Chapter Summaries

He-El agreed to help Nix Wutan lure Doctor Manhattan with the Blood-Cleansing Instrument while secretly planning to keep Doctor Manhattan away from New Fusion Universe 588. After receiving rare materials and studying the Monitors’ technology, He-El decided to transform Zero into a Shapeshifting Ship.

• Nix Wutan told He-El that the Monitors would use the Blood-Cleansing Instrument in New Fusion Universe 588 to lure Doctor Manhattan and asked He-El to stand by.
• He-El accepted Nix Wutan’s materials and learned that Mandrak was Nix Wutan’s father before returning to Kolon Novo’s home to study the Monitors.
• Third-level Source Universe overseers visited He-El after learning that the Universe Operation Logic Simulator had reached 13 percent, bringing him rare materials and Shapeshifting Ship blueprints.
• He-El considered the demands of building a five-dimensional Shapeshifting Ship and recognized that the He-El Universe would struggle to produce the necessary materials.
• He-El decided to turn Zero into a Shapeshifting Ship so Zero could become a powerful mobile base.

He-El entered the lifeless New Fusion Universe 588 as bait while the Monitors prepared to build a Heavenly Blood purification base and lure Doctor Manhattan into acting. Just as He-El waited with the Level Three Source Universe Overseers, a vortex appeared above the Blood-Cleansing Instrument.

• The Level Three Source Universe Overseers welcomed He-El and advised him to take his time designing Zero’s Shapeshifting Ship.
• He-El had told Zero and Doctor Manhattan to lead the He-El Universe’s inhabitants in designing Zero’s new body, intended as a hub that could handle any universe’s operational logic.
• He-El entered New Fusion Universe 588 and found it empty of life, with traces of the Reality Missiles that had killed its inhabitants.
• He-El informed the Level Three Source Universe Overseers that he had arrived, then oversaw the installation of Blood-Cleansing Instruments while Monitors equipment was transported into the universe.
• He-El waited in New Fusion Universe 588 and discussed Shapeshifting Ship construction with the Overseers, believing Doctor Manhattan would not come.
• A vortex appeared above the Blood-Cleansing Instrument, shocking He-El.

He-El noticed an illusory vortex forming above the Blood-Cleansing Instrument and suspected an unknown powerful actor was imitating Doctor Manhattan’s previous operation. Nix Wutan organized the third-level Source Universe overseers to seize the Lesser Omniverse, and they attacked as a massive azure hand reached from the vortex.

• He-El saw the illusory vortex form and wondered who had created it and why.
• The third-level Source Universe overseers identified the vortex as powered by Doctor Manhattan’s Lesser Omniverse and eagerly proposed ways to capture him.
• Nix Wutan ordered Rego Schwanitz, Elsa Bryce, Holt McKendy, and Alvis James to stop the vortex and control Doctor Manhattan while the others seized the Lesser Omniverse.
• As the vortex solidified, a massive azure hand extended from it toward the Blood-Cleansing Instrument, and the overseers launched their attack.

He-El watched Level Three Source Universe Overseers attack a vortex and a hand resembling Doctor Manhattan’s, only to see their abilities rebound against the seemingly invulnerable Fake Doctor Manhattan. After He-El rescued the injured Rego Schwanitz, Nix Wutan led the remaining Overseers down from the “Blood Vessel.”

• Rego Schwanitz froze time across several dozen galaxies, trapping the vortex and Doctor Manhattan’s hand, while Elsa Bryce sealed them inside a Spatial Prison.
• Holt McKendy failed to control Doctor Manhattan’s mind and was badly wounded by the backlash.
• Alvis James failed to alter Doctor Manhattan’s particle-state body and was torn apart inside a black hole.
• He-El concluded that Fake Doctor Manhattan was beyond the Overseers’ power and rescued the badly injured Rego Schwanitz.
• Nix Wutan led the remaining Level Three Source Universe Overseers in descending from the “Blood Vessel.”

Nix Wutan and the third-level Source Universe overseers tried to contain Fake Doctor Manhattan, but his power left their forces gravely injured and destroyed his own arm in a blast. As the stabilized vortex remained, He-El recognized the universal operating logic of the New Krypton Universe within it.

• Nix Wutan ordered the overseers to rescue the unconscious Alvis James and take over the failing restraints held by Rego Schwanitz and Elsa Bryce.
• The third-level Source Universe overseers took over, while Rego Schwanitz and Elsa Bryce's Shapeshifting Ships fractured and both were left gravely wounded.
• He-El retreated with the four injured overseers as Nix Wutan ordered others to stabilize the vortex and attack Fake Doctor Manhattan's hand.
• Fake Doctor Manhattan withdrew his hand from the Blood-Cleansing Instrument, but detonated it when the overseers tried to stop him, blasting most of them away.
• He-El sensed familiar universal operating logic coming from the stabilized vortex and recognized it as the New Krypton Universe.

