Recaps

Juelu, Orion, and Zuo Shenghang compared their objectives and suspected the instance had placed players on different timelines. They used Juelu’s glowing Crystal Ball to search for other players and found a strange cottage, where Zhang Ninde mistook them for ghosts while Wei Yanchi was outside.

• Juelu, Orion, and Zuo Shenghang discussed their shared objective to kill a Viscount and considered how their identities connected to it.
• Juelu guessed that the players were on different timelines and raised her Crystal Ball to search for them.
• Juelu, Orion, and Zuo Shenghang found an out-of-place thatched cottage and knocked on its door.
• Inside, Zhang Ninde warned the others not to open the door because he believed Door-Knocking Ghosts were outside, while Wei Yanchi was still missing.
• Orion failed to kick the door open and reached for his gun before Wei Yanchi appeared behind the group and called to Zuo Shenghang.

Wei Yanchi and the other players investigated the curse and traveled toward the city during a battle, where Emma saw their moonlight. After the fighting, the Viscount urged Emma to leave, but she refused and chose to remain with him despite the danger.

• Wei Yanchi asked the players to help uncover the origin of the curse, and Juelu wondered if the Instance System wanted her to cast it.
• Wei Yanchi, Zhang Ninde, Lin Darong, Juelu, and Orion rode toward the city while the other players stayed behind.
• Orion stopped the carriage when they heard a battle, and the players followed the monsters toward the city gates as Juelu held the moon aloft.
• Emma spotted the moon while tending to wounded soldiers, then thanked the Viscount for helping repel the surprise attack.
• Xie De offered Emma ten thousand thalers to leave, but Emma refused to abandon the path she had chosen.

Xie De studied Bearded Man’s army and considered how to use its strength while surviving the growing crisis. Bearded Man interrupted him with a speech for the nobles, and Wei Yanchi arrived to call it garbage.

• Xie De learned from 455 that Bearded Man commanded about twenty thousand troops, with Xie De serving as the army’s second-in-command.
• Xie De and 455 discussed using their superior intelligence to win battles, but recognized that their main goals were confronting the demon and alerting future players that they were in the past.
• Bearded Man entered Xie De’s quarters, then dragged him to the main hall to hear a speech he had written for the nobles.
• Xie De dismissed the speech’s importance, prompting Bearded Man to demand honest feedback.
• Wei Yanchi appeared at the door and told Bearded Man that his speech was garbage.

Wei Yanchi confronted Bearded Man at the General’s Residence, then met Xie De on the gate tower to ask about the Instance and its clues. Xie De said it was history repeating itself, and Wei Yanchi vanished when Juelu’s exhausted connection ended.

• Wei Yanchi criticized Bearded Man’s writing and was nearly dragged away until Xie De claimed him as his soldier and led him out.
• Orion and Zhang Ninde returned to the General’s Residence, where Bearded Man resumed reciting his speech and spoke obsessively about the Colonel and the army.
• Zhang Ninde sensed that a Demon’s aura had consumed Bearded Man and compared his despair with 39’s.
• Xie De brought Wei Yanchi to the gate tower, where Wei Yanchi asked why Xie De helped him and what the Instance was.
• Xie De answered that the Instance was history repeating itself, and Juelu dropped the Crystal Ball as Wei Yanchi disappeared.

After the Witch’s moon and the city vanished, Wei Yanchi, Zhang Ninde, and Lin Darong left the ruins while piecing together clues about Mr. 39 and the rebels. The story then returned to the historical instance, where Orion watched the Bearded Man address a crowd and Xie De ignored him.

• The city disappeared, and Lin Darong told Wei Yanchi and Zhang Ninde about the tortured Regular Army soldiers and the rebels’ plans to recruit more troops.
• Zhang Ninde urged Wei Yanchi to stop sympathizing with Mr. 39, while Wei Yanchi reasoned that the Bearded Man may have died fighting enemies and Mr. 39 may have been killed by his own people.
• Wei Yanchi asked Lin Darong about the torture instruments, then hurried ahead after hearing a sparrow chirp in the woods.
• Orion watched the Bearded Man’s speech and remembered that the Witch had said the broken Crystal Ball prevented communication with the future, so clues had to be carved into stone.
• Orion met Xie De’s eyes, but Xie De looked away without acknowledging him.

