Chapter Summaries

Scarlett O'Hara woke aboard the Goliath after encountering a rocky monster and a faceless golden figure, while Mu En recognized her and learned that the airship was nearing Laputa. The Goliath reached the Dragon's Nest, and Mu En declared that they had arrived at the legendary Castle in the Sky.

• Scarlett woke in the Goliath's lounge and excitedly told Simon about the monster and golden figure she had seen.
• Dola ordered Scarlett and Simon to remain in their cabin until the airship landed.
• Mu En recognized Scarlett O'Hara St. Jones as the heiress of the O'Hara Conglomerate and recalled her role in Steamboy.
• Dola reported that the Goliath had reached the Dragon's Nest, a vast and dangerous cloud formation.
• Mu En identified the Dragon's Nest as Laputa and said they had arrived.

Mu En ordered the Goliath to force its way through the Dragon's Nest, and his Shield of Immutability protected the airship from the storm's worst effects. The Goliath emerged above the clouds and found Laputa, where Dola ordered the crew to prepare for landing.

• Mu En decided to stop waiting and ordered the Goliath to force its way into the Dragon's Nest.
• Dola guided the Goliath through the deadly wind wall, damaging several propellers and parts of the ship.
• Mu En covered the Goliath with the Shield of Immutability, protecting it from lightning, hail, and violent air currents.
• The Goliath burst through the clouds and revealed the legendary city of Laputa.
• Dola ordered all hands to prepare to land.

Mu En led Dola, the soldiers, Sheeta, and Pazu into Laputa and ordered a careful, documented excavation under threat of punishment for looting. He then explored the immense ruins with the two children, who wondered why the Laputans had abandoned their city.

• Mu En marveled at Laputa's ancient buildings and advanced technology as he stepped onto the ruins.
• Dola brought the exploration team ashore, and Mu En ordered them to catalog and protect every artifact, warning that anyone who stole or concealed anything would be shot.
• The Fallingstar Beast arrived and stood guard, frightening the soldiers into working diligently.
• Mu En walked through Laputa's Sanctuary with Pazu and Sheeta, explaining the city's former levels and vast scale.
• Pazu asked why the Laputans had abandoned their city, and Mu En said the answer might lie somewhere in the ruins.
• Sheeta looked over the home of her ancestors but felt no familiarity or nostalgia.

Mu En carried Pazu and Sheeta through Laputa with his gravity magic as they headed for the temple and its gardener. After discovering that the city’s damage came from dwindling Volucite energy, he hurried them upward to learn whether Laputa was truly deserted.

• Mu En grew bored of exploring the lower rooms and used the Law of Gravity to carry Pazu and Sheeta through the corridors.
• Mu En said they would visit the temple and look for Laputa’s gardener, though he was unsure whether anyone was still there.
• Mu En flew outside along Laputa’s outer wall and inspected its passages while searching for clues to the city’s downfall.
• After a stone brick fell from the wall, Mu En found similar damage along its lower sections and concluded that the city was deteriorating from the bottom up.
• Mu En sensed that dwindling Volucite energy was causing Laputa to break apart, then hurried with Pazu and Sheeta toward the upper levels.

Mu En, Pazu, and Sheeta explored Laputa’s overgrown palace and discovered dozens of destroyed robots gathered near a monument. Sheeta was overcome with grief, and a gardener robot appeared to place flowers on the fallen machines.

• Mu En flew Pazu and Sheeta to Laputa’s sky garden, where they marveled at the ruins and a vast submerged section of the palace.
• The three entered the abandoned palace and wondered why such an advanced civilization had vanished.
• Mu En found more than fifty badly damaged robots near a black stone monument, with drag marks showing they had crawled toward it before collapsing.
• Sheeta began to sob at the sight of the robots, and Pazu comforted her.
• A giant gardener robot arrived and placed a white flower on each damaged robot, and Mu En recognized it as the guardian of the abandoned city.

Sheeta, Pazu, and Mu En found Laputa’s grave-keeping robot and learned its comforting gestures were programmed routines, before violent tremors revealed that the city’s protective field was rapidly failing. As the group and Dola’s soldiers fled toward safer ground, Dola spotted something beneath Laputa that appeared to be causing the quake.

• The robot offered Sheeta its last white flower, then ignored her questions and walked into the forest.
• Mu En explained that the robot followed programmed commands, while Pazu vowed to punish whoever had destroyed the other robots.
• Laputa shook violently, and Mu En sensed its protective field weakening as cold air leaked in from above.
• Mu En carried Pazu and Sheeta after the robot as it raced out of the palace, suspecting the mastermind was about to appear.
• Dola ordered the soldiers to evacuate to the upper garden and signaled the Goliath to move away from Laputa.
• Dola saw the Fallingstar Beast trembling at the ruins and followed its gaze to the city’s core, where she spotted the apparent cause of the earthquake.

A mature star-spawn emerged from Laputa and attacked the Fallingstar Beast, overwhelming it with a concentrated gravitational beam. Mu En arrived in time to save Niuniu, then recognized the monster as Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.

• A huge star-like insect creature emerged from Laputa and locked eyes with the Fallingstar Beast.
• Dola warned everyone to flee as the two monsters fought, and the adult's beam pierced the Fallingstar Beast's Gravity Ray, devastating the ruins.
• The adult prepared a second attack while the weakened Fallingstar Beast tried to escape.
• Mu En crashed onto the adult's head with a Golden Power Hammer, interrupting its attack and knocking it toward the sea of clouds.
• The adult recovered from Mu En's blow, and he identified it as Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.

Mu En discovered that an enormous Astel had been feeding on Volucite energy inside Laputa and fought to protect the gardener robot and the children. After Astel overwhelmed his gravity powers, Mu En armed himself and challenged it to battle.

• Mu En identified the giant creature as an Astel that had likely caused Laputa's tremors and the loss of Volucite energy.
• The gardener robot attacked Astel with its proton beam, but Astel teleported away and trapped the robot in a gravity barrier.
• Mu En freed the robot and sent it to regroup with Dola and take control of Laputa while ordering it to protect Pazu and Sheeta.
• Astel struck Mu En with its tail and nullified his gravity manipulation, forcing him down onto the garden lawn.
• Mu En prepared his Crucible wings and a spear of light, then challenged Astel to fight.