Chapter Summaries

Zhong Lele and her companions arranged to smuggle two nuns out of Fir City and planned to recruit more players to replace the chapel staff. After Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop agreed to present their proposal to Guide Ed, she offered to pay the three planners one gold coin each.

• Pond Fish and Old Abyss captured two nuns and packed them into ventilated crates for Mules and Horses Drive the Sun to remove from the chapel.
• Dark Archmage asked Zhong Lele whether they should send the children away, and Zhong Lele said they would need to replace at least two-thirds of the nuns first.
• Zhong Lele proposed waiting three days for more volunteers before asking Ed for funding to make the operation semi-official.
• Mules and Horses Drive the Sun delivered a new wardrobe to the chapel, using rat damage as an excuse while Sister Qieli and two nuns carried the crates inside.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss asked Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop to negotiate with Ed and refine the Fir City proposal, and Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop offered one gold coin to each of the three planners.

Ed reviewed and expanded the budget for a plan to rescue the orphans from Fir City’s little church, while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] relayed revisions and took photos of him. The undercover operation neared completion as the bishop called a meeting about the rats secretly helping the players remove church furnishings and people.

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] agreed on a price with [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] and sent the rescue proposal to Ed.
• Ed judged the hundred-gold-coin budget too low, requested revisions, and doubled the incentive as the plan was refined over three days.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] passed Ed’s feedback to the planners and secretly took photos of him during their discussions.
• The bishop grew furious after rats repeatedly damaged the little church’s furniture, and he summoned its clerics and nuns to discuss the infestation.
• [Zhong Lele], [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], and [Dark Archmage] attended the meeting in disguise while their group worked toward replacing the church’s shifts and evacuating the orphans.

Zhong Lele, Dark Archmage, and Pond Fish and Old Abyss planned to bring real Thorn Rats into the chapel to support their false infestation reports and protect the orphans. Their bounty drew bankrupt players into the wilderness around Valhalla, where they hoped to earn enough to revive and return to the Fir City Operation.

• After the bishop's angry speech, the three nuns met in the storage room and discussed how their repeated rat reports risked exposing them.
• Zhong Lele proposed catching harmless Thorn Rats and bringing them to the chapel, and Pond Fish and Old Abyss suggested getting everyone involved through a bounty.
• A notice appeared in Valhalla offering five copper coins for each live Thorn Rat, with a three-day deadline and the Greenhouse as the exchange point.
• Bankrupt players struggling with negative balances saw the bounty as a way to earn money for revival costs and entry fees.
• Veteran players headed into the wilderness around Valhalla to catch Thorn Rats and prepare for another attempt at the Fir City Operation.

Ever-Changing Master Ye repeatedly failed to infiltrate Fir City and spent all his savings on the attempts. He revived using Negative Assets Mode, fell into debt, and returned to Valhalla ready to give up on the event and go back to fishing.

• Ever-Changing Master Ye entered Fir City without preparation and was killed by a treant on his first attempt.
• He returned in better equipment but was mistaken for a Holy See fugitive and killed by combat clerics and Holy Crusaders.
• After studying guides, he made repeated infiltration attempts, losing his savings each time until his balance reached zero.
• Unable to contact friends trapped in Fir City, Ever-Changing Master Ye accepted Negative Assets Mode and revived in debt.
• Out of supplies and funds, he returned to Valhalla's revival point and muttered that he was quitting.

Ever-Changing Master Ye tried to earn money by catching live Thorn Rats, but quickly realized the task was too difficult and tiring. Drawing on his fishing experience, he devised a way to lure and catch the rats, then prepared a barbed hook baited with Scarlet Millet.

• Ever-Changing Master Ye accepted the Greenhouse's bounty for live Thorn Rats after seeing that the purchase notice had sixty-five hours left.
• A player warned Ever-Changing Master Ye that Thorn Rats were difficult to catch alive, but he went into the wilderness and caught two live rats and one severed tail.
• After calculating how little he could earn, Ever-Changing Master Ye realized that catching rats had much in common with fishing.
• Ever-Changing Master Ye returned home for fishing rods, bought Scarlet Millet seeds at the Greenhouse, and headed back into the wilderness.
• Ever-Changing Master Ye fashioned a small barbed wooden hook, grew a Scarlet Millet seed using his own nutrients, and baited the hook with it.

