Chapter Summaries

Beckman revealed himself as the mastermind at the White Bone Gallery and began turning guests into paintings, but Rosa arrived and fought him. The chapter ended with Beckman using an Alchemist ability to escape Rosa’s attack while Roderick stopped Mona from firing.

• Beckman stabbed Roderick, silenced the guests, and slaughtered investigators as the gallery transformed into a flesh-and-bone nightmare.
• Beckman began painting prominent guests into portraits, and Noah confronted him before being trapped in a painting of himself.
• Rosa appeared, rescued Noah, and struck Beckman with a starlit punch that forced him out of the shadows.
• Beckman drank a Calming Potion and fought Rosa, but she marked him and dragged him into view with a silver-mist hurricane.
• Beckman used historical powers to escape the hurricane, and Roderick stopped Mona from shooting at him.

Chen Lun arrived at the White Bone Gallery as Beckman was being consumed by the Bone Key and confronted him. Beckman unleashed a desperate fire attack, but Chen Lun walked unharmed into the flames to face him.

• A Red Apple Church sacrificial ritual caused the Bone Key to emerge from Beckman’s chest and the White Bone Gallery to turn against him.
• Chen Lun crashed through the Gallery’s ceiling and struck Beckman, who was weakened by the Gallery’s backlash.
• Beckman used the Sun Church’s Fireworks in the Palm to unleash explosions, and Mona’s icy bullet failed to stop his growing fireball.
• Rosa prepared to leave with Noah, but Noah chose to stay and help Chen Lun.
• Chen Lun entered Beckman’s flames unharmed, revealing his dark-gold scales and black exoskeleton as Beckman stared at him.

Chen Lun stopped Beckman’s fireball from destroying Amber City and claimed his severed hand, while the Red Apple Church’s Grand Bishop Rafa emerged from Beckman’s corpse and prepared to sacrifice the exhibition guests. The chapter ended as Roderick and Mona attacked Rafa’s avatar.

• Chen Lun severed Beckman’s hand, escaped through the skylight, and destroyed the unstable fireball high above Amber City.
• The residents praised Chen Lun, while Polaris and the other players recognized his extraordinary importance.
• Beckman’s corpse opened into a doorway, and the White Bone Gallery turned him into a painting titled “Poor wretch.”
• Rafa emerged from the doorway, revealed his plan to sacrifice the guests, and summoned power through the Bone Key and six paintings.
• Roderick used Soul Rest on Rafa while Mona fired several shots at him.

Rafa’s avatar overwhelmed the Gallery’s defenders, killing Roderick and injuring Mona before Chen Lun arrived to confront him. Chen Lun and Rosa briefly trapped Rafa in flames, but Rafa used the paintings’ powers to rewind himself and began preparing a moonlit attack.

• Rafa escaped Roderick’s control, reflected the phantom bullets at the defenders, and killed Roderick with the Bone Key while injuring Mona.
• Rosa warned Noah not to attack, and Rafa turned his attention toward her before Chen Lun arrived and cut Rafa’s hand with the Silver Sword.
• Chen Lun recognized that Rafa was a summoned avatar and resolved to defend his allies despite the gap in their strength.
• Chen Lun attacked with flames while Rosa used her Silver Elastic Band to deceive Rafa into entering the fire and taking a wind bullet.
• Rafa rewound himself to his earlier position, then combined Feiri’s and Roderick’s paintings as purple-black light gathered in his palm.

Chen Lun fought Rafa to keep him from reaching Froy and the [Sun-Averting Potted Plant], using fire and restraints to prevent Rafa from escaping with Historical Retrospection. Their battle moved from the collapsing [White Bone Gallery] to Bradley Square, where both fighters remained ablaze and locked together.

• Rafa's purplish-black flames struck Noah, and Rosa tried to extinguish them while Chen Lun attacked Rafa with a flaming Silver Sword.
• Rafa used Historical Retrospection to get behind Chen Lun and stab him through the heart, but Chen Lun severed Rafa's arm and bound him with a golden python and a silver whip.
• Chen Lun flew Rafa beyond the [White Bone Gallery], which reverted to its original appearance and collapsed as the survivors escaped.
• Rosa brought the injured Noah to Bradley Square, while Froy and a crowd watched Chen Lun and Rafa fighting overhead.
• Rafa's mental attack failed against Chen Lun's Sapphire Earring, and his hair spike was blocked by scales on Chen Lun's forehead.
• Chen Lun and Rafa crashed into the square's fountain, where they stood locked together in purplish-black and yellow flames.

