Chapter Summaries

Dane completed the quantum shuttle and brought more than a thousand warships and spacecraft into the Quantum Realm, then ordered the Astartes to seize worlds and take over the Merchant Alliance headquarters. The Merchant Alliance’s captured leaders guessed Dane would need their knowledge, just as five Astartes arrived at their guarded island.

• Dane studied a void-feeding organism whose response to his projected emotions led him to consider the Quantum Realm’s psionic power.
• Dane finished calibrating the quantum shuttle, opened a one-way message channel between worlds, and guided the fleet into the Quantum Realm.
• The Astartes entered an adjacent world, where Merchant Alliance personnel identified them as friendly forces from the Rebel Army.
• Dane took command of the fleet and ordered the Astartes to seize navigation signal towers and place worlds under Umbrella’s control.
• The Astartes captured the Merchant Alliance headquarters and confined its leaders on a guarded floating island.
• The Merchant Alliance Leader argued that Dane would need their knowledge of the worlds, and five Astartes arrived on the island.

The Merchant Alliance Leader accepted Umbrella’s dominance and agreed to serve Dane, who suspected Kang had learned of the search for him. Kang had survived the Possibility Storm, taken control of a mechanical servitor, and begun designing a new weapon to fight the Astartes.

• The Alliance Leader met Dane at Umbrella headquarters, where Dane offered trade but made clear that Umbrella would control the terms and resources.
• The Alliance Leader declared the Merchant Alliance Umbrella’s vassal, and Dane ordered him to investigate the stalled search for Kang.
• Dane learned Kang might know how the Merchant Alliance tracked extradimensional drifting organisms and suspected he had taken precautions.
• Kang revealed that he had survived the Possibility Storm and now operated through a mechanical servitor in his industrial world.
• Kang designed a squid-like combat robot, then accepted that the copies emerging in the Possibility Storm were all versions of himself.

Kang used the Time Sphere to isolate his industrial world, build a vast army of Electronic Squids, and launch a counterattack against the Astartes. After capturing an Astartes and obtaining Adamantium alloy, Kang began studying it in hopes of making his machines stronger, but the effort left him unable to keep attacking the outside world.

• Kang removed the time shield around his world and sent his forces against the nearest Astartes fleet, where swarms of Electronic Squids overwhelmed ships and captured some warriors.
• Kang's mechanical servants brought a captured Astartes before him, and the warrior fought back before Kang's forces confined him in a sealed chamber and subdued him with sleeping gas.
• Kang examined the Astartes's armor and dagger, found that Adamantium alloy contained an unknown element, and resolved to reproduce it for his Electronic Squids.
• Kang began carefully studying the alloy, leaving him with too little focus to control the squids and continue attacks on the outside world.

Dane thwarted Kang the Conqueror’s attempt to learn how to defeat the Astartes’ Adamantium armor, then used Umbrella’s Quantum Shuttle as a devastating weapon against the Electronic Squid. The beam passed through the world passage toward another world occupied by Kang’s forces, leaving the scale of the destruction there unresolved.

• Dane realized Kang had obtained Adamantium alloy and ordered Umbrella to resume its advance before Kang could develop a way to overcome the Astartes’ defenses.
• A captured Electronic Squid revealed Kang’s consciousness, and Dane crushed it before containing its self-destruct blast with a force field.
• Dane ordered the Astartes to withdraw and hold the world passage, while his forces and the Merchant Alliance moved the Quantum Shuttle near the front line.
• Dane activated the Quantum Shuttle, firing a vast beam through the passage that disintegrated the Electronic Squid and swept across the battlefield.
• The beam continued through the passage into another world occupied by Kang’s Electronic Squid forces.

Dane used the Bifrost and Umbrella’s forces to break through Kang’s defenses and push toward the Industrial World, while Kang’s forces revealed a weapon that disintegrated Adamantium armor. Atlas’s Powered Armor resisted the attack, giving Umbrella a way to support the Astartes as Dane considered how to exploit Kang’s limited knowledge of Atlas.

• Dane brought the Quantum Shuttle into the battlefield and used the Bifrost to wipe out groups of Electronic Squids as the Astartes and Atlas advanced.
• Kang sent Electronic Squids to attack the Quantum Shuttle, but Dane stopped them with Telekinesis and destroyed thousands with the Ten Rings.
• Dane blasted open the Industrial World’s passage, allowing the Astartes to enter, where a light from a Black Pyramid disintegrated their Adamantium armor.
• An Astartes centurion ordered a retreat, and Atlas entered the Main World to provide fire support with weapons that destroyed the Electronic Squids.
• Dane concluded that Kang’s disintegration weapon targeted Adamantium alloy and recognized that Atlas’s resistance gave Umbrella an opportunity to defeat Kang’s Legion.

Dane disrupted Kang’s attempt to seal the Main World, led an assault on the Black Pyramid, and defeated Kang to seize the Time Sphere. Umbrella took control of the industrial world and prepared to use it as a bridgehead for developing the Quantum Realm.