Xie De prepared to lead another battle to capture a major port city while questioning Bearded Man’s motives for giving him so much command authority. After Bailien asked him to give Bearded Man time to return to his former ideals, Bearded Man interrupted their conversation.

• Xie De recorded the army’s route and his thoughts on the changing political situation, where rival forces all claimed to be saviors.
• Bearded Man ordered Xie De to capture a major port city while he went to negotiate with a count, and Xie De angrily challenged him.
• Xie De reflected on his battlefield advantages and the obedience he needed from the troops as he left the command tent.
• Major Bailien introduced himself to Xie De and asked him to give Bearded Man time, saying the General had once been different.
• Bearded Man approached and slapped Bailien on the back, demanding to know what they were discussing.

Orion used the witch’s cauldron to glimpse a future scene showing the old butler’s death at the Castle, then rode there to try to save him. Orion failed to stop the butler from hanging himself and escaped the burning Castle, spotting the Viscount alone on high ground.

• Orion visited the witch and learned that her cauldron could show events in another timeline, though it required gold coins and revealed unpredictable moments.
• The cauldron showed the players fighting ghosts and later revealed the old butler hanging near the Castle two hours in the future.
• Orion rushed to the Castle and tried to persuade the old butler to leave, but the butler refused to abandon the Scheid Family.
• As the Castle grounds burned and attackers targeted him, Orion fled through the dead trees and heard the old butler hang himself.
• Orion stole a horse and saw the Viscount watching the slaughter alone from high ground.

Xie De escaped the battle and learned that a Monk and a powerful Gypsy Witch might help him deal with the Demon. He left behind an engraved stone that reached the future Players, who found a clue about the butler’s death and Sea City’s fall.

• Xie De fled the disastrous battle, and Orion urged him to desert before he was imprisoned and killed.
• Xie De refused to run and learned from 455 that a respected Monk and a powerful Gypsy Witch could seal the Demon.
• Xie De rode toward the wilderness and left behind a stone engraved with a message.
• A young cowherd kept the stone as a family heirloom, and Lin Darong and Li Yang persuaded him to show it to them.
• Wei Yanchi and Zhang Ninde examined the stone and read its clue: “April 4. The butler dies. Sea City falls.”

Wei Yanchi identified an expensive stone inscription as a clue pointing to Sea City and set off with Zhang Ninde, while the others followed. In the city, the Witch and Zuo Shenghang were captured and brought before Colonel Xie De, whose meeting was interrupted by news that the General’s force had been overrun.

• Wei Yanchi deduced that the stone had likely been carved by the Viscount and said the story would unfold in Sea City.
• Wei Yanchi rode off with Zhang Ninde, and Li Yang, Lin Darong, and Lin Zhenyue rented a car to follow them through a road haunted by ghosts.
• The Witch and Zuo Shenghang were captured by Xie De’s soldiers and brought to the Colonel’s tent.
• Xie De offered the Witch and Zuo Shenghang barley beer and asked them to wait while he recovered from battle.
• A young soldier reported that Glenson’s Rebel Army had overrun the General’s force in Aosidai territory and that the General’s fate was unknown.

After learning that Freeman Luo had been surrounded by Glenson’s troops and his fate was unknown, Xie De weighed the risks of a rescue and called for volunteers. Bailien volunteered to lead a regiment to save Freeman Luo, setting out prepared to die.

• Emma reported that Freeman Luo and the officer in the Right Territory had gone missing after Glenson’s troops surrounded them.
• 455 estimated that Xie De could spare only one regiment to rescue Bearded Man and warned him to remain behind to hold Seaside City together.
• Xie De told the assembled officers to choose who would lead the rescue, but none initially stepped forward.
• Bailien volunteered to take his former regiment and rescue Freeman Luo, and Xie De approved.
• Bailien set out toward the encirclement and remembered his oath to follow Freeman Luo forever.

Bailien discovered that the Bearded Man had pledged himself to the demon Belial and swore to serve it as well. After learning how a demon could be forced back to hell, Bailien stabbed the Bearded Man through the heart, leaving the demon raging.