Chen Lun fought Rafa in Bradley Square, using a bomb before Rafa summoned a projection of the Profane Holy Sword and unleashed a deadly attack. Froy intervened to protect Chen Lun, and the chapter ended as her barrier collided with Rafa’s sword strike.

• Chen Lun regenerated from his injuries by shedding his skin, then threw a supernatural incendiary bomb at Rafa.
• Rafa recognized Chen Lun as Jack and revealed that his incarnation was nearly out of power.
• Rafa drew a Bone Sword and transformed it into a projection of the Profane Holy Sword.
• Rafa’s sword unleashed a scarlet attack that left Chen Lun with no apparent way to escape.
• Froy appeared, declared that Rafa could not hurt Chen Lun, and raised a wall of dead trees to block the strike.
• The collision of the sword and barrier produced a blast whose aftershocks drove distant spectators, including Polaris and the others, into a frenzied state.

Chen Lun healed Noah and learned that Froy’s Mystical Contamination was worsening, leaving her only two hours to live. After promising Froy he would save her, he put on the Silver Flask and prepared to pursue Rafa into the Spirit World.

• Chen Lun found Froy unconscious after Rafa escaped into the Spirit World, and discovered her condition had deteriorated until her countdown showed only two hours.
• Chen Lun used [Awakening of Insects] to stabilize Froy temporarily, then decided he needed to kill Rafa’s incarnation and take the mystical substance within it.
• Chen Lun healed Noah with [Awakening of Insects], and Rosa agreed to watch over Froy while he went after Rafa.
• Froy woke and begged Chen Lun not to leave, then told him the time they had spent together had been the happiest of her life.
• Chen Lun promised Froy he would not let her die, put on the Silver Flask, and saw strange rifts that revealed paths into the Spirit World.

Chen Lun entered the Spirit World, where Saint Blaze killed Rafa’s incarnation and gave him its high-Sequence Flesh School mystical substance. After Blaze asked him to keep Noah by his side as a personal painter, Chen Lun returned to the physical world with her blessing and prepared to save Froy.

• Chen Lun entered the Spirit World and met the silver-robed Blaze, who revealed Rafa’s severed head as a gift.
• Blaze returned the Silver Cane, asked Chen Lun to keep Noah as his personal painter, and hinted that he should learn about Clarenso.
• Blaze sent Chen Lun back to the physical world and granted him the Shining Nova blessing.
• Chen Lun told Rosa he had obtained what he wanted, then showed Froy the high-Sequence Flesh School mystical substance.
• Froy sensed the mystical substance and smiled as the Sun-Averting Potted Plant conveyed its joy.

Froy survived, bonded with the Sun-Averting Potted Plant, and became a powerful Transcendent who pledged to follow Chen Lun. After Noah left with Rosa, Chen Lun considered the danger of being blamed for the disaster and ran toward the ruined Gallery to find someone who could help him remain in Amber City as an officially recognized leader.

• Froy absorbed the blood diamond, gained control of the Sun-Averting Potted Plant, and advanced to Sequence 9 with an elite template.
• Chen Lun and Froy pledged to face the road ahead together.
• Noah awakened as the Witch gave him basic control of the White Bone Gallery, and Rosa took him away.
• Chen Lun weighed leaving Amber City against hiding his identity, then decided he wanted official recognition as a leader of a Transcendent organization.
• Chen Lun ran toward the collapsed Gallery, hoping the person he sought was still alive, and received the first-stage main quest completion notice.

Chen Lun found and healed the badly injured Mona in the ruins, then took several Mysterious Objects and won her gratitude. As Mona promised to help clear his name, Containment Bureau investigators arrived and declared that Chen Lun would be sentenced to death.

• Chen Lun searched the rubble, collected three portions of mystical substance, and found Mona barely alive beneath a broken wall.
• Chen Lun restored Mona’s missing arm, took her revolver and ammunition, and collected several D-Rank Mysterious Objects that Froy had found.
• Mona woke and attacked Chen Lun, then learned he had saved her and thanked him.
• Mona promised to explain Chen Lun’s situation, seek the lifting of his wanted notice, and report the Red Apple Church’s conspiracy.
• A Containment Bureau investigator accused Chen Lun of crimes and ordered him to surrender, while the investigators raised their flintlocks.

