Chapter Summaries

Li Wei visited Dr. Tester after learning he had made a discovery from studying the Alien Monsters’ technology. Dr. Tester revealed a powerful generator and an energy-storing mineral, and Li Wei left planning to discuss powering an Airship with it.

• Kia told Li Wei that Dr. Tester had made new discoveries from the monsters’ weapons and wanted to show him his invention.
• Li Wei traveled to the Great Salt Lake, where Dr. Tester demonstrated a generator that supplied the settlement with electricity using far less coal essence than steam power.
• Dr. Tester explained that the Alien Monsters had mined a mineral capable of storing enough electricity to power a Giant-Class Transport Mech for a year.
• Li Wei asked whether the generator could power an Airship, and Dr. Tester confirmed that it could provide more power while taking up less space.
• Li Wei decided to speak with someone about using the generator for an Airship.

Li Wei learned that Dr. Tester’s generator could provide a powerful new electrical system, then returned to Fog City to report its military potential. When the Royal Family asked him to investigate a nobleman who had abruptly become an advocate for electoral reform, Li Wei requested a meeting with him.

• Li Wei told the Old Butler that Dr. Tester’s compact generator could power heavier loads and might let Airships carry larger guns, reducing the Empire’s reliance on Land Cruisers.
• Li Wei checked on the Jet Engine project and arranged for Dr. Tester to build another generator for the research team to test.
• Li Wei learned that nobles from capitalist families were promoting elections as an alternative to the Queen’s bureaucratic appointments, and he suspected capitalists wanted control over political power.
• The Royal Family sent a loyal noble to investigate the reform movement, but he returned with radically changed beliefs and began fervently supporting elections.
• After the Old Butler described the case, Li Wei asked to meet the nobleman.

Li Wei visited Lord Clop after hearing that the lord had begun acting strangely and discovered a red, insect-like entity controlling his mind. He expelled it with [Reality Anchoring], and Lord Clop woke up with no memory of his behavior as Li Wei prepared to speak with him.

• Li Wei arrived at Lord Clop's home and learned from the servants and butler that Lord Clop planned to dismiss them and sell the house.
• Li Wei found Lord Clop arguing with his son about the people governing the Empire and challenged Lord Clop's reasoning.
• Lord Clop became enraged and tried to attack Li Wei with a fireplace poker, but his son and the butler restrained him.
• Li Wei used [Soul Sight] to identify an insect-like entity clinging to Lord Clop's brain, then used [Reality Anchoring] to make him vomit it up.
• Lord Clop fainted, then regained consciousness without remembering his strange behavior, and Li Wei asked to speak with him.

Li Wei and the Queen learned that a dead worm had influenced Lord Clop into joining a secret gathering, and Li Wei suspected the Royal Palace was protected from its effects. After proposing a trial zone to test the rebels’ political ideas, Li Wei set out to find the underground meeting place by having someone lead him there.

• Lord Clop told the Queen that a masked speaker had persuaded him to join a rebel gathering held in an underground banquet hall, and that he had remained under its influence until Li Wei removed a worm from him.
• Li Wei told the Queen the worm likely controlled Lord Clop’s mind and suggested the Royal Palace’s golden aura might prevent it from affecting the Queen and Louise.
• The Queen asked Li Wei about the rebels’ political proposals, and he argued that capitalists should not hold power and suggested testing their ideas in a special zone.
• The Queen agreed to consider Li Wei’s proposal and asked him to continue drawing Betty the Puppy.
• Li Wei decided to locate the secret gathering by getting someone to lead him there rather than searching for it himself.

A masked man met with a Robe Noble in a Steam Car and discussed their opposition to the Empire’s war and their effort to make the Queen listen to them. At a secret gathering, he discovered that Li Wei had joined the newcomers and was confronted by him.

• A masked man met a Robe Noble in a Steam Car, and the Robe Noble said Lord Clop had fallen ill after attending the previous gathering.
• The Robe Noble argued that the Empire should avoid war and give his group more influence, while the masked man challenged their claim to power and asked why they had not recruited the Thistle Knight.
• The masked man and the black-robed figure arrived at a secluded Manor, descended into a hidden hall, and joined the gathering of masked participants and newcomers.
• The masked man approached an unfamiliar newcomer who declined wine and asked whether anyone had tea.
• The masked man recognized the newcomer as Li Wei, who remarked on the gathering’s risqué character.

