Chapter Summaries

Ed questioned Duolin, a Church guard from the Holy City, and used his uncertainty about the deaths of five clerics and the Church’s appointment process to make him suspect trouble in White Wax Town. Duolin grew pale as he realized the provincial letter might have carried more authority than the Holy City’s appointment.

• Duolin claimed he was a Church guard sent from the Holy City to replace five clerics in White Wax Town, and named Yiden as someone who could confirm his identity.
• Ed recognized Yiden as one of the men involved in his predecessor’s horrific experiments and decided the cleric deserved to die.
• When Duolin protested being humiliated and demanded to show his documents, Ed offered to believe him if he answered three questions.
• Ed asked what had killed the five clerics; Duolin could only say they had been burned, so Ed claimed an evil dragon had killed them.
• Ed asked why Duolin had carried letters from both the Holy City and the province, leading Duolin to wonder whether the provincial letter had superseded the Holy City’s authority in White Wax Town.

Ed questioned Duolin about the Church’s appointments and whether he knew of human experiments in White Wax Town, then manipulated him into trusting a fabricated explanation. Duolin accepted Ed’s story that Yiden’s clergy had killed five righteous clerics, while Ed revealed that those dead clerics were the ones branded apostates.

• Ed asked Duolin whether he knew White Wax Town’s clergy were conducting human experiments, and Duolin insisted that he and the four others had only arrived the night before and knew nothing.
• Ed and Duolin swore oaths, after which Ed declared that Duolin had passed his test and urged him to reason out what had happened.
• Duolin concluded that Yiden and the other clergy had killed five clerics who uncovered their secret, and Ed confirmed his theory.
• Duolin asked why the five clerics had died from dragonfire, and Ed claimed that a black dragon named Nige Ganhuo had been hired by the apostates.
• Ed told Duolin that the dead, devout clerics were the people Yiden’s group called apostates.

Ed convinced Duolin that the supposed apostate was a fabrication used to conceal corruption within the Tree Worship Church, and revealed that the church’s leadership had authorized human experimentation. Duolin joined Ed’s proposed Second Holy See, while the fate of his four companions remained undecided.

• Duolin realized Yiden and the others had invented an apostate to keep outsiders away from their secret activities.
• Ed explained that he viewed all clerics connected to Yiden’s betrayal with suspicion, then told Duolin the corruption reached the Verdant Holy See’s highest authorities.
• Ed declared that the church could not be restored from within and invited Duolin to help establish the Second Holy See.
• Ed offered to let Duolin and his companions return if Duolin refused, and Duolin chose to join him instead.
• Ed freed Duolin from the vines and asked him to persuade his four sleeping companions, but Duolin warned he might not win them all over.

Ed persuaded Duolin and his four injured guards to join his cause of restoring the Tree Worship Church, then placed Duolin's squad under his command. As the villagers prepared to leave, players began eyeing the guards as potential teachers of new skills.

• Ed promised Duolin that his wounded companions could have their lost limbs restored and explained that they had not knowingly committed blasphemy.
• [Good Times Don't Last] mistook Duolin's release for an escape, but Ed clarified the situation and the players' outlines around the guards changed from red to green.
• [Howling Pothos] proposed that the players might learn skills from their new NPC allies, and [Zhongde] eagerly considered becoming the second player on the server to master one.
• Duolin convinced his bound companions to believe Ed's account and join the Second Holy See, despite their anger at the apostates.
• Duolin placed his guard squad under Ed's command, and Ed ordered them to help the villagers pack for their departure.

Ed arranged for Duolin and the four surrendered Holy See guards to prepare housing materials for the villagers, then return to White Wax Town and report a cover story that would test Yiden’s reaction. The exhausted villagers found their seed jars in the ruins, recalling Adrian’s promise that the elite warriors would handle their troubles in exchange for a seed.

• Duolin led his injured subordinates and the villagers in salvaging supplies from the ruins while Ed’s players stacked usable timber and received quest rewards.
• As the group traveled, Duolin asked Ed how they could avoid returning to Yiden without arousing suspicion, and Ed asked how long the guards could keep working or fighting.
• Ed told Duolin to spend eighteen hours preparing simple-house materials, then return to White Wax Town and tell Yiden the squad had found apostate villages and would remain near the Shattered Castle.
• Duolin understood that Yiden’s response would help reveal whether he was concealing anything from the Holy See.
• The exhausted villagers found their seed jars among the ruins and remembered Adrian’s assurance that the elite warriors would handle their troubles for a single seed.

