Chapter Summaries

Chen Lun found another piece of Magician transcendent knowledge, while Polaris’s team ended their Wonderland exploration with him earning the top contribution reward. Back at Jack Manor, Chen Lun rewarded the three leading players and hinted that the healing potion would soon be available to full members.

• Chen Lun found a note containing one-quarter of the Fate Faction Sequence 7-Magician knowledge, bringing his collection to three-quarters.
• The players ended their Wonderland exploration and returned after Polaris, Doghead Gold, and Dongyang agreed to leave.
• Polaris learned that he had earned the highest quest contribution and received the transcendent knowledge reward.
• Chen Lun congratulated the players at Jack Manor and gave Wangwuji a Strong Blood-Producing Bottle, while telling Dongyang that the potion would soon be available in the hidden shop.
• Chen Lun rewarded Doghead Gold with a D-rank Bloodthirsty Syringe that stored blood energy to grant melee life-steal.

Chen Lun awarded Polaris a piece of Fate Faction Transcendent Knowledge, and Polaris advanced to Sequence 9 Beast Tamer. The players celebrated his advancement and began discussing a public Transcendent sparring event.

• Doghead Gold shared the details of a rechargeable Mysterious Object, and Dongyang offered to buy it, but Doghead Gold refused.
• Chen Lun asked Polaris to choose his Sequence 9 Transcendent Knowledge, and Polaris chose the Fate Faction to follow Jack’s path.
• Chen Lun gave Polaris complete Beast Tamer knowledge, and Polaris advanced in front of the players, reaching level 14 and learning Beast Speech.
• Dongyang invited Polaris to a paid livestreamed sparring match, and Polaris agreed.
• Morning Twilight and Doghead Gold proposed expanding the event into a wider Open Beta Transcendent battle royale.

Chen Lun chose Polaris as his representative and offered to teach him the Beast Tamer skill [Animal Mimicry] in exchange for signing a binding Shadow Contract. Polaris accepted, gaining a close bond with Jack Spade and free access to the skill.

• After the players left, Chen Lun told Polaris that fate had guided their meeting and named him as his representative.
• Chen Lun demonstrated [Animal Mimicry] and offered to teach it, but Polaris saw that its normal cost was beyond his means.
• Chen Lun presented Polaris with a Shadow Contract that bound him to the Circus faction and threatened a permanent curse if he betrayed Jack.
• Polaris signed the contract and became Chen Lun's representative, receiving increased favorability, a Circus merchandise discount, and [Animal Mimicry] for free.
• Chen Lun studied Polaris's panel and noticed something unexpected.

Chen Lun discovered that his Animal Mimicry had far more memory slots than Polaris’s and took Nada toward Kazt Town. Nada agreed to accompany him despite the oath that kept the black cats from returning home, and Chen Lun flew them along the Pebble Path.

• Chen Lun realized that Polaris had only three Animal Mimicry memory slots, while he had ten.
• Polaris visited the Emerald Chirp Zoo and recorded Gazelle Leap, Crocodile Bite, and Crocodile Hide as his three traits.
• Chen Lun found Nada on the Pebble Path and invited the black cat to travel with him to Kazt Town.
• Nada explained that the black cats had left Kazt after a dispute with the White Cat Clan and had sworn not to return until they found a new home.
• Chen Lun persuaded Nada to accompany him partway, stored the greataxe in his Blood-Poem Ring, and flew with the cat toward Kazt.
• Nada recalled a bat-winged human who had angered the Cat God and been struck down by divine punishment, prompting Chen Lun to wonder whether the man was Philip.

Chen Lun escorted Nada back to Kazt and accepted a quest to save the town from corruption. After reaching the town, he was recognized as the Cat God’s Favored One and welcomed by its residents.

• Chen Lun brought Nada to the edge of the boulder field near Kazt, where Nada thanked him and asked him to save the cat residents’ homeland.
• Chen Lun accepted the B-rank quest Kazt’s Dawn, which tasked him with helping Kazt resist invisible corruption.
• Chen Lun crossed Cat God Bridge, where two white cat guards initially challenged him but changed their attitude when the Cat God statue lit up.
• The guards recognized Chen Lun as the Cat God’s Favored One and led him into Kazt to meet High Priest Daye.
• The residents of Kazt saw Chen Lun arrive, and the guards announced him as their savior.