[Ever-Changing Master Ye] used Scarlet Millet as bait to catch Thorn Rats in the winter wilderness, turning his first successful catch into a large-scale operation. After bringing nearly a hundred rats to [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] at the Greenhouse, he agreed to help dig a pit and asked to be paid in cash.

• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] caught a Thorn Rat by hooking Scarlet Millet hidden inside its cheek pouch.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] raided the rat's nest for grain and fruit, then scattered the food to attract more Thorn Rats.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] used six ratting rods to catch Thorn Rats until his cage was full, then marked several nests and headed to Valhalla.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] brought nearly a hundred Thorn Rats to [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop], who offered extra pay if he helped dig a pit.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] accepted the work and asked [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] to pay him in cash.

[Ever-Changing Master Ye] began a rat-catching business after [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] agreed to pay him in physical currency despite his debts. He recruited two Dragonborn and taught them his fishing method, leaving them to catch Thorn Rats across the snowfield outside Valhalla.

• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] learned that [Ever-Changing Master Ye] needed physical currency because his account was overdrawn and agreed to pay him in cash for a few days.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] dug a pit in the Greenhouse, where [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] used Deadwood Vines to keep the Thorn Rats from escaping.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] spent his first cash payment on flexible poles, two large cages, and bee silk, hiring two Dragonborn along the way.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] turned the poles into makeshift fishing rods and took the Dragonborn to the wilderness outside Valhalla.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] taught the Dragonborn to fish for Thorn Rats and made them promise to keep the method secret until their contracts ended.
• After forty minutes of training, [Ever-Changing Master Ye] and the two Dragonborn split up across the snowfield to catch rats.

[Ever-Changing Master Ye] collected a large number of Thorn Rats for [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop], who grew suspicious that the bounty plan had a hidden purpose. He then hired two half-dragons for an unusually high wage to keep the rat-catching operation running, leaving them wondering whom he wanted killed.

• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] used food to lure Thorn Rats into cages and kept them hungry to prevent them from forming a Rat King.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] paid [Ever-Changing Master Ye] two gold coins and silver coins for the rats, then suspected he needed them for more than the bounty and tried to contact three other players.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] asked the two half-dragons how long they could work and offered triple pay for overnight overtime.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] hired the half-dragons through the daytime two days later for thirty silver coins each.
• One half-dragon asked [Ever-Changing Master Ye] who he wanted killed.

[Ever-Changing Master Ye] hired Dragonborn to catch Thorn Rats and delivered hundreds to [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop], threatening to overwhelm the Greenhouse’s purchase budget. [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], [Zhong Lele], and [Dark Archmage] realized they could not break their contract and hoped the rats and workers were limited in number.

• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] recruited and trained four Dragonborn to make rat rods and catch Thorn Rats.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] paid [Ever-Changing Master Ye] nearly forty silver coins for four cages of rats, and he paid the first two Dragonborn before logging off.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] told [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] that her Greenhouse held at least five hundred live Thorn Rats and that [Ever-Changing Master Ye] was hiring more catchers.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] convened [Zhong Lele], [Dark Archmage], and [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] to discuss the risk of their event budget being overwhelmed.
• [Dark Archmage] explained that their Root Network- and Seraphina-certified purchase contract could not be broken without losing their deposit and damaging trust.
• [Zhong Lele] suggested that they could only hope Thorn Rats and temporary Dragonborn workers were limited in number.

Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop discovered that Ever-Changing Master Ye had delivered thousands of Thorn Rats to her Greenhouse, leaving her overwhelmed and desperate for a way to handle them. The chapter ended with the disguised nuns realizing that instructions needed to be extremely precise.

• Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop asked Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop to check her Greenhouse and deal with any rats that had escaped.
• Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop found four enormous cages packed with Thorn Rats outside the Greenhouse and told Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop that none had escaped inside.
• Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop logged in and saw Ever-Changing Master Ye arrive with four more cages of Thorn Rats carried by four Dragonborn.
• Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop asked Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop to count the live rats, then logged off in despair and left him in charge.
• Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop warned the group chat that the Greenhouse held at least eight thousand Thorn Rats, while three disguised nuns concluded that wording had to be precise.

Zhong Lele and her friends decided to stay in the city and seek help only if their purchase-notice problem became unmanageable. Meanwhile, [Ever-Changing Master Ye] expanded his rat-catching operation, while [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] and [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] confronted the flaw in her notice and the risk of bankruptcy.

