Chapter Summaries

Lin Yuan killed the weakened Crawler Elder and reflected on the limits of his strength. After collecting the Elder-level Retainer's Bone, he discovered the Treasure Collection Room's repulsive force was forcing black vapor out of it.

• Lilia resurrected after the Crawler Elder's final attack, and Lin Yuan smashed the Elder's remaining flesh when it began raving.
• The black mud and Altar crumbled, and the ruined ship fell apart after the Crawler Elder died.
• Lin Yuan assessed that the Elder had been severely weakened and considered his own combat strength and limited transcendent-energy reserves.
• Lin Yuan collected the corrupted Elder-level Retainer's Bone after Explore the Sea showed no reaction to it.
• The Treasure Collection Room pushed the bone into a corner, where Lin Yuan noticed black vapor being forced out of it.

Lin Yuan's Mysterious Little Box began removing contamination from the Retainer's Bone, and his Templar Badge advanced to Silver-rank after he killed a Crawler Elder. As the Phantom Lin Yuan surfaced, Lin Yuan wondered whether Wuwei and the people on East Pole Island knew about the Elder and the events behind the Seaquakes and Sea Beast Tide.

• The Mysterious Little Box absorbed the black vapor seeping from the Retainer's Bone, and Lin Yuan concluded it was removing the contamination.
• Lin Yuan returned to the Phantom Lin Yuan and found that the Crawler Elder had left behind only the Retainer's Bone, deepening his questions about the Seaquakes and Sea Beasts.
• Lin Yuan's Templar Badge advanced to Silver-rank, granting the Holy Hall Light Blade greater power, a vitality-fueled ability to counter Crawler regeneration and resurrection, and improved Crawler detection.
• Lin Yuan learned that reaching Gold-rank required killing ten Elders or one Priest, and he resolved to keep advancing and eventually kill the Crawlers.
• After the Phantom Lin Yuan surfaced, Lin Yuan wondered whether Wuwei and the people on East Pole Island knew about the Crawler Elder.

After the Crawlers Elder’s death, Lin Yuan discovered that the sea’s layered worlds around Shattered Island had fallen into chaos, bringing creatures from other depths into the Shallow Sea. He returned to the island with the Phantom Lin Yuan in disarray and began considering the need for a crew.

• Lin Yuan wondered whether Wuwei and the others had investigated the Crawlers Elder before, then felt the Phantom Lin Yuan shudder as a Big Black Shark attacked its hull.
• Lin Yuan killed the shark and began butchering it, then killed a second Big Black Shark drawn by the blood.
• Lin Yuan investigated underwater and found that the sea’s layers had shifted, overlapped, and tilted, possibly because the Crawlers Elder had died.
• Small sea creatures flooded the Phantom Lin Yuan’s deck, and a distant Horned King Whale flung even more aboard before vanishing into the changing layers.
• Lin Yuan returned to Shattered Island, dragged Lilia from her Coffin to help clean the deck, and considered finding a crew to operate and maintain the Phantom Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan returned to the Shattered Island archipelago and found sea beasts attacking the inhabited islands amid the underwater chaos. After saving the residents, he continued considering how to recruit a sailor crew and tested the Shell Pump’s new flying skill.

• Lin Yuan debated recruiting island residents, players, or Sunken Ones as sailors, but worried about their weakness, upkeep, and connection to East Pole Island.
• A D-rank sea beast interrupted Lin Yuan’s thoughts by charging onto Zhang Da’s island, and Lin Yuan killed it and the other sea beasts there.
• Zhang Da told Lin Yuan that sea beasts had appeared across the islands, causing destruction but no casualties, and that the neighboring islands were also in danger.
• Lin Yuan used the Shell Pump’s Burst skill to fly between the nearby islands and found their residents fleeing from rampaging sea beasts.
• Lin Yuan killed the attacking sea beasts, and the island residents cheered for Lord Zero.

Lin Yuan gathered the residents of the surrounding islands onto Zhang Da’s island and organized plans for food, work, and industrial production during the sea turmoil. He revealed that Little Black could mass-produce Miniature Turrets to defend the island and potentially strengthen his future battles.

• Lin Yuan told Zhang Da and the island leaders he could not guard every island, so they decided to relocate the residents to Zhang Da’s island.
• Zhang Da and the others brought residents from more than a dozen islands together, and Lin Yuan advised them to prepare for a prolonged crisis.
• Lin Yuan proposed a meat-curing factory and machine-based work so residents could exchange labor for food and receive priority access to the goods they produced.
• Island representatives identified nearby deposits of steel and rubber, and Lin Yuan promised to secure materials for more machines.
• Lin Yuan showed the leaders a Miniature Turret and explained that Little Black had devised a method to assemble one in thirty minutes, allowing the turrets to defend the island and support future battles.

