Chapter Summaries

Cecilia met Camille, a Drow Elf who knew Bai Xiaowen, and received a Heartlink Talisman to contact her. Meanwhile, the Imperial Western Expeditionary Army captured Bersuvi Castle and fell into a Drow ambush.

• Camille told Cecilia how she knew Bai Xiaowen and offered her a Heartlink Talisman (Copy) so they could find each other.
• Camille refused to reveal her faction’s ties to the Drow Elf Empire or the West Desert Province nobles, then left without a fight.
• Cecilia decided to report new intelligence to Dio but first continued toward the Emperor to complete Dio’s assignment.
• The Imperial Western Expeditionary Army advanced into Duke Bersuvi’s territory while the West Desert nobles gathered their forces inside Bersuvi Castle.
• The Imperial Army breached Bersuvi Castle, and Matriarch Cynthia ordered the Drow Legion to attack its rear, routing the rear echelon in a pincer strike.

Auguste’s scheme left Bersuvi Castle’s Imperial and Underworld forces exposed to the Necrotic Plague while he seized control of the local alliance. He killed Duke Bersuvi and forced Gulamans to submit, as Matron Cynthia ordered a retreat from the spreading green smoke.

• Matron Cynthia drove the Imperial troops toward Bersuvi Castle, but discovered that Kamila was missing and Nicholas IV was a decoy.
• Matron Cynthia ordered April to attack, then called for a retreat when the ground shook and green smoke spread through the castle.
• At Bersuvi Gold Mine, Auguste killed his father, Duke Bersuvi, and told Gulamans he would take his father’s title.
• Auguste demanded control of the military forces of the seven allied noble houses and threatened Gulamans into cooperating.
• Andre made Gulamans drink a potion, then confirmed that the Imperial expedition and Underworld legion had both been exposed to the Necrotic Plague virus.

Auguste, Richard, and Andre’s plan to use the Improved Necrotic Plague to seize control of the Surface World was exposed when Nicholas IV’s real army appeared outside Bersuvi Castle. As the Imperial Western Expeditionary Army attacked the scattered noble coalition, Bai Xiaowen and his companions watched from the emperor’s side and judged the battle overwhelmingly in the Empire’s favor.

• Auguste explained that the plague-stricken forces inside Bersuvi Castle were meant to become Plague Undead, helping his faction conquer both worlds before killing the Plague Lord.
• Andre sensed a concealed army approaching, and Auguste rushed to muster the nobles’ private armies, though only Bersuvi Territory’s troops were under his firm command.
• Richard saw Nicholas IV and the Imperial Western Expeditionary Army advancing, realizing they had been tricked and that the troops inside Bersuvi Castle were not the real Imperial army.
• Nicholas IV ordered an immediate charge, and the Imperial cavalry, archers, infantry, and priests attacked the unprepared West Desert nobles’ coalition.
• Bai Xiaowen told Qiao Rui that the coalition could not withstand Nicholas IV’s elite regular army and that the Divine Court Awakeners were unlikely to turn the battle around.

Bai Xiaowen explained that the White Phoenix Team would avoid fighting the Divine Court unless their interests or territory were threatened. In a flashback, he met Camille and used her involuntary reactions to verify that she belonged to the Divine Court Training Camp and that its members had entered several factions in the Kane Plane, including the Plague Lord’s.

• Bai Xiaowen told the White Phoenix Team that they would fight the Divine Court if necessary, despite preferring to avoid its attention.
• Three days earlier, Camille met Bai Xiaowen through a Mindlink Talisman and discussed her reluctance to leave the organization behind her.
• Bai Xiaowen reasoned that Camille could not disclose information about the organization because of a strict confidentiality contract notarized by the Spirit Realm Rules.
• Camille let Bai Xiaowen observe her physical reactions, and he deduced that she belonged to the Divine Court Training Camp.
• Bai Xiaowen guessed that awakened ones had entered the Gorseflower Empire, the Conservative Nobility, the Drow Elves, and the Plague Lord’s faction, and Camille’s reaction confirmed his guess.

Bai Xiaowen deduced the Conservative Nobility faction’s role in the organization’s plans, including its trap involving the Necrotic Plague, and Camille confirmed much of his reasoning. Camille admired Bai Xiaowen and asked to join his next Spirit Realm exploration, but he said his team was full and hinted that she might find a way.

• Bai Xiaowen deduced that the organization intended to strengthen and control the Conservative Nobility faction by exploiting the conflict between the Imperial Army and the Drow.
• Bai Xiaowen realized the organization planned to leave a trap involving the Necrotic Plague in Bersuvi Castle and use cannon fodder to lure the Drow into the battle.
• Camille asked where Bai Xiaowen had learned about the Necrotic Plague, and he said he had fought the Plague Lord’s Remnants.
• Bai Xiaowen proposed that the organization would use the plague army to help the Plague Lord achieve Grand Unification, then kill him and present itself as humanity’s liberators.
• Camille praised Bai Xiaowen and asked what it would cost to join his next Spirit Realm exploration; he said his team was full but suggested she had a way to join.

