Chapter Summaries

Li Wei accompanied Ovelia to Bisbalu, where she planned to approve purchases for agricultural machinery and an information processing center. They entered the Steam Mechanics Expo, leaving Li Wei intrigued by the mechanical figures on display and wondering whether he could use the technology to build a real Doll.

• Li Wei and Ovelia arrived in Bisbalu, and Ovelia explained how the city’s Difference Engine network processed information across the district.
• Li Wei and Ovelia toured the industrial city by taxi while the driver described the upcoming Steam Mechanics Expo and warned them about inventors selling dubious schemes outside.
• A crowd of inventors surrounded Li Wei and Ovelia on the way to the expo, but Li Wei used his cane to clear their path.
• Li Wei and Ovelia entered through the VIP entrance and saw steam-powered metal dancers and a mechanical orchestra.
• Li Wei wondered whether the expo’s machinery could help him build a real Doll, then invited Ovelia to explore the grounds with him.

At the Steam Mechanics Expo, Li Wei advised Ovelia to use radio broadcasting to promote agricultural reforms in Delicat and explored the machinery exhibits from several nations. He left having ordered mechanized kitchen equipment from Ilyss, including a refrigerator.

• Li Wei saw the Empire's new visual Difference Engine interface but gave up on pursuing a business opportunity because of its security.
• Li Wei explained to Ovelia how a radio station and receivers placed in Delicat taverns could inform farmers about the Baskerville Family's agricultural reforms, and she asked him to help plan the broadcasts.
• Li Wei examined the exhibits from the Republic of Francis, the Kingdom of Kront, the Olucci Empire, and the Sasha Alliance, noting their different designs and circumstances.
• Li Wei visited Ilyss's food-focused exhibit and ordered a mechanized kitchen set with a refrigerator to take home for Erin to try.

Li Wei found Anna, a lost young girl, at the Steam Mechanics Expo and offered to take her to the reception desk. A group of foreign soldiers surrounded them and demanded Anna, leaving Li Wei facing an armed confrontation.

• Li Wei explored the independent inventors' exhibits and decided to visit Ilyss's pavilion for food and fizzy drinks.
• Li Wei noticed a lost girl and learned that she was separated from her parents and caretaker.
• Anna introduced herself, and Li Wei began escorting her toward the reception desk.
• Li Wei spotted men in blue uniforms approaching and surrounding them, while Anna said she did not know them.
• The lead soldier demanded that Li Wei hand over Anna, and Li Wei drew his Persuader.
• A soldier lunged at Li Wei and was shot; the others drew their weapons.

Li Wei rescued Anna from attackers at the exposition and learned she was the daughter of Grand Duke Franz Fernando, heir to the United Kingdom of the Sasha Alliance. After leaving the Police Station, Li Wei heard that the attackers came from the Duchy of Seth, then Anthony urgently begged him for help.

• Li Wei shot the charging thugs with his Persuader and Punisher, and police took him and Anna to the Police Station for questioning.
• Anna reunited with her parents, and her father thanked Li Wei before leaving with his family.
• Anthony told Li Wei that Anna's father was Grand Duke Franz Fernando, heir to the United Kingdom of the Sasha Alliance.
• Anthony said the attackers were from the Duchy of Seth and might have been trying to kidnap Anna as leverage against her father.
• Anthony nearly dropped to his knees and begged Li Wei to save him.

Li Wei investigated the attack on Dr. Franco Tester and learned that the black punched card was a weapon capable of crippling Difference Engines and their databases. Kia revealed that the attackers had taken her grandfather and said more cards existed, leaving Li Wei to prioritize finding Dr. Tester.

• Anthony brought Li Wei to Dr. Franco Tester's ransacked home, where they met his granddaughter, Kia Tester.
• Kia told Li Wei that attackers had taken Dr. Tester after demanding the black punched card, and that she had hidden in the fireplace.
• Kia explained that the card contained meaningless data that trapped a Difference Engine in an endless, resource-consuming calculation and had wrecked her engine.
• Li Wei concluded that the card was a weapon designed to disable Difference Engine databases, and suspected Dr. Tester's creation had been exploited by an organization.
• Kia revealed that the attackers had said the card they took was the only one left, implying there were multiple cards.
• Li Wei decided to find Dr. Tester first.

Police surrounded Tester's House while the Luddites searched for a black card and held Dr. Tester captive. Kia tried to rescue her grandfather with a steam mech, but Li Wei arrived and saved them.

