The Nether Research Squad is now open for business, which allows you send characters (Killia and other story characters excluded) to research other Netherworlds. As you complete battles, either via the dimensional portal or Item World, the party you sent out will be exploring these Netherworlds. They will be fighting enemies, finding items, capturing prisoners and even discovering new Netherworlds. Each one has a specific level attached to it, so it's best to either match it or exceed the level given.
A few more options, should you have already unlocked the Cheat Shop (which you should), open up, although it's nothing major. You can decrease the minimum CP down to 80 now, as well as have a few more options that aren't too important. Besides that, 15 new Quests have now appeared at the Quest Shop, four of which are related to unlocking monster classes.
You can find the free chests at the following locations:
- On top of the tent of the weapon shop
- On the path in between the big open area below the Cheat Shop and Memories/Data NPCs
- On the pathway past the Nether Research Squad NPC
Before any new area opens up for you to explore, there is an intruder in your Netherworld that needs to be found. You are looking for a yellow Prinny, who can be found just past the Nether Research Squad, and beyond the chest there. All of the maps in this area have the Netherworld Effect that will randomly spawn mushrooms at the end of each full turn. These mushrooms usually carry an ailment with them, and you can pick them up and toss them at enemies to inflict said ailments. Of course, the ailments that appear are completely random and you do have to be careful of the one beneficial buff, in the form of the Giant Mushroom, which you can use on your own characters.