Camille told Bai Xiaowen how her team could join his plane entry and revealed that an Awakened with an entry pass could gain an almost unlimited stay by becoming the sole leader of a major faction. Bai Xiaowen realized he would need to contend with the Divine Court leader’s ambitions, then met Nicholas IV to plan against enemy agents in the Imperial Army.

• Bai Xiaowen agreed to arrange targeted entry into the same plane world for Camille, Monica Gray, and Luolock, warning that their war contribution was not guaranteed.
• Camille revealed that an Awakened with an entry pass could gain an almost unlimited stay by becoming the sole leader of a major faction.
• Bai Xiaowen inferred that the Divine Court leader, who entered as Auguste, might seek to take the throne, and decided he would have to drive him out.
• Bai Xiaowen told Nicholas IV that he would have to leave within five days and urged him to prepare to defeat the otherworldly opportunists.
• Nicholas IV confirmed that he had reviewed Cecilia’s warning about replaced officers, and Bai Xiaowen proposed using the enemy agents in their ranks to deceive them.

Nazim and Shirick volunteered to lead search parties so Nicholas IV would keep the Imperial Army on schedule to attack Bersuvi Castle, while both concealed their own motives. In the northern hills, Nazim encountered General Adolphus, who announced an imperial order to execute him for treason.

• Nicholas IV ordered searches for the Drow Elves, and Shirick Barnett and Nazim volunteered to lead patrols north and south.
• Before departing, Shirick and Nazim revealed they were awakened ones working for Commander Andre and argued over their reasons for leaving the main force.
• Nazim explained that he feared exposure by other awakened ones and the Necrotic Plague, and believed Nicholas IV's march on the castle would ensure the commander's plan succeeded.
• In the northern hills, Nazim saw smoke rising from Bersuvi Castle and learned that friendly cavalry had arrived.
• General Adolphus surrounded Nazim and declared that the emperor had ordered his execution for treason.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi discussed how the Imperial Army had driven out the Divine Court spies after using them to spread strategic misinformation. At the Bersuvi Gold Mine, Auguste rallied the defeated Xisha Rebels and led a charge against the Imperial Army while Andre resumed directing their forces.

• Bai Xiaowen explained that the Imperial Army had used the two spies to spread intelligence before driving them out once the Necrotic Plague plan was underway.
• Andre realized that the Imperial force at Bersuvi Castle had been a decoy and that the Imperial Army had targeted the gold mine from the start.
• Auguste reassured Andre, activated Chaos Domain, and led House Bersuvi's cavalry through the Imperial Army's defenses.
• Auguste trapped an Imperial general with dark energy and killed him with a spear thrust.
• Andre regained his composure and directed the troops while Camille led a team in suppressive fire to support Auguste's charge.

Bai Xiaowen identified the Divine Court Training Camp’s groups and recognized Ouyang Heng among its Awakened. He advised Nicholas IV to let the Divine Court escape and focus on crushing the Xisha Rebels, leaving the Imperial Army victorious and Gulamans captured.

• Bai Xiaowen and his companions assessed the Divine Court Training Camp’s forces, and Qiao Rui recognized Ouyang Heng as the Assault Group’s leader.
• Bai Xiaowen advised Nicholas IV not to waste troops pursuing Auguste and instead to attack the fleeing Xisha Rebels.
• Auguste led the Divine Court Awakened through the breach, abandoning weaker members and Gulamans as the Imperial Army routed the rebels.
• The Imperial Army captured Gulamans after Bai Xiaowen found him hidden in a crevice in the Gold Mine.
• Nicholas IV, furious over Count Danton’s death, prepared to proclaim Gulamans’s crimes and execute him.

After Gulamans was captured, Bai Xiaowen warned Nicholas IV that the Divine Court Speculators could still ally with the Plague Lord, then agreed to help contain the Necrotic Plague in Bersuvi Castle. He asked Nicholas to send master craftsmen to Northland, but Nicholas refused to force them to relocate.

• Nicholas IV ordered the clerics and Imperial Legions to seal the underground passage beneath Bersuvi Gold Mine.
• Bai Xiaowen told Nicholas IV and the White Phoenix Team that the Divine Court Speculators might switch their support to the Plague Lord after the Conservative Nobility faction fell.
• Nicholas IV asked Bai Xiaowen to help prevent the Necrotic Plague quarantined in Bersuvi Castle from spreading through West Desert Province.
• Bai Xiaowen asked Nicholas IV to relocate master craftsmen to White Stone City, but Nicholas refused to force them to leave the Imperial Capital.