Lin Yuan organized Shattered Island’s residents to build factories and produce Miniature Turrets, offering Shell Coins and promised Transcendent Equipment to motivate them. While using the Death Seed’s Skeleton Pirates as workers, he realized the next new moon was near, and the Death Seed began draining him as three enormous moons appeared.

• Lin Yuan showed the island leaders the Miniature Turret and asked them to select capable workers, then offered Shell Coins exchangeable for promised items to encourage production.
• Zhang Da reorganized Shattered Island, replacing houses with factories and building apartment blocks for residents.
• Lin Yuan sailed to uninhabited islands to gather resources and summoned Skeleton Pirates to help with the work.
• Lin Yuan decided to keep the Death Seed available for summoning skeleton sailors but suppress it in the Treasure Collection Room if it began summoning the Nether River.
• Lin Yuan realized that time passing in East Pole Sea meant the next new moon was nearly due, and the Death Seed suddenly began drawing in his life energy as three enormous moons appeared in the sky.

Lin Yuan was paralyzed while the Death Seed summoned the Nether River, where Lilia drew out the transformed Bai Ling. Bai Ling vanished with the river after asking Lin Yuan and Lilia to call her by name next time, and Lin Yuan planned to prepare for the next summoning so he could help her.

• The Death Seed drained Lin Yuan's blood and summoned the Nether River, where its undead broke free and turned hostile toward him.
• Lilia came to Lin Yuan's side, and the skeletons immediately looked away from her.
• Lilia pulled a faint green light from the Nether River, and it transformed into Banshee Bai Ling.
• Bai Ling recognized Lin Yuan and Lilia, then asked them to call her by name next time so she could remember who she was.
• The Nether River vanished with Bai Ling, and Lin Yuan promised Lilia he would do everything he could to help their companion.

Lin Yuan used the Skeleton Sailors to speed Shattered Island’s growth, while realizing that civilization might be at the heart of the conflict between East Pole Island and the Crawlers. He planned to ask Wuwei about the connection the next time they met.

• Lin Yuan discovered that the Skeleton Sailors could not learn new tasks and had to stay within two kilometers of the Death Seed, but he put their other useful abilities to work gathering resources.
• The residents of Shattered Island grew accustomed to the Skeleton Sailors as Lin Yuan’s phantom ship carried materials back to the Main Island.
• Shattered Island developed rapidly as turrets defended its shores, the Cured Meat Factory produced Gem-Cured Meat, residents operated machines, and others improved the island’s roads and land.
• Lin Yuan wondered whether Sea Beast Tides had been used to prevent Shattered Island’s civilization from developing and whether the Crawlers were behind them.
• Lin Yuan connected the dispute between East Pole Island and the Crawlers to the destruction of the Artisan Academy and decided to ask Wuwei about civilization’s role in their conflict.

Lin Yuan learned how Bai Ling had preserved her memories after becoming an Undead Banshee and agreed to keep summoning the Nether River to awaken her. As Wuwei arrived early with the Sunken One Merchant Group, he became lost in the chaotic waters around Shattered Island, while Lin Yuan noticed the disturbance and realized a Main Sea Overlord might be lost nearby.

• Bai Ling explained that she had transformed herself into an Undead Banshee and linked her name to her memories so someone could restore her sense of self, and Lin Yuan agreed to summon the Nether River regularly.
• Lin Yuan considered whether East Pole Island could offer a way to save Bai Ling and looked forward to Wuwei's return, planning to meet him outside Shattered Island.
• Wuwei led more than a dozen merchant ships toward Shattered Island after changing the trade route, but he encountered an ornamental fish and became confused about their location.
• Lin Yuan watched the moons and wondered about the relationship between the Nether River, undead creatures, and Sunken Ones.
• Lin Yuan observed recurring disturbances in the waters and concluded that a Main Sea Overlord was repeatedly getting lost around Shattered Island.
• Wuwei studied his nautical chart and wondered why the currents had not brought him to Shattered Island.

Lin Yuan reunited with Wuwei and his deputy Chi Yu when their merchant ship reached Shattered Island. He revealed that he had already killed the awakened Crawlers Elder, whose death had thrown the surrounding waters into chaos.

• Wuwei and the Sunken One Merchant Group surfaced near Shattered Island, realized where they were, and came ashore to meet Lin Yuan.
• Wuwei introduced his deputy, Chi Yu, and explained that the merchant group had been delayed by chaotic currents and disrupted water layers.
• Lin Yuan admitted that his actions underwater in the southeastern sea might have caused the disturbance, prompting Wuwei to warn him about the Crawlers Elder.
• Wuwei explained that East Pole Island had monitored the sleeping elder but avoided attacking because of the risks and the Crawlers’ broader arrangements.
• Chi Yu realized Lin Yuan had already dealt with the awakened elder, and Lin Yuan confirmed that he had killed him.

