Chapter Summaries

The U.S. military confronted the Asgardian Destroyer Armor with a large, coordinated force after spotting it in the storm. The chapter ended with autocannon fire and Hellfire missiles failing to damage the Destroyer, leaving the command post stunned.

• Chang Wei's drone-based Sky Eye System captured the Destroyer Armor, and the American major general ordered troops to use lethal force and take combat positions.
• The U.S. military deployed missile units, fighter jets, drones, tanks, infantry, and special forces, while its command center tracked the Destroyer and prepared attack scenarios.
• The major general ordered attack helicopters to fire their 30-millimeter autocannons at the Destroyer.
• The autocannon rounds struck the Destroyer but left its armor unmarked, and the observer reported that the attack was ineffective.
• The major general ordered the helicopters to launch four Hellfire missiles, but the explosions also failed to cause visible damage to the Destroyer.

Destroyer withstood the military’s attacks and destroyed its helicopters and tanks with its Destruction Beam. As the ground forces suffered heavy losses, Chang Wei told Tony to fight, leaving Tony doubtful that his Iron Man suit could withstand Destroyer’s power.

• The major general’s missiles failed to damage Destroyer, which fired its Destruction Beam and wiped out the helicopters.
• The major general ordered the tanks to attack with hit-and-run tactics, but their rounds and other ammunition failed to penetrate Destroyer Armor.
• Destroyer used its Destruction Beam to destroy the tanks, including an M1A2 Main Battle Tank, while Coulson watched the losses on the tactical display.
• Chang Wei told Tony to go fight Destroyer, and Tony worried that the energy attack could destroy his Iron Man suit.

The Destroyer Armor advanced on the base, and Thor recognized it as Odin’s legendary armor. Sif concluded that Loki had sent it to kill Thor, drawing the humans into Asgard’s succession war.

• Chang Wei accepted Doctor Banner’s offer to confront the Destroyer Armor, and Banner left the base to transform.
• Thor and the Warriors Four saw the Destroyer Armor on the screen, and Thor warned that they could not defeat it.
• Coulson told Thor that a hundred Frost Giants had besieged them, and Thor praised Midgard’s defenders.
• Sif accused Loki, now ruler of Asgard, of using the Destroyer Armor to eliminate Thor.
• Coulson asked Chang Wei and Tony whether they should get involved, and Chang Wei urged them to press forward while Tony welcomed the fight.

Doctor Banner transformed into Hulk and attacked the Destroyer Armor, whose Eternal Fire overwhelmed the battlefield. Hulk’s first charge ended with the Destroyer knocking out five of his teeth, leaving him furious and ready to fight on.

• Doctor Banner became Hulk as the Destroyer Armor’s Eternal Fire replaced the Frost Giant’s freezing assault.
• Chang Wei watched Hulk grow stronger and hoped he would eventually be able to defeat Thanos.
• The Destroyer Armor fired a devastating golden-red energy blast, but Hulk dodged it and charged into close combat.
• Hulk and the Destroyer traded punches, but the armor endured his blows and sent him flying.
• The Destroyer knocked out five of Hulk’s teeth with a punch, and Hulk rose up angrily.

Hulk battled the Destroyer Armor and, despite being badly outmatched, forced it to the ground and damaged its shell. The Destroyer unleashed its High Thermal Energy beam, vaporizing Hulk’s fist and forearm.

• The Destroyer Armor withstood Hulk’s attacks and countered with precise, powerful blows, gradually putting him on the defensive.
• Sif and her companions were shocked by Hulk’s strength, while Loki began to suspect that Midgard held power he had not understood.
• The Destroyer opened its faceplate and prepared a High Thermal Energy beam as Hulk charged at the exposed gap.
• Hulk struck the Destroyer’s faceplate despite the Eternal Fire burning his flesh, then knocked it down and pounded its shell until cracks appeared.
• The Destroyer’s High Thermal Energy beam struck Hulk’s attacking arm and vaporized his fist and forearm.