After the vortex opened onto the New Krypton Universe, He-El suspected Lucifer had exposed it to the Monitors to stop him from moving the New Krypton Empire. Nix Wutan led twelve overseers through the vortex, and they discovered it led to an ordinary Parallel Universe, not the Lesser Omniverse.

• Nix Wutan ordered the Cleaners, Transporters, and Collectors to return the seriously wounded and unconscious overseers to the Monitor Domain.
• He-El recognized the cosmic operating logic beyond the vortex as that of the New Krypton Universe and suspected Lucifer was behind the attack.
• He-El told Nix Wutan they had succeeded while worrying that the Monitors would focus on the New Krypton Universe and obstruct his plans.
• Nix Wutan warned the thirteen mobile overseers that Doctor Manhattan might be waiting beyond the vortex, then led twelve of them through while He-El stayed behind.
• The overseers entered the vortex and exclaimed that it led to an ordinary Parallel Universe rather than the Lesser Omniverse.

Nix Wutan and twelve Level Three Source Universe Responsible Ones entered the New Krypton Universe, discovered it was an ordinary Parallel Universe with an inexplicably high weight, and withdrew. Back in New Fusion Universe 588, they sealed the vortex and speculated that an existence from God's Domain was responsible, while He-El watched them misunderstand the situation.

• Nix Wutan and the twelve Level Three Source Universe Responsible Ones scanned the New Krypton Universe and found it was a Parallel Universe derived from the Source Universe Dax Wutan had managed, with three fusions and a Fusion Logic Alteration Index of zero.
• The Responsible Ones realized the universe's weight was extraordinarily heavy and Nix Wutan ordered everyone to retreat from it.
• Nix Wutan ordered the vortex sealed, and the Responsible Ones used five-dimensional high-stability devices to block passage.
• The Responsible Ones debated whether the Lesser Omniverse or Doctor Manhattan explained the universe's abnormal weight, but found no evidence to support their ideas.
• Nix Wutan declared that an existence from God's Domain was inside the Parallel Universe, and the Responsible Ones speculated that Doctor Manhattan had lured them there to escape it.
• He-El silently listened to their guesses, then led cleaners, transporters, and collectors to meet Nix Wutan and the returning Responsible Ones.

After the Monitors sealed the vortex in New Fusion Universe 588, He-El visited the injured Level Three Source Universe Overseers and received fifty-one baby universes filled with valuable resources and data. Nix Wutan explained that a powerful unknown entity from God's Domain was hidden in the Parallel Universe beyond the vortex, which the Monitors would keep sealed while the Chief Overseer investigated.

• The Level Three Source Universe Overseers returned to the Monitor Domain, sealed the vortex, and classified New Fusion Universe 588 and the New Krypton Universe as Monitor secrets.
• He-El visited the injured Overseers and offered to return materials, but they gave him baby universes filled with resources instead.
• He-El received fifty baby universes from the injured Overseers, then Nix Wutan gave him another filled with materials and data.
• Nix Wutan told He-El that the universe beyond the vortex was where the Lesser Omniverse had first appeared and that an unknown entity from God's Domain had hidden there.
• Nix Wutan said the Level Four Chief Overseer would seek out the unknown entity, while the Monitors observed and kept the Parallel Universe sealed.
• He-El returned to his room in the five-dimensional space and opened a passageway to the He-El Universe.

He-El abandoned his plan to fuse the Doomsday Ultimate Form with the Hyper-Adaptive Gene body and decided to pursue a body that could adapt to unfamiliar universes’ operational logic. He reviewed the modular design for Zero’s Shapeshifting Ship, leaving its baby-universe power core as the main unresolved problem.

• He-El canceled the He-El Universe’s calculation for fusing the Doomsday Ultimate Form and the Hyper-Adaptive Gene body after reconsidering his goals in light of what he learned in the Monitor Domain.
• He-El recorded the Monitors’ genes, technology, ship data, and other information in the He-El Universe’s database.
• He-El decided to build Zero’s Shapeshifting Ship before studying the Monitors’ genes to create his own universe-adaptive body.
• Doctor Manhattan explained that the team had designed Zero’s Shapeshifting Ship around interchangeable modules for different power systems, with a baby universe as its core.
• He-El considered the difficulty of making the baby universe power the ship’s many modules, since it could not match the He-El Universe’s universal energy output.