Chen Lun arrived in Kazt Town, where High Priest Daye recognized him as the Cat God's favored one and welcomed him. Daye revealed that the Cat God was Maggie Milna and gave Chen Lun the mythical Cat God Scripture, leaving him poised to learn more about the goddess and Kazt's plight.

• Kazt's white cats crowded around Chen Lun, and High Priest Daye confirmed he was the Cat God's favored one.
• Daye hosted Chen Lun at a banquet, where Chen Lun tasted a fried beetle and drank Sun Wine, which increased his Luck.
• Daye told Chen Lun that corruption had brought chaos to the Forest of Nature and that an oracle foretold the favored one's arrival to save Kazt.
• Daye explained that Chen Lun carried the Cat God's blessing and identified the Cat God as Maggie Milna.
• Daye led Chen Lun to the white spire's temple and gave him the mythical Cat God Scripture.

Chen Lun learned that Kazt Town faced a monthly attack from corrupted creatures and promised to help defend it in two days. After his attempt to contact Maggie Milna in the real world failed, he sold transcendent knowledge to the players, who began studying it.

• Chen Lun read the Cat God Scripture, learned Maggie Milna's honorific name, and received a message from her through the statue in Wonderland.
• Daye explained that Kazt Town faced a Pollution Tide every month and asked Chen Lun to help with the next one in two days.
• Chen Lun performed the prescribed ritual to contact Maggie Milna in the real world, but received no response.
• Dongyang and the other players arrived at Jack Manor and exchanged 3,750 Gold Pounds for three copies of Sun Faction transcendent knowledge.
• Dongyang, Ma Ren, and Kuang Benkuang began reading their knowledge, while Morning Twilight bought two copies from the Magic and Stars Factions.

Chen Lun sold Transcendent Knowledge to the players, who advanced into Transcendents and prepared for a public match between Polaris and Dongyang. Forum hype drew a crowd to Black Messenger Square, where players discussed the statue and learned that the Black Messenger was Jack.

• Chen Lun sold the players Transcendent Knowledge, earning 11,250 Gold Pounds, and planned how to invest his growing funds.
• Dongyang, Ma Ren, Kuang Benkuang, Morning Twilight, Honey Pomelo, Doghead Gold, Wangwuji, Weiyin, and Su Keying advanced to their chosen Sequence 9 paths.
• Dongyang arranged a public match with Polaris for the next morning and offered him two million credits, while Polaris sent his account number.
• Players spread sensational forum posts about the upcoming match, drawing attention to the newly emerged Transcendents and the guilds involved.
• A crowd gathered at Black Messenger Square, where players discussed the statue and spread the news that the Black Messenger was Jack.

Dongyang staged an Extraordinary battle against Polaris in the square, but Polaris proved far stronger than expected and defeated him and two other players. The spectacle left the crowd stunned and raised questions about the Fate Faction and Jack.

• Players heard that the Extraordinary fighters had advanced through Jack’s faction and resolved to approach him for Transcendent Knowledge.
• Dongyang and Polaris met in the square as Su Keying livestreamed their staged showdown to millions of viewers.
• Dongyang challenged Polaris over Morning Twilight, prompting her to realize that the fight’s organizers had made up a love triangle for the stream.
• Polaris blocked Dongyang’s punch with keratin armor, then killed him with a crocodile-like bite that removed his head.
• Ma Ren and Kuang Benkuang attacked Polaris to avenge Dongyang, but Polaris dodged their blows, killed Ma Ren with [Crocodile Bite], and knocked Kuang Benkuang out of the fight.

Chen Lun watched Polaris’s livestream and recognized the publicity his victory brought to the Circus, while Polaris fought Doghead Gold and Wangwuji to a draw despite clearly outmatching them. As Froy arrived at Black Messenger Square, the Circus players realized she had come to enforce the law and feared arrest.

• Chen Lun watched Polaris’s livestream, praised his performance, and asked Froy to kill the Undead Outsiders at Black Messenger Square.
• Polaris dodged Doghead Gold and Wangwuji’s combined attacks and wounded them with his crocodile bite.
• Polaris and the two small giants ended their battle in a draw, though Polaris had dominated the fight.
• The spectators concluded that Polaris’s strength came from joining Jack’s Circus and following the Fate pathway, increasing their desire to join.
• Froy arrived at Black Messenger Square, and Ma Ren, Dongyang, Morning Twilight, and the other Circus players feared she would arrest them.

Froy killed the Extraordinary players at Black Messenger Square on Jack’s orders, while Polaris revealed that he had become Jack’s apprentice. The players’ interest in the Circus grew, and Chen Lun entered Wonderland as a pollution tide approached and headed for the city walls.