• A young man in a flat cap reported to the Luddite boss that police had reached Tester's House and insisted they needed to find the black card.
• The savage interrogated Dr. Tester about the card, while Dr. Tester denied knowing anything and defended humanity’s pursuit of knowledge.
• The savage discovered a radio transmitter disguised as a button on Dr. Tester’s collar.
• Kia burst into the warehouse in a steam mech to rescue Dr. Tester, but the savage seized them both and ordered his men to search her.
• The savage’s face suddenly shattered as gunfire erupted, and Li Wei appeared with a black revolver after the shooting stopped.

Li Wei rescued Dr. Tester and Kia, then learned the Luddites had begun attacking the Central Data Tower with three punched cards. As the city’s systems failed and rioters blocked the tower, Ovelia offered her help, leaving Li Wei’s group preparing to break through.

• Li Wei freed Dr. Tester and Kia, deduced that Kia had hidden the core punched card, and learned the Luddites planned to attack the Central Data Tower.
• Kia drove the mech toward the tower, but the freight platform collapsed, forcing her to climb the wall with the mech.
• Li Wei and his companions reached the tower and met Anthony, who reported that workers had rioted, communications had failed, and the city’s systems were malfunctioning.
• Li Wei told Anthony that four cards existed and that the other three were already at the tower, where rioters and captured mechs blocked the entrance.
• Ovelia arrived with her puppy and offered to help Li Wei break through the rioters.

Li Wei and Ovelia reached the Central Data Tower, where rioters had seized control and enormous mechs had overwhelmed the police. Kia offered to help undo the supernatural effects, while Ovelia summoned the Three-Headed Hound and rode him toward the tower with Li Wei and Kia.

• Li Wei reasoned that the Queen might be willing to acknowledge some supernatural phenomena because the Empire trusted its steam technology and trained forces to contain them.
• Ovelia identified herself as Lady Baskerville and told the police officer that she had come to help resolve the crisis at the Central Data Tower.
• Li Wei asked the police to withdraw, and Kia volunteered to use her knowledge of the cards to try to reverse their effects.
• Ovelia transformed Little Black into the Three-Headed Hound and declared him the guardian of the Baskerville House.
• Li Wei and the frightened Kia climbed onto the Three-Headed Hound with Ovelia, who directed him to charge the tower entrance.

Li Wei and Ovelia fought their way through the Central Data Tower with Kia’s guidance, reaching a calculation room where Kia reversed the sabotage program. The Punched Card was ejected, and the group prepared to continue their mission.

• Li Wei rode the Three-Headed Hound to the Central Data Tower, where it smashed through two construction mechs and frightened the rioters as police arrested them.
• Kia guided Li Wei, Ovelia, and the Three-Headed Hound through the tower’s maze of passages to the First Calculation Room.
• Li Wei and Ovelia attacked the rioters while the Three-Headed Hound drew their attention, then Kia approached the Difference Engine console.
• Kia explained that interrupting the Punched Card’s program could worsen the problem, then used the console to reverse the calculation sequence.
• Kia retrieved the ejected Punched Card and told Li Wei and Ovelia that she had stopped the sabotage, though the process had damaged the Difference Engine.

Kate led a Luddite uprising inside the Central Data Tower, believing the tower’s destruction would restore humanity and fulfill the Holy Lord’s will. Li Wei and Ovelia arrived with the Three-Headed Hound, rescued the captives, and forced the rioters to surrender.

• Kate revealed that he had infiltrated the Central Data Tower as a cleaner and condemned its researchers for defying the Holy Lord.
• A researcher challenged Kate, but Kate declared that the tower’s machinery had brought divine punishment upon Steel City.
• Kate received a report that a monster was attacking the Third Verification Room, then heard heavy footsteps approaching his room.
• The Three-Headed Hound burst through the doors and shielded the captives as Li Wei and Ovelia arrived.
• Li Wei identified himself and Ovelia, then ordered Kate and the rioters to surrender as police officers entered.
• Kate refused to surrender, but Li Wei shot the barrel of Kate’s gun, injuring his hand and prompting the rioters to drop their weapons.

After the Central Data Tower riot, Li Wei learned that Steel City faced a lengthy recovery and received an urgent order to travel to the Rune Region. He boarded a Royal Navy airship, where its captain handed him a classified dispatch to read.

