Recaps

Qin Ming’s team withdrew after identifying three lord-class creatures, while Zhang Zhi’s calculations suggested clearing Sweet Island could take at least a year. When Daishi’s team was overwhelmed by Evil Locusts, Yang Yi arrived with a devastating underwater attack that erased much of the swarm.

• Qin Ming learned that A-Chong could not find a way to kill the nearly invulnerable Sugar Mountain, so his team withdrew and prepared to support Daishi’s team.
• Zhang Zhi estimated that Sweet Island held at least fifty lord-class creatures and that occupying it would take no less than a year under ideal conditions.
• Yang Yi contacted Zhang Zhi and requested updated intelligence about the players and Sweet Island for himself and Su Na.
• Daishi’s team retreated from a massive swarm of Evil Locusts, while Bell’s team arrived to support them and Bell’s magic killed many of the insects.
• Yang Yi warned everyone to leave the area lit by a beam from underwater, then an ominous ray struck the coast and erased vast portions of the swarm.

Yang Yi and Su Na returned aboard the Great Nautilus, and its Homecoming Cannon cleared most of the Evil Locust swarm. After helping eliminate the remaining insects, Yang Yi gathered the players and prepared to announce something important.

• The Great Nautilus surfaced after firing its Homecoming Cannon, which sent most of the Evil Locusts in its path into the Abyss.
• Yang Yi and Su Na emerged from the submarine, confirming their return and raising the players’ morale.
• Yang Yi joined Daishi, Bell, the Nightmare Star squad, and Qin Ming’s squad in defeating the scattered Evil Locusts, while Su Na kept some alive as specimens.
• Cui Xiya and Dara welcomed Yang Yi, and Dara healed the wounded players.
• Yang Yi asked everyone to return so he could make an important announcement, while Hong Yanyan’s camera broadcast his return to Player Island.
• Yang Yi teased Galahad that he might reclaim the title of strongest player, then prepared to head back with the others.

Yang Yi revealed that the world could end in fewer than 200 days and proposed using Salt Island’s Salt Folk to help defeat the creatures on Sweet Island. As the players began planning the operation, Dara demanded that he return Dream Island, but Yang Yi denied possessing it.

• Yang Yi and Su Na disclosed that the world’s reason was awakening and that the players had fewer than 200 days to occupy two Special Class Islands.
• Yang Yi explained that Sweet Island would be too difficult to conquer directly and proposed the Drive the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf Plan, using Salt Island’s Salt Folk against Sweet Island’s creatures.
• Haken questioned whether the Salt Folk would attack, and Yang Yi insisted they would target the creatures and fight until one side was wiped out.
• Dara urged Yang Yi to return Dream Island so the players could strengthen their chances, but Yang Yi claimed he did not know what she meant and denied having it.

Yang Yi revealed that he had brought Fragments of Truth from the Abyss and distributed them to help upgrade player ships, while players planned an expedition to gather intelligence on Salt Island. On his way back to the Nightmare Star, he met Zhao Yi, who invited him to visit Zhao Tie in the Green Zone, and Yang Yi changed course to go there.

• Yang Yi privately questioned Lada about whether the system had prompted her to speak, then the meeting turned to plans for a war between Sweet Island and Salt Island.
• Daishi volunteered to accompany the Expedition Group on a mission to gather intelligence from Salt Island.
• Yang Yi revealed the Fragments of Truth, offered the remaining units to other players, and approved upgrading Xu Da's Gale to level nine.
• Yang Yi studied the rebuilt Refugee Island's map and learned that the Great Calamity had reduced the player population to fewer than a million.
• Zhao Yi revealed himself as Zhao Tie and Huang Shishi's grown son, told Yang Yi that his mother remained unconscious, and invited him to visit Zhao Tie.
• Yang Yi accepted Zhao Yi's invitation and decided to go to the Green Zone before returning to the Nightmare Star.