• Polaris warned the players not to resist or flee, and Froy killed them for violating the Sun Codex and Containment Regulations.
• The players learned Polaris was Jack’s apprentice, while Doghead Gold’s post directed newcomers toward the Circus through the Hercules Cult and Iron Fist Gang.
• Su Keying’s recording of the PvP match became popular, prompting players to seek out Jack and the Circus; Polaris also gained fans.
• Chen Lun entered Wonderland, saw signs that the pollution tide was coming, and met High Priest Daye.
• Chen Lun told Daye to take him to the city walls, where the White Cat Warriors were assembling to defend against Pollution Creatures.

Chen Lun and Daye prepared Kazt for a Pollution Tide, but the attack brought several kinds of dangerous polluted creatures at once. Chen Lun helped defend the walls with supernatural fire, while the Human-Head Slugs empowered the Frogmen and caused white cat warriors to collapse in terror.

• Daye warned Chen Lun that the approaching Pollution Tide would bring poisonous creatures and heavy rain, and the white cats prepared Explosive Fruits for the defense.
• The one-eyed white cat captain spotted Caterpillar Poison Lizards, Human-Head Slugs, and Frogmen charging toward Kazt together.
• The white cats' arrows failed to stop most of the creatures, and a Frogman spat corrosive black sludge onto the wall, killing a white cat.
• Chen Lun burned the sludge with supernatural fire while the white cats used heavy crossbows to kill climbing Caterpillar Poison Lizards.
• The Human-Head Slugs climbed onto the Frogmen, healed their wounds, and caused madness-filled eyeballs to sprout across their bodies, leaving white cat warriors screaming and trembling.

Chen Lun fought the Pollution Tide alone outside Kazt Town, using fire, weapons, and his poison resistance to slaughter the polluted creatures. The white cats watched from the walls and cheered as he held the tide back.

• Chen Lun resisted the Human-Head Slugs' mental attack, then flew into the Pollution Tide and burned Caterpillar Poison Lizards with supernatural fire and explosives.
• Chen Lun killed Frogmen and Human-Head Slugs with his flaming Silver Whip and supernatural fire, shrugging off their poison and sludge.
• Chen Lun switched to the Silver Sword and cut down more Frogmen and Human-Head Slugs with Bayers Swift Sword.
• Chen Lun replenished his stamina and spirituality by devouring a Caterpillar Poison Lizard with the Blood-Poem Ring, then resumed his attack.
• The white cat warriors and residents of Kazt Town saw Chen Lun holding back the Pollution Tide alone and cheered for him.

Chen Lun helped Kazt Town survive a pollution tide, earned the white cats’ reverence and several rewards, then divined that the force controlling the Pollution Creatures was in the Black Plains. After receiving the battle spoils, he offered Daye the materials he could use.

• Chen Lun killed the last Frogman and halted the Pollution Creatures’ advance, allowing the White Cat Warriors to defeat the remaining attackers.
• Kappa led the warriors in clearing the last creatures while Daye explained that Kazt relied on the Spire’s weakening shock wave to survive pollution tides.
• Chen Lun received experience, money, favorability, Healer knowledge, and a Cat God Talisman after the [Dawn of Kazt] quest was settled.
• Chen Lun divined that a being behind the pollution tide was located in the Black Plains and decided to investigate after advancing.
• Daye brought Chen Lun a chest of transcendent materials, explained that Sun Wine and Moon Wine required faith in the Cat God, and Chen Lun offered the usable materials back to him.

Chen Lun rewarded the Circus members, distributed funds and transcendent materials, and shared a warm moment with Froy. The next day, he received news identifying the suspected source of the plague as the dangerous heretic Akbin Kewol.

• Daye took the Human-Head Slug fluid and Poison Lizard claws and teeth from Chen Lun to use for medicine and weapons.
• At dinner, Chen Lun paid the Circus members for their work, then set aside operating funds for Connie and Barton and heard Noah report on a possible cursed-object purchase.
• Chen Lun let Maggie and Froy choose transcendent materials, and Froy agreed to make him rice the following day.
• Mona's letter informed Chen Lun that the Containment Bureau suspected Akbin Kewol, an exiled Nature Church heretic who might have reached Sequence 6, of causing the plague.

Chen Lun learned that Akbin Kewol, a Mutual Aid Society member, might be investigating the Circus and planned to use rare wine to gain entry to the Murder Club. He brewed several extraordinary wines, shared miniature bottles with the Circus members, and went to give one to Froy.