Mona took command of the Amber City Containment Bureau after an order from the Adjudicator, helping clear Jack’s arrest warrant and oversee the aftermath of the disaster. As the Empire silenced the shaken city’s elite and the Black Messenger became a local legend, Viscount Pompey reassured Rebecca that they would stay in Amber City and told her Jack’s warrant had been revoked.

• Mona defended Jack against Team Leader Walker, then received the Adjudicator’s order placing the Amber City Containment Bureau under her authority.
• Mona directed Walker to handle the scene and asked Bishop Boswell and the Moon Church monks to recover and bury the dead.
• Mona told Jack she would work to restore his reputation and revoke his arrest warrant, and Jack left with Froy.
• The Containment Bureau concealed the Bradley Square battle, while the Empire warned the nobles and Count Bradley was arrested and stripped of his assets.
• The people of Amber City began calling the black-winged young man the Black Messenger and treating him as an object of worship.
• Viscount Pompey told Rebecca they were not moving away and that Jack’s arrest warrant had been revoked.

After the Red Apple Cathedral raid, Chen Lun settled back into Jack Manor and planned to turn the remaining Circus members into a Transcendent force of his own. He sorted his spoils and strengthened his abilities, leaving him better prepared to pursue that plan.

• Binoz showed Viscount Pompey a newspaper featuring Chen Lun’s attack on the Red Apple Cathedral, with Polaris and other players caught in the photograph.
• Chen Lun reviewed the changes in Amber City and decided to recruit useful members of the Circus while eliminating its most dangerous criminals.
• Chen Lun read the cathedral’s books, learned the Brewer secondary class and the Sun, Moon, and Magic Sequence 9 knowledge, and declined to inherit Brewer for now.
• Chen Lun spent ten special attribute points on Willpower and used a Blessing Point to raise Nature’s Favor to level 2.
• Chen Lun checked his panel and noted that he had accumulated 16 regional renown.

Chen Lun examined his new mysterious objects, tested a fire-controlling glove, and gave Froy a storage ring before the players visited his manor on the last day of the closed beta. The chapter ended as Polaris and the others hoped to receive transcendent knowledge before the beta closed.

• Chen Lun selected a shadow-concealing cufflink and a lock-opening toothpick from Froy’s parcel, saving the other mysterious objects for the players.
• Chen Lun tested the Fireworks in the Palm glove and discovered he could shape its supernatural flames into animals.
• Chen Lun examined the Song of Blood and Poetry ring and transferred his stored items into it.
• Chen Lun gave Froy the Grape Ring, When the Grapes Ripen, to use as her storage-type mysterious object.
• Polaris and the other four received Mr. Jack’s invitation to the manor on the day before the closed beta ended.
• Doghead Gold and Ma Ren discussed how powerful Chen Lun was and hoped their visit would earn them transcendent knowledge.

After the players helped Chen Lun destroy the Red Apple Church in Amber City, he offered them a chance to enter Wonderland as the second stage of a hidden quest. The players accepted the prospect of a dangerous trial that could lead to official membership and future repeat access.

• Polaris and the others recalled their rewards from the Red Apple Cathedral assault, including Polaris's mechanical gloves and Ma Ren's purchase of Su Keying's spoon-shaped Mysterious Object.
• Chen Lun welcomed the five players to Jack Manor, thanked them for helping destroy the Red Apple Church, and triggered the second stage of the hidden quest, offering each a Silver Snake Ring as an official member's token.
• Chen Lun demonstrated his transcendent power and explained that he could send people to another world called Wonderland, where they could find opportunities to grow stronger and encounter ten Transcendent Sequences.
• The players discussed whether Wonderland was too dangerous for their current levels, but Polaris argued they should investigate and Su Keying wondered if Chen Lun was the son of a god.
• Polaris asked if the Wonderland trial was their only chance, and Chen Lun promised to open the doorway again for official members whose contributions were sufficient.
• Chen Lun secretly planned to send the five players into Philip's Wonderland to scout it and test its mechanics, while the players recognized the value of being able to repeat the dungeon.

