Chapter Summaries

Li Wei woke chained to a sacrificial table in a cultist’s lair, only to be rescued by an Inquisitor’s soldiers. The Inquisitor deemed Li Wei contaminated and raised his gun to execute him.

• Li Wei woke in an iron chamber, chained to a table as a purple-skinned cultist prepared to open his skull for the Star God.
• Li Wei pleaded for his life, but the cultist dismissed his offers and approached with a buzzing drill.
• An explosion blasted open the chamber door and hurled the cultist into a wall.
• Armored soldiers entered and identified Li Wei as a surviving target with faint Warp readings.
• The Inquisitor judged Li Wei polluted by his proximity to a heretic and aimed his pistol at Li Wei’s head.

Li Wei escaped execution after a blind psyker found that he appeared as a void beyond perception. Inquisitor Gregor designated him Void-1 and took him into the Underhive to investigate a ghostly threat.

• A blind psyker told Inquisitor Gregor that Li Wei was an empty, cold void that devoured heat and perception.
• Gregor stopped the execution, released Li Wei, and named him a temporary Inquisition asset called Void-1.
• The soldiers gave Li Wei a las pistol and warned him to stay at the back and keep his weapon lowered.
• Gregor led the group toward the Underhive to investigate a ghostly presence, and Li Wei followed through the immense Hive City.

Li Wei marched with Inquisitor Gregor’s squad to a sealed, abandoned energy hub, where a blind Psyker warned of an ancient hunger behind the bulkhead. Gregor sent Li Wei into the darkness alone because his lack of psychic presence would keep its inhabitants from waking.

• Li Wei struggled through the silent march while the Stormtroopers kept their distance and warned him about mishandling his Las Pistol.
• Inquisitor Gregor stopped the squad at a massive bulkhead, where the blind Psyker convulsed and warned that something ancient slept beyond it.
• Gregor opened the bulkhead and explained that psychic beings would alert the creatures inside, while Li Wei was a blind spot to them.
• Gregor ordered Li Wei to walk into the darkness and threatened him with his Bolter if he turned back.
• Li Wei entered the pitch-black energy hub with his Las Pistol, leaving the squad behind.

Li Wei discovered that his presence suppressed Warp entities and destroyed one that attacked him in the sealed corridor. Following Inquisitor Gregor’s orders, he reached a machine shrine and found a dead Tech-Priest at the cogitator array, where he was meant to insert a data-slate.

• Li Wei sensed a Warp Entity in the darkness, and it lunged at him.
• Li Wei’s anti-Warp field dissolved the entity, and he realized it feared his presence.
• Inquisitor Gregor ordered Li Wei to proceed to the green light and insert his data-slate into the cogitator array, warning him about physical defenses.
• Li Wei reached the shrine and found a mummified Tech-Priest wired to the console beneath a broken gear symbol.
• Li Wei looked from the dead Tech-Priest to the data-slate and suspected the mission was a deathly invitation.

Li Wei connected Gregor’s data-slate to an ancient terminal, triggering its defenses and waking three armed machines. With Gregor ordering him to survive until the transfer finished, Li Wei escaped down a maintenance chute and hid among corpses as the machines searched above.

• Li Wei pulled the Tech-Priest’s hands from the console, exposing the data port, and inserted Gregor’s data-slate.
• The terminal’s Machine Spirit resisted the intrusion before Gregor established a data link, but its defense protocol detected Li Wei and activated.
• Three Skitarii defense units advanced on Li Wei, and Gregor ordered him to stay alive for the three minutes needed to complete the transfer.
• Li Wei dove through a maintenance hatch as the machines fired, then fell down a waste chute onto a pile of corpses.
• Li Wei hid among the corpses while the machines searched for the chute entrance above.

Li Wei escaped an automaton’s search by hiding beneath a corpse, but Inquisitor Gregor’s Logic Virus Bomb caused the waste chute to collapse and sent him plunging into the depths. He awoke beside a sewage river with the data-slate Gregor wanted, alone in the dark Underhive, and limped onward.

