Chapter Summaries

Colin learned about Lin Yilan’s puppet army and her plans to explore ruins, then confirmed to Shana that he was safe. After reviewing Roger’s report on the rescue, he saw that 847 people had died in the Swarm Cemetery, though most of their bodies had been recovered.

• Ilyich told Colin that Lin Yilan had united much of the Red Leaf Forest Archipelago with her army of puppets and was recruiting people to explore ruins.
• Colin contacted Shana through their connection and reassured her that he was alive, telling her to eat and rest.
• Colin sent a one-click reply to the people praying to him and opened Roger’s report on the rescue.
• Roger’s report listed more than 8,600 Survivors and over 27,000 Servants taken in, along with 27 Special Talents, nine of whom lacked complete loyalty and had been isolated.
• Colin read that 847 people had died in the Swarm Cemetery, including 838 Servants, seven Survivors, and two Special Talents, and that most of their bodies had been recovered.

Colin and his advisers finalized preparations for receiving the Survivors and launched plans for a Great Expedition, while also discussing how to secure the loyalty of nine Special Talents. Colin then read a mission concerning the Charred-Faced Holy Mother, whose origins lay in a woman named Olia.

• Colin told Roger to give the dead a proper burial and gathered his advisers to discuss how to manage the arriving Survivors.
• The group finalized plans for a Great Expedition and began preparations, while Colin promised to seek a solution to the Gray Fog vision problem through the Descender.
• Colin and his advisers discussed how to fulfill the nine Special Talents’ wishes and secure their complete loyalty, then ended the meeting.
• Vigus invited Colin to play cat’s cradle, but he declined and returned to the Parchment.
• Colin read the mission account of Olia, who disfigured herself with Golden Hot Oil to escape persecution, inspired other women to follow her example, and became the Charred-Faced Holy Mother after her death.

Colin learned how the Charred-Faced Holy Mother and those who reached her monastery became fuel for the Holy King’s seal, then received the rewards for completing his mission. He questioned Vigus about Priest and learned that Priest had tried to reject all suffering-centered Miracles but had failed to gain support; Colin concluded that Priest’s resistance lacked a guiding ideology.

• Colin read that the Holy King used the Charred-Faced Holy Mother and those who passed the mountain trials to maintain the seal, and wondered whether the Holy King had sealed the Deep Howler.
• Colin completed “Suppress the Chaos,” collected his rewards, and noted that the mission revealed little beyond the ancient being’s presence in the monastery.
• Colin asked Vigus why Priest had been rejected by his era, and Vigus recalled Priest weeping as he warned that the world would end unless people rejected suffering and its Miracles.
• Vigus said few people followed Priest because he could not free the world from the World of Suffering or oppose the Mother Goddess and the Holy King.
• Colin reasoned that Priest’s resistance had lacked a guiding ideology, even though the conditions for change had already emerged.

Colin learned how the Little Girl and the other children died in the Church, and she agreed to follow him and return the mysterious items she had taken. She explained that the Sin Blade’s wielder must collect “sins,” leaving Colin to face the implications of her role.

• The Little Girl recalled that Father Grandpa had rescued her and other children, then left them in the Church while he sought help during the Great Judgment.
• She told Colin that she had known about the Rat Plague and Father Grandpa’s transformation, but had already died before he returned.
• The Little Girl said she would keep following Colin, and explained that she had taken the sins from the Lord-level Aberrations, leaving nothing behind.
• She promised to search the shadow space for the mysterious items she had collected and return them to Colin.
• The Little Girl revealed that the Sin Blade’s wielder had to collect sins, which she described as a strange substance only its wielder could bear.

Colin considered the Holy King's possible ritual and the danger posed by the World of Suffering, then planned his next steps after reaching the Red Leaf Forest Archipelago. He intended to seek a system component and complete the Witch's Head mission in Witch's Forest to gain a Temple Blueprint.

