Chapter Summaries

Nick Fury’s investigation of Hammer Industries alarmed government officials and Hydra, who plotted to have Justin Hammer killed during transport rather than let S.H.I.E.L.D. take him. Meanwhile, Umbrella Corporation’s directors Ada Wong and Kara Wong approached General Ross and revealed their connection to the special military base incident.

• Nick Fury had investigated Hammer Industries for Umbrella Corporation but ignored evidence of government wrongdoing, while officials mistakenly believed he was targeting them.
• Whitehall assured Baksi that Justin Hammer could not fall into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands, and Baksi proposed staging an Umbrella rescue attempt that would kill Justin with a stray bullet.
• Whitehall approved Baksi’s plan and privately blamed Mr. Wiske for the trouble, deciding to raise the price in their next deal.
• General Ross drank alone after escaping punishment for the Hulk and Abomination incident, consumed by guilt over his mistakes.
• Ada Wong and Kara Wong introduced themselves to Ross as Umbrella Corporation directors and reminded him of the special military base incident two months earlier.

Aurelles and Saloras met General Ross to negotiate cooperation, admitting that their company had sold enhancement serum to the group behind the attack on a US military base. Ross used the attack and his own precarious career as leverage, while the meeting ended with both sides weighing what they could gain.

• Aurelles and Saloras, appointed directors of Umbrella Corporation, met General Ross at a bar to discuss cooperation.
• Ross recalled how twenty-five attackers had struck a heavily guarded US base, causing more than a hundred American casualties before they were wiped out.
• Ross threatened to hand the women over, but Aurelles said they had only sold serum to a client and had not planned the attack.
• Saloras promised their technology could save more soldiers than had died, while Ross pushed for a better deal.
• Aurelles pointed out that Ross's career was in danger after the Abomination incident, and he recognized cooperation as a chance to make a comeback.

Aurelles and Saloras negotiated with General Ross, using Umbrella Corporation’s exclusive technology and potential partners abroad to make clear that they held the advantage. Ross agreed to serve as an intermediary, while the women promised a future investment fund and suggested he follow Eisenhower’s path after leaving the military.

• Aurelles and Saloras told Ross that Umbrella Corporation could seek partners beyond the United States, including Iran, Russia, and a Far Eastern power.
• Ross recognized that Umbrella Corporation controlled the only technology of its kind and softened his stance after failing to pressure the women.
• Aurelles set the initial terms: Umbrella Corporation would retain its patents and would not sell or transfer its technology.
• Saloras argued that Ross could regain political connections because the new project restored his value, and Ross asked what benefits he would receive as an intermediary.
• Aurelles offered to establish a dedicated fund for Ross, but he declined it as a bribe; Saloras called it an investment and named Eisenhower as a model for his future.

Aurelles and Saloras persuaded Ross to pursue politics by promising Umbrella Corporation’s financial support, then presented him with a technology project unrelated to Super Soldiers. When Ross asked why they would not offer that research, Saloras named S.H.I.E.L.D. as the obstacle.

• Ross realized Aurelles and Saloras wanted him to enter politics, and Aurelles urged him to pursue fame and influence through a new path.
• Saloras promised continued funding, and Aurelles said Ross might become Secretary of State if he could win an election.
• Ross agreed to discuss cooperation, and Saloras gave him documents for the Gospel Project’s Edge of Tomorrow subproject.
• Ross discovered that the documents concerned neural tissue and mechanical structures rather than Super Soldier technology.
• Aurelles said Umbrella might offer Super Soldier technology later, but Saloras identified S.H.I.E.L.D. as the obstacle.

Ross considered cooperating with Aurelles and Saloras on Super Soldier technology, but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation made him hesitate. Aurelles sowed doubts about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s motives and concluded that it simply did not want Ross to possess Super Soldiers.

• Ross recalled his hostility toward S.H.I.E.L.D. and blamed it for taking the twenty Super Soldier corpses he wanted to study.
• Saloras told Ross that S.H.I.E.L.D. had uncovered clues linking them to the attack on the special base.
• Ross proposed concealing their identities and suggested that he could negotiate with S.H.I.E.L.D. if their technology worked.
• Saloras warned that S.H.I.E.L.D. could connect their technology to the corpses, and Aurelles dismissed Ross’s offer to negotiate.
• Aurelles questioned why S.H.I.E.L.D. had opposed Ross’s research, refused to help him find Hulk, and taken the corpses.
• Ross grew suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Aurelles said it simply did not want him to possess Super Soldiers.

