Chapter Summaries

Zong Shen and Baron Besos agreed to split the ruins’ standard-issue equipment equally, while Zong Shen would get first pick of other valuables. After Baron Besos asked him to protect his family if Bosbang fell into future chaos, Zong Shen joined the expedition and flew ahead to the Lion Knight garrison ruins.

• Zong Shen asked Baron Besos how they would divide the ruins’ equipment and magical items, and they agreed to split standard-issue gear equally while Zong Shen could choose other valuables first.
• Baron Besos asked Zong Shen to help Bosbang and protect his wife and children if the city-state faced trouble, and Zong Shen understood that he feared the upheaval brought by the Chosen Ones.
• Zong Shen rested at the castle, then gathered his warriors early the next morning and ate breakfast while Baron Besos assembled the expedition party and prepared an airship.
• Baron Besos gave Zong Shen a route map and told him he could fly ahead to the ruins, so Zong Shen mounted Eagle Sauce and used the Strategy Module to guide it north.

Zong Shen reached a mountain lake that concealed the Lion Knights Order's ruins and discovered that the Rushing Current Tribe's thousands of shallow-water fishmen occupied its shores. He learned that powerful undead knights had driven the fishmen away from the southern shore, leaving his party caught between two dangerous forces as they prepared to explore the ruins.

• Baron Besos watched Zong Shen depart by airship and reflected on his past adventures, hidden relics, and preparations for the coming chaos.
• Zong Shen rode Eagle Sauce north across the mountains and spotted the lake where the Lion Knights Order's garrison ruins lay buried.
• Zong Shen landed on a mountaintop to avoid alerting the fishmen and used a monocular to observe their lakeside settlements.
• Zong Shen asked the Strategy Module about the fishmen and learned that the Rushing Current Tribe numbered over eight thousand, including six Overlord Grade tide controllers.
• The Strategy Module revealed that Tier 5 Lion Skeleton Knights from the ruins had driven the fishmen away from the southern shore, while their patrols and defenses made the area dangerous.
• Zong Shen realized his group could be forced to fight both the numerous fishmen and the powerful undead knights if they began excavating the ruins.

Zong Shen scouted the ruins near the Rushing Current Tribe, looking for a way to investigate without alerting the mermen. He found an underground passage beneath a sinkhole and entered the buried Lion Knights Order encampment, where he discovered ancient bones but no clear sign of the skeleton knights.

• Zong Shen considered how to deal with the Lion Skeleton Knights without alerting the fishmen or endangering the excavation.
• Madeline used the Monocular to spot an altar, thatched sheds, and unusual pools along the lake’s northern shore.
• Zong Shen flew down the mountain and found ancient stone pillars, skeletal horse tracks, and a sinkhole leading underground.
• Zong Shen followed the passage into the buried ruins and found fossilized beams and a collapsed Wooden House.
• Zong Shen discovered yellowish-brown, jade-like bones resembling the remains he had found near his territory.

Zong Shen discovered a Lion Skeleton Knight in the underground ruins and used the Silver Lion Ring to make it kneel in submission. He could not communicate with or command the undead, so he asked the Strategy Module whether Parrot Candy could help him learn its language.

• Zong Shen found shattered bones and armor bearing signs of a powerful explosion, then heard a Lion Skeleton Knight approaching through the cave.
• Zong Shen examined the level 45 Overlord Grade knight’s attributes and lured it toward a narrow gap where its cavalry charge was restricted.
• Zong Shen displayed the Silver Lion Ring, causing the Lion Skeleton Knight to stop resisting, dismount, and kneel before him.
• Zong Shen found that the knight did not respond to spoken commands, then produced Parrot Candy and asked the Strategy Module whether it could teach him the undead’s means of communication.

Zong Shen learned to communicate with undead and tamed a Lion Skeleton Knight before Vereesa called him to investigate a cave on the mountainside. There he discovered a damaged teleportation array linked to distant human Resistance Army strongholds and found two unopened treasure chests, then climbed back toward the mountaintop.