Yang Yi toured Player Island, dealt with problems in its production zones, and visited the Green Zone to have his damaged shield repaired. He left the repair in Balie’s hands and promised Hamof a Smithing Hammer, with the shield’s fate still pending.

• Yang Yi toured the island, found that Tiny Spiders were damaging its structure, and saw that The Burning Tree powered the Furnace Zone, which still faced fire and explosion risks.
• Yang Yi stabilized the furnace, causing it to regulate its temperature and output without Pure White Shards; North later discovered that the Divine Envoy had been stripped of its branches.
• Yang Yi gave Hu Hu Master-level gloves and learned that Augustus had died during the catastrophe.
• Yang Yi offered to forge Hamof a Smithing Hammer and handed his damaged Immovable shield to Balie for repair.
• Yang Yi left Hamof in charge of notifying him when the shield was repaired.

Yang Yi read players’ theories about Dream Island, then met Shen Guanquan to distribute Master-level equipment and discuss the system’s intentions. He invited Shen Guanquan to eat with him at Zhao Tie’s place, and Shen agreed to go.

• Yang Yi found a popular post claiming the system had secretly taken Dream Island and was persecuting him, so he decided to keep the truth hidden.
• Yang Yi met Shen Guanquan in the Ecological Isolation Zone and gave him about thirty Master-level creations from Miskatonic University to distribute.
• Yang Yi warned Shen Guanquan that players should remain wary of the system even if they achieved their shared objective.
• Shen Guanquan revealed that the system had privately asked him to join it, and Yang Yi suspected he had been considered to lead the Lost Ones Fleet.
• Yang Yi invited Shen Guanquan to have a meal and drinks with Zhao Tie, and Shen agreed to accompany him.

Yang Yi visited Zhao Tie and learned that Huang Shishi had been irreversibly transformed by an encounter with the Abyss during the Great Calamity. He offered Zhao Tie a possibility of curing her after the Salt Island battle, helping reconcile Zhao Tie and Shen Guanquan before leaving to upgrade the Nightmare Star.

• Yang Yi visited Zhao Tie, saw Huang Shishi's condition, and learned that Zhao Tie had fallen out with Shen Guanquan after leaving their team during the Great Calamity.
• Zhao Tie explained that spacetime turbulence had transformed Huang Shishi, and Yang Yi said he could not cure her because her soul, memories, and self-awareness had been scrambled.
• Yang Yi suggested that salt's Divine Authority might make saving Huang Shishi possible after the Salt Island battle, restoring Zhao Tie's hope.
• Zhao Tie apologized to Shen Guanquan and asked for the Spear of the Deep so he could join the battle; Shen returned it and arranged for the ship to be upgraded to level nine.
• Yang Yi gave Zhao Yi Master-level Equipment as a coming-of-age gift, then contacted Su Na and said he would return to upgrade the Nightmare Star to level nine.

Yang Yi oversaw the Nightmare Star’s defenses and initiated level-nine upgrades for the Gale and Eden, while arranging a Shelter upgrade and distributing Master-level equipment to his crew. He then defeated Sugar Mountain and took its core, leaving its remains ready for the Execution Rack upgrade.

• Yang Yi inspected the Outpost Base and began the Gale’s level-nine upgrade, which took eight hours and granted it Blessing of Civilization+ and Phase Shift Beacon+ as well as a stronger Wind Sail.
• Yang Yi asked Seerte to upgrade the Shelter and told Istil to take the Eden for its own level-nine upgrade.
• Yang Yi distributed Master-level equipment to Cui Xiya, Cui Bisi, and Dara, strengthening the team’s gear.
• Yang Yi contacted Qin Ming for Sugar Mountain’s abilities and location, then went to hunt the Mythic-level creature for the Execution Rack.
• Yang Yi defeated Sugar Mountain, retrieved its sticky sugar core, and decided not to eat it before returning to upgrade the Execution Rack.

Yang Yi inspected the Nightmare Star’s level-nine skills and learned how the new abilities could strengthen the One-Eye Fleet, while Su Na upgraded the Witch Laboratory. He also upgraded the Execution Rack and left Sociologist Istil’s remains hanging beside the Wind Fly Siphon Tube, then contacted Xu Da for an update.