Ed reattached the guards’ lost limbs, gained their help, and arranged for them to begin chopping trees. He then tried to persuade Seraphina to deepen their connection so he could relay information for players’ account transactions, and she asked how he wanted to proceed.

• Ed used prepared limbs and his ability to reattach the guards’ severed hands and feet, and Duolin thanked him.
• Ed sent Duolin and the guards to chop trees and gave Duolin a leaf that would let him call for Ed’s help.
• Ed reflected on how he had gained five subordinates and nearly a hundred civilian settlers in only a few days.
• Ed proposed a deeper connection with Seraphina, explaining that he could relay information to manage players’ account transfers and reduce her workload.
• Seraphina questioned why players trusted her contracts enough to accept paperless transactions, and Ed attributed that trust to her being a red dragon.
• Seraphina accepted Ed’s explanation and asked how he wanted to deepen their connection.

Ed proposed an information exchange network that would sync private trades while leaving Seraphina to handle major and external transactions, and she agreed to join. After granting his leaf limited access to her contract ability, Seraphina invited Ed to ask what he wanted to know.

• Ed explained that his network would let Soul Returners sync private trades while Seraphina continued to oversee major deals and transactions with outsiders.
• Seraphina agreed to join the network and accepted Ed's leaf.
• Ed asked Seraphina to grant the leaf access to her contract ability, and she permitted it to alter contracts to a limited extent.
• Ed's leaf gained access to Seraphina's contract domain but could not alter her filters or share her vision.
• Ed considered asking Seraphina about how the world classified strength, and she told him to go ahead with his question.

Ed learned from Seraphina that the Demonic Tide had shattered the old power system, leaving people to develop unique paths, and that dragons’ low tier matched humans’ high tier. After Seraphina left, Ed entered a hidden chamber in the ancient castle and found twenty human bodies hanging from iron hooks.

• Ed asked Seraphina to explain the world's power system, and she said most people had developed paths that could not be replicated after the Demonic Tide.
• Seraphina explained that humans and most other intelligent beings were divided into low, middle, high, and transcendent tiers, which had once been assessed through challenges.
• Seraphina told Ed that she was low tier for a dragon, a rank equivalent to high tier for humans, while Ed himself was low tier.
• Ed digested the knowledge and stolen life force, and his connection with Seraphina brought player trading online.
• After seeing Seraphina off, Ed entered a hidden chamber in the ancient castle and found twenty human bodies suspended from iron hooks.

Ed refined the wooden-house monster’s life force, grew stronger, and assigned his new attributes while the players gathered lumber and began building at New Upperstream Village. The chapter left Ed preparing for a future with more players as a new shoot emerged from a sign at the village ruins.

• Ed assembled 18.5 usable bodies, checked on the players and villagers, and began digesting the wooden-house monster’s remnant flesh.
• Duolin and the other veteran players felled trees, while [Shit Appraisal Master] led a six-hoofbeast cart piled with lumber back toward the castle.
• [Good Times Don't Last] planted a sign pointing toward New Upperstream Village, and a new shoot emerged from a crack in it.
• Ed finished refining the monster’s life force, gained power, and learned that each level granted five base attribute points and two special attribute points.
• Ed put his ten new base points into will and his two special points into psionic energy.

Ed inspected the castle and learned that [Dark Archmage] had helped the villagers build tents, while Yiden deciphered the archbishop’s hidden orders to recruit the five Pure Ones into the experiments. Yiden waited for the guards to return, unaware of what had happened to them.

• Ed considered whether the discarded golem wreckage could be put to use and welcomed players bringing him materials and monsters for inspection.
• Ed decided to give Kaping more work and have him demonstrate loyalty to Bishop Adrian after his new home was built.
• Ed learned that [Dark Archmage] had supplied fabric for the villagers’ tents and resolved to build greater trust between himself and the players.
• Yiden discovered hidden writing in the archbishop’s letter instructing him to recruit some of the five Pure Ones into the experiments over the next year.
• Yiden wondered why the five guards had not returned from their patrol, then decided to wait safely inside the church.