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] logged off to stay in touch with the others, while [Zhong Lele] said they should ask for help on the forums if necessary without letting Ed or the other NPCs find out.
• [Ever-Changing Master Ye] paid [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] for counting the rats, then hired workers and resumed making rat-catching poles.
• The Great Prospects General Store explained that few Dragonborn workers remained available, so [Ever-Changing Master Ye] could hire only two more, bringing his team to seven.
• [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] logged back in and told [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] that excess rat purchases and the notice's rules could drive her group bankrupt.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] criticized the notice's wording before learning his sister had written it, then offered her a family loan if [Ever-Changing Master Ye] bankrupted her group and was chased from the Greenhouse by deadwood vines.

[Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] realized that the flood of cheap frozen fish could become a major problem when spring arrived, and traveled to the fishing camp near Fir City to propose buying some. The chapter ended with [Good Times Don't Last] asking what he needed.

• [Not Bad Tasting] served [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] fish and explained that fishing addicts had found a productive spot, leaving the market flooded with cheap fish.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] recognized that the frozen fish might become a surplus like the Thorn Rats once spring thawed them.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] contacted [Gu Gugu], who sent him the fishing spot's location near Fir City.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] traveled north, briefly rode in a freight wagon, and continued on foot to the supply station.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] saw the overflowing fish warehouse and asked [Good Times Don't Last] whether he could buy frozen fish cheaply.

[Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] negotiated a bulk price for frozen fish and proposed using them to create a Rat King in Fir City, turning the surplus rats into a threat while limiting their spread. The plan’s creators agreed it could work, and he ended by asking them for a favor in return.

• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] negotiated with [Good Times Don't Last] for a low price on bulk frozen fish without delivery.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] heard [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop]'s pleas about the growing number of rats and asked to speak with the plan’s creators.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] told [Zhong Lele], [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], and [Dark Archmage] that he could not recover their losses but could help make their investment count.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] proposed feeding frozen fish to the rats in the Holy Tree Garden to create a Rat King inside the chapel’s walled grounds.
• [Dark Archmage] asked where they could get enough animal carcasses, and [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] said he could obtain cheap frozen fish.
• [Zhong Lele] agreed to reimburse him for the fish, and [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] asked the group to help him with a favor.

Ever-Changing Master Ye expanded his rat-catching operation, paid his Dragonborn workers, and made a fortune before settling his debts. As the final day of Royal Calendar Year 908 ended, Zhong Lele and her companions prepared to launch their own plan for the following night.

• Ever-Changing Master Ye supervised six Dragonborn catching Thorn Rats and promised them a meal, while Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop paid promptly and said the rats now had somewhere good to go.
• At the small church in Fir City, Pond Fish and Old Abyss, Zhong Lele, and Dark Archmage agreed to carry out their plan in the latter half of the night after the purchase notice expired.
• The rat-catching brigade's output declined as rats fled cleared areas and alerted others, but Ever-Changing Master Ye still earned four gold, eighty silver, and three copper in his final settlement.
• Ever-Changing Master Ye showed Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop that he had earned twenty-four gold, fifteen silver, and ninety-six copper over sixty hours by catching 80,532 Thorn Rats.
• Ever-Changing Master Ye paid the Dragonborn their wages and bonuses, repaid Ed's cyber loan, and kept twenty gold coins plus some silver and copper.
• Ever-Changing Master Ye returned to his little house, picked up his old fishing rod, and headed for Fir City's popular suburban wild-fishing spot.

Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop brought Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop along to observe a plan to drop Thorn Rats and frozen fish into Fir City and create two Rat Kings. The convoy split up above the city, with one Rat King bound for the chapel and the other for the cathedral.

• Nuolun met Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop and Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop at the Adventurers' Guild and agreed to cooperate with their mission.
• The siblings learned that Soldier Bees carried cages of Thorn Rats and frozen fish, while Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop explained that she had helped prepare the warm corridor and planted Deadwood Vine guards around the Stability Anchors.
• Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop and Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop boarded Soldier Bees and joined the player convoy, which rendezvoused with a second team on the way to Fir City.
• The players divided the surviving rats and frozen fish into two loads to keep either Rat King from becoming too large and endangering civilians.
• The convoy split above Fir City to drop the loads at the chapel and cathedral; Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop revealed that the Rat Kings were codenamed Little Boy and Fat Man.