• Yang Yi returned from hunting, reviewed the Nightmare Star’s new Death Dream and Full Defense Barrier skills, and sent Su Na the information.
• Yang Yi recognized that the Eden’s Beautiful Dream Comes True skill made its captain a Mythic-level powerhouse, then transferred his remaining Truth Fragments to Su Na to allocate among the upgrades.
• Su Na upgraded the Witch Laboratory, whose Collapse Clock index fell to zero and whose equipment became free to use inside; she began redesigning it to produce high-quality potions.
• Yang Yi tried to upgrade the Execution Rack but found it needed Mythic-level remains, so he battered the lump of candy until it cracked and the upgrade became available.
• Yang Yi upgraded the Execution Rack to hold two hunts, hung Sociologist Istil’s remains beside the Wind Fly Siphon Tube, and contacted Xu Da to ask about his progress.

The Gale reached Salt Island after crossing the dangerous Sweet Island and a sea unusually crowded with Black Blocks. Yang Yi learned that claiming Salt Island required conquering its Four Kings, but the island began draining his moisture as soon as he stepped ashore, and a Salt Folk attacked him.

• The Gale crossed Sweet Island at high speed, avoided its dangers, and reported the abnormal number of Black Blocks in the surrounding sea.
• Shi Lei recalled how his team had failed to conquer Salt Island in the past and wondered whether his increased strength could change the outcome.
• Yang Yi joined the Gale and heard Xu Da's report about the Black Blocks; Su Na speculated that they might mark a rupture between the Abyss and the Mortal World.
• The Gale docked at Salt Island, and Xu Da set up a Phase Teleportation Point before the crew ventured inland.
• Yang Yi stepped onto the island, saw the conditions requiring him to conquer the Four Kings, and began rapidly losing moisture as a Salt Folk attacked him from behind.

Yang Yi learned that Salt Island entered a monthly war between its four Kings and planned to provoke them into fighting so he could intervene. Meanwhile, Zhou Dai told Lada that Yang Yi’s return and the appearance of new Player Islands had undermined their cooperation, leaving Miracle Island needing to act.

• Yang Yi destroyed the mindless Salt Folk attacking him, then learned from Daishi that Salt Island’s four Kings led their armies into battle once a month.
• Yang Yi asked Xu Da to return him to Sweet Island so he could prepare to provoke the Salt Kings into war, while sending bottles of salt to Su Na.
• Yang Yi found a gigantic Long-Legged Sardine devouring Sweet Island and volunteered to fight it.
• Zhou Dai told Lada that Yang Yi had returned from Miskatonic University and that Sweet Island’s appearance had weakened the value of their agreement.
• Zhou Dai explained that Yang Yi might be as strong as or stronger than Galahad, so Miracle Island and the Radiant Goddess had to intervene to prevent the players from occupying the remaining islands.

Zhou Dai threatened Lada with an approaching fleet and revealed that an unknown creature had massacred the lost ones, persuading Lada that refusing cooperation was too risky. Lada agreed to work with the Radiant Goddess’s side to occupy Sweet Island, reclaim Dream Island, and address Yang Yi, though she reserved the right to turn on them.

• Zhou Dai warned Lada that her fleet was less than two months away and that her side would destroy the players if Lada refused to cooperate.
• Lada questioned when the fleet had been sent, and Zhou Dai explained that it had originally been dispatched to spread the faith in the Warm Winter Sea.
• Zhou Dai showed Lada images of the dead lost ones and shattered ice sculptures, reporting that an unknown powerful creature had killed them.
• After weighing the danger of a costly conflict, Lada asked how Zhou Dai wanted to cooperate.
• Zhou Dai proposed occupying Sweet Island, using Reinhardt and the Radiant Goddess’s power to reclaim Dream Island, and later eliminating Yang Yi.
• Lada agreed to cooperate but warned that she might eliminate Zhou Dai’s side if she found a way to meet her goals without occupying Miracle Island.

