Chapter Summaries

Chen Lun returned from Wonderland after Howard’s attack and helped his companions recover with Spirit-Calming Potions. Bayers departed after thanking Chen Lun, and Chen Lun returned to the Manor’s Villa, where Fuluoyin and the others awaited him.

• Chen Lun gave Mr. Pot and the others Spirit-Calming Potions, then stopped Bayers from attacking him by calling out Youlan.
• Bayers regained his senses, completed the quest, and warned Chen Lun about Howard before saying he would remain in Amber City briefly and might visit Fuluoyin.
• Chen Lun told his companions that Howard, a Saint of Fate, had targeted him, thanked them for helping, and shared mysterious objects with Drink and Akbin.
• Chen Lun promised Drink and Akbin Extraordinary Wine, said goodbye to his companions, and left with his Silver Cane.
• Chen Lun returned to the Manor’s Villa, reassured Fuluoyin, Noah, Maggie, Golov, and the others, and invited them inside to talk.

Chen Lun prepared the Circus to leave Amber City ahead of the coming war and considered ways to strengthen his team and stay connected to players. He tested a Wonderland Seed on Polaris, who entered Wonderland and received a mission from the Grapevine.

• Chen Lun warned the Circus that the Red Apple Church was about to launch a war and told them to prepare to leave Amber City.
• Chen Lun considered possible destinations, examined Arno’s Nameless Ring, inventoried Mysterious Objects, and created a Wonderland Seed using the Awakening of Insects bookmark.
• Chen Lun gave the seed to Polaris, who activated it and entered Wonderland.
• Chen Lun watched Polaris appear outside the Lakeside Cabin, where Polaris discovered a quest from the Grapevine to fetch water and water it.

Chen Lun discovered that players could accept missions and exchange items at the Lakeside Cabin, then fused a Wonderland Seed into Polaris’s Silver Snake Ring to grant him access and a healing ability. He sent Polaris to recruit players to test the new system, while arranging a marble statue and metal signs for himself.

• Polaris watered the grapevine, completed a mission, and exchanged for ammunition through the new panel.
• Chen Lun fused a Wonderland Seed into Polaris’s Silver Snake Ring, granting it Wonderland access and a sanity-powered healing effect.
• Chen Lun gave Polaris a mission to rally Circus Full Members and bring Undead Outsiders to the Lakeside Cabin for testing.
• Chen Lun watched Polaris leave and planned to use the visitors’ sanity to fund upgrades for other members’ rings.
• Chen Lun asked Connie to commission a marble statue modeled on Noah’s portrait and several metal signs, and Connie mistakenly asked whether he wanted a nude statue.

Chen Lun tested the upgraded Silver Cane and Bayers' Ultimate Sword - Youlan, discovering that their combined power could destroy a Villa in the Spirit World. He resolved to prepare for a future confrontation with Howard, then began working in the basement the next morning.

• Chen Lun learned that Noah had shown Connie a nude portrait and worried that players might encounter a nude statue of him at the Lakeside Cabin.
• Chen Lun tested the Silver Cane and raised Bayers' Ultimate Sword - Youlan to its maximum level, then cut down a tree in the Spirit World with a soul-slashing strike.
• Chen Lun fused Supernatural Fire with the sword technique and destroyed a Villa in the Spirit World, naming the move Death-Burning Sword.
• Chen Lun considered whether the attack could kill Howard but concluded that defeating the Sequence 3 Playwright for good would likely require reaching High Sequence.
• Chen Lun began work in the basement the next morning after commissioning the Silver Dragon Trade Association to buy higher-quality Transcendent Materials with ten thousand Gold Pounds.

Chen Lun finished brewing premium extraordinary wines, prepared Wonderland as a hub for players, and considered using one wine to help Mr. Bayers with his amnesia. The chapter ended with Mr. Bayers appearing at the Manor and Chen Lun welcoming him.

• Chen Lun brewed six bottles of premium extraordinary wine and sent two to Akbin and Drink through the Murder Club.
• Chen Lun considered giving Mr. Bayers Tears of Heartbreak because its side effects might ease his amnesia.
• Connie brought a statue of Mr. Jack to the Manor, and Chen Lun moved it into Wonderland to serve as a player quest and exchange point.
• Chen Lun set up combat, social, and dungeon areas in Wonderland and discounted items in the Exchange to attract players.
• Mr. Bayers appeared in the Manor's backyard, and Chen Lun greeted him.

