Chapter Summaries

Li Wei led the train into a vast underground city illuminated by glowing crystals, while [Soul Sight] interference made him suspect dangerous contamination. After crystal-covered figures gathered at the station, he prepared to investigate in person and left the train wearing Big Annie’s air-filtering flower mask.

• Li Wei ordered the train through a torch-lit tunnel after shaped charges and the train’s arm removed a heavy steel gate.
• The train emerged into a huge cavern containing an ancient city covered in glowing crystals, and Li Wei’s [Soul Sight] could not clearly detect anything there.
• Li Wei worried about radiation and asked Big Annie about contamination; she said her detection flowers showed no dangerous levels, but the captain reported crystal-covered monsters gathering near the station.
• Li Wei ordered the soldiers to prepare defenses and sealed the train’s carriages onto internal oxygen supplies before deciding to lead the investigation himself.
• Big Annie gave Li Wei a flower mask that filtered foreign substances from the air, and Li Wei put it on before ordering the team to move out.

Li Wei and two soldiers investigated the crystal-covered railway station, tested whether contact or the air spread the crystals, and captured a Crystal Monster for Big Annie to examine. Her dissection revealed that the crystals had grown inside the victims while they were alive, leading Li Wei and Big Annie to suspect the city's water supply.

• Li Wei and two soldiers left the train in Powered Armor with a rabbit and found crystals throughout the station, while Big Annie reported that the air was safe.
• Li Wei pressed the rabbit against the crystals and saw no reaction, ruling out contact as an apparent cause.
• Li Wei distracted the Crystal Monsters with a gunshot at a bell, and the soldiers seized one and carried it back to the train.
• Big Annie dissected the Crystal Monster and found a crystal skeleton, nonfunctioning organs, and no blood.
• Big Annie confirmed the crystals had grown from inside the victims while they were alive, and she and Li Wei suspected contaminated water.

Li Wei and Big Annie discovered that the city’s water transformed animals into crystal-like forms, and that crystals from an infected rabbit could contaminate clean water. Li Wei ordered the train’s water supply guarded while preparing to send soldiers to inspect the reservoir and lead an expedition to the Royal Palace.

• Big Annie gave a rabbit water from the city and watched it convulse as crystals grew through its body until it died.
• Big Annie found that the rabbit’s crystallized body still reacted to sound, while Li Wei suggested it might resemble the Elemental Beings he had heard about.
• Li Wei and the officers concluded that the city’s water was contaminated and planned to inspect the reservoir, while Li Wei also prepared to search the Royal Palace for records.
• Big Annie reported that crystals from the rabbit contaminated clean water and caused another rabbit to develop crystals.
• Li Wei ordered two squads to guard the Armored Train’s water car around the clock.

Li Wei led an expedition into the crystal-infested city after Big Annie discovered that an Anti-Magic Field could suppress crystallization. At the Royal Palace, the group uncovered more dangerous Crystal Monsters, and Li Wei ordered the Anti-Magic Field activated as they attacked.

• Big Annie found that crystal-contaminated water caused crystallization, but an Anti-Magic Field stopped it while people and animals remained inside its range.
• Li Wei equipped the Armored Train with a large Anti-Magic Field Generator and led one team toward the Royal Palace while another investigated the reservoir.
• Li Wei's group reached the palace and found a great hall set for a banquet, which suggested the disaster had struck during a citywide celebration.
• Katie noticed there were no Crystal Monsters in the palace hall, and several fully crystallized monsters ambushed the group from above.
• Li Wei ordered the Anti-Magic Field activated, slowing the attacking monsters, and commanded the Firepower Squad to open fire.

Li Wei and his team fought through the Crystal Monsters in the Royal Palace, then used a servant roster to identify the Underground Temple as the likely source of the crystallization. Before they could reach it, the Reservoir dam breached, and they raced for higher ground as the flood approached and more Crystal Monsters blocked their path.

• Li Wei's team used the Anti-Magic Field and high-explosive rounds to defeat the Crystal Monsters in the palace forecourt.
• Li Wei led the team to the Servants' Quarter, where he found a duty roster showing that the Royal Family and priests had been preparing for a ceremony.
• Li Wei concluded that the Underground Temple was the likeliest source of the disaster and led the team toward it, but thick crystal blocked the passage.
• B Team reported that a monster had breached the Reservoir dam, so Li Wei ordered the Armored Train to move to safety and led his team toward the Castle's highest point.
• Li Wei saw the flood surging toward the city, then found dozens of Crystal Monsters blocking the stairs and ordered his team to fight through them.