Hulk endured Destroyer Armor’s attacks and repeatedly regenerated, while Chang Wei concluded that Hulk generated gamma-ray energy within his own body. As the assault pushed Hulk to his limits, his energy erupted in a green aura that repelled Destroyer’s beams and began a counterattack.

• Destroyer Armor hurled Hulk across the battlefield and blasted his back, leaving him severely wounded.
• Hulk regenerated his severed arm and damaged back, then rose again, shocking Tony Stark.
• Chang Wei told Tony that Hulk appeared to generate high-energy gamma radiation internally through an unknown mechanism.
• Destroyer Armor’s beams burned Hulk as his anger intensified, but his body adapted and healed under the pressure.
• Hulk’s gamma-ray energy burst free in a green radiance that withstood Destroyer’s barrage and neutralized its beams.

Hulk battled the Destroyer Armor, which displayed a mysterious divine force that Chang Wei recognized as Heracles's power. After the armor hurled Hulk into a massive crater, Hulk rose and charged again, and the Destroyer chose to meet him in close combat.

• The Destroyer Armor seized Hulk and repeatedly struck him before throwing him with a devastating suplex into the ground.
• Hulk's impact formed a vast crater and sent rocks and soil scattering across the battlefield.
• Chang Wei noticed the divine power flowing through the Destroyer Armor and suspected a powerful being had intervened to ensure Thor's trial proceeded smoothly.
• Hulk climbed out of the crater, his fury renewed, and charged the Destroyer Armor again.
• The Destroyer Armor abandoned its ranged attacks and prepared to fight Hulk fist to fist.

Hulk battled the Destroyer Armor, whose planet-shaking power overwhelmed his defenses and badly wounded him. He healed, awakened greater strength, and rose to meet the armor again with ten-thousand-ton power.

• The Destroyer Armor and Hulk charged and collided, sending devastating shockwaves across the battlefield.
• The Destroyer Armor's defenses absorbed Hulk's attacks, and it struck him with crushing force that tore his flesh and broke his ribs.
• Hulk recovered as his wounds healed, and the blow awakened greater strength within him.
• Hulk reached the strength of ten thousand tons and clashed with the Destroyer Armor again.

Hulk battled the Destroyer Armor, whose blows could shatter his body, while his strength remained fixed at ten-thousand-ton arm strength and his rapid regeneration kept him fighting. Chang Wei called Hulk back to his side, leaving the Destroyer Armor landing in front of them as Odin watched with new respect for the green giant.

• Hulk and the Destroyer Armor clashed with enough force to devastate the forest, fracture the ground, and start a spreading fire.
• Thor and his companions watched in shock as the battle showed them strength beyond anything they had witnessed.
• Odin realized the Destroyer Armor, empowered by Hercules's divine power, could not defeat Hulk and judged Hulk powerful enough to challenge most beings in Asgard and the Nine Realms.
• Chang Wei observed that Hulk had reached his limit but could retain ten-thousand-ton arm strength even in his normal state, which would surprise Thanos.
• Chang Wei called out to Hulk through gravitational waves and magnetic field lines, and Hulk recognized his voice and landed beside him.
• The Destroyer Armor followed and crashed down in front of Chang Wei and Hulk.

Thor struggled to make Mjolnir acknowledge him while Destroyer Armor advanced on the base. As explosions and screams sounded outside, Thor still had not managed to offer the sincere apology he needed to make.

• Chang Wei told Hulk to stop fighting, while Destroyer Armor ignored them and headed toward the base under Loki’s command.
• After failing to lift Mjolnir, Thor fell into self-doubt as Odin’s test continued and Loki’s schemes threatened Asgard.
• Sif and the others urged Thor to try lifting the hammer again while they held off Destroyer Armor, and Hogun reminded him that they needed the God of Thunder.
• Thor prayed, praised Odin, and recited vows to Mjolnir, but the hammer remained silent.
• Chang Wei recognized that Thor was avoiding a sincere apology to Odin, and Thor heard explosions and screams outside as he said, “Father...”

Thor regained Mjolnir after pleading for a chance to end the destruction caused by his past mistakes, then charged the Destroyer Armor. Chang Wei called the battle fake as Thor pushed through the Destroyer’s powerful attack, and the fight continued.

