Chung Kuo's once-perfect stasis is fast falling apart. The Seven's dominance is threatened by a series of terrorist attacks as the War of the Two Directions spreads and intensifies. Howard DeVore, the Seven's greatest enemy, is master-minding the atrocities. Kill DeVore and things would change markedly, but how can they hunt down a man who seems to be invulnerable? Maybe the answer lies in the frail figure of Kim Ward, a refugee from the Clay. But the young scientific genius is himself under threat, and it is only through an unexpected intermediary that he survives. And there is now another threat from within: Wang Sau-leyan, whose sole aim is to wreak vengeance on his dead father and brothers by bringing down the others of the Seven. How much longer can the Seven hold out?