Bayers visited Fuluoyin and revealed that she was a surviving descendant of the Wolf Family, but he did not expect her to restore it. After sharing dinner and Tears of Heartbreak with Chen Lun, he laughed through his tears, grateful for the meal.

• Chen Lun welcomed Bayers, who wore the suit he had worn when he married Youlan and praised Chen Lun's team.
• Chen Lun brought Fuluoyin downstairs, and she held his hand as she met Bayers.
• Bayers explained that Fuluoyin was a lost Wolf Family descendant, that the Potted Plant was her ancestor, and that their bloodline explained her connection to it.
• Fuluoyin refused to take responsibility for restoring the family and declared that she would follow Chen Lun; Bayers accepted her choice and promised to protect her happiness.
• Fuluoyin cooked dinner, and Bayers drank Chen Lun's Tears of Heartbreak, laughed through tears, and thanked him for the meal.

After Bayers left for the Dark World, Chen Lun received proof linking the Red Apple Church to the Sunflower City plague and completed his investigation quest. He also offered Maggie a chance to study with Akbin, who agreed and came to take her to train.

• Bayers gave Fuluoyin Youlan’s silver bracelet and told Chen Lun they could contact him through the Youlan Statue before he departed for the Dark World.
• Chen Lun received the Murder Club’s report that the Rose Team had been wiped out and found Jerome’s letters implicating the Red Apple Church in the plague.
• Chen Lun claimed the rewards for completing the plague investigation quest and gained Nature Faction Sequence 7 Ranger knowledge from the advanced book.
• Chen Lun offered Maggie the Ranger knowledge, but she chose to pursue the Plague Doctor pathway instead.
• Chen Lun wrote to Akbin asking him to mentor Maggie, and Akbin agreed and came to the Manor to take her with him.

Mona learned that her teacher, Rudolf Teka, was actually the S-rank fugitive Howard, who had orchestrated her father's death, while the Red Apple Church’s role in the plague triggered a political crisis. Before the Empire could decide how to punish the church, the Anlong United Kingdom declared war on the Trisoul Empire.

• Chen Lun entrusted Maggie to Akbin to assist with his ascension preparations and study the knowledge of Sequence 7 - Plague Doctor.
• Mona ordered Akbin’s wanted notice withdrawn and reviewed evidence Jack had provided exposing the Red Apple Church’s role in the plague.
• An investigator told Mona that the Adjudicator had betrayed the Containment Bureau and was now an S-rank fugitive.
• The Empire Tribunal revealed that Mona’s teacher, Rudolf Teka, was actually Howard, the “Tragedy Writer,” and that he had orchestrated her father’s death.
• Mona broke down after reading the book Howard had left behind, while an invisible thread drifted away from her.
• The Six Nations Council and Sun King Royal Family considered action against the Red Apple Church, but the Anlong United Kingdom declared war before the Empire’s decision was finalized.

The Red Apple Church unleashed monstrous Fallen Believers across the Empire, plunging cities into chaos and starting Version 1.0’s main quest, “Scarlet Festival.” Polaris and the other expert players joined the Circus and unlocked the faction-specific second stage, whose objectives remained unknown.

• Fallen Believers poured out of the Red Apple Cathedral in Daimo City, overwhelmed investigators, and spread destruction through the streets.
• Players across the Empire reported similar outbreaks as the Containment Bureau and local churches struggled to contain the disasters.
• Polaris asked Dongyang and the other expert players about their faction quests and accepted 200 Gold Pounds while they gathered people to upgrade their tokens.
• The players received the stage-one “Joining the Community” quest and completed it because they had joined the Circus.
• Dongyang and the others unlocked stage two of “Scarlet Festival” and speculated that their faction’s objectives would target the Red Apple Church.

Players gathered in Wonderland’s Lakeside Cabin to complete Circus token upgrades and receive new quests. The Circus’s main quest targeted the Red Apple Church, while a side quest asked players to find clues about Tragedy Writer Howard.

• Polaris and the guild leaders arranged for players to enter the Circus’s Lakeside Cabin and help complete token upgrade quests.
• Fifty players explored the cabin’s shared space at a time while Dongyang and the other senior players waited for their Sanity to recover.
• Morning Twilight led the players to Jack’s statue to look for quests.
• The statue issued the Circus’s second-stage main quest, directing Full Members to hunt the Red Apple Church for contribution points.
• The statue also issued a side quest asking players to report clues about Tragedy Writer Howard’s whereabouts to Jack.

Chen Lun observed players using the Lakeside Cabin, which rapidly filled Maggie’s statue with sanity, and upgraded the Circus members’ Silver Snake Rings so they could access the area. After the others left, Polaris stayed behind.