• Bailien fought through Glenson's army and rejoined the Bearded Man, who urged him to swear allegiance to Belial.
• Bailien agreed to serve Belial, despite seeing the demon's shadow intertwined with the Bearded Man's.
• The Bearded Man returned to camp and argued with Xie De, who revealed that Glenson had not sold his soul.
• Bailien followed Zuo Shenghang, was knocked unconscious by the Witch, and asked her how to deal with a demon.
• The Witch explained that a dagger driven into the demon's human host could force it back to hell, though the attempt might be fatal.
• Bailien embraced the Bearded Man and stabbed him through the heart with the Witch's dagger.

After Bearded Man and Bailien died in a supernatural fire, Xie De took command of the camp and chose to stay and lead its soldiers rather than flee. The Witch warned him the demon could return, while Orion brought back a new player and a New Moon; the chapter ended with Xie De delivering Bearded Man’s speech and the crowd accepting him as their leader.

• A hellish fire killed Bearded Man and Bailien, and Xie De restored order by telling the soldiers to extinguish it and contain rumors.
• Xie De rejected 455’s advice to flee, deciding that as the highest-ranking commander he had to protect the troops and give Bearded Man’s planned speech.
• The Witch warned Xie De that the demon could return and gave him a Springflow Stone to clear his mind.
• Orion found a struggling new player with many clues and obtained an expensive glass orb as a New Moon for the Witch.
• Xie De delivered the speech in Bearded Man’s place, promising to carry on the General’s work, and Xilai called on him to lead them forward.

Xie De planned supply routes with 455 and assigned Emma to counter rumors about his army. When Belial returned and tried to provoke him, Xie De shut out the demon’s taunts and stood beneath the moon overlooking the battlefield.

• Xie De and 455 discussed military logistics and the risk of changing history.
• Emma told Xie De that rumors accused him of causing Bailien’s betrayal and branded his army demonic, and he put her in charge of countering them.
• Belial appeared in Xie De’s tent and taunted him about his failures and the deaths of his household and guards.
• Xie De tried to calm himself with the Witch’s stone, while 455 drowned out Belial’s voice by singing.
• Xie De went outside and silently watched the battlefield beneath the moon as Belial called him cold-blooded.

Wei Yanchi explored the abandoned church and uncovered a glimpse of Xie De’s past, while Xie De planned to disappear to escape the demon’s meddling and the warlords’ suspicions. The chapter ended with Wei Yanchi arriving at the country’s largest prison, following a lead from the cemetery.

• Wei Yanchi saw Mr. 39 pass through a phantom and continued through the ghost-filled old city with Zhang Ninde.
• Wei Yanchi found an abandoned church, where a memory showed the priest questioning Viscount Scheid, also called Xie De, about the King’s death and the fighting.
• The demon stoked fear among rival leaders, prompting them to isolate Xie De and triggering more wars.
• Xie De decided to hand his army to a rising talent and hide nearby, and 455 suggested Bearded Man’s unused underground prison.
• Wei Yanchi left the church and told Zhang Ninde they were heading to the country’s largest prison.

The Witch, Orion, and Zuo Shenghang helped Xie De prepare to send the demon Belial back to hell. Xie De lured Belial into a trap, but collapsed from his injuries after the demon was forced toward the Gate of Hell, and he seemed to glimpse Wei Yanchi.

• The Leader told the Witch he planned to kill the demon’s representative, and she agreed to help seal the demon away.
• Zuo Shenghang and Liu Wenshu warned that the past was overlapping with the future and that their deaths might follow when the overlap was complete.
• Belial confronted Xie De in the prison, but Xie De feigned surrender and stabbed him in the chest with a silver candlestick.
• The Witch, Orion, and Zuo Shenghang lit torches around the prison as 455 used electricity to force Belial toward the open Gate of Hell.
• Xie De tried to escape while badly injured, and 455 urged him to use a Medical Card with Card Break before his vision went black.

Xie De woke in Anbers’s care with a mechanical right hand after defeating the demon, but 455 warned that Wei Yanchi had gone berserk and was tearing apart the SS-class Instance. Xie De rushed back and found Wei Yanchi taking the form of an enormous dragon to force his way out.