Li Wei watched a secretive banquet where a pink haze and insect-like creatures subdued the guests, then led Steam Mech Troopers in to arrest the organizers. He left the black-robed leader insisting the gathering was only a banquet as Li Wei ordered everyone taken away.

• A guest saw Li Wei at the banquet, then lost sight of him and struggled against the haze before succumbing to its effects.
• Li Wei watched the guests fall under the haze and saw insects crawl from the maids into their bodies.
• The black-robed man welcomed the newcomers and persuaded one to accept a mask and join the group.
• Steam Mech Troopers burst into the hall, and Li Wei ordered them to arrest everyone.
• The black-robed man protested that the gathering was a private banquet, but Li Wei ordered the soldiers to take them away.

Li Wei took the captured nobles toward the Royal Palace to test whether it repelled the worms controlling them. When Katie appeared, Levy’s worm burst his head, and Li Wei pinned the escaping creature for investigation.

• Li Wei’s convoy stopped near the Royal Palace when the captured nobles began resisting the approach and suffering severe pain.
• Li Wei examined the nobles with [Soul Sight] and saw worms trembling in their brains, then had Levy dragged out of the truck.
• As Li Wei forced Levy toward the Royal Palace, the worm in his brain showed intense fear, and Levy confessed that the group used a ritual, maids, fragrance, and photographs to recruit supporters.
• Li Wei noticed the worms flashing in response to questions about their plans and suspected they were linked to a controlling hive mind.
• Katie approached Li Wei, and Levy’s worm swelled until his head burst; Li Wei pinned the escaping worm to the ground with a knife.

Li Wei explained how worms were being used to infiltrate nobles and proposed that the Queen curb capitalist power by protecting workers and enforcing imperial authority. The Queen accepted his suggestions and left Li Wei to track down the worms’ source.

• Li Wei told the Queen and Princess Louise that worms controlled targeted nobles and that secret photographs could stir public outrage.
• Li Wei warned that the conspirators might sabotage the front lines, explaining that capitalists could risk the Empire’s stability for short-term profit.
• Li Wei proposed a worker-serving institution to mediate labor disputes and give the Royal Family leverage over capitalists.
• Princess Louise worried that capitalists might move their businesses abroad, but Li Wei argued that they would lose access to the Empire’s vast market.
• The Queen approved Li Wei’s proposals and asked him to continue investigating the case, so he returned to tracking down the worms’ source.

Li Wei traced the black-robed old man’s worm operation through records for purified water and unusual candles. He sent agents to investigate Tulip Avenue, nearby water stations, and the property’s ownership, then prepared to use the Eye of the Sky to watch the suspected residence.

• Li Wei concluded that the black-robed old man had dismissed most of his manor staff before using the worms, possibly because his supply of worms was limited.
• Li Wei found that milky-white candles at the manor had been delivered by a trading association from Tulip Avenue in the Lakeside District.
• Li Wei discovered that worm-infested maids had spent much of their time in an underground pool filled with purchased purified water.
• Military Intelligence Section Seven reported that a nearby water station had delivered large quantities of purified water to the manor every seven days.
• Li Wei ordered agents to investigate water stations near Tulip Avenue and discreetly check the suspected residence’s ownership and sale records.
• Li Wei told his agents to put the Eye of the Sky on standby so he could observe the residence directly.

Li Wei investigated the Calent Family’s Rare Plants Garden and discovered it might have been seized by rebels who opposed the Queen. He told Marquess Kalent and persuaded him to join an inspection, leaving them ready to confront the intruders.

• Li Wei’s agents failed to enter the Rare Plants Garden because it admitted only invited guests, so he decided to speak with Marquess Kalent directly.
• Li Wei visited Marquess Kalent and learned that the garden had been intended to open to the public for free.
• Li Wei explained that rebels might have taken over the garden and could be trying to frame the Calent Family.
• Marquess Kalent took a pistol and agreed to accompany Li Wei to inspect the garden.

