This guide will help you complete the City of Darkness mission in Shadowrun: Hong Kong.
City of Darkness Map
City of Darkness Walkthrough
Background
Kowloon Walled City. The most densely populated spot on Earth — nearly 40,000 people crammed into seven acres of chaos, poverty, disease, and vice. A self-contained city that collects no taxes and provides no city services. Stagnant water sits in temporary wells. Trash lies piled on roofs for controlled burns. Improvised structures lean dangerously over populated areas.
It’s the ideal breeding ground for all manner of illicit trade — drugs, gambling, black market trade, metahuman trafficking, and everything in between. The only law is triad law.
And now you need to enter this septic system of a city. Find a triad enforcer named Strangler Bao and deliver a message from Kindly Cheng.
— Mission Complete —
It’s hard to shake off the Walled City. Its gravity clings to you as if wretchedness itself had grown tentacles. The sounds of suffering subside but their echoes still thrum your insides. Gobbet walks slowly, head down and both hands on her stomach, whispering a conversation to someone or something that only she can see. Her rats are silent and remain hidden in her clothing.
Wu pauses a moment, and breathes a sigh of relief when you finally reach the streets. But returning to Heoi isn’t like coming home. Suspicious looks and closed mouths accent unsmiling faces that billboard a universal message. You don’t belong here.
Time to report back to Kindly Cheng and inform her that the message has been delivered. Get this business over with. Get your SIN burned. Get on to the next step, whatever that is. You leave the City of Darkness behind — and head to the mahjong parlor and a date with a crime lord.
Karma Points
- [1] Make three repairs (#2a,b,d).
- [1] Convince the door guards to let you pass (#5).
- [1] Convince the enforcer to give up the stolen credstick (#6a).
- [1] Open the door to the smuggler’s den (#9).
- [6] Return to Heoi.
Walkthrough
You’ll begin this mission on the eastern side of the city (Exit A). Your companion will remind you that Kindly Cheng doesn’t want you to kill anyone, but this is optional. You’ll get the same reward regardless of how you complete the mission, so you can deal with Strangler Bao’s men in any way you want.
While you’re making your way to Strangler Bao in the Lotus Den, you’ll meet a few of the Walled City’s inhabitants. It’s a good idea to talk to them. Some of these people will just give you background information on the area, but others will give you tasks that will lead to extra karma points. Read the annotations below for more information.
There are five ways to enter the Lotus Den:
- You can convince a spirit (#4) to take revenge on Bao and his men. It’ll kill the door guards (#5), clearing the way for you to enter the Lotus Den via its main entrance (Exit B). Even though the spirit will do the killing, the deaths will still count against you. But then inside the Lotus Den, you’ll have to confront the spirit and either kill it or convince it to stand down.
- You can kill the door guards (#5) yourself and then use the main entrance (Exit B).
- You can talk your way past the door guards (#5) and then use the main entrance (Exit B). This will require you to have 3 Charisma and the Gang etiquette.
- You can access the Matrix (#8) and unlock a hatch leading into the Lotus Den (Exit E).
- You can ask the spirit (#4) for help in confronting Bao, and it’ll tell you the door code for the smuggler’s den (#9). This will give you access to another hatch leading into the Lotus Den (Exit F).
You won’t encounter any guards inside the Lotus Den, so it won’t make any difference whether you sneaked in or fought your way in. To talk to Strangler Bao, you’ll have to unlock his door (#14). You can find a door code for it inside the Matrix (#8) or on a desk in the room next door (#13).
When you talk to Strangler Bao (#15), he won’t think much of you — or Kindly Cheng. But as long as you offer him the Data Stick with the message, he’ll take it and play it. If you joke with him or threaten him, then he’ll summon two guards to attack you, and you’ll have to deal with them first. Regardless, when Bao eventually listens to Kindly Cheng’s message, he’ll change his tune about her, and he’ll agree to meet with her the next day.
To exit the Walled City, you’ll have two choices. If you entered the Lotus Den through the front door (Exit B), then you’ll just need to reverse course and exit the way you arrived (Exit A). If you sneaked into the Lotus Den, then you’ll need to use the MTR station in the Lower Level (Exit D).
