Chapter Summaries

Aoda learned that Archbishop Antiya had ordered White Wax Town to fortify itself and defend against the growing Blood Corpse Tide, while the other towns would keep their gates closed. After hearing Aoda’s intelligence, Ed devised a plan to exploit the Church’s martial law and seize the surrounding towns.

• Antiya ordered Aoda to move White Wax Town’s believers together, restore their strength, build defenses, and hold out until reinforcements arrived.
• Aoda returned to White Wax Town and told Duolin about Antiya’s orders and the danger posed by the Blood Corpses.
• Ed received Aoda and Duolin’s intelligence in an online meeting, while Little Green updated his map of Aduolin Province.
• Ed decided to use the Church’s orders to seize nearby towns and insisted that White Wax Town build walls to mislead incoming reinforcements.
• Ed told Duolin that the Soul Returners could build a single stretch of wall along the reinforcements’ route.

Ed planned a convincing fake city wall to mislead incoming soldiers, while [Good Times Don't Last] expanded the blowgun business by arranging a bulk order with a Dragonborn Village blacksmith. The chapter ended with their trade agreement signed under Seraphina's protection.

• Ed assigned Duolin and Aoda to design a practical city gate and wall that would convince approaching soldiers.
• Cole's blowgun business boomed, and his family helped fulfill the flood of player orders.
• Other Dragonborn Village blacksmiths began making iron pipes to profit from the growing demand.
• [Good Times Don't Last] tested an iron pipe and its dart, then negotiated an order for one hundred shorter, thinner pipes.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and the blacksmith signed a contract for the order, backed by Seraphina's enforcement.

[Good Times Don't Last] expanded his blowgun order after [Shit Appraisal Master] convinced him demand would surge, then planned to test mutated plants with [Lion Hidden in the Eyes]. He learned a nomadic tribe skilled in archery had arrived north of the territory, threatening his new business with competing weapons.

• [Good Times Don't Last] ordered a hundred blowguns and defended the purchase to [Shit Appraisal Master], who told him to buy another hundred.
• [Good Times Don't Last] signed a second agreement with the blacksmith and became eager to test the blowguns and mutated plants, especially Oil Vine.
• [Good Times Don't Last] invited [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to meet at the castle and scout for Blood Corpses they could burn.
• [Good Times Don't Last] boasted that his blowguns had cornered the low-end market, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] warned him that a nomadic tribe had arrived north of the territory.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] explained that the nomads were skilled archers, leaving [Good Times Don't Last] to realize they could compete with his blowguns.

Good Times Don't Last and Lion Hidden in the Eyes prepared to test their abilities against a group of Blood Corpses. As they approached the enemies, Good Times Hidden in the Eyes’s Oil Vines grew forward while Lion Hidden in the Eyes readied his drug-enhanced transformation.

• Good Times Don't Last decided his short blowpipe deal still had a viable market and met Lion Hidden in the Eyes to discuss their plan.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes showed Good Times Hidden in the Eyes his chest rig of Trenbolone syringes and explained that he could transform quickly by injecting one.
• Good Times Hidden in the Eyes bought two cultivated Oil Vines, implanted them, and followed Lion Hidden in the Eyes beyond the Root Network’s territory.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes told Good Times Hidden in the Eyes that people had taken him to a hospital for tests after tracking him down at his college dorm.
• Good Times Hidden in the Eyes and Lion Hidden in the Eyes found a crowd of Blood Corpses in a dried-up riverbed and hid behind a rock.
• Good Times Hidden in the Eyes fed and controlled his Oil Vines as they grew toward the Blood Corpses.

[Good Times Don't Last] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] used flammable Oil Vines and the half-dragon's sparks to burn two Blood Corpses in daylight. After examining the remains and joking about their grisly kill, they marked the Blood Corpses and prepared to retreat.

• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] injected Trenbolone and transformed into a half-dragon while [Good Times Don't Last] extended Oil Vines around two Blood Corpses.
• [Good Times Don't Last] cut the vines free and handed them to [Lion Hidden in the Eyes], who sparked a flame that spread along the oily vines.
• The burning vines trapped and killed two Blood Corpses, while the others retreated from the fire and sunlight.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] pulled the hardened vines, toppling the charred Blood Corpses, and snapped off a section to use as a weapon.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] joked about the corpses, marked the Blood Corpses with a blow dart, and decided to retreat.