• Chen Lun monitored the fifty players in Wonderland and found that their activity had accumulated nearly 6,500 sanity in Maggie’s statue.
• Chen Lun watched players pose with and touch Jack’s statue, while Dongyang and the others tested the powerful Black Crystal Bullets.
• The next day, Dongyang and more than twenty players visited Jack Manor after completing the requirement for their Token Upgrade quest.
• Chen Lun fused Awakening of Insects Seeds into the players’ Silver Snake Rings, upgrading their Circus tokens and enabling real-time access to the Lakeside Cabin.
• The upgraded players thanked Chen Lun and left, while Polaris remained behind.

Chen Lun investigated Howard’s widely circulated fairy tale, The Adventures of Philip, and found that fate-bound workers were secretly printing it. He anonymously alerted three authorities, then returned to his preparations until a letter from the Containment Bureau arrived.

• Polaris gave Chen Lun a copy of The Adventures of Philip, and Chen Lun noticed its references to the Dark World and its tragic hero, Philip.
• After discovering that the book’s publisher had closed decades earlier, Chen Lun followed a divination to an abandoned factory in the Industrial District.
• Chen Lun found workers whose fates had been altered so they would print Howard’s books, but he could not break Howard’s influence over them.
• Chen Lun anonymously sent the Containment Bureau, the Sun Church, and the Moon Church a warning about the books.
• Chen Lun spent the following days brewing wine and upgrading players’ Silver Snake Rings, then received a letter from the Containment Bureau.

Ralph visited Chen Lun to deliver Mona’s warning that Grand Bishop Terrence would soon arrive in Fossil City, putting Chen Lun at risk of investigation. Chen Lun decided to advance quickly and leave Amber City, while Akbin and Maggie continued traveling between villages.

• Ralph praised Chen Lun for exposing the Red Apple Church’s plot and delivered Mona’s letter, explaining that she had been transferred to Sunflower City after Howard’s exposure.
• Mona warned that Terrence would take charge in Fossil City and might investigate the Lamp Protectors Squad’s disappearance after learning they had visited Jack Manor.
• Chen Lun burned the letter, considered how his actions had altered events, and resolved to reach Sequence 6 and leave Amber City with his team.
• Chen Lun summoned Philip’s Wonderland to search for six pieces of transcendent knowledge.
• Near Apatite City, Maggie praised Akbin’s supernatural disease experiment for saving villagers and helping him advance, while Akbin acknowledged the risk and called her ideal of ending illness foolish.

Akbin encouraged Maggie to accept the dangers of her path and began teaching her to cultivate a Sick Hound. In the Gloom Plains, Chen Lun defeated two werewolves guarding a Wooden Hut and entered it to seek Transcendent Knowledge.

• Akbin warned Maggie that even doctors had to learn to kill, and Maggie explained that the Nature Church had expelled her for researching poisons.
• Akbin gave Maggie a jar containing a dog embryo and offered to teach her how to cultivate a Sick Hound.
• Chen Lun killed four Moonless People and collected the Black Crystal Longli Stone spearheads from their weapons.
• Chen Lun found the next Wooden Hut guarded by two werewolves and defeated them with his Snake Sword, Supernatural Fire, and White Pythons.
• Chen Lun collected the werewolves' Transcendent Materials and a gray glass bead containing a portion of Middle Sequence Mystical Substance from the Conspiracy Faction, then opened the Wooden Hut.

Chen Lun found Philip’s Transcendent Knowledge page in a Wooden Hut, then explored a mine beneath the Gloom Plains in search of another piece. He killed the mine’s wraiths and discovered a rich deposit of Longli Stone.

• Chen Lun found the Fate Faction Sequence 6 - Aerialist knowledge page in the Wooden Hut and planned to search for another piece.
• Chen Lun checked Wonderland and saw players exploring the Forest of Nature and Kazt Town, where Polaris, Dongyang, Ma Ren, and Doghead Gold gained supplies and sword techniques from the white cat residents.
• Chen Lun followed Maggie’s directions to a hidden mine beneath the Gloom Plains and found deep-blue wraiths mining Longli Stone.
• Chen Lun discovered that physical attacks and supernatural fire could not stop the wraiths, then used Ultimate Sword Youlan to kill them.
• Chen Lun found no loot from the wraiths but realized the mine’s Longli Stone could supply weapons and ammunition.