• Xie De woke in Anbers’s hospital and realized that 730’s Medical Card had brought him to the doctor.
• Anbers revealed that he had replaced Xie De’s crushed right hand with a powerful mechanical prosthetic.
• 455 came online and warned Xie De that Wei Yanchi had nearly beaten the demon to death and was attacking players while destroying the Instance.
• Xie De returned to the battlefield and saw Wei Yanchi, transformed into an enormous dragon, tearing the Instance apart.

Wei Yanchi lost control of the True Dragon, and the storm and spatial turbulence threatened everyone in the Instance. Xie De sedated Wei Yanchi as he clung to him, while the dragon watched them.

• The Instance System canceled the mission and ordered the players to reach the Viscount's Territory as the Instance began to collapse.
• Zhang Ninde begged the True Dragon to spare Wei Yanchi, then appealed to 39 for help and pledged the Martial Arts Hall's support.
• Xie De took a modified sniper rifle loaded with anesthetic and prepared to shoot Wei Yanchi, but the dragon noticed him.
• Wei Yanchi tackled Xie De, clung to him in pain, and drew the dragon's attention.
• Xie De plunged the sedative into Wei Yanchi, and Wei Yanchi's grip loosened.

The Players pieced together the history of General Freeman Luo, Viscount Scheid, and the curse, while Xu Gong revealed that Emma—not the Viscount—had cursed the territory. The Instance ended with Emma’s despairing suicide and the Players’ successful clearance.

• Juelu explained that General Freeman Luo’s pact with a Demon corrupted him, while Zuo Shenghang described how the General and Viscount Scheid had joined forces during the uprising.
• Lin Darong questioned why the Viscount’s reputation was ruined and why he had not been protected by the Demon, and Juelu revealed that he died sealing it away.
• The Players debated the Viscount’s alleged betrayal and curse until Xu Gong argued that they had mistaken the Instance’s central figure.
• Xu Gong identified the mummified corpse in the Viscount’s Castle as Emma and explained that her task was to help the hero return home.
• Emma read news accusing the Viscount of treason, tore up the newspaper, and cursed anyone who disturbed the Viscount’s Territory before dying.
• The Players cleared the SS Rank Instance-The history book.

Wei Yanchi woke in 39’s safe house and learned that the system had classified him as an SSS Rank player and placed him under supervision by 39. Xie De received a frozen estate from 730, learned it was tied to his fabricated past as Viscount Scheid, and returned to reality, where Wei Yanchi and Coal Ball greeted him.

• Yue Xiamo visited Xiao Jiejun’s shop and learned that the boss was booked through October 12 of the following year.
• Wei Yanchi woke in 39’s safe house and reasoned that his uncontrolled power had destroyed much of the instance domain.
• 455 told Wei Yanchi that he was an SSS Rank player under supervision, and Wei Yanchi agreed to sit down when he learned 39 was his supervisor.
• 730 gave Xie De Viscount Scheid’s frozen estate and explained that Xie De had been placed in the past to fill the role of a fabricated heir.
• Xie De found Emma, comforted her, and returned to reality with his restored right hand.
• Xie De opened his door and saw Wei Yanchi and Coal Ball waiting outside.

Xie De supervised Wei Yanchi in a small city, where Wei Yanchi asked to stay with him and went out to collect packages with 455. After returning, Wei Yanchi discussed Batman and DC with Xie De and realized their conversation might contain a clue to an Instance.

• Xie De allowed Wei Yanchi to leave only if he reported his itinerary and refrained from using the dragon's power, and Wei Yanchi asked to spend time with him.
• 455 took Wei Yanchi to collect thirty-six heavy packages of research materials from parcel pickup stations.
• An older man told Wei Yanchi about bloody water from his faucet and strange incidents in apartment 1601, which made Wei Yanchi wonder if they were connected to Xie De's apartment 1602.
• Wei Yanchi returned with 455 and found Xie De watching an old Batman film with a cat in his arms.
• Xie De discussed Batman and DC's history with Wei Yanchi, who realized their conversation could be a clue to an Instance.

Xie De shared a Sichuan meal with Wei Yanchi, and they discussed Joker, Batman, and the Dark Multiverse before Xie De headed to the hospital. There, he found Anbers waiting with Wei Yunmo, who had grown taller and politely offered him tea.