Li Wei and Marquis Calent investigated the botanical garden, where staff controlled by brain worms tried to conceal a grotesque cultivation room. The strange fruits sent a signal deeper underground, and Marquis Calent decided to find out what they were.

• Li Wei brought Marquis Calent to the garden, where they found its gate guarded by an old man falsely claiming it was a private club.
• Li Wei’s agents restrained the worm-controlled old man, and he and Marquis Calent entered the garden while keeping their investigation quiet.
• Worm-controlled staff claimed the garden was closed for pipe repairs and said they had borrowed Marquis Calent’s name to keep troublesome nobles away.
• Marquis Calent ignored the staff’s warnings and opened a door to a hidden cultivation room filled with grotesque, flesh-like plants.
• The strange fruits glowed and sent light along their vines into the corridor, and Marquis Calent decided to investigate them.

Li Wei destroyed a flesh-like tree growing in the botanical garden and rescued Marquess Kalent, but the system revealed that the tree was only a node of a larger hive mind. Li Wei began investigating who had brought it to the garden and where the larger monster might be.

• Marquess Kalent and Li Wei discovered a huge tree of flesh in the botanical garden’s Water Room.
• When the tree released spores, Li Wei pulled Marquess Kalent to safety, threw an incendiary grenade into the room, and used [Reality Anchoring] to destroy the creature.
• Li Wei told Marquess Kalent the garden staff had likely been controlled by the plant and promised to investigate who had brought it there.
• After Marquess Kalent left, Li Wei saw that the system quest “Destroy the Node” had been completed and realized the tree belonged to a larger hive mind.
• Li Wei ordered the agents of Military Intelligence Section Seven to trace the tree’s origins.

Li Wei traced the garden's flesh-like sapling to the East Linden Trading Company, whose building had burned down a week earlier. After questioning a police officer and a rival trader, he learned that the company had operated mysteriously at night and may have been connected to a noble, and he asked what the noble's coat of arms looked like.

• Li Wei reviewed the mission rewards and considered how [Reality Anchoring] and his new mental resistance worked.
• Li Wei questioned the garden staff and learned that the East Linden Trading Company had delivered the sapling as a noble's donation before it was placed in the Water Room.
• Li Wei discovered that the East Linden Trading Company's building had burned down a week earlier and that its owner, Peter Aisgas, had left town the day before the fire.
• A nearby trader named the Wonderful Diamond owner told Li Wei that the company had only two employees and secretly moved goods at night.
• The Wonderful Diamond owner said he had seen the company's old man exchange carriage loads with a noble's carriage, and Li Wei asked him to describe its coat of arms.

Li Wei investigated the Rothfield Family’s suspected conspiracy and found that East Linden Trading Company had shipped canned food to the front under Lord Clop’s guarantee. He learned the shipment was nearing Delai Port and hurried to intercept it.

• Li Wei suspected the Rothfield Family had orchestrated the incidents for profit and sent a Doll Bird to watch their manor while agents pursued the East Linden Trading Company lead.
• Li Wei asked the Old Butler for the Empire’s front-line supply records and found East Linden Trading Company listed as a supplier.
• A Logistics Department official explained that Lord Clop had guaranteed East Linden Trading Company’s shipment of canned food.
• Li Wei learned the supplies were aboard the White Cloud Peak and nearly at Delai Port.
• Li Wei contacted the Eye of the Sky and ordered it to prepare to depart for Delai Port.

A freighter carrying strange, living snowlike material exploded at Delai Port, infecting Lieutenant Joseph and plunging the port into silence. Li Wei arrived a day later, burned the infestation, and prepared to rescue survivors and defend the port from the Kingdom of Kront.

• Lieutenant Joseph ordered his guns to fire on the speeding White Cloud Peak, which crashed into the docks and exploded, scattering strange snowlike creatures.
• The creatures burrowed into Lieutenant Joseph and other people at Delai Port, and the port fell silent.
• Li Wei reached Delai Port after losing contact with the port and the expeditionary force, and saw white material covering the burning ruins.
• Li Wei used incendiary rounds to burn the snowlike material while Lieutenant Horn took charge of the Eye of the Sky and watched for the Kingdom of Kront's army.
• Li Wei ordered Henry to bring the Steam Mech Troopers and flamethrowers down to search for survivors.