Li Wei’s group escaped the flood and explored the Royal Citadel, where he discovered that the Clock Tower bell led to the Goddess of Earth’s domain. He found the chained goddess alive but seemingly deranged, and Betty appeared just as the goddess reached for him, releasing a brilliant light that engulfed them.

• Li Wei’s group fought through Crystal Monsters and climbed to the empty Royal Court as the flood filled the city below.
• Li Wei learned from Squad B that a huge shadow had rammed the reservoir’s sluice gate, then ordered the Armored Train to wait near the entrance.
• Li Wei searched the upper palace and discovered that the Clock Tower bell transported him into a withered domain.
• Li Wei found a chained, enormous woman who appeared to be the Goddess of Earth and tried to grab him, but her chains restrained her.
• Betty entered the domain, and the crystal around her neck shone brightly, engulfing everything in light.

Li Wei and his companions followed Betty the Puppy through the Royal City’s recorded memories, learning how a prince stole the Sanctuary key, returned with Holy Lord Church forces, and seized the throne. The king then agreed to a ritual with the Church, and Li Wei waited to see what disaster followed.

• Betty the Puppy revealed a hidden memory in a study, where the old king showed his son the Sanctuary key and explained why their people remained underground.
• The prince secretly took the key and left the Sanctuary to seek a future outside.
• The prince returned years later with Holy Lord Church soldiers, described the world beyond, and shot his father to take the throne.
• Li Wei recognized the prince’s resemblance to the Lord of Clot and suspected the Lord was his descendant.
• A later memory showed the king agreeing with a Holy Lord Church priest to a ritual in exchange for territory and independence.
• The king ordered the ritual to begin as Li Wei and the others watched.

Li Wei witnessed the Goddess of Earth’s Soul Stone shatter during the king’s ritual, unleashing a crystal curse that destroyed the underground city and transformed survivors into Crystal Monsters. He killed the priest who planned to spread the curse to the surface, but a huge monster appeared before the quest was fully complete.

• The king began the ritual to break the Goddess of Earth’s Soul Stone and grant his people power for a new world, while Li Wei recognized the Holy Lord Church’s elder from the Repair Plant.
• The Soul Stone shattered, its fragments crystallized and destroyed people across the city, and a golden streak fell into the reservoir, spreading a lethal curse through the rain.
• Li Wei realized the curse could travel through moisture in the air as survivors transformed into Crystal Monsters, then he fired his Persuader.
• The elder planned to carry the dead goddess’s curse to the surface, but Li Wei’s Twin-Tailed Pixie shot him in the head.
• A huge monster roared from below as Li Wei realized the quest was not yet complete.

Li Wei and his squad faced the Goddess of Earth's corrupted head as it climbed from the water toward the Royal City. After the Train repaired its main gun, Li Wei and the Metal Dragon struck the head with a fully empowered Particle Breath, and white light engulfed the cavern.

• Li Wei identified the emerging monster as possibly the Goddess of Earth's head and called the Train to prepare its main gun.
• Li Wei led the squad to the Clock Tower and planned to drop it onto the head, but Katie struck it so hard that it sailed past and fell into the water.
• The Firepower Squad reported that Crystal Monsters were emerging from the head, while the Train announced that its main gun was ready.
• Li Wei fired a flare, climbed into the Metal Dragon's cockpit with Katie, and ordered the Train to fire its main gun at the head.
• Li Wei's Metal Dragon attacked the wounded head with a buffed Particle Breath, setting its feathers and tentacles ablaze as brilliant white light filled the cavern.

After the Underground Sanctuary began collapsing, Li Wei escaped to Francis with his companions and reported the Disaster Cultists’ threat. He maxed out [Demon Hunter] and discovered that Betty had brought him a mysterious green Gemstone.

• Li Wei abandoned most of the Armored Train and drove the remaining carriages through a tunnel as the Underground Sanctuary shook and collapsed.
• Li Wei and his companions emerged onto a beach near the City of Flowers in Francis, across the Le Mans Strait from the Empire.
• Li Wei contacted the Eye of the Sky, ordered Military Intelligence Section Seven to secure the Fakosi Tunnel, and left with Katie and Big Annie to report to Fog City.
• Li Wei concluded that the Disaster Cultists were using Sanctuaries as weapons and received an SSS rating, 2,000 Lifespan, and a bonus skill point for completing “Stone and Heart.”
• Li Wei raised [Demon Hunter] to LV10 and acquired [Crime and Punishment], which strengthened his skills against targets according to four categories of charges.
• Betty the Puppy brought Li Wei a life-filled emerald-green Gemstone after he returned from underground.

After reporting his Underground Sanctuary findings, Li Wei saw the Queen prioritize surveying the tunnel to Francis and gained a new source of imperial revenue through the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” With the Empire’s industrial policy stalled and the Second Sanctuary in turmoil, Li Wei postponed investigating a dangerous spacetime barrier and decided to publish “Daily Life of the Disaster Cultists” before pursuing the suspected cult activity.