Zhou Dai negotiated with Lada for thirty million new believers but failed to get help obtaining Great Sea Lung Larva brain fluid. On Sweet Island, Su Na prepared potion production and analyzed the island’s salt while Yang Yi continued hunting its lord creatures as the island’s forces prepared for war.

• Zhou Dai bargained with Lada and secured thirty million believers for the Radiant Goddess, then asked for Great Sea Lung Larva brain fluid and was refused.
• Su Na established potion production on the Nightmare Star, with Dara managing it, Cui Bisi apprenticing, and Xiaoji calibrating the production lines.
• Su Na tested Yang Yi’s salt and found that it drained moisture from water or organic life, then regained that ability after returning to Salt Island.
• Su Na and Shen Guanquan prepared Sweet Island’s players to join Yang Yi’s plan to lure the enemy into battle and prioritize their own survival.
• Yang Yi hunted and ate lord creatures across Sweet Island, killing nearly twenty as the island’s ecosystem rapidly replenished itself.
• Yang Yi planned to have Limb Spider Soldiers imitate the island’s monsters and help the players escalate the war alongside the Four Kings.

The Iron Brotherhood sent eight players in Terminator bodies into Salt Island to scout the Four Kings, while Galahad guarded the Gale. The teams pushed inland and fought increasingly numerous Salt Folk patrols, and Balot, Wang Chong, and Haken were exposed after failing to defeat one squad in time.

• Daishi tested the Tyrant Terminator body and demonstrated that its mechanical strength worked alongside his qi.
• Istil briefed Su Na, Qin Ming, Balot, Wang Chong, Hu Hu, Haken, and Molly on the risks of piloting, and the eight Terminators set out to explore Salt Island.
• Galahad stayed aboard the Gale as the fleet’s fallback guard.
• Shi Lei encountered a five-man Salt Folk cavalry patrol, destroyed it, and continued deeper toward a stronghold; the patrol later reappeared and resumed its route.
• The teams shared information and spread out to explore four areas as they encountered increasingly strong Salt Soldier patrols.
• Balot, Wang Chong, and Haken were exposed when they failed to defeat a Salt Soldier squad in time, and they argued over their kill counts while fighting from Haken’s carriage.

Balot's squad continued its advance across Salt Island as two Kings reacted to the intruders. Hamof was forced to surrender his own hardened head to help forge his hammer, while Shi Lei attacked the Hero King, who appeared to welcome the fight.

• Istil warned Balot's squad that their movements had been exposed, while Shi Lei, Qin Ming, and Su Na's teams continued their operations.
• Banks, Mars, and Balie dragged Hamof into the Painful Wailing Cabin and used his hardened head as material for his hammer.
• The woman King ordered her armies to surround Balot's squad and set out to confront them herself.
• Daishi warned the teams to beware the King associated with a record owner's death, and Shi Lei emerged from underground to punch the Hero King beside his white lion.

Shi Lei fought the Hero King but failed to overcome his immense strength, escaping a killing blow by sacrificing his mechanical arm and revealing his sword-immortal power. Elsewhere, Balot’s squad was overwhelmed by the Salt army until a mysterious carriage arrived, and the chapter left them facing its approach.

• The Hero King caught Shi Lei’s fist, resisted his attacks, and demanded that he become his subject.
• Shi Lei refused and relayed Istil’s warning that the King of Bloating would kill the Hero King and his world.
• The Hero King crushed Shi Lei’s mechanical fist and struck at him, but Shi Lei cut off his own arm to escape and countered with an invisible slash.
• Shi Lei and the Hero King resumed their battle as Istil watched from the Gale.
• Balot’s squad fought through the surrounding army in Haken’s carriage until a thunderbolt destroyed their Bone Dragon.
• The Salt army opened a path for a lavish carriage drawn by eight horses, leaving Balot’s squad stunned.