• Li Wei hid beneath a cold corpse and avoided detection when an automaton searched the waste chute with thermal imaging.
• Gregor told Li Wei that his Logic Virus Bomb would destroy the console and collapse the floor, leaving the sewage system as Li Wei’s only possible escape route.
• Li Wei rolled toward the weakest part of the chute as the bomb detonated, and he fell into the depths with corpses and an automaton.
• Li Wei awoke beside a river of sewage, injured and cut off from reinforcements, but discovered he had caught the data-slate before the collapse.
• Li Wei used his broken Las Pistol as a crutch and limped into the darkness with the data-slate.

Li Wei encountered cannibal scavengers in the Bottom Hive and killed their leader when they attacked him. He looted Corpsestarch from the body and ate it to sustain himself, accepting that survival would require abandoning his old ethics.

• Li Wei followed firelight to a scavenger camp and discovered three mutants eating a corpse.
• The scavengers sensed Li Wei’s Pariah nature and attacked him despite his Las Pistol.
• Li Wei shot the long-armed scavenger dead, and the other two fled into the pipes.
• Li Wei searched the dead scavenger and found a ration of recycled Corpsestarch.
• Li Wei ate the Corpsestarch despite its revolting taste and felt warmth and energy return.

Li Wei reached a gang-guarded underground settlement but was refused entry because his Pariah aura repelled the guards. After repairing the settlement’s failing circulation pump with practical fixes, he earned their fearful respect and was allowed inside to seek a doctor.

• Li Wei approached the settlement checkpoint seeking supplies and medical help, but the guards turned him away because his aura made them feel sick.
• A circulation pump failed, and Li Wei recognized that a loose belt, clogged bearing, and blocked cooling vents were causing the problem.
• Li Wei entered the settlement after offering to repair the pump, then removed the obstructions, reset the tensioner, cleared debris, and restarted the machine.
• The crowd feared Li Wei after the pump began working without any rituals, and the guard leader let him enter to find a doctor.

Li Wei realized he had transmigrated into the brutal world of Warhammer 40,000 as a Pariah, an outcast who repelled the Warp. Though the revelation filled him with despair, witnessing a child’s abuse stirred his anger, and he resolved to survive by trading his Data-slate for money and equipment.

• The Bone-Saw Doctor stitched Li Wei’s thigh wound without anesthetic and sent him away from the illegal clinic.
• As Li Wei recovered near an abandoned ventilation shaft, memories returned and he recognized the Imperial Aquila and other signs of Warhammer 40,000.
• Li Wei concluded that he was an undocumented nobody and a Pariah, leaving him vulnerable to the Imperium and local gangs.
• Li Wei saw gang members break a child’s legs while the crowd watched and mutated creatures waited in the shadows.
• Li Wei drew strength from his anger, decided that being a Pariah could help him resist the Warp, and resolved to trade his Data-slate for the resources to survive.

Li Wei repaired a malfunctioning Auspex and traded it for batteries, antibiotics, and coins in the Rust Bazaar. A Guild boss noticed his skills and planned to recruit or pressure him, while Li Wei turned his attention to finding a buyer for the Data-slate he carried.

• Li Wei recognized that a vendor’s noisy Auspex was suffering from feedback and offered to take it in exchange for Corpsestarch.
• Li Wei adjusted the Auspex, silenced its alarm, and convinced the vendor to pay him two Las Pistol batteries, antibiotics, and fifty coins for it.
• Li Wei injected himself with antibiotics in an alley after leaving the bazaar.
• A Guild boss watched Li Wei and ordered his guards to investigate him and bring him in if he refused to cooperate.
• Li Wei realized his earnings were far short of what he needed to leave the Bottom Hive and began searching for a safe buyer for his Data-slate.

Li Wei tried to escape the Bottom Hive’s brutal pacification sweep, but a quake and poison-gas leak trapped him in the ruins. He survived by taking a breathing mask from a disabled Cyber-Mastiff and resolved to learn how to survive before attempting to reach Ultramar.