Lin Yuan learned that East Pole Island's leaders would test him before trusting him to awaken the Island Lord, though the Crawlers' return made the task urgent. Chi Yu revealed that the sleeping Island Lord was one of the strongest Authority Holders, having fought two Crawlers Apostles at once.

• Lin Yuan proved he was a Silver-rank Sanctum Knight, and Wuwei and Chi Yu recognized that he had killed the Crawlers Elder.
• Chi Yu explained that Steward Liu required tests before allowing Lin Yuan to help awaken the Island Lord.
• Chi Yu said the Crawlers Elder's awakening made waking the Island Lord more urgent, and that Lin Yuan's status as a Sanctum Knight reassured them about his character.
• Lin Yuan learned that his strength fell short of the Double A-rank needed for the task.
• Chi Yu revealed that the Island Lord had fought two Crawlers Apostles, killing one and severely injuring the other, and ranked among the strongest Authority Holders.

Lin Yuan learned why East Pole Island needed his help awakening its sleeping lord and agreed to reach Double A-rank before facing the Crawlers. After paying for Wuwei’s supplies, he asserted his authority to negotiate trade for all of Shattered Island.

• Chi Yu explained that East Pole Island’s lord and the Crawlers’ strongest survivors had been weakened by two thousand years of erosion, and that Lin Yuan should reach at least Double A-rank before helping awaken the lord.
• Lin Yuan agreed to go to East Pole Island and raise his strength, then received the deep-diving modification manual from Wuwei.
• Chi Yu demanded payment for the supplies Wuwei had given Lin Yuan, and Wuwei argued that East Pole Island had plenty of supplies but that the Four Great Families hoarded them.
• Lin Yuan paid for the supplies, then showed Chi Yu a document bearing the residents’ handprints and declared that he had full authority over Shattered Island’s trade.

Lin Yuan revealed Shattered Island’s industrial output to Wuwei and Chi Yu, transforming negotiations with the Sunken One Merchant Group into a deal that made it Shattered Island’s supplier of raw materials. With Chi Yu staying behind as a liaison, Lin Yuan planned to upgrade his hull and complete the Deep Diving Modification in private.

• Lin Yuan told Wuwei he did not need to buy planks or ship parts and revealed that Shattered Island could produce magical items in large quantities.
• Wuwei and Chi Yu were astonished that Lin Yuan had designed machines ordinary islanders could use, and urged him to visit East Pole Island and meet Steward Liu.
• The Sunken One Merchant Group agreed to buy Shattered Island’s output and supply its raw materials, making the merchant group a channel for Shattered Island’s industrial needs.
• Lin Yuan found the materials for a Level Four Hull upgrade through the deal and planned to combine the upgrade with the Deep Diving Modification.
• Wuwei left with the merchant group, while Chi Yu stayed on Shattered Island as a liaison and explored the island as Lin Yuan prepared to work privately.

Lin Yuan completed the Phantom Lin Yuan’s level-four hull upgrade and deep-diving modification, gaining greater durability and the Death Domain ability. After considering the unknown Abyssal Sea and making arrangements for Shattered Island, he set off with Lilia and Chi Yu for East Pole Island.

• Lin Yuan went to an uninhabited island and completed the Phantom Lin Yuan’s level-four hull upgrade and deep-diving modification in Lilia’s Coffin.
• Lin Yuan checked the ship’s new Bedrock hull, two million durability, ten-thousand-meter diving range, and Death Domain ability, which boosted undead aboard and weakened ordinary living beings.
• Lin Yuan wondered whether the East Pole Sea Region’s spacetime barrier could be bypassed through the Abyssal Sea, but he lacked information about what lay beyond it.
• Lin Yuan returned to Shattered Island’s Main Island, where Chi Yu was waiting, and told her they would leave after he made a few arrangements.
• Lin Yuan briefed Zhang Da, left Batteries behind, and departed aboard the Phantom Lin Yuan with Lilia and Chi Yu for East Pole Island.

Lin Yuan learned that the East Pole Sea’s layers and chaos had been artificially created, then piloted the Phantom Lin Yuan into the Deep Sea using Wuwei’s route map. When his poor Inspiration left him unable to identify the currents, Chi Yu briefly panicked at his request for help.

• Chi Yu explained that the East Pole Sea’s chaos came from an ancient battle and would persist until the Island Lord revived or someone powerful repaired the sea’s layers.
• Lin Yuan learned that the sea’s layers were artificial and that knowledge of their origins could cause severe corruption.
• Chi Yu said she had tested Lin Yuan’s resistance to corruption because the Deep Sea’s lower depths carried dangerous corruption.
• The Phantom Lin Yuan entered the Deep Sea, where Lin Yuan slowed the ship and tried to follow Wuwei’s route map through limited visibility.
• Lin Yuan asked Chi Yu to guide him because his Inspiration was low, and Chi Yu showed a trace of panic.