At the small church, [Zhong Lele], [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], and [Dark Archmage] began a pheromone-based plan as Enzo planted a signal near Fir City's cathedral. Guided by Soldier Bees, [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] led a flying squadron that showered the cathedral with Thorn Rats and frozen fish, leaving its priests stunned by the bombardment.

• [Zhong Lele], [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], and [Dark Archmage] gathered for the night shift and threw pheromone signal sticks into the Holy Tree Garden.
• Enzo snapped a signal stick and threw it toward the base of Fir City's cathedral wall.
• [Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop] directed the flying squadron to follow the Soldier Bees' scent signals toward the churches.
• The first squadron dropped hundreds of Thorn Rats onto and around the cathedral, waking its priests with the impacts.
• The second squadron dropped frozen fish onto the cathedral, and the priests saw rats scurrying through the snow as more objects fell from the sky.

A starving Thorn Rat ate frozen fish and mutated into the Rat King, a rolling mass of rats that advanced on the cathedral. The clergy discovered it had entered the building and united to attack as it rolled toward them.

• A Thorn Rat fed on fallen frozen fish, grew barbed spikes, and began absorbing other Thorn Rats into its body.
• The growing Rat King became a rolling sphere, devoured nearby fish and anything in its path, and headed toward the cathedral’s wooden door.
• The cathedral clergy chose a fast runner to alert Lord Antiya Lisi and the nearest barracks, but he found the Rat King already inside.
• A cleric shot wooden arrows at the Rat King, whose rats chewed up the arrows and their dead companions as it continued advancing.
• The clergy set aside their divisions and unleashed every attack they could muster against the Rat King.

The Rat King devastated the cathedral while a second one formed at the small church, where three players watched their plan unfold and prepared to take the orphans amid the confusion. Antiya Lisi mobilized the knight orders and headed toward the disturbance, convinced rebels were behind it.

• The Rat King's attack overwhelmed the cathedral clerics, who retreated while trying to alert the night-watch cleric.
• At the small church, Zhong Lele, Pond Fish and Old Abyss, and Dark Archmage watched a Rat King form and discussed the cost of their plan.
• The smaller Rat King devoured the frozen fish and felled a sacred tree in the Holy Tree Garden.
• Zhong Lele and Dark Archmage decided to let the disturbance grow so they could take the orphans amid the chaos, while Pond Fish and Old Abyss agreed to report the danger if needed.
• Antiya Lisi heard the commotion, ordered the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Orders of Knights to reinforce key locations, and set out to confront what he believed were rebels.

The Rat King tore through the cathedral and underground prison before Antiya Lisi killed it, while [Zhong Lele] and her companions prepared to smuggle the orphans out of the small church. The Soldier Bees answered their signal as the Holy Crusaders surrounded the church.

• The Rat King broke into the underground prison and devoured [That's Good Then] before Antiya Lisi stopped it and destroyed its body.
• [Howling Pothos] witnessed Antiya Lisi kill the Rat King, then fled when the archbishop marked him with a thorny root and Treant Hunters approached.
• [Zhong Lele] decided that she, [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], and [Dark Archmage] would evacuate the orphans that night.
• [Zhong Lele] snapped a signal stick to summon the Soldier Bees while [Dark Archmage] woke the orphans and [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] guarded the stairway.
• The Grand Knight Commander of the Holy Crusaders' Second Order of Knights surrounded the small church and saw the Rat King fighting the clerics.

Antiya Lisi discovered that the orphans and nuns at the chapel had been taken away by an invisible flying means during the attack, while Howard had mistakenly believed they were eaten by the Rat King. He reassigned the knights and ordered training against airborne creatures as he awaited reinforcements.

• Howard reported that the Rat King had killed the chapel’s nuns and orphans, and Antiya Lisi dismissed him from command for his failures.
• Antiya Lisi revealed that witnesses had seen people being pulled into the sky from the bell tower, showing that the rebels had used a flying means to take them away.
• Antiya Lisi explained that the cathedral and chapel attacks had caused limited damage and that the rebels had likely entered Fir City by air.
• Antiya Lisi placed Gorn in command of the Second and Third Orders of Knights and ordered training to shoot down airborne creatures.
• Alone in his study, Antiya Lisi wondered whether reinforcements would arrive soon.