Aurelles and Saloras explained to General Ross that S.H.I.E.L.D. had obstructed his Super Soldier research to preserve the global balance of power and maintain its own advantage in covert operations. The revelation that Tony Stark had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as a consultant left Ross wondering who would form its planned Superhuman Response Team.

• Ross reconsidered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interference after Aurelles suggested it had deliberately prevented his Super Soldier project from succeeding.
• Saloras explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. acted as a global organization and sought to prevent Super Soldier armies from destabilizing the world order.
• Saloras said S.H.I.E.L.D. eliminated security risks, sometimes through surgical strikes, and needed its operatives to outmatch their targets.
• Ross argued that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents did not need Super Soldiers to overcome government security forces.
• Saloras revealed S.H.I.E.L.D. had planned a Superhuman Response Team, and Aurelles said Tony Stark had signed on as a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant the previous day.

Aurelles and Saloras warned Ross that S.H.I.E.L.D. could win Bruce Banner’s trust and acquire Hulk, leaving Ross furious and worried that Banner would side with his enemies. They then explained why S.H.I.E.L.D.’s growing power threatened the military and offered Ross the Gospel Project as an alternative to Super Soldier technology.

• Ross dismissed the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. could control Hulk until Aurelles suggested they could influence Bruce Banner instead.
• Aurelles and Saloras described how S.H.I.E.L.D. could earn Banner’s trust through sympathetic agents and contrast its approach with Ross’s pursuit.
• Ross grew angry at the thought of Banner trusting S.H.I.E.L.D. and stopped to drink whiskey.
• Aurelles explained that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s response team could conduct successful black operations against any country, including the United States.
• Ross argued that the military needed enhancement technology, and Saloras handed him the Gospel Project proposal.
• Ross began reading about the project’s Mechanical Neural Link technology.

Aurelles and Saloras pitched the Edge of Tomorrow exoskeleton project to Ross, who weighed its military advantages against its weak protection and unfamiliar technology. Ross agreed to help secure military cooperation, then learned NERV planned to transfer sixty billion dollars through a military account.

• Ross recognized that the exoskeleton proposal resembled an old neural-control theory and discussed its civilian and military uses with Aurelles and Saloras.
• Saloras argued that exoskeletons avoided the irreversible physical changes of Super Soldier enhancement and described the light model’s abilities and limitations.
• Ross questioned the exoskeleton’s weak armor, and Aurelles explained that light models prioritized mobility while heavy models offered greater protection and firepower.
• Ross warned that the military might not fund such unfamiliar research, but Aurelles said the company had ample money and asked him to provide a secure account for NERV.
• Ross offered a military account beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.’s reach, and Aurelles said they needed to transfer sixty billion dollars.

Evenson secretly routed Justin’s sixty billion dollars into a military account to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. from tracing it to Umbrella Corporation. Aurelles and Saloras secured Ross’s cooperation, then left in Luther’s car while Saloras smoked a joint.

• Evenson kept Justin’s company funds out of his own accounts and had Ivan Vanko move them through fifteen hundred zombie accounts.
• Evenson arranged for the Ari Big Twins to deposit the money into a military account, hoping S.H.I.E.L.D. would assume the military had taken it.
• Aurelles and Saloras told Ross that Umbrella Corporation’s establishment would take time, but he could use the money’s interest to get things moving.
• Ross saw Luther waiting beside a flamboyant pink car and mistook the directors’ connection to the nightclub for a cover identity.
• Luther drove Aurelles and Saloras away, and Saloras replaced her cigarette with a joint.

Evenson pondered how to spend his wages while Sarah remained lovestruck over Natasha. A beautiful new neighbor, Klayya Ludwig, introduced herself, leaving Evenson unexpectedly flustered.

• Evenson wondered how to spend the two hundred thousand dollars Tony Stark had paid him.
• Evenson asked Sarah whether she was serious about pursuing Natasha, and Sarah said she planned to win her over.
• A woman carrying a cake entered Evenson's shop and explained that she had just moved in next door and opened a shop.
• Evenson introduced himself to Klayya Ludwig and felt his heart race at her smile.

