Recaps

Hans and his team discovered that the missing Waterworks workers had been turned into hosts for translucent eggs, then fought their way out when Mutated Creatures attacked. Lu Yuan spotted a tentacle lurking beneath the sewage and helped the group avoid it as they retreated toward the exit.

• Hans led the team toward the thickest Corpse Moss and found the missing workers piled together as living hosts for eggs.
• Four Corrupted Hounds and a swarm of Mutant Rats attacked, so Hans ordered the team to retreat while he held the creatures back.
• Hans killed and struck the hounds while Gray used firebombs to block the rats, and Ron escorted Lu Yuan away from the body pile.
• Lu Yuan stopped Ed from stepping into the sewage and warned the team about a hidden tentacle that struck the walkway.
• Lu Yuan shot the tentacle with his Silver-Plated Pistol, and Gray used Mithril explosives to cut off the creatures' pursuit.
• Hans and the others escaped the drainage pipe and ran toward the exit.

After surviving the Aberrant Horde, Lu Yuan learned about Mithril and joined the Night Watchers’ renewed assault on the sewers. The squad advanced toward the Meat Mountain, with Valentin leading the attack.

• Lu Yuan gained Forbidden Studies and Sanity experience after escaping the Deep-Sea Hound, Corpse Moss, and Mutant Rat Swarm.
• Ed and Gray thanked Lu Yuan, and Ed explained that Mithril burned the Spirituality of polluted creatures but was dangerously unstable.
• Valentin arrived with reinforcements, and Hans confirmed that a Meat Mountain was incubating near the drainage outlet.
• Lu Yuan received a Copper shotgun and special Holy Water, whose faint light gave him new knowledge when he touched it.
• The Night Watchers returned to the sewers and fought through Corpse Moss, Mutant Rats, and Deep-Sea Hounds as Valentin drank a blood-red potion.

Lu Yuan and the others fought a pursuing Filth Body, and he identified its hidden core as its weakness. After Valentin exposed the core and Toby struck it with Mithril, the Aggregate died, but its death howl incapacitated the group and left Valentin’s fate unknown.

• Valentin transformed and helped Hans cut a path through the Aberrant Horde while Lu Yuan covered him with his Copper shotgun.
• Gray and Toby used Mithril to burn away the rat tide and the Meat Mountain’s outer layer, but the Aggregate regenerated and pursued the group.
• Lu Yuan spotted the Filth Body’s hidden core and directed Valentin to tear open its abdomen.
• Valentin exposed the core, and Toby threw the last bottle of Mithril into the wound, destroying the Aggregate.
• The Filth Body’s death howl knocked out Ed and Gray, injured Valentin and Lu Yuan, and left Valentin’s fate unknown; Lu Yuan gained five points in Forbidden Studies—Seeker.

After escaping the Waterworks, Lu Yuan treated the critically wounded Valentin while Hans rushed the survivors back to the Night Watchers’ base. Following quarantine, Lu Yuan and Hans wrote a report that kept Lu Yuan’s name out of the top-secret file, and Hans promised him ten points for his contribution.

• Hans pulled Valentin, Lu Yuan, Gray, Ed, and Toby from the sewer and hurried them back to the underground base.
• Lu Yuan used saline and Hemostatic Powder to treat Valentin after discovering that Holy Water could kill him.
• The medical team took Valentin and the other wounded to the Deep Monitoring Room, while Lu Yuan and Hans underwent two hours of quarantine.
• Hans explained that Valentin’s power came from an undisclosed Bloodthirsty Ghost and that the Night Watchers kept such weaknesses secret.
• Hans and Lu Yuan drafted a report on the Waterworks disaster, omitting Lu Yuan’s name to protect him from possible cultists.
• Hans credited Lu Yuan with ten points, which he could spend at the Supply Office.