• Zong Shen ate Parrot Candy, touched the Lion Skeleton Knight's Soul Fire, learned undead communication, and ordered the knight to stand guard.
• Vereesa contacted Zong Shen and reported a cave with human Resistance Army insignia on the far side of the mountain cliff.
• Zong Shen flew down to the cave and discovered a damaged Unknown Teleportation Array that could reach distant secret strongholds if repaired.
• Zong Shen used the Strategy Guide to locate and collect a Bronze Treasure Chest and a Silver Treasure Chest without opening them.
• After searching the cave and finding nothing else, Zong Shen climbed the Hemp Rope, more concerned about the ruins base than the cave.

After mastering the Silver Lion Ring’s soul-command method, Zong Shen returned to the garrison ruins and subdued twenty-eight more Lion Skeleton Knights, bringing his total to twenty-nine. He sent them into the tunnel and prepared to investigate the buried wooden houses for more valuables and undead.

• Zong Shen climbed back to the cliff top and told Vereesa that the underground teleportation array connected Resistance Army strongholds but needed repairs.
• Zong Shen returned through the tunnel, found a Silver Treasure Chest, and reached the main section of the buried garrison ruins.
• Zong Shen reasoned that a mudslide had buried the garrison and that the Rapid Current Tribe’s murlocs had likely excavated the ruins and disturbed the Lion Skeleton Knights.
• Zong Shen attracted at least twenty-eight Lion Skeleton Knights, stopped their charge with the Silver Lion Ring, and counted twenty-nine including the knight he had subdued earlier.
• Zong Shen used soul fluctuations to command the Lion Skeleton Knights into the tunnel and prepared to investigate the nearby wooden houses.

Zong Shen finished searching the buried wooden houses, recovered treasure, Lion Knight armor, and a Magic Storage Chest, then moved the Lion Skeleton Knights and arranged for Tasia to take some of them back to the territory. He guided Baron Besos's airship to the mountaintop, where the Baron arrived and parked near the cliff.

• Zong Shen excavated three treasure chests, thirty-six sets of Silver Lion Knight Armor, and a Rare Grade Magic Storage Chest from the buried wooden houses.
• Zong Shen concealed the excavation traces and led all twenty-nine Lion Skeleton Knights into the western woods.
• Zong Shen taught Tasia to pilot the Goblin Airship and sent her toward the territory with nineteen Lion Skeleton Knights, leaving ten hidden in the forest.
• Zong Shen and Vereesa returned to the mountaintop, and Zong Shen flew out on Eagle Sauce to locate Baron Besos.
• Zong Shen signaled Baron Besos's airship to follow Eagle Sauce, then guided it to the mountaintop, where it parked beside the cliff.

Zong Shen and Baron Besos prepared to excavate the Lion Knight garrison Ruins, with Baron Besos revealing a holy cross pendant to repel the undead and Zong Shen supplying Magic Energy Drills. They descended the mountain to begin work, aiming to finish within two days before Zong Shen had to return for the next challenge.

• Baron Besos arrived by airship after Talon Goshawks damaged its hull and delayed the journey.
• Zong Shen told Baron Besos about the underground cavern and Lion Skeleton Knights, and Baron Besos explained that excavation could take a week without help.
• Baron Besos revealed a Legendary Grade cross pendant that emitted holy radiance and could repel most undead.
• Zong Shen showed Baron Besos two Magic Energy Drills and said he needed to return to his territory by the morning after tomorrow.
• Zong Shen and Baron Besos organized their forces and laborers, then led them down the eastern slope toward the underground cave.

Zong Shen and Baron Besos led an excavation of the underground ruins, uncovering ancient weapons but finding nothing in the hall. After resting overnight, they returned with their forces and began exploring the remaining passages, where the chapter left them about to enter the right-hand passage.