• The Little Girl explained that aberrants carried sin on their bodies and that the Suffering Sacrifice let the wealthy cleanse their sins, leading Colin to suspect the Holy King’s disasters prepared for a ritual.
• The Little Girl told Colin that the Holy King was searching for the Sin Blade but could not detect her, and Colin decided to avoid a conflict until he was stronger.
• Colin planned to summon a Descender after landing and ask about the system component, which he hoped to recover alongside the Great Expedition.
• Colin realized he could use the Witch's Head to open a passage to Witch's Forest and planned to complete its mission for a Temple Blueprint.
• Colin considered the Red Leaf Forest Archipelago a suitable first expansion site and planned to claim its remaining two-thirds, linking the regions with Mist Gates.

Colin left the warship with the Little Girl and reached the Red Leaf Forest Archipelago, where he found Survivors and Fallen Race members living side by side. The Survivors discovered his Mark of Light and debated how to distribute its Light Chaser trait, while Colin spotted living trees in the forest.

• Colin decided to head for the Red Leaf Forest Archipelago, and the Little Girl followed him through the shadows.
• Colin vanished from Ilyich's boat, leaving behind a Mark of Light that the Survivors recognized as a way to gain the Light Chaser trait.
• Ilyich proposed using rock-paper-scissors, Dou Dizhu, and Gwent to decide who would receive the trait.
• Colin arrived at the island's harbor and saw Survivors and Fallen Race members coexisting peacefully.
• Colin looked toward the forest and realized that its trees were alive.

Colin met Atu Naiatos on one of his future islands and learned why the Hurricane Lamp had been used to hunt her. Atu explained that her presence could draw the Outer Gods and trigger a divine war, leaving Colin with more questions about her ties to Chaos and the previous Survivor incident.

• Colin flew from Lin Yilan’s outer island to one of his future islands, bringing a captured Sea-Kin as a precaution.
• Colin used the Sea-Kin to recite a prepared invocation, and a swarm of rats formed a passage from which Atu Naiatos emerged in Lan Ling’s appearance.
• Atu told Colin that she had met him earlier, when the Gray Fog prevented him from seeing her, and explained that the Outer Gods hunted beings with an aura like Chaos.
• Atu explained that the Hurricane Lamp’s lighting mechanism had been tied to the System’s Sanction process to help locate her, and that she had erased the method of lighting it.
• Atu revealed that she had hidden inside Lan Ling during the previous generation’s Survivor incident and had secretly helped people escape a restricted zone.

Colin questioned Atu about a recoverable system component, and she described its defensive abilities and how it could help the system. Atu then revealed that countless independent versions of herself existed, but Colin returned the conversation to the component she had promised to explain.

• Colin recalled the strange roars he had heard in the Gray Fog and wondered whether monsters had watched him when he first went outside.
• Colin demanded a clear explanation of where the system component was, and Atu said he could reclaim one that granted Survivors an absolute defensive field.
• Atu explained that the component could protect system creations, end the system's hibernation, and save it computing power.
• Colin asked how Atu knew so much about the system, and she claimed she had been involved in forcing it to reorganize.
• Atu explained that she was one of countless versions of herself, including the sealed Deep Howler, and that the versions were awakening and devouring one another.
• Colin cut off Atu's explanation and asked whether the component was all she intended to tell him.

Atu told Colin about a fallen god’s legacy that could help him advance and might endanger Shana if it became corrupted. As Atu tried to probe Colin’s unusual nature, a gigantic shadow appeared behind her.

• Atu explained that a returned god had left behind a system component and a legacy Colin could reach with the Source of Light.
• Atu warned Colin that the corrupted legacy could threaten Shana and said the fallen being was known as the Light-Bathed Resurrector, the Sun God, or the God of Holy Light.
• Atu named several beings who had returned in the previous generation and said that at least ten had tried, though most had failed.
• Colin considered the returned beings and their possible connection to Special Talents losing control.
• Atu tried to question Colin about memories of his past, but froze when she sensed a gigantic black shadow behind her.

Colin asked Atu how to overcome the Gray Fog’s effect on vision and what she knew about Earth. He learned that Earth still existed but was hidden in a region connected to a river involving death, and he resolved to return there one day.

