Chapter Summaries

Ed issued quests for Soul Returners to collect new plants and survey terrain, explaining the shared compendium to Willow. In White Wax Town, four players formed a party and set out to survey the designated region southeast of the Second Holy See.

• Ed explained to Willow that he had used a money spell to recruit players to collect unfamiliar plants, and described the Soul Returners' shared compendium.
• Willow told Ed that Soul Returners found learning psionic spells harder than advanced calculus.
• Ed issued the players quests to collect plant samples, survey terrain, and complete other tasks.
• In White Wax Town, [Clear Soup Master] recruited [Pizza Heart], [My Buddha Ciba], and [Namo Goose Rice Tofu] to form a four-person party for the terrain survey.
• The party ate portions of [Angler Melon Stir-Fried with Scarlet Millet], equipped themselves, and headed toward the survey location.

The foodie quartet traveled through the chaotic wilderness to survey a quest area, then decided to become Blood Corpses so they could gather progress overnight. They began transforming by forcing a Blood Corpse to slash their wrists.

• The foodie quartet endured a backward waterfall, sudden blizzard, and sense-depriving domain during their journey through the Wilderness of Chaos.
• The four reached the quest area, split up to survey it, and added its terrain to the Root Network map that Ed watched develop.
• The quartet discussed how long the survey would take and realized other teams could complete the quest while they rested.
• [Pizza Heart] suggested that the four become Blood Corpses to collect quest progress overnight, and the others agreed.
• The quartet cornered a weak Blood Corpse and used its claws to slash their wrists, beginning their transformation.

After transforming into Blood Corpses to gain quest progress, [Clear Soup Master], [Pizza Heart], [My Buddha Ciba], and [Namo Goose Rice Tofu] were compelled by a sealed vampire marquis to join a mass gathering. They followed the other Blood Corpses to a cliff where the marquis was buried, unsure how they could pursue the quest without helping him escape.

• The four players transformed into Blood Corpses and discovered that their voices and bodies had changed.
• A voice summoned them, and [Clear Soup Master] concluded that the sealed vampire marquis was speaking through the Blood Corpses.
• The four debated abandoning the quest, and [Namo Goose Rice Tofu] suggested giving up on competing for progress and finding another way to spend their time.
• The marquis's influence forced the four and countless other Blood Corpses to travel toward a cliff as the moon reached its highest point.
• They saw Blood Corpses digging into the cliff and watched one carry rubble away in its tattered clothes.

Four player Blood Corpses escaped a deadly crush while digging at the sealing grounds, but the marquis seized part of [Clear Soup Master]'s consciousness after hearing him criticize his labor methods. The players hid their alarm and pretended that [Clear Soup Master] was praising the marquis.

• The four players finished digging, got trapped in a crush of Blood Corpses, and saw a scrawny corpse trampled to death before forcing their way out.
• [Pizza Heart], [My Buddha Ciba], [Namo Goose Rice Tofu], and [Clear Soup Master] rested and discussed the marquis's inefficient labor orders.
• [Clear Soup Master] began choking as the marquis tried to take control of his body through the Root Network, and Ed intervened by draining the marquis's mental power.
• The marquis managed to occupy a small part of [Clear Soup Master]'s consciousness, and Ed left the players to decide how to respond.
• [Clear Soup Master] privately warned the other players about the marquis's presence, and they pretended to support him as he praised the marquis aloud.

[Clear Soup Master] convinced the other players that the Marquis had appointed them to lead the Blood Corpses and promised them eternal life. Two days later, [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] found the Blood Corpses laboring in bizarre assembly lines at the sealing site, just before someone ordered them to work.

• [Clear Soup Master] claimed the Marquis had granted the four players temporary command over the Blood Corpses and promised to make them counts if they helped him escape.
• [Pizza Heart], [My Buddha Ciba], and [Namo Goose Rice Tofu] pledged their lives to the Marquis.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] arrived at the sealing site after their Hoofed Beasts were delayed in a zone that stripped away their senses.
• The two players spotted what appeared to be hundreds of moving figures and rode over to investigate.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] discovered over a thousand Blood Corpses digging at a cliff and passing rubble along four inefficient assembly lines.
• An unseen person shouted at the two players to go to work.

[Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] learned how [Pizza Heart] and the other players were slowing the Blood Corpses’ work while pretending to serve the marquis. While exploring, they found a blind party’s plea for help and shared a way to reroll the domain’s sensory debuff.

