Chapter Summaries

Li Wei, Katie, and the old man fought through possessed Dolls at the silver smelter, then Li Wei found records revealing that a priest and foreman had forced workers to cast a divine statue through murder. The final impression in the records identified it as a defective construct, leaving the statue’s nature unresolved.

• Li Wei used three gun platforms to destroy the attacking Dolls while he and Katie fought off those that bypassed the gunfire, and the old man helped with his hunting gun.
• After the last Doll fell, Li Wei led Katie and the old man to the factory office to search its records.
• Li Wei found entries describing how a priest’s demands led the foreman to become fanatical and force workers to cast a divine statue.
• The records recounted the foreman killing workers and the workers’ growing suspicion that the statue was a curse rather than the Holy Lord.
• Li Wei detected an indented message on a blank sheet identifying the statue as a defective construct.

Li Wei, Katie, and the old man followed a mysterious shadow into the mine, where the darkness gave way to a strange meadow and a rabbit that transformed into a monster. The rabbit attacked them, and Li Wei aimed his Persuader at it.

• Li Wei read the work journal and learned that miners had been forced to build a Divine Body using human sacrifices.
• A shadow fled through a door, and Katie rushed after it until Li Wei stopped her and warned her to be cautious.
• Li Wei, Katie, and the old man followed tiny footprints into a huge mine, which the old man recognized as the route to the Church.
• The Gas Lamp went out, and the group found themselves in a sunny meadow that felt like real grass.
• A giant White Rabbit blamed them for making it late to see the Queen, transformed into a clawed monster, and lunged at them as Li Wei aimed his Persuader.

Li Wei, Katie, and the old hunter defeated a monstrous rabbit in the mine and found a drawing suggesting that its creatures came from a picture book. They continued following Alice’s footprints, questioned a giant pigeon about her, and ended the chapter confronting a huge snake.

• Li Wei pushed Katie into the giant rabbit’s attack, and Katie injured it while the old hunter and Li Wei fired at it.
• Li Wei set the rabbit’s fur on fire, then he and the old hunter killed it with gunfire after it lunged at Katie again.
• Li Wei found a drawing describing the rabbit and suspected it was a character profile created by the rider’s sister; he pocketed it and continued with Katie and the old man.
• A giant talking pigeon accused them of wanting to eat its eggs, then identified Alice as a girl who had eaten eggs and warned that a snake was returning.
• Li Wei used a flare round to expose the enormous snake, then ordered Katie to attack it.

Li Wei, Katie, and the old man followed Miss Dun’s trail through the mine and found sketches suggesting she planned a dark picture-book story about Alice and monstrous animals. They encountered a murderous Duck Monster, and Li Wei prepared to kill it.

• Katie struck down the Serpent Monster after a gunshot wounded its tail, and Li Wei collected another of Miss Dun’s sketches.
• Li Wei theorized that Miss Dun had gone into the mountains to create a picture book for income and that Alice might be its protagonist.
• The group followed tiny footprints deeper into the mine until they heard someone crying.
• Katie approached a white Duck Monster and reassured it, but it revealed its monstrous jaws and attacked her.
• Li Wei shot the Duck Monster and raised the Punisher to finish it off.

Li Wei and his companions reached a silver Church bearing the All-Seeing Eye and discovered a huge tentacled statue. Alice appeared before them but was pulled into the statue’s emblem as it awakened and announced that the show was beginning.

• Alice fled from the pigeon, snake, and duck in a strange realm and reached a palace guarded by playing cards.
• Li Wei and his companions fought through bizarre monsters and followed their footprints to the silver Church.
• Li Wei found an enormous silver statue with an eight-pointed, tentacled head and the All-Seeing Eye carved into it.
• A beam of light appeared, revealing Alice to the group.
• Alice flickered and was sucked into the statue’s emblem as the statue moved and declared that the show was about to begin.

Li Wei rejected the godlike statue’s demand that he uncover the past tragedy at Silver Valley and declared that he would focus on defeating it and rescuing Alice. He summoned his giant mechanical Doll to attack, and the system issued a notification as the battle began.