• Atu explained that spreading Colin’s power until it underwent a qualitative change could help him escape the Gray Fog’s influence, while complete escape would require leaving the land.
• Colin decided to visit the Witch's Forest to obtain the Temple blueprints and asked Atu to save his remaining two questions for later.
• Colin asked Atu what had become of Earth, and she said Deep Howler had devoured an avatar that once lived there.
• Atu told Colin that Earth still existed but could not be located, and that she had glimpsed it in a river associated with death.
• Atu said Deep Howler had obtained the spear that killed it, though she did not know for certain whether it came from Earth; Colin resolved to return and reclaim his home.

Colin opened a Treasure Map passage that could lead to the Witch’s Forest, learned that only Light Chasers could survive its harsh environment, and assembled a team to explore it. Shana arrived and recognized the Little Girl accompanying Colin as an evil spirit.

• Colin decided to open the Treasure Map before traveling to the previous generation’s territory to recover the system components.
• The Treasure Map revealed that the passage might lead to the Witch’s Forest, allowed a round trip within seven days, and admitted no more than thirty people.
• Colin wondered whether the Witch had been a Survivor searching for the Source of Light, then reassured the Little Girl that Shana would not be angry with her.
• Colin chose Shana, two Survivors, three Fallen Race leaders, the Little Girl, and Light Chasers for the expedition.
• Shana and the others passed through Colin’s White Mist Gate, and Shana recognized the Little Girl as an evil spirit.

Colin opened the Treasure Map portal and led his group into the Witch's Forest, leaving a team behind to guard the entrance. They arrived in a dangerously humid forest and prepared to continue toward the Temple.

• Colin introduced Vigus to Shana, who stroked the frightened ghost girl, while he wondered whether Shana's history of killing evil spirits affected her.
• Colin arranged for Li Hang and several hundred people to guard the portal, then opened the Treasure Map with seven fragments.
• Colin explained how he could exploit the territory-destruction function to bring a warship through the narrow portal and refit it into a War Chariot.
• Colin pushed the sealed Witch's Head through the portal and learned that the group would arrive in the Witch's Forest, some distance from the Temple, with a possible treasure nearby.
• Colin gave everyone ten Holy Light Shields and led them through the portal into a dim, overgrown forest where oppressive humidity could incapacitate ordinary people.

Colin and his companions entered a decaying world filled with corrosive mist and encountered a swarm of Crawlers in the Witch's Forest. After Colin killed the first group with a burst of light, more creatures converged, and the group headed for the Temple as a figure spotted them from afar.

• Colin learned that he and his companions could leave the decaying world within seven days, then checked that the Parchment still worked across the distance.
• Shana, Barton, Dark, Urnot, and the others emerged from the void, and Colin warned them about the corrosive mist.
• Colin heard creatures moving through the forest as a crowd of Crawlers approached.
• Colin killed the Crawlers within several hundred meters with a burst of sacred light, which drew more of them toward the group.
• Colin led his companions toward the Temple, while a figure in a distant tree called out to Lady Vanessa that people were nearby.

Vanessa, the Frost Witch, noticed Colin’s group and sent witches to make contact with them. Colin and the Light Chasers defeated a Fusioner, and Colin discovered that its corrupted blood could yield a frost-granting ability for units outside the Light path.

• Vanessa spotted human footprints and told the witches in the caves to organize an exploration team and contact the people who made them.
• Colin immobilized a massive Fusioner with a spear of light, and the Light Chasers destroyed it with a cannon barrage.
• Colin obtained a large quantity of Corrupted Icy Blood and realized Flawless Light could extract a mysterious frost-granting power from it.
• Colin decided the power could help create another type of unit, since it conflicted with Light Chasers and was cheaper than upgrading servants with Mist Points.
• Colin began purifying corrupted lifeforms and collecting their blood as his group continued toward their destination.

Colin refined intermediate blood into a Frost-type trait and learned that advancing along the path could eventually transform a male user into a woman. He considered the trait useful for female Servants and Survivors, but the group remained limited by the scarcity of Treasure Maps needed to reach this place.