• [Pizza Heart] privately told [Shit Appraisal Master] that four players had become intelligent Blood Corpses and were helping the marquis escape by making the workers slack off.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] read [Clear Soup Master]’s forum post explaining how the four players used an assembly line to disguise their sabotage and asked others not to disrupt it.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] rode away to explore more of the Wilderness of Chaos and read a help post from [Bread Knight]’s party, whose four members had all lost their sight.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] recalled that leaving the chaotic domain and re-entering could reroll its sensory debuff, and posted that advice for the blind party.

[Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] agreed to rescue a lost party in the Wilderness of Chaos. Meanwhile, vampire marquis Oliver Adelaide repeatedly awoke from his seal, ordered Blood Corpses to dig him out, and questioned [Clear Soup Master] about the slow excavation.

• [Bread Knight] told [Shit Appraisal Master] that his Sandwich Adventurer Party was lost after all four members went blind in the domain.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] found [Good Times Don't Last], and the two headed back toward the domain while discussing a rescue fee.
• Oliver Adelaide regained some awareness, summoned Blood Corpses, and realized his strength had waned during his long imprisonment.
• Oliver learned that four intelligent Blood Corpses of the Adelaide lineage were near the seal and approved [Clear Soup Master]'s plan to organize them into an assembly line.
• Oliver awoke again and criticized the tunnel's slow progress, so [Clear Soup Master] told him it had been one day since his previous awakening.

Marquis Oliver ordered [Clear Soup Master] to gather blood for his revival and learned that human blood would help him recover best. After Oliver fell asleep, the four players discussed how to deceive him with blood from other creatures and use the summoned Blood Corpses for experience.

• Oliver told [Clear Soup Master] to collect blood from newly summoned Blood Corpses and pour it into the completed tunnel so he could revive stronger.
• [Clear Soup Master] asked whether fresh human blood would help Oliver recover, and Oliver confirmed that it was the best nourishment for a vampire.
• [Clear Soup Master] claimed to know a nearby human settlement and asked to lead the Blood Corpses into war, prompting Oliver to grant him command of those summoned next.
• After Oliver cast the summoning spell and fell asleep, [Clear Soup Master] shared the exchange in the group chat, where the players agreed to source nonhuman blood to sabotage Oliver's revival.
• The players proposed outsourcing blood purchases to [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master], while treating the new Blood Corpses as experience for players to pick off.

The players organized a campaign to gather fresh blood for the marquis’s resurrection, refining their purchasing rules as they discovered what counted. By the third edition, they were accepting any naturally red liquid, and increasingly bizarre loads were heading to the sealing site.

• After approving the plan, Ed and the players coordinated their efforts in World of Disorder and on the forums.
• At Riverside Village, Kaping offered to donate blood, but [Ever-Changing Master Ye] explained that human blood would not work and checked with [Clear Soup Master] about plant and Tree Worship Church blood.
• [Clear Soup Master] published rules for buying animal blood and limiting how much blood could be drawn from Tree Worship Church members, while warning players not to dilute their supplies.
• The first two wagons carried blood and blood-like substances from creatures, players, plants, and even experimental hot pot broth to the marquis’s sealing site.
• After players kept bringing unconventional red substances, [Clear Soup Master] revised the rules to pay for any naturally red liquid, provided it was not diluted with water.

[Clear Soup Master] supervised the Blood Corpses’ escape and helped the marquis’s forces deliver a wagonload of supplies, while Willow completed a Territory Secret Pact using data from Ed’s Root Network. Ed learned that activating the pact could trigger severe backlash if the territory already had an owner.

• [Clear Soup Master] discovered that the Blood Corpses had dug through to the marquis’s sealed location after twelve days, which felt like fewer than five to the marquis.
• [Clear Soup Master] stayed behind to supervise while the other three players led the Blood Corpses toward human settlements that did not exist.
• The three players repeatedly fed Blood Corpses to the Soul Returners, then won a battle and brought twelve wagons of supplies back toward the marquis’s sealing grounds.
• Willow connected to Ed’s Root Network, studied the terrain around the sealing grounds, and used Psionic Energy to sketch it into an amber gemstone.
• Willow gave Ed the finished, unactivated Territory Secret Pact and warned him that activating it could cause severe backlash if the territory already had an owner.

Ed trusted the Territory Secret Pact plan as the Sea of Flowers began spreading into a new territory. A worker bee found the amber pact, allowing the queen bee to activate it and send her hive to gather in the expanded region, where one bee spotted a limping humanoid.