The black-haired young man formed an ancient, bizarre book from emerald vines in front of five players. He told them he was sending them to Wonderland, leaving their imminent journey about to begin.

• The black-haired young man calmly asked the five players if they were ready.
• He announced that he was sending them to Wonderland.
• Green light appeared in his hand as thin emerald vines emerged from his cuff.
• The vines intertwined and formed an ancient-looking, bizarre book while the five players watched.

Chen Lun sent five players into a gloomy forest, where their Sanity steadily fell and invisible dangers killed them. After respawning together, Polaris identified fine spider silk as the likely cause and led the group onward cautiously.

• Chen Lun used a book to send Polaris, Ma Ren, Doghead Gold, Wangwuji, and Su Keying into a gloomy forest.
• The players discovered that the forest drained one point of Sanity per minute and scattered to search for a way forward.
• Su Keying, Doghead Gold, Wangwuji, and Polaris died suddenly from sharp pain in their necks and respawned together.
• Polaris examined Su Keying’s recording and spotted a glinting thread between trees, which he identified as spider silk.
• Polaris told the others to stay together and move carefully, and the five players proceeded through the forest.

Chen Lun confirmed that players who died in his Wonderland counted as his kills and planned to use it as a high-priced dungeon for elite players to explore. Meanwhile, Polaris and the others navigated spider-silk traps, reached a pool with a chest, and Polaris jumped in to investigate as their Sanity dwindled.

• Chen Lun received kill rewards and Sanity from the five players, then planned to use limited Wonderland slots to recruit elite explorers.
• Polaris and his group avoided more spider-silk traps and took turns scouting ahead, with each player dying once before they passed the trap zone.
• Polaris found a pool with a battered wooden chest and warned the others that it might be a trap.
• As the group reunited and ran out of time, Polaris entered the murky pool and swam toward the chest.

Polaris and the other players fought off a swarm of Walking Fish at the pool and gathered their remnants before they vanished. Watching from beneath a statue, Chen Lun discovered that he might have absolute control over the players’ loot in Wonderland.

• Polaris was dragged underwater by a huge creature, so Ma Ren and the others spread out and prepared to swim for the treasure chest.
• Dozens of Walking Fish surged out of the pool and attacked the players, who fought back with guns and other weapons.
• Polaris returned and used his [Connie No. 1] Mechanical Glove to burn the fish-men, helping the group defeat them.
• Ma Ren noticed that the Walking Fish remnants were fading, and the players hurried to collect them.
• Chen Lun examined a Walking Fish Gill and suspected he could control the players’ loot in Wonderland.

Chen Lun discovered he could claim loot from the Pond through its reflection and took a wooden chest after Polaris failed to open it. The five players were dragged under by giant tentacles, while Chen Lun turned his attention back to the Pond.

• Chen Lun took a kidney-shaped transcendent material as the remains beside the Pond began to disappear, leaving the five players to salvage what they could.
• Polaris urged the group to make one last attempt to reach the battered wooden chest, and the five players swam toward it together.
• A giant tentacle dragged Doghead Gold and Ma Ren underwater, then caught Wangwuji as Polaris reached the small patch of land.
• Polaris found the chest locked and was killed by the tentacles; Su Keying was also dragged underwater.
• Chen Lun brought the chest to himself through the lake's surface and considered the players' salvaged materials a sensible investment in their future growth.
• Chen Lun stood by the lake and watched the tentacles in the fading image of the Pond.

Chen Lun fought and killed the contaminated octopus creature Gunyi in the pool, learning its Abyssal Touch trait and using it to defeat the monster underwater. As he escaped with Gunyi’s corpse, a vast black hole appeared beneath the pool and began pulling the body down.

• Chen Lun found Gunyi in the pool and attacked it with his flaming Silver Whip and Silver Sword.
• Gunyi spat poisonous black mist and tried to flee underwater, but Chen Lun pursued it using Fish Gills and replenished himself by consuming Walking Fish with the Blood-Poem Ring.
• Chen Lun used Animal Mimicry to learn Gunyi’s Abyssal Touch trait, then combined it with Serpent Body Transformation to seize and poison the monster.
• Chen Lun slashed Gunyi until it died, earning experience and a Corrupted Ink Sac.
• Chen Lun sensed danger and swam away as a black hole appeared beneath Gunyi’s corpse and began sucking it down.