• Dane used the Quantum Shuttle and Pym Particles to disrupt Kang’s temporal power and prevent him from sealing the Main World.
• Dane sent Astartes in Ceramic Steel power armor into the Black Pyramid while the Quantum Shuttle suppressed Kang’s powers.
• Dane entered the Time Sphere, restrained Kang, and disabled the systems powering Kang’s suit and army.
• Dane shrank the Time Sphere, took it, and turned Kang to ash.
• Cortana took control of the industrial world, which Umbrella began using as a base for its expansion into the Quantum Realm.

Dane used the Time Sphere to explore time, then accelerated work on Utopia until Cortana was born in a synthetic body. He left her in charge of the Quantum Realm’s development and returned to Umbrella’s space station, where Janet learned Kang was gone and Dane assembled an upgraded combat suit.

• Dane installed the Time Sphere in Kang’s spacecraft, tested time travel, and received a warning that changing the past could split his existence across discarded timelines.
• Dane restrained himself from killing Kang, placed a psychic restriction on the Time Sphere, and observed powerful beings—including The Ancient One—watching him from the river of time.
• Dane named Kang’s industrial world Utopia and used the Time Sphere to accelerate construction of Cortana’s synthetic body and quantum brain.
• After eleven years of development, Cortana awakened in her synthetic body, and Dane helped her adjust before assigning her to oversee the quantum void.
• Dane returned to Umbrella’s space station, where Janet mistook his arrival for Kang’s, then created an upgraded combat suit with cosmic-energy absorption technology.

Dane released Janet and continued expanding Umbrella’s influence in the Quantum Realm while Steve investigated Bucky’s disappearance in Wakanda. Misled by Klaw, Steve agreed to seek entry into the hidden country, while Erik planned to use the resulting turmoil to build support for his bid for the throne.

• Dane freed Janet, launched her escape pod toward Earth, and sent her home near Hawaii.
• Dane reviewed Umbrella’s growing power in the Quantum Realm and kept its most advanced research in Utopia.
• Steve investigated Wakanda, saw its advanced forces crack down on Klaw’s Vibranium smuggling, and suspected they were connected to Bucky’s disappearance.
• Klaw falsely linked Black Panther and Hydra in Steve’s mind, then revealed that the Wakanda Steve saw was a shielded camouflage and offered him a way inside.
• Klaw told Erik that Captain America had come to him, while Erik saw Steve’s arrival as a chance to advance his own claim to Wakanda’s throne.

Erik lured Klaw and Captain America into Wakanda and ambushed them, hoping to use the attack to advance his plans against the nation’s rulers. Black Panther intervened, and after a fierce fight with Steve, he locked Steve’s arm using the Vibranium shield.

• Erik agreed to help Klaw bring Captain America into Wakanda, intending to exploit the resulting chaos and draw America’s attention.
• Klaw led Steve through Wakanda’s holographic border defenses to a meeting point, where Erik and Border Tribe soldiers attacked them.
• Steve used a smoke bomb and his shield to incapacitate several Wakandan soldiers, while Erik fled after Steve threw his shield at him.
• Klaw told Steve that Erik had witnessed Black Panther fighting the Winter Soldier, so Steve chased Erik while Klaw stayed behind.
• Black Panther struck Steve and confronted him; Steve demanded to know where Bucky was and overpowered him in their first exchange.
• T’Challa recovered and slashed Steve’s thigh, then twisted the shield to trap Steve’s right arm.

After Steve surrendered to T'Challa in Wakanda, Xu Xialing activated Bucky and sent him on a mission that drew American agents to the hidden country. The Winter Soldier attacked the agents and provoked the United States to dispatch Marines, giving Erik an opening to use his former military experience.

• Erik killed Klaw, and Steve surrendered to T'Challa after Wakandan soldiers surrounded them.
• Xu Xialing used Bucky's Russian trigger words to activate him and ordered him to wound the American president before leading pursuers to Wakanda.
• Bucky attacked the president, escaped the White House, and left clues that led C.I.A. agents to Wakanda.
• The C.I.A. agents discovered Wakanda's holographic barrier and entered the country, while Bucky attacked the agents guarding the entrance.
• Bucky declared "Hail Hydra!" over a satellite phone and destroyed it, prompting American headquarters to order Marines to deploy.

The Marines entered Wakanda to rescue captured CIA agents, triggering a war while Steve was questioned over Bucky Barnes. Wakanda’s forces initially faltered against the Marines’ drones, and the chapter left the border battle underway with the Marines doubting Wakanda’s battlefield readiness.

• The Marines entered Wakanda in Powered Armor after their drones lost contact, while Steve told T'Chaka he had come to find Bucky Barnes.
• Erik accused Steve of lying about Bucky and claimed the Winter Soldier had been trained by Hydra, but a report of an American invasion interrupted the questioning.
• T'Chaka declared that Wakanda would fight the invaders, imprisoned Steve, and appointed T'Challa commander; Erik secured a post as a Vanguard Officer.
• The Marines picked up the CIA distress signal inside Wakanda and moved to rescue the captured agents, clashing with border troops.
• Wakandan soldiers blocked a test shell with an energy shield, but Hammer drones then bombed their formations and sent them into disarray.
• The Marines speculated that Wakanda’s advanced technology had never been tested in real combat as the battle continued.