[Good Times Don't Last] sold [Western Sharpshooter] information about a group of Blood Corpses marked with fluorescence, and the players prepared to hunt them. [Gill's Cuisine] arrived at the tavern, and the group set out immediately.

• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] returned to the castle after marking several Blood Corpses with blow darts, then went their separate ways.
• [Good Times Don't Last] visited the night tavern to sell information and learned that [Gill's Cuisine] had not arrived yet.
• [Good Times Don't Last] told [Western Sharpshooter] where to find about two hundred Blood Corpses and advised him to bring at least fifteen people.
• [Good Times Don't Last] paid [Western Sharpshooter] three silver coins for the information, and they talked about why the bartender had opened the tavern.
• [Gill's Cuisine] arrived, and [Western Sharpshooter] announced that the group would leave at once.

Ed watched players battle marked Blood Corpses and ordered them to use the corpses to cultivate plants beyond his territory. He then discussed hoofed-beast aug-suit designs with Gray, whose mechanical body failed as he prepared to leave.

• Ed watched Gill's Cuisine and Western Sharpshooter lead players to defeat seven or eight times their number in Blood Corpses.
• Ed issued a tree-planting quest so players could use the Blood Corpses to cultivate plants and let him claim them later.
• Gray told Ed that the hoofed-beast aug-suit's bone screws would cause pain, and Ed proposed replacing them with wood after improving the beasts' Plant Compatibility.
• Ed and Gray agreed to prioritize four-legged and six-legged hoofed beasts and build aug-suit prototypes for them, while leaving other design problems for later.
• As Gray prepared to leave, a gear and crankshaft fell from his left shoulder, his arm went limp, and he lost consciousness.

Gray collapsed in Ed’s study, and Willow diagnosed his condition as a failure to acclimatize to the World of Disorder’s rules. She suspected his earlier injuries had made him vulnerable, but the cause remained uncertain.

• Ed caught Gray when he collapsed and used Little Green to check his condition, but found no abnormalities.
• Ed summoned Willow, who arrived at the study and used a Detection Spell to examine Gray.
• Willow explained that Gray’s mechanical body was incompatible with the rules of the Tree Worship Church’s territory, causing it to fail over time.
• Ed questioned why Gray had only collapsed now and why others from different rule systems were unaffected.
• Willow suggested that Gray’s earlier injuries had made him vulnerable to the effects of the local rules.

Gray awakened and explained that a device inside his chest had once boosted his control over his body, but after it broke, his mechanical parts began failing. Willow identified it as a miniature domain maintenance device and said Gray could only be saved by returning to the Graycast Corridor, leaving Ed to seek another solution.

• Gray told Ed that his mechanical parts had suddenly jammed and said he suspected rejection sickness.
• Gray explained that he had activated a device inside his breastbone while fleeing the Blood Corpses, gaining temporary control over his body before his coordination worsened afterward.
• Willow identified the device as a miniature domain maintenance device that carried the Grand Foundry Master's rules beyond the Graycast Corridor.
• Ed and Willow discussed how powerful individuals relied on Psionic Energy and souls as the underlying logic of the world.
• Willow said Gray could only be saved by returning to the Graycast Corridor, but Ed objected that his partly plant-based body might struggle to acclimatize there too.

Ed asked Willow to use her Imbalance formula to transfer Gray’s mechanical affinity into plant compatibility so Ed could replace his metal parts with wood and help him survive the local rules. Willow feared the procedure could kill Gray, but Ed challenged her confidence and she agreed to try.

• Ed asked Willow to explain the Imbalance and Disorder formulas she had used on the Soul Returner's corpse.
• Ed reasoned that Gray needed greater plant compatibility and asked Willow to use Imbalance to shift his mechanical affinity into the plant field.
• Ed planned to replace Gray’s metal components with wooden ones and use plant tissue where a direct replacement was impossible.
• Willow worried that transferring too much affinity would kill Gray, and Ed confirmed that it could.
• Ed challenged Willow’s willingness to explore unknown fields, and Willow accepted the job.