Li Wei investigated the ruined fortress and followed the surviving expeditionary troops into the underground tunnels. After meeting Commander French, he learned the survivors had no explanation for the attack, then received word that Kront troops were nearby.

• Li Wei and Henry entered the devastated fortress, where they found burned bodies and imperial soldiers transformed into monsters.
• Li Wei led the Steam Mech Troopers through the dark tunnels, fighting off several waves of monstrous attackers.
• Li Wei reached the survivors' underground headquarters and met Commander French, who described the attack and said he had ordered perimeter troops to retreat south.
• Lieutenant Horn reported Kront troops nearby, and Li Wei ordered him to search the southern forest for surviving imperial troops.

Li Wei and Commander French regrouped the surviving troops at Delai Port’s harbor fortress and prepared to defend it from Cront’s approaching army. Li Wei ordered Killer Corbett’s forces to feign a strong front line while he set a trap for the enemy.

• Li Wei used Soul Sight and a map to assess the monster-filled tunnels, then persuaded Commander French to withdraw to the harbor fortress and defend it.
• Li Wei and French returned to the fortress command center, where French explained that the White Cloud Peak had exploded before insect-like snowflakes infected soldiers and turned them into monsters.
• Lieutenant Horn reported that about twenty thousand soldiers had survived outside the tunnels under Killer Corbett’s command, while fewer than twenty thousand had joined French underground.
• Li Wei ordered Killer to dig trenches and make Cront’s army believe Delai Port was heavily defended, while maintaining radio silence and avoiding a direct fight.
• Li Wei told French that the situation resembled a war story about soldiers luring an enemy toward a buried monster, and said they would decide how the coming battle unfolded.

Kront launched its Sword Plan to retake Delai Port through the underground passages, believing the explosion there had weakened the Empire’s defenses. Its assault teams found the tunnels eerily quiet, then encountered a trapped passage and Imperial soldiers who had become grotesque, feral attackers.

• Lieutenant General Feng Ryan ordered the Kront army to activate the Sword Plan and tunnel into Delai Port.
• Kront’s Burrowing Beasts broke through into the underground passages, and the soldiers advanced without meeting resistance.
• An assault team heard gunfire and learned that strange Imperial soldiers were attacking Kront troops bare-handed.
• The assault team reached the sealed exit, where an explosion buried and killed its Burrowing Beast.
• Grotesque Imperial figures emerged from the shadows and charged the Kront soldiers, filling the tunnels with gunfire and screams.

Li Wei used the underground battle between Kront soldiers and monstrous troops to delay the invasion while preparing Delai Port’s defenses. With reinforcements still hours away, he entered a Knight-Class Mech and used Puppeteer to control it as the enemy prepared to attack.

• Li Wei ordered alarms sounded to recall Imperial soldiers to the fortress as the Kront army intensified its assault underground.
• Li Wei’s soldiers planted explosives at tunnel junctions and collapsed sections to divide the underground fighters into isolated groups.
• Li Wei learned reinforcements would arrive in six hours and asked Captain Barnes to send sailors, preferably those experienced with mecha, to Delai Port.
• Li Wei went to the armored battalion, found eighty-six mecha ready for combat, and chose a Knight-Class Mech.
• Li Wei activated Puppeteer inside the mech and prepared to lead the defense.

Lieutenant General von Ryan committed Kront’s enhanced beasts and Scarlet Company’s biological giant to retake Delai Port despite his concerns about the costly assault. Li Wei’s forces battered the charge with artillery, then opened fire on the giants as they reached the port defenses.

• Lieutenant General von Ryan agreed to gamble on an attack, and the Scarlet Company commander promised to raise Kront’s flag over Delai Port before sunset.
• The Scarlet Company commander entered an armored giant and synchronized with it, while von Ryan ordered hundreds of enhanced beasts to charge.
• Li Wei directed artillery bombardments against the charging beasts, which used smoke to conceal their advance.
• A nearly ten-meter armored giant emerged from the smoke, and Li Wei ordered Hound-Class units to engage ordinary soldiers while Knight-Class and Warlord Class units focused on the giant.
• The giants crossed the trenches and raised their shields near Delai Port, and Li Wei ordered his forces to fire.