Bai Xiaowen secured Nicholas IV’s approval to recruit Imperial Capital masters by offering them titles and fiefs in Northland, then proposed negotiating with the plague-infected Drow. He met Matriarch Cynthia at Bersuvi Castle and explained that the Plague Lord had modified the Necrotic Plague so the Drow’s usual countermeasure could not cure it.

• Bai Xiaowen offered visiting masters fiefs and titles after they trained apprentices in White Stone City, and Nicholas IV approved the plan.
• Nicholas IV ordered the Imperial Legions to surround Bersuvi Castle and agreed that the infected Drow Legion needed to be dealt with.
• Matriarch Cynthia returned to Bersuvi Castle, rallied the Drow Legion, and took control of the ruined stronghold.
• The Drow tried to use Drider Elf Toxin to counter the Necrotic Plague, but it only slowed the infection and failed to eliminate it.
• Bai Xiaowen told Matriarch Cynthia that the Plague Lord had modified the virus to overcome the Drow’s defenses, then warned her against threatening him.

Bai Xiaowen negotiated with Matriarch Cynthia for the Knosolis Tribe’s support against the Plague Lord, using the promise of an antidote to gain leverage. Cynthia agreed to march her elite troops against the Sinlands and try to persuade the other Drow Elf tribes to join the war.

• Bai Xiaowen learned that the Knosolis Tribe’s spider-toxin treatment only suppressed the aggressive Necrotic Plague and might last less than a month.
• Bai Xiaowen told Matriarch Cynthia that his scholar had developed an antidote for the earlier plague and could use that work to create one for the new strain.
• Bai Xiaowen demanded an alliance in which Cynthia would rally the Drow Elf tribes against the Plague Lord and lead Knosolis troops north against the Sinlands.
• Cynthia balked at persuading the other tribes, but Bai Xiaowen reminded her that he and Li Shuyi could leave the world with a Return Scroll.
• Cynthia accepted the campaign against the Sinlands and promised to do her best to bring the other tribes into the war.

Bai Xiaowen secured Matron Cynthia’s agreement to march to Northland by revealing that Camille had betrayed the Knosolis Tribe and joined the Plague Lord. Meanwhile, Andre told the Divine Court Training Camp leaders that they needed to make a major move before the third-stage main quest expired.

• Matron Cynthia accepted Bai Xiaowen’s terms, while Bai Xiaowen decided not to seek a notarized contract with the Drow Elves.
• Bai Xiaowen told Matron Cynthia that Camille had replaced the missing priestess, conspired with Auguste, and helped the Plague Lord set a trap for the Empire and the Drow Elves.
• Matron Cynthia vowed to pursue Camille in the Sinlands and agreed to take the Knosolis Tribe’s army to Northland so Bai Xiaowen’s scholar could study the plague.
• Li Shuyi questioned Bai Xiaowen about betraying Camille and the Drow Elves’ reliability, and Bai Xiaowen said the antidote would keep them obedient until it was ready.
• Andre met secretly with Auguste, Richard, and the Divine Court Training Camp team leaders and warned them to act before the third-stage main quest ended.

After the Conservative Nobility’s defeat, Andre urged Class 129 to shift its Grand Unification strategy toward the Plague Territory and revealed that an opposing Awakened was behind their setbacks. He identified Dio Skalboom as a powerful possible rival and directed the class to focus on the north of the Gorseflower Empire.

• Auguste said the Imperial Army had captured the fake emperor and that the Conservative Nobility faction was nearly finished, while Richard and Abota blamed Andre’s Intelligence Team for the setback.
• Andre argued that Richard stood to benefit from shifting the class’s strategy toward the Plague Territory, but warned that an opposing Awakened might thwart their backup plan.
• Camille revealed that she and two Suppression Unit members had encountered an opposing Awakened, and said she had already reported the information to Andre.
• Andre told Class 129 that Cecilia, a Mounted Archer Commander who had driven out his Intelligence Team, had fought alongside Dio Skalboom in the Northland Remnant War.
• Andre explained that Dio had defeated the Remnants’ grand chieftain and gained a Quasi-Territory, then pointed north on the map as the class’s next focus.

After Bai Xiaowen returned from the Kane Plane, Cecilia reported that Northland was gaining support but faced a renewed threat from the Plague Lord and Divine Court Awakeners. Andre planned to spread the necrotic plague through White Stone City and Blackrock City, while sending two Earth natives to track Cecilia and identify her.

• Bai Xiaowen left the Kane Plane after thwarting the Divine Court Training Camp's Grand Unification plan and putting contingency measures in place.
• Nicholas IV recruited master artisans and sent supplies to Northland, helping White Stone City grow.
• The Plague Lord brought the Remnants under his control and prepared to invade Northland with an improved necrotic plague and Divine Court Awakeners.
• Andre's group identified White Stone City and Blackrock City as targets for plague contamination and discussed assassinating Cecilia.
• Andre revealed that Ouyang had noticed Cecilia shared a name with an Earth Awakener, so he sent two Earth natives to investigate her and confirm her identity.