• Steel City began restoring data lost when the transportation, communications, and finance Difference Engines were reversed, while scientists analyzed the black Punched Cards.
• Ovelia and her Three-Headed Hound attracted widespread attention, and Grand Duke Fernando sent Li Wei a landscape painting without meeting him.
• Anthony delivered a Military Intelligence Section Seven order for Li Wei to leave immediately for Rune aboard the Royal Navy's Skyblade, while Anthony stayed behind and Sister Elizabeth was assigned to work with Li Wei.
• Li Wei said goodbye to Ovelia, left his luggage and purchases with Anthony, and boarded the airship as it arrived at the military docking platform.
• The captain gave Li Wei a sealed classified dispatch and told him to read it in his presence before he opened it.

Li Wei was sent to the sealed Lun Mine to investigate a plague that killed victims and brought them back as violent attackers. After meeting Elizabeth at the mine, he learned that the outbreak had spread through the lower levels and that a Special Response Unit sent below had gone missing; he agreed to prepare for the investigation.

• A girl fled through the Lun Mine as infected miners attacked and killed her.
• Li Wei read a classified report about the outbreak and learned the mine had been sealed under a level-one alert.
• Li Wei traveled by Scout Boat to the Lun Mine, where he saw the enormous pit and was lowered onto a quarantined landing pad.
• Elizabeth told Li Wei that the dead were reviving and attacking, cases had spread from level ten downward, and the Special Response Unit had disappeared below.
• Li Wei agreed to help investigate and said he would make preparations.

Li Wei and Elizabeth investigated the plague in the Lun Mine, where the dead reanimated and a more dangerous monster was rumored to lurk in the depths. Li Wei chose to explore alone and opened his Treasure Chest, discovering a prize inside a black coffin.

• Li Wei learned that the Lun Mine was under quarantine, its trains were stopped, and the Empire might destroy the mine if the plague could not be contained.
• Elizabeth explained that she was a doctor and showed Li Wei reanimated patients, describing their behavior and the likely routes of infection.
• Elizabeth told Li Wei that a squad sent into the mine's depths had vanished after reporting a more ferocious monster.
• Li Wei declined to lead a squad below and arranged with Elizabeth to use the Elevator while reporting back at every level.
• Li Wei replenished his ammunition, summoned his Treasure Chest, and found a black coffin inside; when he opened it, he recognized the contents as a promising prize.

Li Wei descended into the Lun Mine, escaped when Zombies destroyed his Elevator, and used his Grim Reaper Doll to fight through the lower levels. At level eighty-one, he found a wrecked train and the remains of the missing scouting team before a gigantic claw attacked the Doll.

• Li Wei escaped the falling Elevator by using [Shifting Positions] to swap places with his Doll Bird, then told Elizabeth that level sixty-five had fallen and continued downward.
• Li Wei summoned the Grim Reaper Doll and controlled it to slaughter the Zombies in the mine tunnels.
• Li Wei pushed through increasingly crowded lower levels with the Grim Reaper Doll, using [Shifting Positions] to reach each level below.
• At level eighty-one, Li Wei found a wrecked train and the dismembered remains of the scouting team, then investigated the tunnel for whatever had made the enormous claw marks.
• A gigantic claw burst through the ceiling and snatched at the Grim Reaper Doll.

Li Wei investigated the plague in the Lun Mine Pit and found records suggesting it might have been deliberately introduced from outside. After identifying a suspicious supply shipment to the lowest level, he fought through evolved monsters and reached the mine’s darkened bottom.

• A ceiling-dwelling monster ambushed Li Wei, but the Grim Reaper Doll severed its arm before it escaped through the tunnels, and the attack cut his communications cable.
• Li Wei searched an infirmary’s medical records and found a doctor’s suspicions that the outbreak had begun on the lower levels and might involve deliberate poisoning.
• Li Wei compared supply records with the outbreak’s timing and found that a crate of mining equipment and supplies had reached level 123 two days before the plague began.
• Mutated monsters attacked Li Wei at the inspector’s office, and he fought through them alongside the Grim Reaper Doll.
• Li Wei killed the giant monster that had lost an arm and fell with the other monsters to the mine’s bottom, where he sensed a strange power and dense darkness.

Li Wei found a hidden emblem on pressure cylinders at the bottom of Lun Mine Pit, then fled when a dangerous presence stirred in the darkness. He returned to Elizabeth with evidence that the plague may have been deliberately spread, and she identified the emblem as the mark of the God of Disaster.