Lu Yuan bought an enchanted revolver and ink for Mo Shui, then advanced his Basic Herbology into Pharmacognosy. The chapter ended when Lausen arrived with fish-scale-like growths and said his dream had changed and Lu Yuan’s medicine no longer worked.

• Lu Yuan bought the Enchanted Standard Revolver Flame and two boxes of Silver-Plated Bullets, then purchased Ink Blocks for Mo Shui.
• Lu Yuan reviewed his skills and priorities while rumors about him spread among the Night Watcher.
• Lu Yuan spent two days studying medicinal plants and advanced Basic Herbology into Pharmacognosy.
• Lausen arrived drenched in seawater with fish-scale-like calluses and begged Lu Yuan for help.
• Lausen told Lu Yuan that the dream had changed and his medicine was no longer working.

Lu Yuan discovered that Lausen’s worsening nightmares and failed Holy Water treatments came from accelerating Deep Sea corruption, and he warned that holy items could now kill him. In the clinic’s basement, Lu Yuan devised a risky concealed sedative using Corpse Moss, Silverlight Grass, and Mercury, leaving its success uncertain.

• Lu Yuan quieted Lausen and convinced a nearby Night Watcher that the clinic’s commotion was nothing serious.
• Lausen told Lu Yuan that he dreamed of drowning, woke up soaked, and found that Silverlight Grass Mixture and Intermediate Holy Water no longer helped.
• Lu Yuan’s observation identified Lausen as a preliminary variant suffering deep, accelerating erosion, with holy items and flame listed as weaknesses.
• Lu Yuan forbade Lausen from using Holy Water, warning that his body’s rejection could make it burn through his throat and kill him.
• Lu Yuan used Forbidden Studies—Deep Study to devise a Deep Sea Sedative from Corpse Moss, Silverlight Grass, and Mercury, with a 44% success rate.

Lu Yuan created an improved Deep Sea Sedative that suppressed Lausen’s mutations and relieved his drowning sensation, though Lausen’s dreams still revealed a dangerous connection to the Deep Sea. Lausen left with his reason restored and promised to supply Lu Yuan with more materials, while Lu Yuan considered how their cooperation could help his investigation.

• Lu Yuan brewed an improved Deep Sea Sedative using Mercury and Corpse Moss, then gave it to Lausen.
• Lausen endured the potion’s effects as his keratin peeled away and his scales receded beneath his skin.
• The next morning, Lausen told Lu Yuan about dreaming of a sunken city, triggering a Sanity check that lowered Lu Yuan’s Sanity cap.
• Lu Yuan stopped Lausen from describing the dream further and told him the medicine would need to be taken every three days.
• Lausen offered to provide twice as many materials and help Lu Yuan obtain materials from Mutated Creatures.
• Lu Yuan watched Lausen leave and considered that the treatment might have improved Lausen’s status within the Strange Dream.

Lu Yuan traded Mo Shui an antique ink block for books on sanity barriers and Deep Sea creatures, then learned that a stranger with a stinky fish smell had investigated his employment file. He left the Library and headed to the Supply Management Office, determined to respond to the threat.

• Lu Yuan brought Mo Shui an antique Eastern ink block and asked for advanced mental-defense books and a Deep Sea creature guide.
• Mo Shui gave Lu Yuan Basic Structure of Sanity Barrier and Deep Sea Creature Guide: From Egg to Adult, and Lu Yuan gained knowledge and unlocked Primary Sanity Barrier.
• Mo Shui told Lu Yuan that a stranger carrying a stinky fish smell had recently searched his employment file and marked several names, including Lu Yuan's.
• Lu Yuan thanked Mo Shui, left the book with it, and headed to the Supply Management Office.

Lu Yuan learned that someone had investigated his records and chose to take Old Morgan’s protection rather than hide, then returned to his clinic amid eerie rain. Brent asked him to treat his sister Mina, whose nighttime behavior had changed since their uncle died, and warned him that fish from the sea had killed his uncle.