• The enormous Doll announced that the final act of its play had begun, and Li Wei recognized its overwhelming power.
• The statue urged Li Wei to investigate why the Priest had turned on his followers, but Li Wei refused to pursue the past.
• Li Wei loaded a strange bullet into the Persuader and used [Shifting Positions] to bring his mechanical Doll from outside the Mine.
• Li Wei declared that he wanted to kill the statue and take Alice back, and a system notification chimed.

Li Wei and Katie attacked the divine statue to rescue Alice, discovering that the goddess of Night’s blessing could harm it. They shattered the statue’s All-Seeing Eye, but Alice’s fate remained unresolved.

• Li Wei realized the statue’s Spirit Descent was recent and that the creatures he had killed had supplied its sacrifices.
• Li Wei brought Katie onto the Mecha Doll’s shoulder and ordered her to attack the statue’s All-Seeing Eye.
• The statue damaged the Mecha Doll as Li Wei drove it into close combat with the divine statue.
• Li Wei shot the statue’s head with a blessed Explosive Round, causing the creature to scream and release the Mecha Doll.
• Li Wei fired at the All-Seeing Eye, and Katie leaped in and smashed it, shattering the statue’s face.

Li Wei rescued Alice from the statue and escaped Death Valley as the mine collapsed, but he discovered a dark-red fragment in her soul and absorbed it into his ring. Back in town, Alice woke and called Li Wei her father, while Mr. East failed to recognize her at all.

• Li Wei and Katie rescued Alice from the statue and fled the collapsing mine with the old man on Li Wei's motorcycle.
• Li Wei detonated the mech, causing the mine entrance and mountainside to collapse as the fog over Death Valley cleared.
• Li Wei used [Soul Sight] to pull a dark-red fragment from Alice's soul, and his ring absorbed it, producing a [Soul Fragment +1] notification.
• The old man chose to stay in Death Valley and return to his home, while Li Wei and Katie brought the unconscious Alice back to town.
• Alice woke and called Li Wei her father, but when they returned to the inn, Mr. East did not recognize her as Alice.

After Alice was erased from the Dune Family’s memories, Li Wei took her home and received the new skill Actor’s Entrance as his quest reward. He tested how public perception shaped the skill’s creations and realized the power might be tied to a broader rule of the world.

• Li Wei found that the rider had come to investigate his sister’s suspicious death, while the Dune Family no longer remembered Alice, so he returned the paintings and took Alice home.
• Li Wei questioned Alice’s unknown origins and noticed her blue soul, then completed the quest “Overturn” and acquired Actor’s Entrance.
• Li Wei used Actor’s Entrance on a doll to create the Courtesan Killer as the public imagined him, then shot the attacker and watched it revert to a doll.
• Li Wei transformed another doll into a weak Velociraptor and concluded that the skill’s creations depended on public familiarity and belief in their strength.
• Li Wei realized that the Holy Lord Church’s methods might rely on the same perception-based power, but decided not to use Actor’s Entrance on himself because he did not know how the public saw him.

Li Wei decided to educate Alice at home during her primary-school years and sought advice on hiring a governess. Katie offered to ask her former governess, Mrs. Helen, to recommend someone suitable.

• Li Wei adopted Alice and decided to keep her close, while planning to teach her at home until middle-school age.
• Li Wei asked Katie for advice about hiring a governess for Alice.
• Katie warned Li Wei against governesses who were bitter, religiously fanatical, or excessively affectionate toward their pupils.
• Katie said her favorite governess, Mrs. Helen, had been strict and wise but had retired.
• Katie offered to ask Mrs. Helen to recommend a governess, and Li Wei agreed to leave it to her.

Adele Field traveled from St. France Monastery to Fog City to begin work as a governess for the noble Li Wei. After learning that her employer was the Thistle Knight, she arrived at his residence and met him, his ward Alice, and the maid Erin.

• Adele Field left St. France Monastery and traveled to Fog City to take a governess position arranged by Headmistress Helen.
• A servant collected Adele at the station and drove her to a residence marked with a skull emblem.
• The butler told Adele that she would work for Sir Li Wei, the Thistle Knight, and that her student was his ward, Alice.
• The butler showed Adele her room and explained the household’s schedule and arrangements.
• Adele followed the butler to meet Li Wei and saw him playing piano with Alice and Erin nearby.
• Li Wei stopped playing, introduced himself to Adele, and welcomed her.