• Colin purified blackish-red blood with Holy Light and produced a cyan-blue Frost trait that could grant abilities comparable to a first-stage Special Talent.
• Colin learned that Frost advancement was better begun with low-grade blood and that male users would eventually become female if they advanced far enough.
• Colin told Shana, Barton, and the survivors about the transformation, prompting jokes about switching paths to benefit the masses.
• Colin put the trait away, noting that female Servants and Survivors could use it, and reflected that the Crawlers and harsh environment would have made an earlier arrival deadly.
• Colin concluded that the Treasure Map was currently the only way to reach the area and worried that map fragments were scarce.

Colin continued toward the Temple, refining blood traits and clearing monsters while his group moved through the forest. Vanessa and the witches following them found signs of their trail and suspected they were headed to the Temple, but they remained far behind.

• Colin refined ability traits from blood during a rest, then resumed the journey toward the Temple with his group.
• Colin and his subordinates easily defeated monsters, though dense trees hindered their war chariots.
• Vanessa and more than a dozen witches followed the trail, finding drained corpses and remains of Fusioners.
• Vanessa guessed that Colin's group had discovered how to extract traits from blood and was heading to the Temple.
• The witches paused to eat Adeline Flatbread, biscuits made from processed tree bark, dirt, and insects.

Vanessa’s group encountered a scouting team that had found strange food and evidence of powerful strangers killing Crawlers. The group continued toward the Temple, where Vanessa heard the Temple’s guardian roar, suggesting the strangers had reached it.

• Vanessa stopped her group when Irene’s scouting team returned with a stone pot of sticky food and a black chunk they had licked; Vanessa scolded them for eating unknown things.
• Irene reported that around twenty to thirty strangers were moving quickly and killing Fusioners with destructive attacks that left metal fragments behind.
• Vanessa ordered the scouts to continue searching for the strangers and warned that they had to be stopped before reaching the Temple.
• Vanessa told Annette to collect the unusually pure Crawler remains, which could improve the group’s flatbread and stamina.
• Hours later, Vanessa heard a distant roar and felt the ground tremble, realizing the strangers had reached the Temple and encountered its guardian.

Vanessa led the witches toward the battle, hoping to save the people they had heard fighting. They encountered the Little Girl, who controlled them through their shadows before releasing them, leaving both sides wary and unable to communicate.

• Vanessa ordered the witches to hurry through the forest toward the distant battle, which had continued for more than two hours.
• Vanessa froze the forest ahead and encountered the Little Girl, while Irene and the others who had been in front of the witches vanished.
• The Little Girl and Vanessa realized they could not understand each other's language, and the Little Girl secretly controlled Vanessa and the other witches through their shadows.
• Vanessa struggled against the control, but the Little Girl released the group after noticing the shadows beginning to break free.
• Vanessa warned the witches to watch their shadows and faced the Little Girl cautiously.

Vanessa and Irene met Yuan Jie and his glowing companions, who brought them to watch Colin’s forces train against a Temple Guardian. The Guardian shattered under their bombardment, while the group remained near the temple’s other monsters.

• Vanessa heard Irene’s voice and saw her emerge from the woods with the scouting team and several glowing strangers.
• Yuan Jie introduced himself as Colin’s representative and explained that Colin was training his subordinates against the monsters ahead.
• Vanessa chose to follow Yuan Jie toward the battle, with Irene and the others joining her.
• Vanessa saw Colin bind a Temple Guardian with glowing chains while his troops attacked it with explosive weapons.
• The Temple Guardian cracked under another bombardment and shattered into pieces.

Colin defeated a contaminated former guardian near the Temple and met a group of witches while exploring the outskirts. Their first conversation ended in shock when the witches realized Colin and his companions were men, a sight most of them had never encountered.

• Colin killed the former guardian with a spear of light and assessed its dangerous abilities and contamination.
• Colin decided to remain near the outskirts of the Temple and investigate before venturing deeper.
• Vanessa introduced herself to Colin and his group, who noticed the witches’ ragged clothes, strange odors, and signs of contamination.
• Vanessa asked which tribe the visitors’ witches belonged to, then realized Colin and his companions were men.
• Irene and the other witches stared in disbelief at the men, while Vanessa told them to behave.