He-El ordered the creation of modules to help Zero’s baby universe accommodate multiple systems and explained that Zero’s ultimate evolution could lead her to become a Source Universe. Zero accepted his plan and prepared for her new evolution.

• He-El assigned Doctor Manhattan, Ciri, Lucy, Aizen, Savitar, Reverse-Flash, Zero, and Hephaestus to create modules and energy sources for Zero’s baby universe.
• Zero questioned whether she was suited to becoming all-encompassing, since her strengths lay in being an intelligent life-form.
• He-El explained that the Monitors’ Level Three Source Universe administrators could never become a Source Universe because they lacked the power and recognition of one.
• He-El told Zero that he intended for her to regulate the Source Universe that would eventually emerge from the He-El Universe.
• Zero accepted He-El’s purpose for her and prepared to undergo a new evolution.

He-El began transforming Zero in the Fifth Dimension, using creations from several universes and allies to give her a body that combined spirit, machinery, biology, and multiple power systems. Zero remained inside the Intelligent Bio-Manufacturing Device as a developing Shapeshifting Ship with room to evolve.

• He-El brought Zero into the Monitor Domain and warned her that the futures she perceived there could change as others acted on their own visions.
• He-El placed Zero in the modified Intelligent Bio-Manufacturing Device and used Aizen’s unconscious Soul King as her initial physical form.
• He-El combined Zero with Ciri’s genetic repository and Lucy’s illusory brain, shaping her into a mass of flesh with spirit, machinery, and biological components.
• He-El added Doctor Manhattan’s energy seed, the Speed Force source sphere from Savitar and Reverse-Flash, and Hephaestus’s mystical rune to Zero’s body.
• He-El added minerals and dimensional genes, then sealed Zero in the device to begin forming her into a Shapeshifting Ship.

He-El asked Mamadal Novo for permission to create his Shapeshifting Ship, and Mamadal Novo agreed despite his doubts about He-El’s usefulness and the mysteries surrounding the New Krypton Universe. After freeing Mandrak from the Fifth-Dimensional Prison, Mamadal Novo saw Lucifer emerge from the darkness.

• He-El told Mamadal Novo that he had prepared the Zero Shapeshifting Ship embryo and wanted to begin creating his Shapeshifting Ship.
• Mamadal Novo agreed to take He-El to the Creation Dimension House in two days and told him to bring the necessary materials.
• Mamadal Novo went to the Fifth-Dimensional Prison and opened Mandrak’s enclosure.
• Mamadal Novo declared Mandrak free, and Mandrak flew into the darkness of the prison.
• Mamadal Novo saw Lucifer emerge from the depths of the darkness.

He-El entered the Creation Dimension House to build a Shapeshifting Ship and sensed that Mamadal Novo had changed, so he resolved to stay wary. He summoned Zero and began forging it a new body, setting it on the path to become the He-El Universe’s first Source Universe consciousness.

• Mamadal Novo brought He-El to the Creation Dimension House and said he would take He-El to assume control of Mandrak’s abandoned Source Universe once the ship was finished.
• After Mamadal Novo left, He-El sensed that something was wrong with him and decided to remain cautious, while keeping the option to return to the He-El Universe through a Traversal Vortex.
• He-El summoned Zero to inspect the Creation Dimension House’s laws and technology, and Zero said it could eventually reproduce the facility inside the He-El Universe.
• He-El brought out materials from fifty-one baby universes and began fusing Zero with a baby universe to create its new body.
• He-El planned for Zero’s baby universe to become a Source Universe within the He-El Universe, with Zero as its first Source Universe consciousness.

He-El completed Zero's transformation into a powerful Shapeshifting Ship using the Creation Dimension House, giving her the potential to become a Source Universe. After studying the Monitors' technology, He-El and Zero prepared to leave the Creation Dimension House and face Mamadal Novo's reaction.

• He-El used the Creation Dimension House's operational logic to create the Zero Shapeshifting Ship and transform it into armor.
• He-El and Zero studied the Monitors' technology and reverse-engineered its operational logic.
• Zero told He-El that the AllSpark, souls, genes, energies, and other materials had fused into her infant universe and that she could grow alongside him.
• He-El prepared to flee if Mamadal Novo discovered the foreign elements he had incorporated into Zero.
• Zero said her mastery of universe operational logic made her stronger than the other fifty-one Level Three Source Universe Overseers.
• He-El and Zero decided to leave the Creation Dimension House and see how Mamadal Novo reacted.