• Chen Lun read Mona's warning about Akbin Kewol and recalled that Akbin was a principled Sequence 6 Vaccinator in the Mutual Aid Society.
• Chen Lun picked nine ripe Fruits of Nature in Wonderland, ate one to increase his attributes, and returned to the real world with the other eight.
• Chen Lun brewed the eight grapes with Barren Berries and a drop of Sun Wine, creating the high-grade Mirna Blood Wine.
• Chen Lun brewed two more high-quality wines, Crane-Crest Green and Sage Time, intending to offer them to the Murder Club.
• Chen Lun gave Connie five miniature bottles of Mirna Blood Wine for herself and Noah, Maggie, Golov, and Barton, then carried the remaining bottle to Froy.

Chen Lun visited Froy while she pretended to sleep, gave her Mirna Blood Wine, and heard her say that it had made her wish come true because she could finally hear his heartbeat. The next day, he traveled with Maggie toward a village where Robert and Jones had made discoveries about treating Red Dance Disease, intending to investigate Akbin Kewol nearby.

• Chen Lun entered Froy's room and offered her the Mirna Blood Wine he had brewed.
• Froy drank the wine, said it strengthened her body, and told Chen Lun she could finally hear his heartbeat before she fell asleep in his arms.
• The next morning, Chen Lun and Maggie left the city by carriage after Maggie received a letter from Robert and Jones about their research on Red Dance Disease.
• Maggie told Chen Lun that the wine he had given her had increased her mystical accumulation and brought her close to the Middle Sequence threshold.
• Chen Lun asked whether Maggie needed help obtaining the Nature Faction's Sequence 7 Transcendent Knowledge, and Maggie declined.

Maggie told Chen Lun she wanted to pursue the Plague Doctor pathway despite knowing it could not lead to godhood, but she lacked the knowledge needed to advance. Meanwhile, Akbin treated a girl in a village near Amber City while conducting an experiment, and Drink killed a player who stumbled upon them.

• Maggie told Chen Lun she wanted to become a Plague Doctor, and he warned her that Akbin's pathway was a dead end.
• Maggie said she did not care about becoming a god, then admitted she lacked the Transcendent Knowledge needed to advance to Sequence 7.
• Near Amber City, Akbin diagnosed a girl with Red Dance Disease and gave her a potion that put her to sleep, though a pustule appeared behind her ear.
• Drink returned injured from fighting a Spirit World creature, and Akbin said his experiment could help him advance to Sequence 5.
• A player discovered Akbin and Drink and charged at them, so Drink slapped his head off; the player then posted on the game Forum about finding two open-world bosses.

Landun recruited Gan Ziwen to join a raid on two field bosses, but Polaris intercepted him at Amber City Train Station under the Circus’s kill order. Polaris defeated Gan Ziwen, and Noah sealed his supernatural power before the Containment Bureau took him away.

• Landun contacted Gan Ziwen and summoned him to join the Lost Name Guild’s planned raid on two field bosses near Amber City.
• Gan Ziwen prepared to leave Amber City after his quest through Jack had failed, but Polaris confronted him at the train station and demanded he surrender.
• Gan Ziwen fled and fought Polaris near Sewage Flats, but Polaris overpowered him and captured him.
• Noah painted Gan Ziwen with Bloody Portrait, sealing his Sequence 9-Sailor power for 168 hours.
• Polaris handed Gan Ziwen to the Containment Bureau investigators, who bound him and carried him away.

Chen Lun investigated Akbin’s abandoned ritual site and learned that Akbin had been treating plague victims with a second disease rather than causing the outbreak. He left the matter for the Containment Bureau while planning to gather resources and pursue the knowledge needed to advance as a Magician.

• Landun learned that Gan Ziwen had been captured by the Containment Bureau and abandoned plans to wait for him.
• Chen Lun flew to Suwa Village’s outskirts, divined that Akbin was not behind the plague, and found traces showing Lost Name Guild players had been slaughtered there.
• Chen Lun questioned villagers who protected Akbin, then discovered that one girl’s Red Dance Disease had been balanced by a second disease.
• Chen Lun returned to Suwa Village, where Maggie reported that the villagers’ new disease suppressed the plague and might be a Transcendent illness created by Akbin.
• Chen Lun decided to report his findings to the Containment Bureau and planned to contact Circus players, gather resources, and seek the final quarter of Magician knowledge in Wonderland.