• Li Wei planned his escape from Atalos to Ultramar and calculated that he needed one hundred thousand credits.
• Palatine Enforcers launched a lethal Pacification Protocol in Sector C-19, and one Enforcer shot an elderly woman who failed to kneel quickly enough.
• Li Wei fled through the ventilation ducts, but Cyber-Mastiffs detected him; his Pariah nature confused one Mastiff and made it back away.
• An Enforcer cornered Li Wei, but a Hive City quake split a wall and released lethal poison gas, forcing the Enforcer to retreat.
• Li Wei took the Mastiff’s breathing mask, causing the mechanical dog to collapse, and survived while civilians died in the gas and the district crumbled.
• Li Wei watched the destruction and concluded that he first needed to learn how to survive in the Bottom Hive before he could reach Ultramar.

Li Wei discovered that his Pariah aura destroyed Warp entities and used it to save Barke and the surviving Iron Skull Gang members from the ghosts. He recruited them as armed guards and led them through the toxic ruins toward the upper-level safe zone.

• Li Wei watched a Warp entity kill a gang member, then saw it dissolve when it entered his one-meter radius.
• Li Wei approached the surviving gang members, driving away the invisible entities attacking them and creating a safe area around himself.
• Li Wei convinced Barke that his presence could protect the group and proposed they exchange guards and weapons for safety.
• Barke agreed and gave Li Wei the dead man's Autogun as a deposit.
• Li Wei ordered the survivors to stay within three meters of him and led them toward the upper levels.

Li Wei escaped the poisonous fog and ghosts with Buck and his lackeys, then used his Pariah aura to stop them from taking his gun and possessions. After reaching the Upper Hive, he left them behind and resolved to sell the Inquisition secrets stored on his USB drive.

• Li Wei bypassed the freight elevator’s locked door by cutting its power wire, and he and the three lackeys rode up to the Upper Hive.
• Once the ghosts were sealed outside, Buck and his lackeys surrounded Li Wei and demanded his Autogun and supposed machine-controlling treasure.
• Li Wei removed his gas mask and unleashed his full Pariah aura, incapacitating the lackeys and forcing Buck to beg for mercy.
• The elevator reached the Upper Hive transfer station, and Li Wei warned the men to keep quiet before leaving them behind.
• Li Wei rested in an empty corner, felt the strain of unleashing his aura, and decided to sell the secrets on his USB drive to heretics or greedy guild bosses.

Li Wei tried to sell an Inquisition Data-slate in Atalos Hive City and discovered it contained evidence of a Genestealer infection among the upper noble district. After the scrap shop owner tried to kill him, Li Wei forced him to reveal a dangerous buyer and decided to pursue a deal to escape the planet.

• Li Wei entered Broken Tooth Jack's Scrap Shop to sell his Inquisition-marked Data-slate.
• The shop owner examined the Data-slate and found secret evidence that Genestealers had infiltrated Atalos Hive City's upper noble district.
• The owner tried to kill Li Wei for the information, but Li Wei overwhelmed him with his Soulless aura and threatened him with a screwdriver.
• The shop owner told Li Wei that Valorian at the Gilded Rose club would buy the intelligence.
• Li Wei took the owner's money and left, deciding to seek out Valorian for a chance to escape the planet.

Li Wei bought a new disguise and bribed his way through a checkpoint into the Upper Hive. He reached the Gilded Rose club, carrying a Data-slate whose secrets could threaten Overseer Valorian.

• Li Wei spent eight hundred coins on clothes and accessories that made him look like a gray-zone courier or private detective.
• Li Wei used Overseer Valorian’s name, two Throne Gelt coins, and his Pariah aura to get past the Commercial VIP Passage guards.
• Li Wei rode a luxurious elevator into the Upper Hive and saw its opulent pleasure district.
• Li Wei followed the black market owner’s directions to the Gilded Rose and approached its guarded entrance with the Data-slate hidden against his chest.

Li Wei entered the Gilded Rose to meet Chief Steward Valorian with intelligence about the noble district’s Genestealer infection. After discovering signs of a cult and confronting its Hybrid security chief, Gore, Li Wei was escorted to Valorian’s top-floor office.