Adele began working as Alice’s governess and settled into life in Li Wei’s household, where Li Wei asked her to report anything unusual about Alice. Later, art dealer West Wood sought Li Wei’s help with a disturbing painting, and Li Wei went to inspect it.

• Li Wei interviewed Adele, asked her to report any abnormal behavior from Alice, and hired her as governess for one hundred pounds a year.
• Adele found her work comfortable, spent time teaching Alice, and observed Erin’s workshop and Katie’s frequent visits.
• Li Wei enjoyed becoming closer to Alice as she called him Daddy and shared her lessons and paintings with him.
• West Wood approached Li Wei at the Golden Mead Club after Borent Bass referred him for help with a painting that caused nightmares, misfortune, and intense aversion.
• Li Wei agreed to visit West Wood’s gallery and inspect the painting.

Li Wei investigated a vivid, supernatural painting by T. Pickman, destroyed it and two similar paintings, then followed Wood to the home of the missing dealer Carney. The house stood dark and unlocked, and Wood identified Carney’s last painting as The Haunter of the Dark.

• Wood showed Li Wei the eerie painting in his locked storeroom, and Li Wei saw a rust-colored planet and an ancient presence that caused his nose to bleed.
• Li Wei learned that buyers of T. Pickman’s paintings had suffered mental problems or disappeared, and Wood said the artist lived on dangerous Glass Street in the Lower City.
• Li Wei burned Wood’s painting and, guided by Wood, destroyed the paintings belonging to two other troubled art dealers.
• Wood led Li Wei to the home of his missing friend Carney, where the door opened into a dark, silent house.
• Li Wei told Wood to find Inspector Lestrade and seal off the house, and Wood recalled that Carney’s last painting was called The Haunter of the Dark.

Li Wei led Alpha Squad into a house where everyone may have disappeared, warning the agents to avoid looking at a dangerous picture. He reconstructed a victim’s failed escape from the footprints and bloody marks, then headed with the squad into the sitting room to investigate.

• Military Intelligence Section Seven arrived, and Li Wei chose to enter the house with Alpha Squad while the rest guarded the perimeter.
• Prophet, Rat, and Sleuth described their limited supernatural abilities, and Li Wei warned them to look away immediately if they saw the picture.
• Li Wei explained that the missing picture was likely responsible for the disappearances and that finding it—not searching for survivors—was their mission.
• Sleuth reported that the house contained no detectable sounds from animals or insects, and Li Wei examined the footprints in the corridor.
• Li Wei deduced that a victim had fled the sitting room, reached the front door, and been dragged back after leaving bloody fingerprints on the doorframe.
• Li Wei told Alpha Squad that crime-scene analysis was a learned skill, then led them toward the sitting room.

Li Wei and his team investigate a ruined house and discover a monster connected to a dangerous painting. He destroys the painting and kills the monster, but finds his three companions unconscious afterward.

• Li Wei reconstructs how debt collectors entered the house, released a monster in the study, and were killed along with the household.
• The Prophet's ability activates painfully, and she tries to claw out her eyes after sensing the painting's influence.
• A monster bursts from the study and reaches for the Prophet, but Li Wei shoots its arms back into the darkness.
• Li Wei turns on the study lights, spots the monster's Print, and shoots the canvas, setting it on fire and opening a black hole.
• Li Wei shoots the monster and watches it get pulled into the black hole, then discovers the agent, Rat, and the Prophet unconscious.

After learning that a mysterious painter’s paintings were affecting people and that the Iron Blade Gang was protecting him, Li Wei devised a plan to target the gang through a redevelopment of Glass Street. He presented the proposal to the old butler at Military Intelligence Section Seven.

