Chu’s divine status gives her power over souls, but her “acting” role restricts what she can access.
• Justice and consequences: Auston and Lucas face supernatural confinement for the deaths they caused.
• Power as practical protection: The Death Realm offers Ling Chu a possible escape route, while Bounty Sharing strengthens her allies against hidden enemies.
• The cost of power: Access requires divine power, and the Death Realm’s cold, bleak atmosphere makes it an unpleasant refuge.

Character interactions

• Ling Chu’s authority is acknowledged silently when the wandering souls bow before her.
• She uses the Soul-Prison Tower’s rules to secure Auston and Lucas, observing their struggles and eventual containment.
• After returning, she recruits You Jiali and Big Gold Tooth to help test whether the passage can transport other people.

Ling Chu joined the Ghost Ship’s skeletons in celebrating their revenge against Lucas at a victory banquet. After the festivities, some of the old sailors admitted that fulfilling their revenge had left them feeling empty and without a goal.

• Ling Chu tried to bring You Jiali and Big Gold Tooth into the Death Realm, but the passage let in only those with death authority.
• Big Gold Tooth prepared for the skeletons’ victory banquet, and You Jiali asked Ling Chu what she wanted to eat and drink.
• The Ghost Ship’s crew celebrated with a feast, and Ivy shared recipes for the dishes she had cooked.
• Titch and the skeletons toasted Ling Chu and thanked her for helping them take revenge on Lucas.
• Round Head and Lefty reflected that Lucas’s death had left them feeling empty now that their long-awaited revenge was over.

After Lucas’s defeat, Ling Chu’s crew resumed celebrating and pursuing their goals, while Squid Ball translated another elven tablet and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon neared completion of an antidote. Huang Xiaowen showed Ling Chu the Soul Artifacts and Cursed Objects she had taken from Lucas’s reception room, including several powerful items.

• Titch rallied the skeletons to keep following Ling Chu, plundering the seas, and fighting stronger enemies, while Emily quietly watched with gratitude for Ling Chu.
• Squid Ball gave Ling Chu her translation of Stone Tablet Number 8, which warned that mist blurred truth and falsehood and advised trusting no figure within it.
• Squid Ball left to study Lucas’s antiquities and divine the next natural disaster, while Lingering Wind and Fading Moon returned to the Alchemy Room to finish testing the antidote.
• Huang Xiaowen brought out more than a dozen Soul Artifacts and Cursed Objects she had stolen from Lucas’s reception room, and Ling Chu identified many as fakes.
• Ling Chu inspected the genuine Soul-Storing Jar and Grudge Nail Doll, which could unleash a vengeful soul and inflict a long-range curse, respectively.

Ling Chu equipped the Oathbreaker's Quiver and decided to visit Hope Island herself after Black Reef Island. When her group arrived at Black Reef Island, they found strict health inspections underway, confirming that the Scale Plague had become impossible to hide.

• Ling Chu equipped the Oathbreaker's Quiver, stored the Soul-Storing Jar and Grudge Nail Doll, and planned to take the No. 8 Elven Stone Slab to Hope Island herself.
• Huang Xiaowen spent the night drinking and playing games with the skeletons at the banquet.
• Ling Chu woke as the ship neared Black Reef Island, and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon told her that the cure for sea monster contamination worked.
• Ling Chu and her companions disembarked and underwent harbor inspections for plague symptoms and scales on their necks.
• Ling Chu realized the Scale Plague had spread widely, while merchant ships avoided the island rather than let anyone disembark.

Ling Chu reunited Ivy with the Wood Family and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon used her new antidote to treat their Scale Plague infections. After refusing the family’s money in favor of fresh vegetables for the Ghost Ship, Ling Chu asked how the plague had spread so quickly through the city.

• Ivy reunited with Ella, Mallon, Grace, and Jamie at the dock, and the family learned that Ling Chu was the captain known as Lei Feng.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon examined Ella and injected her with a Scale Plague Purification Potion, which visibly reduced her scales.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon treated Mallon, Grace, and Jamie as well, and the family’s symptoms began to fade.
• Mallon and Grace offered Ling Chu thirty thousand sea shells, but she declined and asked them to supply fresh vegetables to the Ghost Ship.
• Ling Chu asked the Wood Family how the plague had worsened so quickly while she was away.

After learning that the scale plague had spread throughout the city and the City Lord’s Office was sealed, Ling Chu and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon tried to sell their Antidote. Unable to reach the City Lord or convince an alchemy shop owner, they set up a street stall offering a limited number of doses.

• Mallon explained how the plague had spread through Black Reef Island and how the City Lord’s Office had imposed quarantine and checkpoints.
• Ling Chu decided to seek the City Lord to sell the Antidote, but Mallon and Jamie said the City Lord’s Office was sealed off.
• You Jiali went to the Ingredient Shop with Clumsy Bear, while Huang Xiaowen headed to the Golden Bay Casino on an undisclosed errand.
• Ling Chu and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon saw guards turn away a merchant near the City Lord’s Office, then visited an alchemy shop to offer their Antidote.
• The alchemy shop owner rejected their claim, so Ling Chu and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon set up a stall advertising 20 doses of the scale plague cure at 5,000 sea shells each.

Ling Chu and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon sold a supposed Scale Plague cure in Black Reef Island's Inner City, where a skeptical crowd and the City Guard initially accused them of fraud. After the potion visibly cleared an infected woman's scales, the crowd rushed to buy it, and the guards sent word to the City Lord.

• Ling Chu and Lingering Wind and Fading Moon set out twenty bottles of Scale Plague Cure for five thousand sea shells each, but the crowd doubted the medicine and refused to buy it.
• A middle-aged woman with scales spreading across her neck agreed to try the potion after other treatments failed to cure her.
• Lingering Wind and Fading Moon injected the woman as the City Guard arrived and threatened to arrest the vendors for selling fake medicine.
• The woman's scales rapidly faded after the injection, proving the potion worked and drawing an excited rush of buyers.
• The lead guard ordered a subordinate to report to the City Lord that someone had developed a cure for the plague.