• Ed told Willow that the plan was unlikely to fail, and Willow offered to remake the Territory Secret Pact if anything went wrong.
• A worker bee noticed a new sea of flowers approaching the Sea of Flowers, then watched it expand until the two areas merged.
• The worker bee crossed the old boundary, found amber inside a flower, and carried it back to the queen bee.
• The queen bee used her Psionic Energy to activate the Territory Secret Pact and claim the small territory northwest of the Sea of Flowers.
• The queen bee ordered the hive to gather freely in the newly expanded area, and a worker bee later spotted a limping, pale-skinned humanoid.

A Worker Bee’s attack on a Blood Corpse led the queen bee to discover that an enemy was eroding its Hive Mind, prompting a purge and preparations for war. Two days later, Marquis Oliver awakened and asked [Clear Soup Master] about his task, and [Clear Soup Master] showed him a container of fresh blood.

• A Worker Bee killed a Blood Corpse, found the enemy nest at a cliff, and returned to the hive covered in pollen.
• A Worker Bee became infected and attacked another Bee Person, causing the queen bee to sense an enemy eroding its Hive Mind.
• The queen bee ordered Soldier Bees to kill all bitten Bee People, and they wiped out the infected Bees, including one Soldier Bee.
• The queen bee halted gathering in the threatened area and began producing a new batch of Soldier Bees for the coming battle.
• Two days later, Marquis Oliver awakened and asked [Clear Soup Master] how his task had gone.
• [Clear Soup Master] showed Marquis Oliver a wooden container filled with fresh blood.

[Clear Soup Master] convinced Marquis Oliver to delay his revival until more human blood could be gathered, then prompted him to summon more Blood Corpses, leaving Oliver asleep and vulnerable. Meanwhile, the final batch of red liquid headed for the sealing site, and the queen bee sent over a thousand newly grown Soldier Bees to attack the nameless cliff.

• [Clear Soup Master] told Oliver that ten thousand containers held enough blood for his revival, then persuaded him to wait for reinforcements to bring more.
• [Clear Soup Master] asked Oliver to summon nearby Blood Corpses, and Oliver agreed before falling asleep after casting the spell.
• The summoned Blood Corpses became targets for the players, while the final carts of red liquid left White Wax Town for the sealing site.
• More than a thousand Soldier Bees matured and flew from the hive toward the nameless cliff under the queen bee's command.

The Soldier Bees advanced on the marquis’s sealed grounds as players divided between leaving and joining the coming battle. [Clear Soup Master]’s group poured wagonloads of blood onto Marquis Oliver’s sealing array to revive him, but the enemy swarm attacked before they finished.

• Ed warned the players that the queen bee’s troops would reach the sealed grounds in two hours, and the game system announced the final stage of the quest.
• [Clear Soup Master] invited players to stay, transform into Blood Corpses, and fight, while [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] offered others a ride back to White Wax Town.
• The Soldier Bees appeared on the horizon, and [Pizza Heart] led the players to prepare breakfast for the marquis.
• [Clear Soup Master] poured blood onto Marquis Oliver’s sealing array, and the other players began emptying the wagons of blood.
• A transformed Blood Corpse reported that insect people were attacking the Blood Corpses outside, and [Clear Soup Master] ordered everyone to gather inside the cave and hurried them to revive the marquis.

[Clear Soup Master] and the other Soul Returners poured plant-people blood into the sealing array to revive Marquis Oliver Adelaide while Soldier Bees attacked the Blood Corpses outside. Oliver discovered the blood was not human and faced a choice between enduring it to regain his strength or emerging weak against the swarm.

• [Clear Soup Master] and the Soul Returners opened the containers and poured plant-people blood into the revival array as Soldier Bees killed Blood Corpses outside.
• Marquis Oliver Adelaide began to revive and demanded more blood from [Clear Soup Master].
• Oliver recognized that the blood was not human, and [Clear Soup Master] explained that the Demonic Tide had mutated humanity, leaving the Tree Worship Church’s blood among the most authentic available.
• Oliver ordered [Clear Soup Master] to sacrifice the Blood Corpses, but [Clear Soup Master] warned that Soldier Bees were attacking the cave and that sacrificing them could ruin the revival.
• Oliver saw the swarm through a Blood Corpse’s eyes and realized he had to keep consuming the plant-people blood or emerge too weak to fight the Soldier Bees.
• Oliver hesitated over whether to endure the blood and complete his revival, unaware that [Clear Soup Master] and Ed had engineered his predicament.