• Li Wei bribed the Gilded Rose attendant to summon Chief Steward Valorian, claiming he had important information about family health.
• Li Wei observed the guests’ synchronized behavior, strange appearance, and vacant fanaticism, and suspected the hall was a Genestealer cult den.
• Gore, a Hybrid security chief, confronted Li Wei and questioned what he was after sensing that Li Wei disrupted the Broodmind.
• Li Wei claimed he carried something Valorian or the cult wanted, and Gore received instructions to let him meet the chief steward.
• Gore escorted Li Wei into the private elevator, warning him not to try anything as they headed to the top-floor office.

Li Wei met Master of Works Valorian, a Genestealer cult leader who wanted to use an Inquisition data slate to spark a civil war. Valorian hired Li Wei to deliver it to the planetary governor’s illegitimate daughter in exchange for passage to Ultramar, and Li Wei left after discovering the Genestealer Patriarch hiding nearby.

• Valorian dismissed Gore and invited Li Wei to discuss the Inquisition data slate.
• Valorian revealed that he called the Genestealers the Children of the Stars and planned to use the slate to make the Inquisition purge his rivals.
• Valorian asked Li Wei to deliver the slate to the planetary governor’s illegitimate daughter, offering him a transit pass and a route to Ultramar.
• Li Wei accepted the job but warned Valorian about the creature watching him behind a painting.
• The Genestealer Patriarch emerged from behind the painting, and Li Wei fled to the elevator, then recognized it as a pureblood.

After realizing Valorian had discovered his plan to escape by recovering Li Wei’s Auspex browsing history, Li Wei decided to use his Pariah abilities to win Aurelia’s trust and secure a way off Atalos. He arrived at her Purification Courtyard with the Inquisition data and hinted that her home held hidden enemies, prompting the gates to open.

• Li Wei traced Valorian’s knowledge of Ultramar to the search history on the Auspex that Valorian’s men had recovered.
• Li Wei concluded Valorian planned to use Aurelia and the data set to trigger conflict in the Upper Hive, and resolved not to follow that scheme blindly.
• Li Wei traveled to the Seventh Purification Courtyard and decided to offer Aurelia his ability to detect Genestealer spies and other hidden threats.
• Aurelia’s guards aimed lasguns at Li Wei, but he warned her that her home had cockroaches, and the gates began to open.

Li Wei exposed Aurelia van Atalos's personal maid as a Genestealer Hybrid and handed her evidence of a larger infestation. Aurelia revealed that Valorian's promised starport ticket was fake and offered Li Wei a real one if he helped her at her father's family dinner that night.

• Li Wei entered Aurelia van Atalos's estate and explained that his presence could expose hidden Genestealer Hybrids.
• Li Wei approached Aurelia's maid, whose connection to the Broodmind failed and who attacked him with a dagger.
• Aurelia shot the Hybrid dead, and Li Wei explained that the infestation extended beyond one maid.
• Li Wei gave Aurelia Valorian's Data-slate and proposed helping her purge the Hybrids in exchange for passage off-world.
• Aurelia revealed the starport was locked down and Valorian's ticket was fake, then offered Li Wei a real ticket if he helped clean out the infestation at her father's family dinner.

Li Wei and Aurelia attended the Atalos family banquet, where Li Wei’s interference revealed that several powerful relatives were infected by the Broodmind. After Li Wei identified them, Aurelia stood to confront the gathered family and reached for her hidden Bolter.

• Aurelia dressed Li Wei in armor-lined formalwear and instructed him to signal her when he spotted an infected person.
• Aurelia and Li Wei arrived at the governor’s banquet, where Valerius mocked them and Governor Tiberius ordered Aurelia to take her seat.
• Li Wei observed Isabella briefly lose her connection to the Broodmind, then noticed her and two nearby relatives react to him with hostile vigilance.
• Li Wei tapped his wine glass three times and quietly identified Isabella, his uncle, and a military officer as infected.
• Aurelia raised a toast to the family’s prosperity and the parasites’ deaths as she reached for a Bolter beneath the table.