Andre and Auguste’s Divine Court team was ambushed by Drow Elves and their allies, then overwhelmed by the enemy’s forces. The survivors were forced to flee the Kane Plane with Return Scrolls and other escape methods.

• Andre sensed enemies surrounding the underground cavern, but Drider Elves and Mud Monsters attacked before the awakened ones could escape.
• Matriarch Cynthia and Knight Captain Marco watched as the cavern collapsed on the Divine Court team, which then broke free from the rubble.
• Cynthia ordered the Drow Elf army to kill the awakened ones after Auguste hurled a boulder at her.
• Auguste drew the Drow Elf forces toward himself while Andre and the others tried to break through the encirclement.
• Andre and four others escaped the siege but were struck by Marco’s archers, forcing the Divine Court survivors to flee using Return Scrolls and similar methods.

After Auguste withdrew and the Divine Court Awakeners lost their foothold, White Stone Fief faced less immediate danger while Cecilia managed relations with the Drow Elves and the Sinlands. The Gorseflower Empire and Northland gained time to recover, and Imperial troops began moving north as White Stone City developed.

• Auguste fought off the Drow Elf warriors, declared that he would defeat Dio Skalboom next time, and vanished.
• Marco reported Auguste’s departure to Cecilia, who said Dio had ruined the Grand Unification plan with little effort.
• Cecilia told Zombie Doctor to finish improving Plague Bane medicine but withhold it from the Drow Elves until they had fought the Sinlands longer.
• The Remnants’ army in Plague Territory held back from attacking south after losing its contacts among the Divine Court Awakeners.
• Nicholas IV summoned noble heirs to the Imperial Capital as hostages and secured funds to send an Imperial Legion to the Northland.
• White Stone City began a major period of development.

White Stone Fief’s new level-5 facilities boosted its military and Bai Xiaowen’s virtual shop, while Cecilia delivered Plague Bane to the ailing Knosolis Tribe. Matron Cynthia accepted the antidote after threatening retaliation if the tribe succumbed to the Necrotic Plague.

• The fief’s crafting facilities reached level 5, allowing the forge to make Standard Gold Equipment and the pastry shop to produce refined treats.
• Cecilia borrowed money, sold mineral rights, and took on debt to train as many Winged Cavalry as possible at Bai Xiaowen’s insistence.
• Bai Xiaowen used the facilities’ separate export production to expand The More Knives, the More Victims’ midrange and high-end inventory.
• An inscription master arrived from the Imperial Capital, and the fief prepared to make magic scrolls a flagship product.
• Matron Cynthia confronted Cecilia over the spreading Necrotic Plague and threatened to retaliate if her tribe became undead.
• Cecilia presented Plague Bane, explaining that Bai Xiaowen had finally completed the antidote, and Matron Cynthia thanked the scholar.

Cecilia promised Matron Cynthia that White Stone City would produce more New Plague Bane within seven days and demanded help capturing Remnant spies. After Marcia and Alba tested the medicine and their plague symptoms eased, Cynthia agreed to hunt the spies while planning to seize White Stone City once her tribe recovered.

• Cecilia told Matron Cynthia that factories would produce more New Plague Bane within seven days and asked her to help capture at least half of the Remnant spies infiltrating the Northland.
• Cynthia ordered Marcia and Alba to take the medicine, and Marcia suffered intense pain before her corpse spots faded and her Necrotic Plague symptoms eased.
• Alba took a dose and experienced similar pain and relief, convincing Cynthia that the medicine worked.
• Cynthia agreed to capture the spies diligently so White Stone City would continue supplying antidotes, while Alba said they would no longer depend on the humans after recovery.
• Cynthia clenched her fist and declared that she would take White Stone City once the plague was eradicated.

Cecilia’s forces fought off a Drow Elf night assault on White Stone City after Matron Cynthia betrayed their alliance. Bonita arrived with mysterious barrels, and Cecilia ordered them launched at the besiegers.

• Knight Captain Tim reported that the final batch of Plague Bane medicine had been delivered to the Drow Elves, and Cecilia said Dio had prepared for the consequences.
• Matron Cynthia’s Drow Elves launched a night assault on White Stone City, and Cecilia ordered Tim to deliver Dio’s note to Bonita.
• Cecilia confronted Matron Cynthia on the city wall, but Cynthia demanded the city’s surrender and ordered the siege to continue.
• Bonita arrived with masked soldiers and carts carrying wooden barrels, which Cecilia ordered moved onto the wall and loaded into catapults.