• Zong Shen and Baron Besos led laborers into the cavern and used Magic Energy Drills to speed up excavation while sentries guarded the sinkhole.
• The excavation uncovered sixty-two Rare Grade Knight's Lances, twenty-six Knight's Battle Swords, and twelve sets of warhorse plate armor, while Baron Besos found nothing in the cavern hall.
• Baron Besos worried that the exploration had gone too smoothly, and Zong Shen warned him that Lion Skeleton Knights might still lurk deeper in the ruins.
• Baron Besos halted the work before dawn, and the group returned to the mountaintop to rest.
• Baron Besos promised the laborers extra wages for finishing the excavation, then Zong Shen and Besos led their forces back into the ruins the next morning.
• Zong Shen and Baron Besos formed an exploration team of six Power Swordsmen and four Rhodok Sergeants, then chose the passage on the right as their first target.

Zong Shen and Baron Besos explored and excavated two safe passages in the settlement ruins while Zong Shen kept the undead-filled passages secret. A noon announcement revealed a coming Heatwave Challenge, and Zong Shen began organizing preparations for the territory before checking on his Legion.

• Zong Shen used the Strategy Module to locate dormant undead and guided Baron Besos toward a passage without them; the exploration squad reported that the first passage was safe.
• Zong Shen and Baron Besos excavated the first passage and recovered about thirty-two sets of knight armor, then began work on a second safe passage.
• At noon, Zong Shen received the announcement for a 72-hour Heatwave Challenge featuring extreme temperatures, depleted water sources, and recurring Flame Demon Bosses.
• Zong Shen contacted Maryl and ordered her to stockpile water, build and prepare cellars and cold storage, freeze emergency cooling chambers, and have Howie buy cooling items.
• Zong Shen contacted Jiang Yi to check the Legion, which had grown to 112 of its 120 available members.

Zong Shen explored the remaining ruin passages and drew six Lion Skeleton Knights into Baron Besos’s waiting forces, discovering that two were powerful Golden Lion Skeleton Knights. As the knights charged into the cavern, Baron Besos raised his cross pendant and unleashed a rain of light.

• After reviewing the maps and plans, Zong Shen learned the locations of the other Lion Knight garrisons and returned the records to Baron Besos.
• Zong Shen offered to investigate the last two passages alone, and Baron Besos agreed while hoping to find the Silver Lion Mark needed to summon Tier 5 knights.
• Zong Shen entered a cavern, awakened its dormant undead, and ran back toward the entrance to draw them out.
• Baron Besos’s Fourth Order Power Swordsmen scattered, but six charging Lion Skeleton Knights struck two of them and revealed two Golden Lion Skeleton Knights among their ranks.
• Zong Shen identified the golden-armored undead as former Sixth Order Lion Knights, but Baron Besos ran ahead and raised his cross pendant, filling the cavern with falling light.

Zong Shen used the [Silver Lion Ring] to send the six Lion Skeleton Knights away, allowing Baron Besos’s expedition to continue excavating the ruins. After they uncovered valuable knight equipment and a Golden Treasure Chest that Baron Besos could not open, he asked Zong Shen to try.

• Baron Besos’s Rain of Holy Light burned the Lion Skeleton Knights until they activated protective shields, and Zong Shen led the group toward them.
• Zong Shen revealed the [Silver Lion Ring] and secretly ordered the Lion Skeleton Knights to leave the ruins; he then pretended they had fled from the holy rain.
• Baron Besos sent his surviving Power Swordsmen to inspect the passage, then ordered the drill and laborers to clear it while Zong Shen privately warned Vereesa about the next passage.
• Zong Shen reflected on the coming changes in the kingdom as Baron Besos’s workers cleared the final passage, which took nearly three hours.
• Baron Besos and Zong Shen inspected the spoils, including rare and legendary knight equipment and a Golden Treasure Chest that Baron Besos could not damage or open.
• Baron Besos asked Zong Shen to try opening the chest while Zong Shen wondered whether attempting it might expose him.