Ed and Willow operated on Gray, using her psionic magic to stabilize him while Ed replaced the rebellious metal components in his body with copies made from mutated wood. As the procedure continued, Willow reconsidered how much she understood about Ed’s power.

• Ed persuaded Willow to help save Gray, then cleared the study to make an operating area.
• Ed injected Gray with Paralysis Flower extract, and Willow carefully cast a psionic spell into his forehead.
• Ed sensed Gray’s metal components begin to vibrate and used vines to dismantle and replace them with wooden copies.
• Willow watched Ed work and realized his abilities might make him more formidable than she had assumed.

Ed replaced Gray’s remaining machinery with wooden parts and began rebuilding his body with organs grown from Gray’s own genes. Gray woke after surgery, discovered his voice and body had changed, and learned that he had not quite been born yet.

• Willow confirmed that her spell had left Gray with one-third of his affinity for machinery, then left Ed to continue the surgery.
• Ed replaced Gray’s brass components with wooden parts and began growing Gray’s missing human organs from his genes.
• Ed realized the organs would take days to grow, much longer than Gray’s anesthesia would last, and devised another way to make Gray human again.
• Gray woke in bed, questioned Ed about his changed voice and wooden hand, and asked to see what his body looked like.
• Ed raised Gray’s bed so he could see his bark-covered lower body and told him that he had not quite been born yet.

Ed learned that Gray’s recovery had left him part human, part treant, and part cyborg, and asked about his chance to become Grand Foundry Master. Gray accepted Ed’s offer of support, hoping to enter the selection despite his changed body.

• Gray woke and questioned Ed about the wooden body Ed had created to save him.
• Ed explained that Gray’s body was still being reshaped and that he would need about three days for his lower body to become fully human.
• Gray said his condition might affect his chances in the selection for Grand Foundry Master, a position the Graycast Corridor had unexpectedly opened to candidates.
• Ed offered to support Gray’s bid, explaining that he wanted to learn more about the Grand Foundry Master and that Gray’s success could make things easier.
• Gray agreed that he wanted Ed’s support.

Ed discussed Gray's candidacy for Grand Foundry Master and offered to help him secure food and recover his mobile fortress, Antasia. After leaving, Ed admitted to Little Green that he also hoped Gray would repay his support with a property deed.

• Gray explained that the first selection round judged candidates' contributions to the Graycast Corridor and said he needed to recover Antasia, which required at least fifty Blood Corpses for power.
• Ed suggested that supplying the Corridor with large quantities of food could count as a major achievement and said he would send warriors to recover Antasia when an opportunity arose.
• Ed told Gray that he did not need to hide their partnership and could seek campaign investment from the Corridor.
• Little Green asked Ed why he had not told Gray his real objective, and Ed confessed that he wanted Gray's property deed as repayment for helping him become Grand Foundry Master.
• Ed justified the plan as a peaceful way to gain Territory Secret Pacts for Little Green, and Little Green praised his methods sarcastically.

[Noncompliant Nickname 1214] celebrated buying a house by sharing the grinding and odd-job strategy that had earned him enough money, then revealed the username that got him forcibly renamed. After [Zhongde] watched him log out and reflected on his construction crew, he received a quest that could unlock a large-scale storyline.

• [Noncompliant Nickname 1214] celebrated his new house while [Zhong Lele] interviewed him about how he had earned the money to buy it.
• [Noncompliant Nickname 1214] explained how he maximized event contributions and took on jobs across several locations, prompting players to study his methods.
• [Noncompliant Nickname 1214] revealed that his original username was “Ed's Workplace Is So Warm” and immediately collapsed after saying it, leading [Zhong Lele] to confirm that he had logged out.
• [Zhongde] reflected on how his [Be Yourself in the Concrete] construction crew had become a popular way for newcomers to earn money.
• [Zhongde] received a quest directing him to find Duolin at the White Wax Town Adventurers' Guild, with a reward that unlocked a large-scale, long-term quest storyline.

Zhongde accepted a quest to build a fake city wall after learning that Holy Crusaders would soon arrive in White Wax Town and might expose the Second Holy See. He promised Duolin he would seek help from the other Soul Returners to reduce casualties.