• Lu Yuan told Old Morgan that someone had looked into his records, and Old Morgan offered him a safe place to hide or supplies to face the danger; Lu Yuan chose the supplies.
• Old Morgan gave Lu Yuan an Exorcism Gunpowder—Type 3 sphere, which could harm Eerie things and summon help if detonated.
• Lu Yuan returned to the clinic through strange, slimy rain and found Brent waiting to ask for help with Mina.
• Brent explained that Mina had stopped eating and hummed unfamiliar songs at night since their uncle died, so Lu Yuan gave him diluted Silverlight Grass Mixture to administer at night and instructions for what to do next.
• Brent paid Lu Yuan and warned him not to eat fish or go near the sea, pointing to a newspaper headline celebrating a bumper nearshore fish harvest.

Lu Yuan accepted Baron Thorn’s summons and entered Thorn Manor, where he discovered that the baron and his servants were contaminated by the Deep Sea. The baron offered Lu Yuan raw fish, leaving him trapped at the manor’s dinner table with its hostile residents.

• Brent brought Lu Yuan a report about contaminated cheap fish spreading illness, and Lu Yuan warned him not to open the door that night.
• A messenger summoned Lu Yuan to Thorn Manor under threat of suspicion, and Lu Yuan took his Revolver and black sphere before leaving the clinic.
• Old Morgan heard that Lu Yuan had taken the bait and wondered whether the trap was connected to the Viscount.
• At Thorn Manor, Lu Yuan detected a gray-black mist and recognized the servants as Deep Sea Polluted Entities.
• Baron Thorn welcomed Lu Yuan to dinner, ate raw Deep-Sea Red Trout, and invited Lu Yuan to taste it.

Lu Yuan discovered that the Baron’s nephew was an Aberrant Host incubating eggs from the Deep Sea, and the Baron attacked after Lu Yuan exposed the truth. Lu Yuan killed the four mutated servants and the Hatchling, while the Baron screamed in grief.

• The Baron led Lu Yuan to his nephew Edward, whose body was incubating a Deep Sea creature.
• Lu Yuan identified Edward as an Aberrant Host and accused the Baron of sacrificing his nephew.
• The Baron ordered his four servants to attack as the Hatchling burst from Edward’s body.
• Lu Yuan used an iron ball filled with Exorcism Silver Powder to blind and injure the monsters, then shot all four servants.
• Lu Yuan killed the Hatchling with his final Silver-Plated Bullet, and the Baron screamed.

Lu Yuan killed the Baron after the creature was crippled by Exorcism Powder, then found a letter ordering the Doctors eliminated and the Hatchling moved to the dock warehouse. A disciplined squad arrived, and its leader arranged for one of their own to escort Lu Yuan away as a suspect.

• The Baron attacked Lu Yuan after the sludge on the bed failed to save him, and Lu Yuan shot him dead.
• Lu Yuan searched the Baron's clothes and found a letter instructing someone to eliminate the Doctors and transfer the Hatchling to the dock warehouse.
• Lu Yuan realized the Night Watchers had used him as bait and decided he could demand extra payment from Old Morgan.
• A disciplined squad entered the room, and its leader recognized the successful bait plan while pretending to investigate the scene.
• The squad leader ordered a fellow operative to escort Lu Yuan away under the guise of taking a suspect into custody.

Lu Yuan returned from Thorn Manor after the Night Watchers covered up the deaths there as an accidental fire. He confronted Old Morgan over being used as bait and negotiated for access to the Deep Warehouse, but Morgan warned him that his Eerie Knowledge Transcendent Path could corrupt him.