Zong Shen discovered that the supposedly indestructible Golden Treasure Chest was a trap containing a deadly flood, then traded it to Baron Besos for a larger share of the ruins’ equipment. He and Baron Besos sent a new scouting team into the final passage, where a larger group of Skeleton Knights began to charge.

• Zong Shen struck the Golden Treasure Chest with a legendary Knight's Battle Sword, but the chest resisted damage and revealed a five-hit durability counter.
• Zong Shen learned that the chest contained Fourth Order Turbid Tide Magic that would flood the ruins cavern when opened, while Baron Besos became eager to claim it.
• Baron Besos offered to give up part of his equipment share for the chest, and Zong Shen agreed to take 65% of the ruins’ equipment in exchange for giving it to him.
• Baron Besos stored the Golden Treasure Chest, and Zong Shen ordered Vereesa and Canigia to scout the last passage with four Power Swordsmen.
• The scouting team retreated from the passage and took cover as the hoofbeats of at least a dozen Skeleton Knights approached.

Zong Shen watched Alvis lead the Lion Skeleton Knights east, then urged Baron Besos to excavate the final passage and leave. Meanwhile, the Rushing Current Tribe learned that many skeleton knights had left the ruins and began considering an assault on those remaining there.

• Alvis raised a golden barrier over the Lion Skeleton Knights, then led them out of the passage and into the eastern forest.
• Zong Shen had Reese Ulysses Blink him outside to watch the skeleton knights flee, then warned Baron Besos to keep the warriors near the pitfall.
• Zong Shen identified Alvis as a deputy legion commander and urged Besos to finish excavating the final passage before they withdrew.
• Zong Shen asked the Strategy Module whether Alvis had truly left and whether any skeleton knights remained in the ruins, receiving reassuring answers despite his lingering unease.
• Murloc Nightwalkers reported to the six Tide Controllers that twenty to thirty Lion Skeleton Knights had left the ruins and headed east.
• The Tide Controllers discussed attacking the Lion Skeleton Knights still left in the ruins and seizing something the tribe needed there.

Zong Shen and Baron Besos finished excavating the ruins and exchanged equipment for a Silver Treasure Chest, but a massive force of Shallowwater Murlocs attacked as they emerged. Zong Shen’s group took to the air, where the murlocs trapped four Rhodok Sergeants and launched a barrage of harpoons at them.

• The murloc elders ordered their warriors to gather and attack the skeleton knights guarding the ruins, hoping to seize the ruins and obtain powerful souls.
• Zong Shen and Baron Besos completed the excavation, found 235 pieces of knight armor and a Silver Treasure Chest, and traded equipment for the chest before dividing the remaining loot.
• Baron Besos led the laborers toward the mountaintop as a huge force of Shallowwater Murlocs surged toward the sinkhole.
• Zong Shen ordered Canigia to use Group Levitation so his warriors could escape into the air, while Baron Besos continued fleeing toward the mountaintop.
• The murlocs covered four Rhodok Sergeants in Capture Nets and then hurled hundreds of harpoons at Zong Shen’s group, which he blocked with the Aurora Guardian Shield Screen.

Zong Shen and his allies held off the murlocs with spells and bombs, then withdrew toward the mountaintop as the tribe began pursuing them uphill. After reaching Eagle Sauce, Zong Shen saw Baron Besos still climbing and prepared to carry out a bold plan.

• Ashia protected Zong Shen’s airborne group with a Holy Light Wall while Vereesa freed the Rhodok Sergeants from the Capture Net.
• Zong Shen ordered his mages to attack the murloc horde, and Favid’s Fire Rain and Canigia’s Windstrike Cataclysm slowed the pursuers as Riss distorted the battlefield.
• Zong Shen dropped two Type III Goblin Bombs into the ruins, but a murloc caster’s Water Shield stopped the second blast while Water Arrows damaged the Holy Light Wall.
• The Great Elder learned that the ruins were empty and ordered the elders to use Turbid Water Waves to pursue the humans up the mountain.
• Baron Besos continued climbing with his surviving followers as pursuing murlocs attacked the laborers who had fallen behind.
• Zong Shen reached the mountaintop, boarded Eagle Sauce, and saw the murlocs surging uphill before preparing to act on his bold plan.