• Li Wei explored the bottom of Lun Mine Pit and found crates containing large pressure cylinders.
• While sketching the cylinders, Li Wei discovered that three of them bore parts of an emblem resembling the All-Seeing Eye.
• The darkness surged toward Li Wei, so he used [Shifting Positions] to escape as Lun Mine Pit began to shake.
• Li Wei returned to Elizabeth and showed her his notes and sketch, explaining that someone might have deliberately spread the plague.
• Elizabeth identified the emblem on the cylinders as the mark of the God of Disaster.

Elizabeth explained the God of Disaster and its followers’ history of deliberately spreading plagues and provoking wars, while Li Wei suspected the Lun Mine outbreak was supernatural. He proposed trying an unconventional cure, and Elizabeth agreed to test it because ordinary treatments had failed.

• Elizabeth identified the symbol as the Disaster Mark and described how Disaster Cultists had deliberately spread plagues and started wars.
• Li Wei connected the cult to the Luddite leader he had encountered in Steel City and wondered whether the Luddites had been manipulated by the cult.
• Elizabeth warned Li Wei that mutated creatures in the mine were more dangerous than ordinary resurrected dead and said no effective plague treatment had been found.
• Li Wei received a quest to cure the plague and eliminate its source, then reasoned that the quest suggested the outbreak had a supernatural cause.
• Elizabeth described the plague’s unusual spread and rapid progression, and Li Wei proposed a possible cure based on the idea that it might be a curse rather than a medical disease.
• Elizabeth agreed to try Li Wei’s proposed cure because the available treatments had failed.

Li Wei and Elizabeth tested whether a priest’s blessing could turn saline into holy water capable of curing the plague, and the first patient recovered. Elizabeth arranged to report the discovery to Fog City and request more help, while the infection’s source remained deep in the mine pit.

• Li Wei and Elizabeth brought priest-blessed saline to the Lun Mine hospital as a possible plague treatment.
• Elizabeth injected a critically ill patient, who convulsed and vomited before regaining consciousness with his fever gone.
• Elizabeth told Li Wei that the treated patients’ fevers had broken, and Li Wei explained that he had hoped holy water would counter the god-strengthened plague.
• Elizabeth decided to contact Fog City to arrange mass production of holy water, while Li Wei asked her to request more manpower and troops for the mine.
• Li Wei watched the mine pit and wondered how the unscientific treatment had worked.

Li Wei and Henry led the Steam Mech Troopers in clearing zombies from the lower levels of the Lun Mine while Elizabeth spread holy water through the ventilation system. When they illuminated and disinfected the pit’s bottom, a serpent made from countless fused zombies attacked the Scout Boat, and Li Wei ordered everyone to open fire.

• Henry arrived with the Royal Navy’s 13th Marine Corps, and Li Wei explained that they needed to eliminate the enormous threat at the bottom of the mine.
• Elizabeth flooded the mine with atomized holy water as the Steam Mech Troopers swept the lower levels and destroyed the remaining zombies and mutants.
• Li Wei learned that level one hundred and twenty was cleared and ordered the troops to prepare searchlights and heavy weapons at the pit’s edge.
• The searchlights failed to dispel the darkness at the bottom, so Li Wei and Elizabeth proceeded with their plan to pour holy water into the pit.
• A giant serpent formed from countless zombies burst out of the darkness, smashed through the Scout Boat, and coiled around it.
• Li Wei recognized that the missing zombies had merged into the monster and ordered the troops to open fire.

Li Wei led the soldiers in using oil and white phosphorus to burn the Corpse Serpent, then ordered the mine flooded with holy water to destroy its surviving core. The system confirmed the quest was complete, and Li Wei left the cleanup to Elizabeth and Henry.

• Li Wei realized ordinary weapons barely harmed the Corpse Serpent and ordered the soldiers to soak it in oil and prepare to withdraw.
• Henry coordinated the evacuation as airships dropped oil drums onto the Corpse Serpent.
• Li Wei fired the Persuader at the pursuing monster, igniting it with white phosphorus as the train escaped.
• Elizabeth confirmed that civilians below the thirtieth level had been evacuated, and Li Wei ordered the flames to burn before the mine was flooded with holy water.
• The holy water destroyed the Corpse Serpent's hidden core, and Li Wei confirmed the quest was complete before handing off the cleanup.