Evenson became attracted to his new neighbor, Klayya, whose mysterious-goods shop drew far more customers than his. After she explained that customers bought her merchandise for its “coolness,” the two became friends, though Klayya’s mentor warned her that her time outside training was limited and urged her to restrain any deeper feelings.

• Klayya visited Evenson with a cake, and Sarah teased him after he revealed he had noticed Klayya’s bust size and admitted he was attracted to her.
• Hubbs mistook Evenson’s complaint about romantic misery for a threat to his hidden dog food and rushed off to check it.
• Three days later, Evenson visited Klayya’s successful shop and asked why it was doing better than his.
• Klayya showed Evenson her anime-inspired merchandise and explained that mysterious goods sold by offering customers coolness and a way to express their individuality.
• Klayya and Evenson agreed to be friends, and afterward Klayya told her mentor about him.
• Klayya’s mentor reminded her that she would eventually have to return to the Sanctum and cautioned her against deeper feelings for Evenson.

Evenson tried to get closer to Klayya by joining her morning runs, but S.H.I.E.L.D. summoned him before he could rest. At headquarters, Melinda teased him about his apparent romance and challenged him to train without Magic, then Nick Fury asked the same question about whether he was dating someone.

• Evenson and Klayya finished their morning run and agreed to meet again that night to play games.
• Evenson returned to his shop, explained how he had been running to spend more time with Klayya, and received a call from Nick Fury summoning him to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
• Melinda asked Evenson whether he was dating Klayya and teased him about his lack of past relationships.
• Evenson insulted Melinda by mentioning her divorce from Iron Cavalry, so she threatened to train him in fighting without Magic.
• Nick Fury asked Evenson whether he was dating someone as soon as he arrived in the Director's office.

Evenson confronted Nick Fury for suspecting that the woman he was dating might be an undercover agent, and Fury apologized. Fury then asked Evenson to investigate an object that fell in New Mexico, revealing footage of a war hammer embedded in a pit.

• Nick Fury questioned whether Evenson's romantic interest was an undercover agent, angering Evenson.
• Evenson insisted that the woman meant him no harm, and Nick Fury apologized for suspecting her.
• Evenson accepted Fury's apology and agreed to discuss a mysterious affair.
• Nick Fury explained that a high-energy object had fallen into New Mexico without changing size as it passed through the atmosphere.
• Nick Fury showed Evenson footage of a short-handled war hammer embedded in a pit.

Nick Fury asked Evenson to identify the hammer that had fallen from space, believing its origins might be recorded in magical history. Evenson pretended to consult his records but could not understand the scientific data on Nick Fury’s screen, and he ended by asking for a 3D projection system.

• Nick Fury reasoned that the unharmed warhammer had come from beyond the Solar System and asked Evenson whether he knew anything about it.
• Evenson explained that Sorcerers regarded gods as powerful beings rather than objects of worship, and Nick Fury asked whether he had records of extraterrestrial visitors.
• Evenson claimed he would look through his records and took out a tablet computer, while privately thinking that revealing what he knew would seem suspicious.
• Nick Fury displayed detailed test results, but Evenson admitted he could not understand them and asked for pictures instead.
• Evenson tried to interact with the images on the screen, then suggested that Nick Fury have Tony Stark install a 3D projection system.

Evenson compared the hammer found by S.H.I.E.L.D. with several famous Azeroth warhammers, warning Nick Fury not to mistake the mythical Hammer of Khaz'goroth for it. He ruled out the other candidates and identified the hammer as Mjolnir, Thor's weapon from Norse mythology.

• Evenson showed Nick Fury and Melinda a tablet of hammer information written in a language he claimed few people knew, and Fury suggested preserving it as an encryption tool.
• Evenson explained that the Hammer of Khaz'goroth had been used by the Titans to shape worlds, then clarified that the hammer under investigation was not it.
• Evenson described the Hammer of Khaz'goroth's destructive power, saying its energy could turn at least half the United States into yellow crystal if it struck the ground from space.
• Evenson ruled out Sulfuras and Doomhammer based on their size and appearance.
• Evenson put away the tablet and identified the remaining hammer as Mjolnir, Thor's weapon from Norse mythology.