The players discussed monetization and worked on documenting the game’s new content, then speculated about Ed Adrian’s origins and how he became both a bishop and a lord. Dark Archmage proposed a backstory explaining Ed’s inheritance and religious authority, and revealed that he sometimes wrote fanfiction.

• The players wondered whether the developers could pay them, since the game offered little to buy, and Howling Pothos asked for help compiling recordings, screenshots, and guide entries.
• Howling Pothos and the others questioned why Ed Adrian was both a lord and a bishop and why the surrounding region was called the Barony of Tur.
• Dark Archmage suggested Ed was a noble heir raised in a remote territory, later entrusted to a church, and inherited the barony after its ruling family died in the demonic tide.
• The players praised Dark Archmage’s theory and asked about his writing; he said he played games and sometimes wrote fanfiction.

Li Yu examined screenshots from World of Disorder, trying to understand how the game’s aberrant creatures were designed. He told his junior that the game exceeded its promotional claims, especially because players could smell things, leaving the junior determined to get access.

• Li Yu studied screenshots of the game’s plant-animal aberrations and wondered whether the cabin monster’s different design had a purpose.
• Li Yu’s junior spotted the screenshots, realized Li Yu had entered the test, and begged to try the game.
• Li Yu showed his junior that test access was bound to his personal identity and could not be transferred.
• Li Yu described the game’s graphics, freedom, and story responsiveness, then explained that players could smell things in the game.
• Li Yu’s junior vowed to get access, even if he had to wait two years.

Li Yu told his advisor about World of Disorder’s unusually realistic immersion, scent system, and intelligent NPCs, prompting the professor to investigate the game’s official website. The professor found the game’s detailed bestiary unsettling and noticed that its biological hybrids seemed to follow consistent principles.

• Li Yu remembered how other players had obtained beta access, then left his junior without telling him that an invitation might arrive soon.
• Li Yu described World of Disorder’s immersion, realistic smell system, and lifelike NPCs to his advisor, who asked him to send the game’s website.
• Li Yu sent the website, and his advisor began exploring it while waiting for a university group meeting.
• Howling Pothos updated the official website’s compendium with new monsters and NPCs, including the Angler Tree, which Dark Archmage explained was named for its resemblance to an anglerfish.
• Li Yu’s advisor examined the compendium and concluded that the game’s biological hybrids appeared to follow underlying principles, including the Vine Sheep’s vine-replaced wool.

Ed organized the transport of timber and prepared to bring more players into World of Disorder, while Seraphina offered to arrange a Dragonborn construction crew. The chapter ended with Ed opening the Soul Webway to connect the two worlds.

• An old professor studied Li Yu’s screenshots and concluded that the fused creatures reflected a process of survival and adaptation after the Demonic Tide.
• Ed oversaw a vine net that caught logs floating downriver, making it easier to transport timber from the upper reaches.
• Seraphina offered Ed a Dragonborn construction crew, but Ed declined and said he would ask for help if his own workers did a poor job.
• Ed drew ten new player IDs and sent the winners test activation notices, hoping their activity would help spread interest in the game.
• The next morning, Ed completed his mysterious movements and opened the Soul Webway after twenty bodies were laid out in the castle hall.

Ed introduced new quests for the experienced players, including rebuilding Upperstream Village and delivering a damaged golem. He recruited [Zhongde] to oversee the village reconstruction, leaving him with a special contractor quest.

• [Zhongde], [Howling Pothos], and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] discussed the growing number of new players and speculated that the developers were getting desperate.
• Ed finished his opening speech, and the experienced players received quests to sort timber, rebuild Upperstream Village, and transport a damaged golem.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] persuaded [Good Times Don't Last] to accept the golem delivery quest so they could trade for ironware in Dragonborn Village.
• Ed approached [Zhongde] and asked him to oversee the reconstruction of Upperstream Village because of his construction skills.
• [Zhongde] accepted the special contractor quest, which promised a tree seed from each villager and increased trust.