Balot, Wang Chong, and Haken’s team attacked the Magic King but was wiped out after Wang Chong shouted the King of Bloating’s name. Qin Ming and Molly then encountered the Absolute King’s moving High Tower, and Qin Ming charged it.

• The Magic King used her magic to spy on Istil and summoned a storm of lightning that destroyed the Salt Soldiers and crippled Balot’s team.
• Wang Chong burst from the ground in his damaged robot, shouted for the King of Bloating, and hurled a spear that an Imperial Guard caught.
• Balot, Wang Chong, and Haken returned to the Gale injured, and Qin Ming emerged with Molly, carrying his severed arm.
• Qin Ming and Molly encountered the Absolute King’s High Tower as it rolled across the territory, dragged by chained slaves.
• Qin Ming told Molly to stay back, halted the tower with vines, and charged into it with his Tyrant Type Terminator.

Qin Ming delivered the King of Bloating’s challenge to the Absolute King, then attacked and was swiftly killed. Back aboard the Gale, the players discussed the Kings’ overwhelming power as Su Na’s team discovered a salt palace east of Salt Island.

• Qin Ming reached the Absolute King’s pavilion atop the High Tower and passed on the King of Bloating’s challenge.
• Qin Ming’s Lone Warrior+ talent raised his attributes, and he charged the Absolute King but failed to pierce his barrier.
• The Absolute King killed Qin Ming in two exchanges, first crippling his spear arm and then beheading him.
• Qin Ming recounted the fight aboard the Gale, and Molly warned that the Absolute King could also use space-rending magic.
• Wang Chong and the others discussed their slim chances against the Kings as Su Na’s team found a palace made entirely of salt east of Salt Island.

Su Na and Hu Hu infiltrated the Salt Palace and found the Bewilderment King, a blue-eyed Scholar wearing Abyssal One Armor, repeatedly guided back to his throne by his sole minister. Su Na suspected the palace held more secrets and withdrew to investigate, while the minister left the king alone briefly.

• The Bewilderment King repeatedly tried to leave his throne, and the minister reminded him that he was the Salt Monarch and had to protect the world.
• Su Na and Hu Hu sneaked into the palace and watched the king and minister from behind a pillar.
• Yang Yi identified the king's armor as Abyssal One Armor, and Su Na connected his blue eyes and armor to the Duchy's soldiers and the Scholars.
• Su Na held Hu Hu back and withdrew to search the palace for more clues.
• The minister noticed where Su Na and Hu Hu had been hiding, then left the Bewilderment King alone after telling him he had no need to use the bathroom.

Su Na and Hu Hu found a hidden elevator beneath the palace, where the old salt minister recognized Su Na’s connection to Miskatonic University. The minister took Su Na downstairs to discuss the island’s crisis and disguised Hu Hu as a salt maidservant to watch the Bewilderment King.

• Su Na and Hu Hu searched the palace, and Hu Hu used Penetrating Force to locate a passage underground.
• Hu Hu found an elevator hidden behind a bookcase, but its panel displayed “Insufficient clearance.”
• The old minister confronted them, and Su Na introduced herself as a player and a graduate of Miskatonic University who had studied under Amanda and Sun Jin.
• The minister accepted Su Na’s explanation, cleared the elevator alarm, and invited her to talk downstairs.
• The minister covered Hu Hu in salt to disguise her as a maidservant and assigned her to keep the Bewilderment King on his throne.
• Su Na reassured Hu Hu that Istil would assist her remotely, then descended with the minister in the elevator.

The War King defeated Daishi, while Hu Hu and Istil managed to coax the Bewilderment King back to his throne. Below the Salt Palace, Su Na and the Salt Minister discussed the Mortal World as their elevator arrived at an unknown destination.

• The War King crushed Daishi's mechanical body, and Molly and Shi Lei healed Shi Lei after he emerged from the wreckage.
• Istil told Hu Hu to call for the Bewilderment King, and Hu Hu found him wandering through the palace.
• Istil remotely coached Hu Hu into persuading the Bewilderment King that he was the Salt Monarch and that he should return to his throne for a dance.
• Su Na and the Salt Minister descended beneath the Salt Palace and discussed Miskatonic University and the Mortal World.
• The elevator opened, and Su Na saw a bright white light.