Zong Shen raided the Rushing Current Tribe while its murloc warriors were away, quickly looting several marked sites before the returning army approached. At the tribe’s final small marked location, two stealthy murloc commanders attacked him, and his companions forced open the compartment door while he held them off.

• Zong Shen ordered Eagle Sauce to fly him to the Rushing Current Tribe and left it circling overhead while he led his warriors into the empty village.
• Zong Shen used the Strategy Module’s golden markers to find and collect a Silver Treasure Chest and a Rare Grade black harpoon.
• Zong Shen and his companions looted five more marked sites as returning murlocs approached the shore, leaving one small marker and the altar unexplored.
• Two stealthy murlocs attacked Zong Shen at a large wooden house, damaging his helmet and flashlight before Doris briefly lit the room with a Small Fireball.
• Zong Shen struck one attacker with his Spiked Mace and the Rhodok Sergeants blocked the other as his warriors forced open the compartment door.

Zong Shen reached the Tide Murloc Altar while his companions held off the Rushing Current Tribe, collected the marked item and some magical pool water, then hurried back when their position came under heavy attack. The chapter ended as he rushed toward the surrounded group and called for Eagle Sauce to prepare to carry someone.

• Zong Shen spared the murloc hatchlings, found a totem in their nursery, and ordered Doris and the others to hold off the murlocs while he and Reese headed for the altar.
• When magical interference prevented Reese from teleporting directly to the altar, she blinked Zong Shen to a nearby point, and he summoned shield warriors to distract the Giant Eel Defense Towers.
• Zong Shen inspected the Tide Murloc Altar, collected several liters of its green pool water, and retrieved the marked object from the pool.
• Two Power Demon Guards and two Pendragon Loyal Guards destroyed one Giant Eel Defense Tower as Zong Shen rushed down from the altar to help the surrounded defenders.
• Zong Shen recalled his summoned warriors, charged toward Vereesa and the others, and called for Eagle Sauce to prepare to pick someone up.

Zong Shen rescued his beleaguered fighters from the fishmen aboard Eagle Sauce, then flew to Bosbang so Favid could receive treatment for a harpoon wound. The physician Atuso arrived and prepared to examine Favid’s injury.

• Eagle Sauce flew through the fishmen’s attacks and carried Zong Shen, Vereesa, Favid, and the others away from the battle, though it suffered heavy damage.
• Zong Shen treated Eagle Sauce and the wounded fighters with Moon Goddess Spring, then decided to take Favid to Bosbang rather than return directly to his territory.
• Eagle Sauce caught up with Baron Besos’s airship before Zong Shen and his group arrived at Bosbang and requested a physician from the castle stewards.
• Zong Shen and Vereesa helped Favid down from Eagle Sauce and kept the harpoon in his shoulder while they waited for medical help.
• Atuso arrived, examined Favid’s wound, confirmed the harpoon was not poisoned, and asked permission to cut open Favid’s robe.

Zong Shen helped Atuso remove and treat Favid’s harpoon wound, then paid the healer 1,000 Denar. He returned his group to the territory through a newly built teleportation array and portal, where he surveyed the territory’s expanded construction before heading to bathe and sleep.

• Atuso examined Favid’s shoulder wound and had Zong Shen saw off the harpoon’s barbs before pulling it free.
• Atuso cleaned and bandaged Favid’s wounds, then charged Zong Shen 1,000 Denar for treatment.
• Zong Shen built a Teleportation Sub-Array in Bosbang, and Reese Ulysses transported Favid, Vereesa, and Doris back to the territory.
• Zong Shen confirmed the group’s safe return, flew back on Eagle Sauce through a portal, and fed the tired bird dried meat.
• Zong Shen saw the territory’s new houses, roads, and buildings, then went to the Hot Spring Cabin to bathe and sleep.