Mezieres, J.C.; Christin, P.; Tranle, E. Valerian and Laureline: Ambassador of the Shadows; Cinebook, Cantebury, Kent, 2013. Kindle AZW file.

Valerian and Laureline are traveling to Point Central, a conglomerate of cultures. Each culture has built its own cell onto the whole so that Point Central resembles a man-made planet. Valerian and Laureline are agents of the Spatio-Temporal Agency. As they arrive at Point Central, Earth's Ambassador contacts them, insisting that they meet with him immediately. Laureline's first reaction is that he is rude and demanding. Valerian and Laureline meet with the Ambasador, but Laureline is rude in return.

Earth's Ambassador says he does not like Valerian and Laureline because of their poor reputations with regard to authority. However, he needs them because of their deep understanding of alien cultures. He assigns Valerian to be his personal bodyguard and instructs Laureline to take care of the Grumpy Transmuter, which is a small animal that can make more of anything it eats. Grumpy is an incredibly valuable possession. Grudgingly, Laureline takes on the responsibility. It is clear the Ambassador has some additional information that he does not share with Valerian and Laureline.

The three travel to another room where the Ambassador is to give his speech. Before any of the formalities can begin, they are attacked. The Ambassador is kidnapped. Valerian is able to grab onto the attackers' spaceship, leaving Laureline alone. She soon begins to make contacts and discover information that sends her ever closer to Valerian and Earth's Ambassador. Laureline continues to utilize the Grumpy Transmuter to pay for information, including a map of Point Central. Grumpy is soon exhausted. Laureline begins to worry about him, knowing he needs an influx of energy to recover. Using the map, Laureline makes her way through several cells, meeting various races along the way. With each, she learns something new that puts her closer to her ultimate goal.

Meanwhile, Valerian and Earth's Ambassador have not been harmed, but they are living in the cell of the race that founded Point Central. Members of that race have forgotten their names and the name of their home planet. Now, they are referred to as the Shadows. They have discovered that Earth's Ambassador plans to take over control of Point Central. The Shadows are no longer willing to be actively involved in Point Central's government, they are also not willing to stand by while Earth takes over control. Toward that end, they re-educate Earth's Ambassador so that he is ready to give a speech calling for peace rather than taking control, as he had planned.

Before the Ambassador can give his speech, the race of aliens that maintains the passageways of Point Central arrive, arresting a member of another species and effectively bringing a halt to the Ambassador's speech. The Ambassador is angry, saying he had been prepared to give a speech about peace, but the Point Central council has decided that Earth should be banished from Point Central for a century. The council has also decreed that Earth's cell on Point Central will be destroyed.

Earth has a fleet of spaceships waiting nearby, planning to enforce the Ambassador's plan to take control of the Point Central government. However, Laureline calls on the fleet of spaceships to transport Earth's people off Point Central. As they set out to leave Point Central, Valerian prepares to use an auxiliary engine to make their spaceship go faster, but Laureline announces that she is already using that engine to power the Grumpy Transmuter.