• Thor admitted his arrogance had caused suffering and begged Mjolnir to grant him power to stop the disaster.
• Mjolnir flew into Thor’s hand, filling him with thunder and transforming him into an armored God of Thunder.
• Thor slammed into the Destroyer Armor and sent it crashing into distant ruins.
• Chang Wei complained that the battle seemed fake, while Hulk watched Thor’s strength in confusion.
• The Destroyer Armor rose and fired Eternal Fire at Thor, who broke through the beam and charged forward as Chang Wei complained again.

Thor defeated the Destroyer Armor, reclaimed Mjolnir, and returned to Asgard with Sif and the others after Heimdall broke free. Chang Wei and Tony Stark took the wreckage to their base for research, while Chang Wei anticipated that Captain America would soon be discovered.

• Thor summoned a tornado, drove Mjolnir into the Destroyer Armor, and caused it to explode.
• Sif and the others celebrated Thor’s return to power, and Heimdall broke free from the Winter Box’s ice and brought them back to Asgard.
• Chang Wei and Tony Stark took the Destroyer Armor wreckage before Coulson arrived, and Banner left after Hulk returned control of their body.
• Nick Fury ordered Coulson to search the site for abnormal items, while Chang Wei and Tony began studying the armor at their base.
• Chang Wei recalled that Captain America would soon be found in the ice, and Tony found the Destroyer Armor too tough to extract a sample from.

Chang Wei and Tony discussed whether electromagnetic force could separate the atoms of Uru Metal, while Hydra failed to recover Frost Giant remains or make progress studying Mjolnir. Rumlow told Pierce that the Iron Legion’s surveillance and the heroes’ control of the Destroyer Armor left Hydra unable to seize anything.

• Chang Wei told Tony that electromagnetic force might separate Uru Metal atoms, though Tony warned that its atomic structure could resist their methods.
• Pierce questioned Rumlow about Hydra’s failure to obtain any Frost Giant remains, and Rumlow blamed the Iron Legion’s battlefield surveillance.
• Rumlow reported that Hydra had research materials on Mjolnir but had made no substantive progress understanding it.
• Rumlow said Chang Wei and Tony had taken the Destroyer Armor, and Hydra could not challenge them or Doctor Banner.

White Skull renamed Hydra the World Serpent and sent Blonsky, Obadiah, and Lucien to attack Tony Stark’s containment base. Their forces began the assault, with Iron Mongers and Tyrant Werewolves advancing toward the base defended by Iron Man suits.

• Rumlow reflected on Hydra’s failed operation as Pierce acknowledged the losses and considered the challenge posed by superheroes and the Iron Legion.
• White Skull praised the Frost Warriors and ordered Blonsky, Obadiah, and Lucien to lead an operation together.
• White Skull declared that Hydra would become the World Serpent, with a white Ouroboros emblem and an elite Feathered Serpent division under his authority.
• Blonsky’s group arrived by transport plane at Tony Stark’s base, where at least a hundred Iron Man suits were reported to patrol.
• Blonsky ordered the attack, sending Obadiah’s ten Iron Mongers and Lucien’s Tyrant Werewolf squad toward the base.

The World Serpent organization launched an assault on the base, where J.A.R.V.I.S. coordinated the Iron Man suit Legion’s defense while communications were jammed. An Iron Man suit tried to escape the blockade and warn Tony Stark, but ten Iron Mongers pursued it with tracking missiles.

• The chapter described the Tyrant Werewolves’ heavy armor, weapons, ammunition, grenades, and anti-tank launchers prepared for battle.
• The base alarm sounded, but the World Serpent organization’s electronic jamming stopped the warning from reaching Tony Stark.
• Iron Monger blasted open the base gates, and J.A.R.V.I.S. deployed the Iron Man suit Legion to counterattack.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. sent an Iron Man suit beyond the communication blockade to contact Tony and report the assault.
• The World Serpent organization sent ten Iron Mongers after the fleeing suit and fired tracking missiles at it.
• The Iron Man suit maneuvered through the missile barrage, but the pursuit remained difficult because the missiles were numerous and accurate.