• Li Wei told the Queen that the Clot Family had originated in the Underground Sanctuary, but he had no evidence against the aboveground family; the Queen instead ordered troops and construction corps to survey the tunnel to Francis.
• “Pirates of the Caribbean” earned £130 million in just over a month, prompting the Empire to regulate film screenings and inspiring theaters and troupes to try making films.
• Li Wei saw that guilds and local nobles were obstructing the Queen’s Bureau of Industry and Commerce, while the Queen prepared to remove entrenched opponents.
• Li Wei visited the Goddess of Night, who warned that the barrier beneath the Underground Sea was probably a spacetime barrier concealing something powerful, so he decided to leave it alone for now.
• Reports from Neverwinter described the Dragon Cult seeking to free Tiamat, giants preparing to restore their old order, dwarves tying military aid to arms purchases, and Thay raiding imperial supplies.
• Suspecting the Disaster Cultists were behind the turmoil, Li Wei abandoned plans to investigate the Second Sanctuary immediately and went to Imperial Comics to publish “Daily Life of the Disaster Cultists.”

Soren cheered up after reading Li Wei’s comedy comic, “The Daily Lives of Disaster Cultists.” Meanwhile, Li Wei saw the Empire’s new Titan-Class mecha, built to project an Anti-Magic Field, as the Empire prepared to invade Thay in the Second Sanctuary.

• Soren came home upset from work and found his son laughing at Li Wei’s new comic.
• Soren read “The Daily Lives of Disaster Cultists” and laughed when the ominous masked cultist was revealed to be Tommy, who was caught jumping in the attic and beaten by his mother.
• Li Wei inspected the sixty-meter Titan-Class mecha, which carried powerful weapons and an Anti-Magic Field Generator designed to cover much of a battlefield.
• The Empire chose Thay as its first target in the Second Sanctuary because the Red Wizards were widely hated, had provoked the Empire by seizing its supplies, and possessed valuable magical equipment.

Lawrence explained how Li Wei's business plan let the Imperial Department Store take control of Neverwinter's shops, resources, currency, and security without force. Li Wei then learned that Szass Tam had turned Thay into a land of undead and that its forces had seized Imperial equipment, so he decided to confront the lich.

• Lawrence described how the Imperial Department Store bought Neverwinter's businesses and resources, used tokens to dominate commerce, and replaced the city guard with its own security force.
• Lawrence told Li Wei that the Royal Family had ordered him to preserve detailed records of the takeover, and Li Wei denied inventing the plan, calling it a familiar method of capitalists.
• Lawrence reported that Szass Tam had betrayed Thay's leading Red Wizards with the Crimson Call of the Dead, turning the country into a land of undead.
• Lawrence said the Lords' Alliance had demanded that the Empire stop supplying Thay with industrial equipment, after which Thay's agents seized the goods themselves.
• Li Wei chose to try diplomacy with Szass Tam before resorting to force.

Li Wei fled to the Second Sanctuary to escape inventors pestering him, then began investigating the region ahead of the Empire’s planned campaign. After visiting Silvermoon City at Alustriel’s invitation, he learned she wanted his help investigating the disaster in Elturel.

• Li Wei left Alice, the Little Mermaid, and Puppy at home while he traveled to the Second Sanctuary with Katie and Sophia.
• The lich Thay refused to meet Li Wei, who inspected Thay’s polluted lands and began assessing the Sanctuary’s factions and defenses for the Empire.
• Li Wei accepted Alustriel’s invitation and met her at the High Palace in Silvermoon City.
• Alustriel asked Li Wei to investigate the disaster in Elturel, citing his skill in solving Aria’s case.

Li Wei investigated Elturel’s disappearance and found a possible connection between the city’s creed resolute and the mysterious Companion. He decided to seek answers from Elturel’s refugees and Hellriders in Baldur’s Gate.

• Li Wei discussed Elturel’s disappearance with Alustriel and learned that the city’s leaders had vanished with it, leaving several major cities in turmoil.
• Li Wei requested records and intelligence about Elturel, and Alustriel had a magical servant bring him books and scrolls.
• Li Wei noticed that Elturel’s creed resolute forbade attributing the Companion to any single deity, despite the city’s conversion from Helm to Torm after the Companion appeared.
• Alustriel defended the Companion as a source of holy power, while Li Wei suggested that its power could be used for good or harm.
• Alustriel told Li Wei that Elturelian refugees, including Hellriders, had reached Baldur’s Gate, and Li Wei decided to investigate there.