• Zhongde and the Concrete Pouring Club players identified the hidden quest as a city-wall construction assignment, and Zhongde accepted it.
• Duolin explained that Holy Crusaders from Fir City were coming to help defend White Wax Town against the Blood Corpses.
• Zhongde realized the Crusaders might discover the Second Holy See and its Fallen Ones, putting the town and its people at risk.
• Duolin revealed the plan to lure the Crusaders behind a fake wall, capture them, and screen them, despite the likelihood of casualties.
• Zhongde accepted the construction job on behalf of Be Yourself in the Concrete and vowed to ask the other souls for help reducing casualties.

Duolin followed Ed’s instructions to send a letter to a senior member of the Holy City’s Holy See, while [Zhongde] worked with the souls to devise a plan for White Wax Town’s defenses and screening the Holy Crusaders. The chapter ended with [Zhongde] asking Duolin whether the Fallen Ones used code phrases.

• Duolin reported his conversation with [Zhongde] to Ed, who told him to let the Soul Returners pursue reasonable plans and send a letter requesting that the Holy City’s contingent consist entirely of Pure Ones.
• Ed told Duolin that the special hoofbeast carrying the letter would test Gray’s new external bio-armor.
• [Zhongde] recounted his conversation with Duolin in the [Concrete Pouring Club] group chat, then consulted the souls to refine a plan.
• Residents of White Wax Town joined the construction team and began building walls using the Tree Worship Church’s plant-based methods.
• [Zhongde] proposed layered defenses, inspections of the arriving Holy Crusaders, and private exchanges of code phrases to identify the Fallen Ones.
• [Zhongde] asked Duolin whether the Fallen Ones had code phrases like “Hail Hydra.”

[Zhongde] used Yiden’s recognition phrase to organize a paid construction project, which players could also use to earn contribution points from Ed. At night, [Gill's Cuisine] and a group pursuing fleeing Blood Corpses discovered an artificially excavated cave that might belong to a boss.

• [Zhongde] recruited players to build a wall and checkpoint near White Wax Town, paying them three silver and fifty copper for each day’s construction tasks.
• The developers added the construction work to Bloody Night’s task list, letting workers earn both [Zhongde]’s wages and contribution points from Ed.
• Players flocked to the site for the double rewards, while Ed welcomed their efforts and joked that they would make him go broke.
• At night, [Gill's Cuisine], [Western Sharpshooter], and other players cautiously followed fleeing Blood Corpses through the hills, finding severed limbs but no monsters nearby.
• [Western Sharpshooter] pushed aside thorny branches and revealed an artificially excavated cave, which [Gill's Cuisine] suspected was the boss’s lair.

[Gill's Cuisine] led a squad through a cave to find the Blood Corpses, but their path ended at a concealed monster disguised as a stone door. After the players destroyed it, they revealed hundreds of Blood Corpses gathered around an ornate coffin.

• [Gill's Cuisine] reminded the squad to prepare for combat and check their equipment and revival funds before entering the cave.
• The squad found a dead end, and a geology student recognized that the apparent rock wall was a door.
• The geology student discovered a protrusion that became a Blood Corpse's eye and smashed it with his hammer.
• The squad attacked the disguised monster, hacked it apart, and exposed the space behind it.
• Hundreds of Blood Corpses turned toward the squad from around an intricately carved coffin.

The players fought through the Blood Corpses’ reinforcements until an old Blood Corpse awakened in the coffin and slaughtered them with giant hands made of flesh and bone. He left [Gill's Cuisine] and [Western Sharpshooter] suspended before him and asked what year and month it was, but [Gill's Cuisine] spat in his face and was killed.

• The humans fought the Blood Corpses in the cave while the creatures secretly fed blood into the enormous coffin.
• The old Blood Corpse awakened, asked what year and month it was, and killed the knight who charged him.
• The old Blood Corpse formed giant hands from the bodies of kneeling Blood Corpses and used them to defeat the players.
• The old Blood Corpse captured [Gill's Cuisine] and [Western Sharpshooter] as the last survivors and asked them what year and month it was.
• [Gill's Cuisine] spat at the old Blood Corpse, who decapitated him and calmly wiped the blood from his face.