• A young team member escorted Lu Yuan from Thorn Manor while the Night Watchers prepared to destroy evidence and report that a gas leak had killed the Baron and his family.
• Lu Yuan ordered the carriage to take him to Old John's Tavern, where Old Morgan was waiting over a map of Grim Port.
• Lu Yuan confronted Old Morgan with the bloody letter and spent Black Powder Type-3 shell, accusing him of using a living person as bait.
• Old Morgan admitted the operation had been an entrance test and a cleanup plan, and Lu Yuan demanded that his owed points be erased and that he be allowed to choose an item from the Deep Warehouse.
• Old Morgan explained that the Night Watchers had exposed Lu Yuan to danger as a Sanity Check because his Eerie Knowledge Transcendent Path could corrupt him into a monster.

Old Morgan explained that Lu Yuan had been used as bait amid two separate conspiracies in Grim Port, then brought him to the Deep Warehouse to choose an extraordinary item. Lu Yuan entered the warehouse and rejected a petrified heart after learning its side effect could turn him into a cave-dwelling creature.

• Old Morgan explained that he had made Lu Yuan face The Abyss before becoming official, while revealing that the Night Watchers had deliberately allowed the fish-flesh contamination to lure the Deep Sea Cultists.
• Old Morgan told Lu Yuan that the operation had uncovered two additional Sources of Pollution and that a separate group targeting Doctors and people with High Inspiration had also targeted him.
• Old Morgan gave Lu Yuan a brass Key and led him down to the Deep Warehouse, warning him to leave any item that resisted him or caused discomfort.
• Lu Yuan entered the brightly lit warehouse and examined its shelves of extraordinary items.
• Lu Yuan inspected a stone-like heart and learned that fusing with it could improve his physical abilities but might make him crave ore and soil, so he moved on.

Lu Yuan chose the powerful Pocket Watch called Time Bestower, learned that using it consumed his sanity, and briefly tested its ability to accelerate his perception and movement. In the Strange Dream, he explored farther across the island and spotted what appeared to be the Iron Whale before the world’s heartbeat forced him out.

• Lu Yuan found a disguised Taboo item in the warehouse and chose the Pocket Watch, whose abilities consumed sanity.
• Old Morgan identified the watch as Time Bestower, warned that it had drained several Night Watchers to death, and called it the Death Clock.
• Lu Yuan tested the watch at his clinic, used its Speed ability for about twenty seconds, and stopped before exhausting his sanity.
• Lu Yuan regained control of his body in the Strange Dream and headed farther inland to explore the island.
• Lu Yuan noticed that the Ancient Formation had been partly repaired with glowing dark-gold liquid, then climbed Black Stone Mountain.
• Lu Yuan saw a huge, rust-covered warship that resembled the Iron Whale, but a majestic heartbeat shook the dream world and rejected him.

After waking from a dream of the Iron Whale, Lu Yuan learned that the Night Watchers’ operation in the Slum District had failed and went to their base. He helped suppress a wounded Watcher’s contamination, received clearance to access the Archive Room, and found the Iron Whale’s special voyage record.

• Lu Yuan woke from a dream of the Iron Whale and saw that his sanity had reached a new threshold.
• An explosion and fire in the Slum District revealed that the Night Watchers’ extermination operation had failed.
• Lu Yuan used a mixture of Wormwood Ash, concentrated Holy Water, and Red Phosphorus Powder to halt a wounded Night Watcher’s mutation temporarily.
• Mary told Lu Yuan that the Night Watchers had driven a summoned creature back into the sewers at great cost and that Old Morgan had granted him broad base clearance.
• Lu Yuan entered the Archive Room and found the sealed file for the Iron Whale’s special voyage.

Lu Yuan discovered that the Deep Blue ore had caused the illness afflicting Laisen, but he still had no way to treat Strange Dream. Back at his clinic, he found a mechanical device replacing a patient’s kidney, then faced an armed group that burst through his door.