When you return to Kindly Cheng in Heoi, she’ll be happy with your work, even if you disobeyed her orders and killed people, and she’ll pay you 750 nuyen. She’ll also let you know that your SINs have been burned.
With that transaction complete, Kindly Cheng will show you a couple of videos, and you’ll see Raymond Black captured — and possibly executed — by someone wearing a white plastic mask. You’ll decide to go after this Plastic-Faced Man, but Kindy Cheng will recommend that you get some sleep first before doing anything rash. Conveniently, you’ll learn that 
Gobbet and 
Is0bel have a base of operations in an abandoned trawler to the north. You’ll just need to head over to this Safeboat and sleep in your bed near the entrance.
Note: Gobbet and Is0bel will mention somebody else staying on the boat, but you won’t be able to meet him until after you’ve returned to Kindly Cheng.
The next morning when you return to the mahjong parlor, you’ll find a police officer cringing at Kindly Cheng’s feet, and you’ll learn that he was sneaking around Heoi during the night hoping to kill you for the reward. When pressed for information, the cop will reveal that someone in the Executive Council wants you terminated “with extreme prejudice.” Then Strangler Bao will ensure the cop’s future silence by putting a bullet in his head.
Afterwards, Kindly Cheng will make you a deal. If you and 
Duncan work for her as shadowrunners, then she’ll try to figure out what Raymond Black was up to, who the Plastic-Faced Man is, and why someone important wants you dead. You won’t have any choice in the matter. You’ll have to agree.
At this point, the people of Heoi will start working with you, your companions will gain a level, and you’ll be able to interact with the mission computer on the Safeboat. You’ll also be able to sell the Simsense Chip (to Maximum Law) and post the Paydata: Exotic Animal Dealer Contacts (on the mission computer) to gain a little extra nuyen.
On the mission computer, you’ll find three new missions available to you. It’s useful to complete all of these missions, but we’d recommend starting with Outsider (find the killer of the Whampoan Elders), since it can lead to you recruiting a new companion.
Mission Overview
1 – Clothing Merchant
The merchant here won’t actually sell you anything. She’ll just give you some background information on Strangler Bao.
2 – Bloodied Woman / Repairs
The student here (#2) will inform you that she’s been studying then feng shui of the Walled City, and that it’s “all wrong.” She’ll also reveal that she’s been trying to improve it — or at least she was until she got sick. So she’ll ask you to make the final three repairs for her, and she’ll give you a Crumpled Note listing them. This will give you three tasks to complete:
- Fix the sparking wires (#2a). With Is0bel in your party or with 2 Intelligence, you’ll be able to fix the wires. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to rip them out. The game will make it sound like the third option is the worst, but really there isn’t any difference.
- Fix the burning tires (#2b). To put out the fire, you’ll need to pick up the nearby Bucket of Sand (#2c) and use it on the tires.
- Fix the broken water shutoff valve (#2d). You’ll need 3 Strength to fix the valve. If you can’t do it, then Duncan will do it for you.
If you make all three repairs, then you’ll earn a point of karma. If you return to the student afterwards, then she’ll sadly admit that her thesis was wrong; the repairs didn’t help the city at all.
Note: You’ll get an Academia etiquette dialogue option when talking to the student, but it won’t lead to anything.
3 – Fetish Merchant
The merchant here will sell some low-level fetishes.
4 – Spiritual Energy
With Gobbet in your party or with Spirit Summoning 2, you’ll be able to talk to the spirit here. It’ll tell you that it was killed by Strangler Bao. This will give you two ways to proceed:
- You can encourage the spirit to take revenge. It’ll kill the four guards blocking the entrance to the Lotus Den (#5), but then it’ll get stuck at the door to Bao’s room (#14). Since you’re required to keep Bao alive, this means you’ll have to confront the spirit at the door. With Charisma 3 or Intelligence 3, and then with Willpower 5 or Spirit Control 5, you’ll be able to talk the spirit down. Otherwise, you’ll have to kill it.