Oliver forced himself to consume blood and other red liquids poured into the sealing array, while Ed used their hidden vitality to trigger a transformation. The marquis emerged from the seal as a towering mass of mutated plants and flesh, leaving the players crowding in to record him.

• Oliver agreed to keep consuming the offerings as the Blood Corpses poured animal blood, plant juices, and other red liquids into the sealing array.
• [My Buddha Ciba], [Pizza Heart], and [Clear Soup Master] each offered Oliver blood from humans, Dragonborn, and people eaten by carnivorous plants, while [Zhong Lele] secretly added hot pot base.
• Ed detonated the accumulated power of the scarlet millet juice and players' blood inside Oliver's body.
• Oliver's bones and skin began to mutate as the players heard cracking sounds and realized his body, not the seal, was breaking.
• A giant branch rooted itself in the cave ceiling and pulled Oliver's deformed body from the seal, now covered in scarlet millet and other mutated plants.

After Ed’s toxins and decades of starvation turned Oliver into a mindless monster, he fought the Soldier Bees while the players abandoned their mission to cheer and place bets. As the battle raged, a Dragonborn arrived with a sack of popcorn.

• Oliver broke free of his seal, devoured Blood Corpses including [Clear Soup Master], and charged toward the cave entrance.
• Oliver attacked the Soldier Bees, using spikes from the Blood-Drinking Thornbush to drain several of them.
• [Zhong Lele] suggested the players act as cheerleaders, and [Butter Archer] and [Lettuce Priest] organized bets on the fight.
• The players split into rival cheering camps and charged out to watch Oliver battle the swarm.
• Oliver and the Soldier Bees fought fiercely as the swarm tore at him and he rooted himself in the ground to draw nutrients.
• A tall Dragonborn appeared behind the players carrying a sack and offered them Scarlet Millet popcorn.

Lion Hidden in the Eyes tested combining dragonkin and Blood Corpse transformations, while players watched Marquis Oliver battle a swarm of Soldier Bees. Ed used the weakened marquis as a test subject for granted abilities as the fight continued.

• Lion Hidden in the Eyes explained that combining dragonkin transformation with Blood Corpse transformation was partly feasible but difficult to balance, and mainly added Corpse Poison to his attacks.
• A Soldier Bee torn in half crashed beside Lion Hidden in the Eyes, drawing the players’ attention back to the battlefield.
• Marquis Oliver spat a corrosive mixture over the Soldier Bees, killing or injuring nearly a hundred and provoking the surviving swarm.
• Players compared Oliver’s attacks to enemies from Left 4 Dead 2 while the Soldier Bees continued wounding him.
• Oliver gained abilities including bark armor, root reshaping, and nutrient transport because Ed used his body to test granting abilities.

Ed planned to develop temporary ability-granting powers for players and issued a quest to recover Oliver Adelaide’s corpse. As Oliver fought the dwindling swarm, players headed for his sealed chamber, where a wave of Psionic Energy suddenly began reverberating through their minds.

• Ed considered using his connection to the players to grant them abilities through possession, quests, and virtual ability cards.
• Ed warned players that Oliver Adelaide had entered his final phase, then offered a reward for bringing his corpse back to the Second Holy See.
• Oliver kept attacking with newly mutated plants as the Soldier Bees adapted, though both sides suffered heavy losses.
• Zhong Lele proposed that the players hide inside Oliver’s sealed cave until the fight ended, and a group of them crawled toward it.
• The players entered Oliver’s underground chamber, and Psionic Energy began pulsing through the cave as Oliver continued targeting the swarm outside.

Oliver prayed to Adelaide as his body failed, and the progenitor’s judgment wiped out the soldier bees and threatened the players. Ed then seized control of Oliver’s body, challenged Adelaide, and detonated its remaining toxins; the players emerged after the battle and found Oliver’s corpse marked as a quest item.

• Oliver’s right arm tore off, and he prayed to Grand Duke Adelaide before collapsing.
• Adelaide briefly descended through Oliver, whose transformed body opened an enormous eye and killed the surviving soldier bees.
• Adelaide’s eye branded the players as traitors, but Ed spoke through Oliver’s body and confronted the progenitor.
• Ed withdrew and detonated the toxins inside Oliver, preventing Adelaide from delivering his judgment as Oliver’s body decomposed.
• The game announced Oliver’s death and the soldier bee legion’s destruction, and the players found Oliver’s corpse outside the cave.