• The doctor told Li Wei that the prophet and the other two investigators had suffered psychological trauma after encountering a monster, while Li Wei admitted he was used to such creatures.
• Li Wei visited Inspector Lestrade, then questioned a police informant at the Turkey Head about Glass Street and learned that the Iron Blade Gang protected a painter whose paintings could enthrall people.
• The informant said the Iron Blade Gang had driven out most locals, taken territory from the Crocodile Gang, and was reportedly responsible for its boss’s disappearance.
• At home, Li Wei heard the butler describe his childhood near Glass Street and began considering a way to address the gang problem.
• Li Wei told the old butler that redeveloping Glass Street could improve public safety, boost the Royal Family’s reputation, and help him reach the painter.
• Li Wei presented his completed proposal, titled the “Anti-Gang and Crime-Elimination Special Plan,” to the old butler.

Li Wei secured approval for a dawn operation to dismantle Fog City’s gangs, using the crackdown to seize their properties and search for stolen paintings linked to the painter Cristo. From an airship, he coordinated police and disguised Military Intelligence agents as the sweep began.

• Li Wei justified his motion by appealing to his new royal title, the police’s role, and the profits available from the gangs’ seized properties.
• After half a month, Li Wei obtained Parliament’s approval and the Queen’s permission while gathering intelligence on the Iron Blade Gang, the Crocodile Gang, and Cristo.
• Li Wei borrowed a military airship and used Soul Sight to locate Cristo among the crowded souls below.
• Li Wei explained the operation’s benefits to Inspector Lestrade as hundreds of officers and disguised agents assembled around Glass Street.
• Li Wei confirmed the teams were in position and ordered the operation to begin.

Li Wei directed a large police and Military Intelligence Section Seven raid against the Lower City gangs, then led Katie to the painter’s studio to seize its records. They encountered the Haunter of the Dark, which Katie unexpectedly seemed to hate, and Li Wei prepared to fight it.

• Li Wei used [Soul Sight] and [Death's Eye] to guide police raids across the Lower City, while Military Intelligence Section Seven agents dealt with gang strongholds.
• Li Wei landed near Glass Street, met Katie, and sent the agents to raid the Iron Blade Gang's headquarters for records of painting sales.
• Li Wei and Katie broke into the Printing Shop and subdued two guards outside the painter's studio.
• Li Wei and Katie entered the studio, where a Haunter of the Dark emerged from empty space as the painter continued working.
• Katie expressed disgust toward the monster, and Li Wei aimed his pistols at it to kill it.

Li Wei and Katie stopped the painter’s ritual by destroying his paintings and killing him, then discovered the last canvas depicted their fight in a way that seemed to affect reality. Li Wei burned the canvas, absorbed a soul fragment from the paintbrush, and prepared to wrap things up.

• Li Wei and Katie fought off repeated Haunters of the Dark while Li Wei searched for the source of the monsters.
• Li Wei and Katie burned the paintings, causing the monsters to vanish as an eerie presence began to gather.
• Li Wei shot the painter to stop his ritual, and the presence dissipated after the painter’s hand finally stopped painting.
• Katie found a canvas depicting the fight, and Li Wei noticed its image showed blood spatter inconsistent with what had happened.
• Li Wei burned the last painting, then used his Ring to extract a Soul Fragment from the paintbrush as it crumbled to dust.

After Li Wei’s crackdown dismantled the gangs in the Lower City, residents learned by radio that they could report the crimes committed against them and lined up at Police Stations. Li Wei recovered the dangerous paintings and claimed his quest rewards, then looked toward the Lower City as its redevelopment began.

• The Minotaur Tavern’s customers gathered around its radio and heard that the Empire had arrested or killed thousands of gang members in a crackdown proposed by Li Wei.
• The tavern owner explained that residents could report gang crimes, prompting people throughout the Lower City to line up at Police Stations and give statements.
• The authorities collected evidence against the gangs while nobles quietly disposed of gang members and properties tied to them, and Li Wei considered the consequences of the Royal Family reclaiming seized homes.
• Li Wei recovered the seven paintings that had been sold, including one taken from a noble household, and the affected noble was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
• Li Wei claimed his quest rewards, gaining lifespan, occult resistance, and an Art skill, while learning that the painter’s origins remained unknown.
• Li Wei watched the Lower City’s slums being demolished for redevelopment and reflected that he had at least done something good.