• Wei Yanchi cooked four Sichuan dishes and soup, and Xie De enjoyed the meal despite 455 criticizing it.
• Xie De and Wei Yanchi discussed Joker's connection to Batman and the Dark Multiverse, which reminded Xie De of the Instances.
• Xie De acknowledged to 455 that Wei Yanchi had confessed his feelings, but said he would let things take their course.
• Xie De used Card Break to go to the hospital, where he found Anbers waiting with Wei Yunmo.
• Wei Yunmo poured Xie De a cup of tea and politely invited him to enjoy it.

Xie De reunited with Anbers and learned about Wei Yunmo’s medical research, while Orion returned to the Death Desert and tried to withdraw after three expedition members died. Su Fangmu and Su Qian discovered that Orion’s team knew they were being followed and decided to greet them with bombs.

• Anbers praised Wei Yunmo’s surgical and gynecological skills, and Wei Yunmo explained his artificial-uterus experiment involving a lamb in a biobag.
• Xie De tested Anbers with a genetics question, and Anbers correctly answered that the probability of their offspring having myopia was 12.5%.
• Wei Yanchi opened the door to room 1601, allowing Orion to board the train and arrive in the Death Desert without receiving Instance rewards.
• Orion asked the Laboratory to withdraw his expedition after three team members died, but the Laboratory refused and ordered him to collect samples.
• Su Fangmu and Su Qian learned that Orion’s team knew they were being watched, and Su Qian ordered them to throw bombs as a greeting.

Wei Yanchi uncovered a sinister skull fragment in apartment 1601 and headed for the northwestern desert, where a mysterious Death City was rumored to appear. Xie De and his companions set out by train to follow him and recover an Instance key, while Wei Yanchi’s team gathered for the journey.

• Wei Yanchi searched apartment 1601, found a weathered skull fragment, and concluded that its sinister influence had caused the residents’ eerie experiences.
• Wei Yanchi wrapped the skull fragment in Talisman Paper and told Mr. 39 he planned to investigate the northwestern desert.
• 455 explained that the Death City was a major plot event and that its treasure was an Instance key, so Xie De agreed to travel there with Coal Ball.
• Xie De learned that the Witch Juelu and Zuo Shenghang would join the expedition, then arranged a train journey to the northwest.
• Wei Yanchi boarded the special train with Xiao Jiejun and Yue Xiamo, while Beiwei, Huang Zhuowang, and Juelu arrived afterward.

Xie De rode the train toward the northwest while the other factions gathered in the dining car and waited for him to appear. He emerged carrying Coal Ball and met Xi Yijiu, a senior captain of the Illuminati.

• Xie De stayed in the last carriage, ate instant noodles, and learned that Coal Ball had run into the dining car.
• Beiwei, Juelu, Huang Zhuowang, and Zuo Shenghang shared a meal with Coal Ball, and Juelu asked for fish to be brought for the kitten.
• Wei Yanchi arrived with Xiao Jiejun and Yue Xiamo, joined the group, and asked whether Xie De was aboard.
• Ying Lin and six others from the Illuminati entered the dining car, and Juelu began singing 'Yelia Girl' while the groups sized each other up.
• Coal Ball left the dining car, and Xie De emerged from the darkness carrying the cat as the assembled groups watched him.
• Xi Yijiu introduced himself as a senior captain of the Illuminati and asked to make Xie De's acquaintance.

Xie De joined the other powerful figures aboard the carriage and suggested playing HG Soup to pass the time. Wei Yanchi hosted a dark riddle about four young people trapped in a haunted library, then revealed its grim solution, which reminded Xie De of the first Factory Instance.

• Xie De ignored Wei Yanchi and Beiwei’s offers of a seat and settled in a distant corner with Coal Ball.
• Wei Yanchi brought liquor to Xie De, and the Witch and others gathered nearby as Xie De suggested playing HG Soup.
• Wei Yanchi proposed a drinking penalty and presented a riddle about four young people, a ghost, and a corpse carried out of an abandoned library.
• The group asked questions and pieced together that Yellow loved Blue, Green loved Yellow, and Red had been murdered before Green and Blue died.
• Wei Yanchi explained that Yellow manipulated Red into suicide, Green killed Blue, and Yellow killed Green before escaping with Blue’s corpse.
• Xie De suspected Wei Yanchi had borrowed the riddle’s solution from the first Factory Instance.