Lin Yuan, Lilia, and Chi Yu realized none of them could navigate the Deep Sea, but decided to search for the route to East Pole Island rather than wait for Wuwei. Chi Yu agreed to join Lin Yuan, and the group set out despite the danger and their poor sense of direction.

• Chi Yu learned that Lin Yuan and Lilia had very low Inspiration and concluded that neither could find their way.
• Lin Yuan decided to search for East Pole Island instead of waiting half a month for Wuwei to send a guide.
• Chi Yu revealed that she was stronger than Wuwei and agreed to explore with Lin Yuan.
• Lin Yuan learned that Chi Yu could return to the sea if her body was destroyed, while Lilia could resurrect, leaving him the only one aboard without that safeguard.
• Lilia cheered on the directionally challenged as Lin Yuan and Chi Yu prepared to begin exploring the Deep Sea.

Lin Yuan confirmed that Sunken Ones like Chi Yu benefited from death aura and considered asking her how to rescue Bai Ling from the Nether River. A Sound-Dancing Conch interrupted them with a sonic attack, and Lin Yuan insisted on hunting it in close combat despite the dangers of fighting underwater.

• Lin Yuan asked Chi Yu whether the death aura aboard the Phantom Lin Yuan affected her, and learned that it felt comfortable to her.
• Lin Yuan began to ask Chi Yu about rescuing a friend from the Nether River, but she warned him of an approaching threat.
• A Sound-Dancing Conch attacked from beyond the fog with powerful sound waves, destroying the Skeleton Sailors on deck.
• Chi Yu explained that the behemoth attacked from a distance and suggested they retreat to the Main Sea.
• Lin Yuan proposed charging the Sound-Dancing Conch and fighting it up close, then claimed that underwater close combat was one of his strengths.

Lin Yuan and Chi Yu pursued a mature Sound-Dancing Conch through the Deep Sea, where Lin Yuan adapted to the water and attacked its heavily armored shell. As Chi Yu prepared to withdraw, a dragon-shaped cannon phantom appeared behind Lin Yuan.

• The Sound-Dancing Conch’s powerful calls damaged the Phantom Lin Yuan, and Chi Yu warned that they could attract other powerful Deep Sea Behemoths.
• The Sound-Dancing Conch tried to flee, but it eventually appeared through the fog, revealing its enormous, gem-and-metal shell.
• Lin Yuan entered the Deep Sea, quickly adapted to its resistance, and Chi Yu began recording observations about him while Lilia watched the fight.
• Lin Yuan struck the Sound-Dancing Conch with the Holy Hall Light Blade, then cracked its shell with club-form blows but failed to penetrate its thick metal-reinforced armor.
• Chi Yu prepared to withdraw as a different, low call sounded and a dragon-shaped Cannon phantom appeared behind Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan killed a Sound-Dancing Conch and obtained its C-rank Transcendent Core, but its final cry drew a crowd of Deep Sea Behemoths. As the Phantom Lin Yuan tried to reach the surface, the creatures surrounded the ship and began an encircling hunt.

• Lin Yuan used Explore the Sea to pierce the Sound-Dancing Conch's shell, then killed it and collected its C-rank Transcendent Core and other materials.
• Chi Yu warned Lin Yuan that the conch's cry had attracted powerful creatures and urged him to hurry to the surface.
• A newly advanced Horned Emperor Whale appeared above the Phantom Lin Yuan and charged the ship.
• Lin Yuan ordered the Phantom Lin Yuan to go around the whale, but an armored shark, a giant octopus, a jellyfish, and other Deep Sea Behemoths emerged and surrounded them.
• Chi Yu explained that the behemoths had gathered in response to the conch's weakened cries and the Horned Emperor Whale's arrival, trapping the ship in an encircling hunt.

Surrounded by Deep Sea Behemoths, Lin Yuan used Nether River Summoning instead of fleeing with Lilia while Chi Yu held them off. The Nether River’s tributary cleared the fog and brought forth an army of skeletons, leaving their ability to defeat the behemoths uncertain.

• Chi Yu offered to hold off the Deep Sea Behemoths so Lin Yuan could escape with Lilia, but Lin Yuan said he had another trump card.
• Lin Yuan summoned a tributary of the Nether River, and three enormous moons merged above the Phantom Lin Yuan.
• The Nether River’s influence cleared the surrounding fog and revealed many more Deep Sea Behemoths circling the ship.
• Chi Yu recognized the Nether River and reacted with shock when Lin Yuan mentioned the Nether River Monarch.
• Skeletons began emerging from the tributary’s waters as Lin Yuan wondered whether they could defeat the behemoths.