He-El was appointed as Level Three Source Universe Overseer Kolon Novo and assigned the Source Universe once managed by Mandrak. He took over Mandrak’s Monitoring Station and learned that more than a million Level One Monitors were waiting for assignments.

• Mamadal Novo praised He-El’s success and appointed him Level Three Source Universe Overseer Kolon Novo.
• Mamadal Novo assigned Kolon Novo the vacant Source Universe formerly managed by Mandrak and gave him its data sphere.
• He-El examined the data sphere, then went to Mandrak’s Monitoring Station in the Fourth Dimension to take up his post.
• Level Two managers helped Kolon Novo take over the Monitoring Station and its staff.
• Kolon Novo learned that more than a million Level One cleaners, transporters, and collectors were on standby after the Parallel Universes merged.

He-El inspected the Monitoring Station and studied Mandrak’s records on the Parallel Universes under his jurisdiction. He left the Monitors to continue their work and headed to the Source Universe, while the New Krypton Universe remained under close watch by higher-level Overseers.

• He-El temporarily left the millions of Level One Cleansers, Transporters, and Collectors without assigned work at the Monitoring Station.
• A Level Two middle manager told He-El that the Level Four Chief Overseer had restricted observation of the New Krypton Universe to Level Three Source Universe Overseers and above.
• He-El learned that the Monitoring Station could not monitor his Source Universe because Mandrak had not built a base station there.
• He-El copied Mandrak’s research records into Zero’s Shapeshifting Ship and concluded that Parallel Universes ultimately traced back to the Source Universe.
• He-El told the Monitors to continue working as before, then left the Monitoring Station for the Source Universe.

He-El secretly arrived on Earth and examined the Source Universe, concluding that he needed to integrate into it to discover its cosmic operating logic. After criticizing the Justice League’s public-facing heroism, he teleported from the Hall of Justice to the Watchtower, where Batman detected an unauthorized activation.

• He-El covertly entered the Source Universe through a one-use blood vessel and surveyed the Hall of Justice and Earth.
• He-El sensed that the Source Universe was bound to the DC Universe Omniverse and guessed he must integrate into it to learn its cosmic operating logic.
• He-El toured the Hall of Justice with visitors and judged the superheroes’ refusal to reshape human society as meaningless.
• He-El secretly reached the Hall of Justice’s underground level and used its teleportation point to travel to the Watchtower.
• Batman noticed the Hall of Justice teleportation system had activated without warning and realized someone had hacked it.

Batman confronted an undetectable intruder who claimed to be Superman’s elder, while He-El used their encounter to confirm that ties to the Source Universe’s heroes could reveal its cosmic logic. He-El left the Watchtower, but Batman remained unsure whether the intruder was truly gone.

• Batman saw a humanoid silhouette appear on the Watchtower’s teleportation device, but his scans and repulsion field detected nothing.
• He-El told Batman that he was Superman’s elder and explained that he needed to become part of the Source Universe to study its operational logic.
• Batman suspected He-El was a Kryptonian and challenged him to reveal himself and leave the Watchtower.
• He-El realized that the Source Universe’s operational logic connected him to Batman and the other superheroes.
• He-El stepped onto the teleportation device and returned to the Hall of Justice, leaving Batman uneasy about whether he had truly departed.

He-El concluded that the DC Source Universe operated through the stories and characters within it, then traveled to the remains of Krypton to enter its plot. He appeared aboard a battered Kryptonian ship bound for Earth and met its scarred occupant.

• After speaking with Batman, He-El realized that superheroes and villains formed part of the Source Universe’s operational logic.
• He-El asked Zero to open a Space Bridge to Krypton and left the Solar System.
• Batman saw the Space Bridge vanish and resolved to develop equipment to defend against Kryptonians.
• He-El arrived at Krypton’s destruction site and boarded a battered saucer-shaped ship preparing to jump to Earth.
• He-El ordered Zero to take control of the ship, and its scarred occupant demanded to know who he was.

He-El met the stranded He-El of the Source Universe and shared memories of their different lives on Krypton. When the Source Universe's He-El refused to accept a new Krypton and attacked, He-El froze him in place and prepared to take his existence.

• He-El introduced himself as a version from another universe and offered to share his memories with the Source Universe's He-El.
• The two He-Els connected through Telepathy and experienced each other's histories, including their efforts on Krypton and the Source Universe He-El's return to its ruins.
• He-El revealed that he intended to take the Source Universe He-El's place and offered to fulfill a final wish.
• The Source Universe's He-El asked whether He-El could restore Krypton, then rejected the offer to build a New Krypton and attacked.
• He-El locked the Source Universe's He-El in space and time and declared that he would take his existence.