- You can ask the spirit for help. It’ll tell you the door code for the animal smuggler’s den (#9) — 5465 — which will appear in your quest items as the Smuggler Den’s Code.
Asking the spirit for help is the best option since you’ll receive a karma point when you open the door.
5 – Door Guards
You’ll encounter four Yellow Lotus guards here, including a Yellow Lotus Captain. If you tell the captain that you have a message for Bao, and if you have 3 Charisma and the Gang etiquette, then he’ll allow you to pass, which will earn you a point of karma. Otherwise, the captain will stop you. If you attempt to walk past the guards, then they’ll attack you.
6 – Mugging
When you reach this spot (#6), you’ll witness a Yellow Lotus Enforcer mugging an old man for a Cheap Credstick. You’ll run into the enforcer in the Lower Level (#6a). With 4 Strength, 4 Unarmed, or the Shadowrunner etiquette, you can liberate the credstick from the enforcer without killing him. This will earn you a karma point. You can also attack the enforcer for the credstick, but you won’t earn any karma this way.
The credstick is worth 63 nuyen. If you want, you can take it back to the old man (#6), but you won’t earn a reward for doing this. You’ll just lose the 63 nuyen.
7 – Locked Door
With Is0bel in your party or with Decking 3, you’ll be able to hack open this door. You can also enter the door code 2580 (which there aren’t any clues for).
8 – Access Point
With Is0bel in your party, or with Decking 1 and a Cyberdeck, you’ll be able to access the Matrix from the security terminal here. When visiting the Matrix, you’ll need to dodge Watcher Intrusion Countermeasures (IC) in real time to avoid fighting them. If a battle starts up, then you’ll add to the system trace. If the trace gets too high, then all of the Watcher IC will disappear, all Blocker IC will turn hostile, and White (and sometimes Black) IC will start hunting you. Meanwhile, if you keep the system trace low enough, then you’ll get a chance to hack the Blocker IC by playing a hacking minigame (which is sort of a combination of Simple Simon and Mastermind).
Inside this particular part of the Matrix, you’ll find two paths. At the end of the left path, you’ll be able to open a hatch deadbolt, which will allow you to use the nearby hatch (Exit E) to enter the Lotus Den. At the end of the right path, you’ll find Paydata: Exotic Animal Dealer Contacts, which you’ll eventually be able to sell for 270 nuyen, and the Security Override Keycode (7881), which will appear in your quest items. The code will get you through the door to Bao’s room (#14).
9 – Smuggler’s Den
To open the door to the den, you’ll need to know the door code 5465, which you can learn from the spirit on the Upper Level (#4). Opening the door will earn you a point of karma. Inside the den, you’ll get attacked by a pair of hellhounds, but if you know Spirit Summoning, or if you have Gobbet with you, then you’ll be able to summon a Tempest, which should make the battle pretty easy. You’ll also find 65-75 nuyen in the den, plus a hatch leading to the Lotus Den (Exit F).
10 – Gun Runner
The merchant here will have some basic weapons for sale.
11 – Nuyen
You’ll find 52-68 nuyen on top of the crate here.
12 – Simsense Vending Machine
You’ll find a Simsense Chip inside the vending machine here. You’ll be able to sell it to Maximum Law for 120 nuyen when you get back to Heoi.
13 – Code
If you didn’t download the Security Override Code from the Matrix (#8), then you’ll find Strangler Bao’s Code (6378) here. This code will get you through Bao’s door (#14).
14 – Locked Door
You’ll need to use the door code 7881 (learned in the Matrix, #8) or 6378 (learned from Strangler Bao’s Code, #13) to open this door.
15 – Strangler Bao
Exits
- MTR station.
- Main entrance to the Lotus Den.
- Hatch between the Upper and Lower Level.
- MTR station. This exit will only become available after you’ve delivered the message to Bao, and only if you need to sneak away.
- Hatch. Going through this hatch will open the adjacent door in the Lotus Den.
- Hatch. Going through this hatch will open the adjacent door in the Lotus Den.