Li Wei entered Baldur's Gate to investigate Elturel's disappearance and learned that the city was hostile to both refugees and Hellriders. Captain Zodi enlisted him to investigate murders and kidnappings in exchange for unrestricted access to the city, and Li Wei agreed.

• Li Wei and his companions found refugees blocked outside Baldur's Gate, where the Flaming Fist beat them and let Li Wei enter after he paid a soldier.
• Inside the city, Li Wei met Captain Zodi while the Flaming Fist fought civilians trying to flee, and Zodi blamed rumors about Elturel for the unrest.
• Zodi told Li Wei that the Hellriders accused the Flaming Fist of causing Elturel's disappearance, while he suspected the Hellriders were involved in a conspiracy.
• Zodi asked Li Wei to investigate murders and kidnappings amid Baldur's Gate's political turmoil, offering him unrestricted access to the city.
• Li Wei accepted Zodi's proposal and agreed to work with him.

Li Wei investigated Gladys Caldwell’s disappearance, questioned her family and household, and found signs that her maid was hiding something connected to a sky tulip. He learned that the alchemy shop’s former delivery worker, Patrick, had quit and planned to leave Baldur’s Gate, and he headed next to question Gladys’s friend.

• Li Wei learned that sixteen-year-old Gladys Caldwell had vanished on her way to a tea party, and that magical searches had failed to locate her.
• Li Wei questioned Sir Caldwell and the butler, learning that Gladys’s carriage and driver were also missing and that she usually followed the same route to her friend Bert’s tea parties.
• Li Wei used Soul Sight in Gladys’s cleaned room and noticed an ordinary sky tulip among her alchemical materials.
• Li Wei questioned Gladys’s maid and noticed her nervousness and repeated glances at the flower; Sophia also spotted the maid’s behavior.
• Li Wei examined the Caldwell family’s supply records, identified the Flying Beltfish Alchemy Shop, and learned its delivery worker Patrick had quit the day before.
• The shopkeeper told Li Wei that a sky tulip was not an alchemical ingredient and could be used by young people to express love, so Li Wei left to question Gladys’s friend.

Li Wei investigated Miss Caldwell’s disappearance by retracing her carriage route and found the missing carriage and dead coachman hidden in a park storehouse. He concluded that a group of trained killers had abducted Miss Caldwell, and the footprints suggested their trail had not gone cold.

• Li Wei learned that the Caldwell carriage and coachman had vanished, then questioned Therese Moonshadow about the search and the guards’ reports.
• Li Wei retraced the route to the Bert Residence and took a quieter road toward a secluded park, where Therese led the group to a hidden flower field.
• Li Wei followed a foul smell into the woods, where Katie smashed open a locked storehouse door and revealed the missing carriage, dead horses, and coachman.
• Therese cleared the stench and froze the bodies while Li Wei examined the scene and concluded the coachman had been killed by an experienced assassin.
• Li Wei reasoned that the killers had abducted Miss Caldwell and spotted footprints indicating that at least four or five people had been involved.

Li Wei explained how he traced Miss Caldwell’s disappearance to her secret meetings with Patrick, then led the group into a sewer hideout. They discovered a chamber marked by the Dead Three, and Li Wei identified the door the kidnappers had taken as the group prepared to confront them.

• Li Wei reasoned that Miss Caldwell had secretly met Patrick, an apprentice at the Flying Ribbonfish, and that her coachman may have helped her.
• The group followed tracks to a sewer entrance, where the elven mage quietly unlocked the gate and led them inside.
• Li Wei and the others found a hidden chamber containing three doors depicting Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, which the elven mage identified as the Dead Three.
• Li Wei followed Miss Caldwell’s tracks through the door associated with Bhaal, despite the elven mage’s concern about proceeding without reinforcements.
• Li Wei warned that many enemies remained below and prepared for an unavoidable fight.

Li Wei and his companions reached the cultists’ underground hideout and found Dragon Cult warriors and a Hellrider fighting there. After defeating the combatants, Li Wei learned that Reya had entered the dungeon seeking the High Observer, and he invited her to join the search for Miss Caldwell.

• Li Wei’s group followed the corpses deeper into the hideout and found Dead Three cultists, Dragon Cult warriors, and a cloaked fighter battling in a hall.
• Li Wei blinded the fighters with a Flashbang, then shot and incapacitated them while Sophia froze the escape route.
• Li Wei questioned a captured cultist about Miss Caldwell, but the man denied knowing her.
• The cloaked fighter revealed herself as Reya, a Hellrider who had witnessed Elturel’s destruction and had entered the dungeon seeking the High Observer.
• Reya explained that she had heard the High Observer was under the Vanthampur Family’s protection, and Li Wei invited her to join his group.