Evenson explained Asgard’s history and Mjolnir’s enchantment to Nick Fury, then realized Thor might be on Earth and in danger. He prepared to go to the hammer site after asking Fury whether he knew about the Sarajevo Incident.

• Evenson told Nick Fury that the Nine Realms existed in a hidden space and that Odin had defeated the Frost Giants’ attempt to freeze Earth.
• Evenson identified the hammer as Mjolnir, forged from the core of a dead sun and enchanted so only someone worthy could lift it.
• Evenson said Asgardians were generally friendly toward humans but often proud because of their long lifespans.
• Evenson called Sarah to tell Klayya he likely could not play games with her that night.
• Evenson concluded that Thor was probably on Earth and unwell, then asked Nick Fury if he knew about the Sarajevo Incident.

Evenson persuaded Nick Fury to let him accompany Thor as a security contact in exchange for permission to travel abroad, and Melinda joined him on the drive to New Mexico. She revealed that Justin Hammer had been killed during a secret transfer, and Evenson learned Umbrella Corporation was responsible.

• Evenson warned Nick Fury that Thor's death could provoke Asgard into war, then volunteered to help protect him.
• Evenson asked Nick Fury for permission to get a passport and visa, and Nick Fury agreed on the condition that S.H.I.E.L.D. could always contact him.
• Nick Fury assigned Melinda to accompany Evenson, and they drove toward New Mexico.
• Melinda told Evenson that Justin Hammer had been ambushed and killed during a secret transfer.
• Evenson suspected Hydra, but Melinda said Umbrella Corporation had killed Justin.

Evenson and Melinda traveled through New Mexico, where they discussed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security problems and stopped a robber at a supermarket. As they resumed their drive, a blazing motorcycle pursued them, and Evenson warned Melinda not to look into its rider's eyes.

• Melinda explained that Nick Fury had assigned her to protect Evenson because Hydra and Umbrella Corporation had penetrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network.
• Evenson and Melinda stopped at a supermarket, where a shotgun-wielding robber demanded money; Evenson distracted him with flour, and Melinda knocked him out.
• Melinda and Evenson recognized the robber's description of a smiling kung fu man in a suit and sunglasses as Coulson, who had likely subdued the robber before.
• A flaming motorcycle rapidly approached their car, and Evenson sped up and warned Melinda not to look into the rider's eyes.

Evenson and Melinda were pursued by a Ghost Rider whose Eye of Judgment nearly killed Melinda. Evenson activated his car’s Soul Engine Overload Mode to escape, but the boost eventually ran out and he restored the car to normal mode.

• Evenson and Melinda heard the Ghost Rider’s motorcycle catching up, and Melinda prepared her pistol as Evenson doubted it would work.
• The Ghost Rider rode alongside their car, and Melinda saw his flaming skeleton and accidentally looked into his eyes.
• Melinda was overwhelmed by visions of people she had killed, but Evenson struck her and used a sinister force to dispel the burning sensation.
• The Ghost Rider accused Evenson of being guilty, and Evenson told Melinda to hold on before activating Soul Engine Overload Mode.
• Evenson’s car surged ahead at extreme speed, and he explained the Eye of Judgment while they temporarily escaped the Rider.
• The Soul Engine reached its limit, so Evenson shut it down and returned the car to normal mode.

Evenson tried to escape Ghost Rider but was forced into battle, summoning a legion of hellhounds and imps to hold the Rider off. He ended the chapter by making the demons clinging to Ghost Rider explode, leaving the fight’s outcome uncertain.

• Long Aotian was crushed by Evenson’s car and then burned to ash beneath Ghost Rider’s motorcycle.
• Evenson used Almighty Push to blast Ghost Rider away, then told Melinda to stay in the car before attempting to negotiate.
• Ghost Rider refused to stop pursuing Evenson, so Evenson summoned twenty hellhounds with imps riding them.
• Evenson discovered that Soul Siphon could not affect Ghost Rider because the Rider had no soul, while his fire resisted Evenson’s other attacks.
• Ghost Rider destroyed many of the demons with his flaming chain, but six hellhounds eventually latched onto him.
• Evenson made the demons swell and explode, engulfing Ghost Rider in shadow and flame.