Blonsky and his forces overwhelmed the Iron Man suit legion with Iron Mongers, Tyrant Werewolves, and two newly created Abomination Warriors. Blonsky transformed into Abomination and faced the base’s defenders, shrugging off their attacks and scattering the suits as the battle continued.

• An Iron Man suit evaded missiles and returned fire, but one missile struck it after it transmitted its information in time.
• Iron Mongers and Tyrant Werewolves battered the Iron Man suit legion with cannon fire, machine guns, and coordinated attacks.
• Blonsky’s two subordinates transformed into Abomination Warriors and crushed Iron Man suits with their hands.
• Blonsky entered the base and transformed into Abomination when missiles and Energy Cannons attacked him.
• Blonsky withstood the bombardment without injury, knocked away approaching suits, and reveled in his destruction.

Blonsky and the two Abomination Warriors found living Frost Giants imprisoned in Tony Stark’s base, and Blonsky broke the freezer open to free them. The Frost Giants emerged, but Tony’s alloy shackles still bound their hands and feet as the Abomination Warriors moved to help.

• Blonsky and the two Abomination Warriors dismantled the Iron Man suits and discovered freezers containing a dead Frost Giant and living prisoners.
• Blonsky recognized the living Frost Giants as valuable to the World Serpent organization and punched the freezer’s reinforced glass twice until it shattered.
• The freed Frost Giants rushed out but remained restrained by Tony Stark’s alloy shackles.
• Blonsky ordered the two Abomination Warriors to help, and they tore away the remaining glass as the Frost Giants struggled against their shackles.

Blonsky and the Abomination Warriors freed the Frost Giants, defeated them, and took them away with Lucien and Obadiah. Tony arrived to find his base destroyed and, with Chang Wei, concluded that Hydra had attacked, leaving him alarmed by how quickly they had found the imprisoned giants.

• The Abomination Warriors tore the Frost Giants' shackles from the wall and freed them.
• Blonsky demanded the Frost Giants submit, then had the Abomination Warriors attack when they refused.
• The Frost Giants froze both Abomination Warriors with Ice Magic, but Blonsky knocked down the group before they could use it again.
• Lucien and Obadiah joined Blonsky, and the Tyrant Werewolf and Iron Monger carried the Frost Giants away.
• Tony arrived too late and found his base destroyed and its Iron Man suits wrecked.
• Chang Wei suggested Hydra was responsible, and Tony agreed while wondering how Hydra had learned about the Frost Giants so quickly.

S.H.I.E.L.D. thawed Captain America, and after Steve Rogers was returned to the base, Chang Wei contacted the American Department of Defense to introduce a super-soldier called Soldier Boy. The chapter left Soldier Boy ready to enter the spotlight as a rival to Captain America.

• Nick Fury and Agent Coulson oversaw the thawing of Steve Rogers at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Steve Rogers mistakenly believed he had fallen into an enemy trap, escaped in a street chase, and was brought back to the base in a S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle.
• Chang Wei watched Captain America return and said the show was about to begin.
• Chang Wei contacted the American Department of Defense under the codename Mysterious Person and presented Soldier Boy.
• Chang Wei had selected a soldier and used advanced technology to recreate Soldier Boy’s appearance and personality.

Chang Wei planned to pit Soldier Boy against Captain America, while Nick Fury recruited Steve Rogers to lead a new team called the Avengers. Steve questioned Fury’s claims about hidden dangers and objected to Chang Wei being considered a battlefield candidate.

• Chang Wei gave Soldier Boy the name Benjamin and anticipated that the arrogant superhuman would eventually betray America.
• Nick Fury reviewed secret documents in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Command Center until Steve Rogers entered and demanded to know why he had received information about the listed people.
• Fury told Steve that hidden threats made an elite team necessary and named the team the Avengers, with Steve as its leader.
• Steve questioned whether the world was truly as dangerous as Fury claimed, and Fury argued that enemies beyond ordinary human conflicts threatened the peace.
• Steve objected to Chang Wei being included among the candidates, citing his reputation as the Greatest Genius of the Century.