• Lu Yuan read the Iron Whale’s records and learned that the Deep Blue ore caused mass hysteria and that the ship had departed with the Night Watchers’ Fifth Elite Squad led by Gao Wen.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the Iron Whale had likely met with disaster, then returned to his clinic in the rain.
• A terrified man arrived at the clinic with a stitched abdomen, and Lu Yuan discovered a fused alchemical machine replacing his kidney.
• Lu Yuan stitched the man back up to keep him alive and learn who had implanted the device.
• Four or five masked figures in Gray Coats smashed through the clinic door, and Lu Yuan reached for his Revolver.

Lu Yuan used Time Bestower and his revolver to resist Gray-robed Men from the Ascension Society, but their augmented bodies overwhelmed the Night Watcher sentries. Old Morgan arrived and confronted the leader, revealing a dark silver sheen as the standoff escalated.

• Lu Yuan accelerated time to dodge the leader’s shot, while Hidden Sentries attacked the Gray-robed Men with alchemical crossbow bolts.
• The Gray-robed Men deflected the bolts with metallic skin, and Lu Yuan’s shots failed to stop their leader.
• The Gray-robed Men wounded one Hidden Sentry and knocked the other down before aiming a high-explosive round at Lu Yuan.
• Old Morgan entered the Clinic and ordered the intruders to lower their weapons, claiming Lu Yuan as Night Watcher property.
• The leader invoked the Empire’s authority, threatened Old Morgan, and demanded that the Society’s escaped asset and Lu Yuan be taken away.
• Old Morgan’s exposed skin turned dark silver, and an oppressive force swept through the Clinic.

Old Morgan drove off the Ascension Society’s attackers and explained his powerful but costly Structure Mastery ability to Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan preserved the black blood linked to the Iron Whale and the Deep Sea, then rested as morning came to Grim Port.

• Old Morgan used Structure Mastery to blow apart the Gray-robed Men’s guns, forcing the Ascension Society squad to retreat with their injured captive.
• Old Morgan warned Lu Yuan about the Ascension Society and explained that the group pursued mechanical modifications in its quest for perfect humans.
• Lu Yuan suspected the stone in the captive’s mechanical kidney came from the Iron Whale and noted Grim Port’s status had increased.
• Old Morgan told Lu Yuan that Structure Mastery was the Third Order Knowledge Path ability of a Deconstructor and that using it consumed substantial sanity.
• Lu Yuan sealed and hid gauze stained with the captive’s black blood, then lay down to rest before dawn.

Lu Yuan treated Mina’s spiritual rampage and learned that the Church was searching for gifted children in the slums. Brent begged him to shelter Mina from the priests, and Lu Yuan recognized that taking her in could benefit him and the Night Watcher.

• Brent brought Mina to Lu Yuan’s Clinic as she clawed at her ears and suffered from severe mental contamination.
• Lu Yuan used his Deep Study ability to devise a targeted suppressant and gave it to Mina, calming her and putting her to sleep.
• Lu Yuan warned Brent that the medicine would only suppress Mina’s symptoms temporarily and asked what had caused the sudden flare-up.
• Brent begged Lu Yuan to let Mina stay at the Clinic, explaining that Church priests were taking children they identified with a glowing Bible.
• Lu Yuan realized Mina had awakened a valuable talent and considered sheltering her under the Night Watcher’s protection.

Lu Yuan accepted Brent as an informant and learned about Grim Port’s major powers and hidden groups, though the city still held unknown secrets. He then went to the Night Watcher Library to study the Sanity Barrier, where Mo Shui returned the two books he had borrowed.

• Brent offered to pass along information, and Lu Yuan agreed to let him and Mina stay in the room next to his clinic.
• Brent described Grim Port’s Inner City, port gangs, Night Watchers, church, Ascension Society, Dock Black Market, and the Ferryman.
• Lu Yuan gained nine points of Grim Port Status from Brent’s account, leaving his score at 41 out of 50.
• Lu Yuan gave Brent a key and left him to care for Mina while he went to the Night Watcher base.
• Lu Yuan entered the Library and asked Mo Shui to return Basic Structure of the Sanity Barrier and Deep Sea Creature Illustrated Guide: From Fish Eggs to Adult Fish.