Su Na reached a salt graveyard and was stopped from approaching a throne made from the Salt Spike. The Salt Minister explained how the Throne had empowered the Salt King’s followers and how the Bewilderment King buried it to prevent the war from spreading.

• Su Na emerged from the elevator into a vast graveyard of Salt Statues and felt drawn toward the Throne at its center.
• The Salt Minister stopped Su Na near the Throne and revealed that he had taken an android form to survive in the salt-filled chamber.
• The Salt Minister explained that the Truth Society had summoned the Salt Pillar, an Outer God, and that attempts to communicate with it had led to the creation of the Throne.
• The Salt Minister recounted how the Throne gave humans immense power while consuming their bodies and wills, driving the survivors to fight over the title of Salt King.
• The Bewilderment King buried the Throne and confined himself in the Royal Palace so no victor could claim its power and spread the conflict beyond the region.

Su Na learned that claiming the Salt King Throne would require a player’s sacrifice and discussed the risks of her plan to provoke a war between Salt Island and Sweet Island. The minister judged the plan worth attempting but refused to join them, while the Bewilderment King kept Hu Hu performing tricks in the palace hall.

• Su Na inferred that a player who claimed the Salt King Throne would likely die, and realized Yang Yi might otherwise have taken the sacrifice upon himself.
• Su Na told the minister her plan to lure out the Salt King and provoke a battle, and he warned that the Bewilderment King might attack with the throne’s full power restored.
• Su Na described the Gale’s powerful fighters, and the minister revised their odds of victory to over thirty percent and endorsed the gamble.
• Su Na invited the minister to join the coming battle, but he refused, saying he had chosen to die when his task ended.
• Su Na and the minister returned to the central hall, where the Bewilderment King enthusiastically watched Hu Hu perform tricks and Hu Hu welcomed their return.

Su Na and Hu Hu escaped the palace as the Magic King, the Absolute King, and the War King assembled their forces on Salt Island’s coast to confront the players. Galahad provoked the Absolute King and survived his spatial attack, leaving the king enraged and the other kings laughing.

• Su Na learned Salt Body from the Salt Minister, and the minister reclaimed the Bewilderment King by reminding him of his promise to remain on the throne.
• Su Na and Hu Hu received Istil’s warning about trouble on the coast and returned to find the three kings’ armies facing the players’ fleet.
• The Magic King, the Absolute King, and the War King agreed to confront the players over the King of Bloating, while the players decided to provoke them rather than flee.
• Galahad told the Absolute King, “You aren't worthy!”, and the king attacked him with a spatial rending spell.
• Galahad’s body reassembled unharmed, and he mocked the damage to his armor, enraging the Absolute King and making the other kings laugh.

Galahad posed as an envoy of the King of Bloating and provoked the island’s three Kings with a challenge to fight for the world’s sole throne. After delivering an invitation to Sweet Island seven days later, Galahad and the players escaped aboard the Gale, leaving the Kings to consider the threat.

• The Absolute King questioned Galahad’s identity, and Galahad claimed to be a mere foot soldier serving the vastly stronger King of Bloating.
• The War King eagerly welcomed the prospect of a fight, while the Magic King considered using the confrontation to eliminate her rivals.
• Su Na told the players to reveal their base and lure the Kings there, and Galahad pretended that the King’s royal decree had been ruined.
• Galahad announced that the King of Bloating would meet the Four Kings at his Throne in seven days and offered his Throne, the Sea of Abundance, and the world to whoever defeated him.
• Galahad threw the Kings a map marking Sweet Island as the Bloating Kingdom, then returned to the Gale as the Absolute King vowed to kill the King of Bloating.
• The Gale vanished beyond the Kings’ ability to trace, leaving them more wary of the King of Bloating.