[Zhongde] accepted a hidden quest to plan Upperstream Village’s reconstruction and recruited five new players for his construction crew. Meanwhile, [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] lost their borrowed hoofbeasts but decided to continue their delivery run with the disabled beast and the cargo cart.

• [Zhongde] accepted Ed’s quest to rebuild Upperstream Village and promised to deliver the project on schedule.
• [Zhongde] recruited five new players, including [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti], and planned to survey the site and draft a proposal before work began.
• Duolin’s team returned after logging for eighteen hours, and their departure meant the hoofbeasts pulling the players’ freight wagon would be taken away.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] watched the hundred-ton hauler’s engines get removed, then relied on the resurrected disabled hoofbeast to pull the cart.
• [Good Times Don't Last] questioned whether they should make another trip, but [Shit Appraisal Master] insisted they haul the remaining cargo rather than return empty-handed.

Ed sent Duolin and his guards back to White Wax Town to investigate the Tree Worship Church, but Duolin concealed their true purpose by telling Yiden they planned to stay at Shattered Castle. The chapter ended with Duolin asking Yiden to manage the diocese in their absence.

• Ed told Duolin there was no need to investigate the church’s underground experiments yet and sent the team back to White Wax Town.
• Duolin and the guards found the town strangely empty and returned to the church, where Yiden greeted them with concern.
• Yiden noticed their damaged robes and asked whether they had encountered the escaped apostate.
• Duolin claimed they had visited local villages and Dragonborn Village, then been injured by an alchemical golem at Shattered Castle.
• Duolin told Yiden that the team planned to stay at the castle and asked him to handle the diocese.

Duolin appointed Yiden acting bishop of White Wax Town and took supplies for his expedition to the old castle. After leaving, Duolin told his guards they needed to buy Bishop Adrian time by delaying discovery of the Second Holy See, while Yiden ordered the church’s experiments to continue.

• Yiden hesitated over Duolin’s offer of authority, unsure whether the new bishop was testing him.
• Duolin named Yiden acting bishop until the expedition returned and ordered the storeroom opened.
• Duolin took Tree Worship Church robes for his guards and set out with them for the old castle.
• Outside the church, Duolin warned Aoda that Yiden could be dangerous and said their mission was to delay discovery of the Second Holy See for Bishop Adrian.
• Yiden dropped his friendly act, told the local priest to address him as Your Excellency, and ordered the experiments to continue.

[Dawn Ah] brought a living "Plum Blossom" Deer to Ed to obtain activation codes for inviting two people, then joined [Howling Pothos] to see his growing Deadwood Vine. The chapter left [Dawn Ah] planning to gather five more living aberrations to complete the offering quest.

• [Dawn Ah] captured a "Plum Blossom" Deer and a string of paralyzed Thorn Rats, then told [Howling Pothos] how he had caught them.
• [Howling Pothos] explained that he was raising a baby Deadwood Vine and asked to buy the rats as feed; [Dawn Ah] gave them to him and asked to see the vine.
• [Howling Pothos] advised [Dawn Ah] on how to ask Ed for targeted Soul Summoning and warned him that redemption codes would become harder to obtain.
• [Dawn Ah] offered the still-living deer to Ed, who set a requirement of six living medium-sized aberrations in exchange for two closed beta activation codes.
• [Dawn Ah] accepted the quest and reunited with [Howling Pothos] at the protected tree hollow.

[Dawn Ah] examined [Howling Pothos]'s unusually docile Deadwood Vine while players organized timber work and a supply run for saw blades. In Dragonborn Village, [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] discussed their dwindling funds as they prepared to buy iron goods.

• [Howling Pothos] told [Dawn Ah] that its fed Deadwood Vine rarely hunted and showed little attachment to the hollow it lived in.
• [Dawn Ah] recorded the observations for the bestiary and planned to consult his junior or advisor.
• [Zhongde] sent [Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti] to Dragonborn Village to find [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] and buy saw blades or substitutes.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] negotiated with a half-dragon smith over a refined iron spearhead and turned off their translation feature to discuss their finances privately.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] pressed [Good Times Don't Last] to say how much money they had left and how much they could invest.