Chen Lun found the third Wooden Hut in the Gloom Plains’ underground mines and learned that the wraiths could mine Black Crystal safely, while he could not. He collected another portion of Aerialist Transcendent Knowledge, then shared breakfast with Fuluoyin the next morning.

• Chen Lun triggered a chain reaction of black-and-red lightning by striking the Black Crystal ore, escaped the Mine, and realized that physical attacks could not safely harvest the crystals.
• Chen Lun returned to the mine, confirmed that the wraiths were unaffected by the lightning, and flew past them to reach the third Wooden Hut.
• Chen Lun saw the wraiths mining Black Crystal into carts and decided to leave them alive so he could collect the ore later.
• Chen Lun found the third portion of Fate Faction Sequence 6 - Aerialist Transcendent Knowledge and assembled it with his other portions, noting that he had collected half.
• The next morning, Chen Lun shared congee, soy milk, and fried dough sticks with Fuluoyin, teasing her before she accidentally bit his finger.

After the Silver Dragon Trade Association asked the Circus for help in an arrogant letter, Chen Lun refused its terms but agreed to accompany Noah to protect him and help Rosa. Chen Lun and Noah traveled through the Spirit World toward the endangered southern border branch, where Noah hoped to prove himself to the association's elders.

• Chen Lun received and burned an imperious letter from Kaibak requesting the Circus's combat support for the Silver Dragon Trade Association's southern border branch.
• Noah asked Chen Lun for leave to return to the association and explained that the branch was in danger while Rosa and many of its combat forces were away.
• Chen Lun told Noah about Kaibak's disrespectful letter, and Noah condemned the elders' behavior and said he wanted to prove himself in his sister's absence.
• Chen Lun agreed to accompany Noah, saying he would help him and Rosa, though he warned the elders not to displease him.
• Chen Lun and Noah traveled through the Spirit World on the Con-Artist Doll, which Chen Lun had tricked into serving as their mount.

Chen Lun encouraged Noah as he prepared to advance to Sequence 7, then traveled with him to Snow Crystal City to aid the Silver Dragon Trade Association. The association’s executives, desperate for reinforcements amid the Red Calamity, learned that the Circus had sent only one person and demanded to meet them.

• Noah told Chen Lun that he had completed his Mystical Accumulation for [Ghoul] and found an Ascension Ritual he was willing to attempt.
• Chen Lun reassured Noah about his advancement and threatened the Spirit World Messenger after it interrupted their ride.
• In Snow Crystal City, Kaibak complained that most factions had failed to send reinforcements and condemned the Circus for not replying.
• Xixi reported that Noah had arrived with reinforcements from the Circus, but only one Circus member had come.
• Kaibak angrily ordered Xixi to bring the lone Circus reinforcement to meet him.

The Silver Dragon Trade Association gathered its affiliated Transcendent groups to plan an escape from Snow Crystal City as the Red Apple Church’s violence spread and supplies dwindled. Kaibak chose Left District Alley and ordered the groups to cover the rear, but Shidan and Nalan objected as the Silver Dragon Guard moved to enforce his decision.

• Kaibak called in the leaders of all four affiliated Transcendent Organizations for a meeting at the association.
• Chen Lun met Shidan, Cumberland, and Nalan, learned they were Sequence 7 Transcendents, and said he had come alone.
• Kaibak announced that the association would break out that evening, and Xixi described the three possible escape routes before recommending Left District Alley.
• Noah told Chen Lun that the association was also running low on supplies and could not afford to wait.
• Shidan objected to having his group cover the rear, and Nalan supported him, but Kaibak refused to change the plan.
• Kaibak signaled the Silver Dragon Guard, whose members reached for their swords as Xixi stared down Shidan and Nalan.

Chen Lun warned the Silver Dragon Trade Association that Red Apple Church Transcendents were waiting to ambush their planned escape from Snow Crystal City, then used force to make the leaders listen. He left them with a new plan: depart immediately, but not everyone would go.

• Kaibak ordered Noah to leave with the trade association and told Chen Lun to join Cumberland's rear guard.
• Chen Lun said his owls had found Red Apple Church priests and a bishop hiding in the city, who would ambush the group and kill most ordinary people.
• When Kaibak dismissed his warning and threatened to withhold the Circus's payment and materials, Chen Lun disarmed the guards and pinned Kaibak to the floor.
• Cumberland and Xixi attacked Chen Lun from opposite sides, but Chen Lun stopped both with swords at their throats.
• Chen Lun said he wanted to save Rosa and Noah, then told the group to leave immediately, though not everyone would go.