Lu Yuan studied a book on Sanity Barriers while Mo Shui sensed Mina’s Echo talent and asked him to arrange a meeting. Mo Shui offered secrets or help in exchange, but its rules prevented it from revealing anything about the Iron Whale files, leaving Lu Yuan to consider the limits of a Book Spirit’s forbidden knowledge.

• Lu Yuan wiped slime off the books Mo Shui had spat onto the table and began reading Basic Structure of Sanity Barrier.
• Mo Shui sniffed Lu Yuan, detected the scent of an Echo, and learned that Lu Yuan had recently met Mina, his new patient.
• Mo Shui explained that Mina’s Echo talent could provide it with an inexhaustible supply of knowledge and let it survive outside the Library.
• Mo Shui offered Lu Yuan secrets or assistance if he took it to meet Mina.
• Lu Yuan asked about the Iron Whale files and Deep Blue ore, but Mo Shui refused, warning that revealing Taboo knowledge would kill them both.

Lu Yuan got Old Morgan’s permission to take Mo Shui from the Library and brought her to Mina, whose dangerous condition Mo Shui could treat. Mo Shui settled Mina’s Spirituality and left her able to hear clearly, while Brent learned that his sister should be safe with Mo Shui nearby.

• Lu Yuan agreed to take Mo Shui with him, and Mo Shui explained that she had stayed in the Library because she could not leave and needed knowledge to survive.
• Lu Yuan asked Old Morgan for permission to take Mo Shui; Old Morgan agreed and gave him a Spirit Sealed Record to contain her.
• Mo Shui entered the notebook, and Lu Yuan carried it to the clinic when Mina’s medicine began wearing off and her symptoms returned.
• Lu Yuan released Mo Shui, who built Bookshelves within Mina’s consciousness, sorted the voices, and consumed the remaining noise.
• Mina’s pain and ringing stopped, and Lu Yuan confirmed that her Spirituality had settled; he told Brent that Mina should be fine while Mo Shui was with her.

Lu Yuan arranged for Mina and Brent to live beside his clinic, then asked Mo Shui to teach him the Sanity Barrier. Her knowledge infusion helped him construct the barrier and recover two points of sanity, though she was left dazed and weak.

• Lu Yuan told Brent that Mina would be registered with the Night Watchers and arranged for the siblings to move into the room next to his clinic.
• Lu Yuan brought Mina to the base, where Mary took her to complete registration while Lu Yuan returned to the clinic with Mo Shui.
• Lu Yuan gave Brent Silver Shields for meals and wages, insisting that his employees would not work hungry.
• Lu Yuan demanded that Mo Shui return the Basic Structure of Sanity Barrier book, and Mo Shui offered to teach him through a knowledge infusion.
• Lu Yuan formed a Sanity Barrier, gained two points of sanity, and realized that his sanity loss might be reversible.
• Lu Yuan asked Mo Shui about the limits of her knowledge infusion, but she appeared dazed and weak.

Lu Yuan refused Priest Andrew’s demand to hand over Mina, and Andrew used the Church’s power to isolate the Clinic and attack him. Lu Yuan shot down the two Deacons, leaving them crippled as Priest Andrew faced him.

• Mo Shui warned Lu Yuan that his Sanity was unusually difficult to mobilize after helping him construct a mental barrier.
• Mary brought Mina back to the Clinic, where she ate with Brent while Lu Yuan read.
• Priest Andrew arrived with two Deacons and demanded that Lu Yuan surrender a child whom Angel had sensed.
• Priest Andrew opened a Scripture and enveloped the Clinic in a Silence Barrier, then used Angel’s blessings to empower the Deacons.
• Lu Yuan activated his Pocket Watch’s Accelerate ability and shot the Deacons in their knees and wrists, crippling them.