The Marines invaded Wakanda but were forced to retreat after Wakandan reinforcements turned the battle against them, leaving Wakanda's secrets exposed. In America, Congress moved toward targeting Wakanda for its Vibranium, while Natasha told Wanda and Pepper that the Ten Rings and Golden Daggers had orchestrated the crisis and suspected Shangqi was behind it.

• The Marines initially overwhelmed Wakanda's border forces, but armored rhinos and reinforcements led by Black Panther and Erik reversed the battle.
• The Marines retreated from Wakanda, and Erik concealed his role in leaving a breach in the energy shield while T'Challa returned to report the defeat.
• The Council of Elders recognized that the escaped invaders could expose Wakanda to the world, while Congress grew eager to seize its Vibranium.
• Wanda and Pepper consulted Natasha about the military's offer to join the effort against Wakanda.
• Natasha explained that Golden Daggers had arranged the assassination and invasion, and suspected Shangqi was the Ten Rings' true leader directing events.

Erik gained authority over Wakanda's border forces as the elders prepared for a possible war with America. That night, Namor of Talokan appeared at Erik's residence and revealed that he ruled an underwater people.

• Wakanda's Elder Council denounced America's accusations and demanded a hard line, while Erik judged Wakanda's military weaknesses.
• The elders praised Erik's battlefield performance and appointed him to lead the border forces, despite T'Chaka's reservations.
• Erik moved into his new residence near Wakanda's mother river and heard someone approaching through the water.
• Erik confronted the stranger with a pistol, but his bullet bounced harmlessly off the man, who introduced himself as Namor of Talokan.
• Namor explained that his people had left the surface to live in the ocean, then revealed that he was Talokan's ruler.

Erik secretly built ties with Namor and Talokan, whose underwater Vibranium and military strengths could aid Wakanda against America. In prison, Steve and Okoye discovered evidence that Bucky had carried out the attack blamed on Wakanda, and Steve concluded Hydra had controlled him.

• Namor told Erik that Talokan possessed Vibranium and offered an alliance, then left Wakanda with an invitation for a future visit.
• Erik exchanged information with Talokan, assessed their underwater military advantages, and sought access to their Vibranium-grown plants.
• Okoye secretly visited Steve in prison to investigate why America had accused Wakanda of attacking its president and cooperating with Hydra.
• Okoye showed Steve enhanced surveillance footage of the alleged assassin, and Steve recognized Bucky.
• Steve explained Bucky's history and Hydra brainwashing to Okoye, who urged him to find Bucky and help uncover the truth.

Steve escaped Wakanda with Okoye’s help and was transported to Sokovia, where Natasha explained that the Winter Soldier was likely with Golden Daggers in Cairo. Steve agreed to pursue Bucky and accept any cost needed to prevent war, while Okoye watched him warily.

• Steve persuaded Okoye to help him leave Wakanda under her supervision, and they found foreign spies gathering around the country’s borders.
• Okoye seized a satellite phone from a spy, and Steve contacted Natasha, who arranged for them to be transported to Sokovia by the Bifrost.
• Natasha showed Steve and Okoye the rebuilt, thriving Sokovia and explained that Dane Davis had shaped its development.
• Natasha told Steve that Hydra’s conditioning could have reactivated Bucky’s assassin persona and that he was likely with Golden Daggers in Cairo.
• Steve agreed to pursue Bucky and pay any price to stop the war, while Okoye grew cautious about his attachment to the Winter Soldier.

Natasha, Steve, and Okoye helped Atlas defeat the Golden Daggers and found Bucky, whom Steve beat until he returned to himself. Bucky revealed that Xu Xialing had controlled him and framed Wakanda, then resisted being taken to court and escaped the group's restraint.

• Natasha led Steve and Okoye to the Golden Daggers' bunker, where Atlas soldiers fought through the defenders.
• Steve confronted the Winter Soldier in the tear gas and recovered his shield after Natasha's electric dart disabled Bucky's metal arm.
• Bucky regained control after Steve struck him with the shield and admitted Xu Xialing had used Hydra's methods to control him and frame Wakanda.
• Natasha and Okoye pressed Bucky to explain the attempted assassination of the American president, while Steve urged him to face the International Court.
• Bucky kicked Steve away, blocked Natasha's electric dart with the Vibranium shield, and challenged them to say what they would do in his place.

Dane returned to Earth, backed Sokovia’s diplomatic support for Wakanda, and judged that a limited war would still help Wakanda prove its strength. As an armed force approached Wakanda, Erik took charge of defending the border.

• Okoye returned to Wakanda to tell the Elder Council that Sokovia had offered to speak for them internationally, and the council debated the proposal.
• Dane returned from the Quantum Realm, reunited with Pepper and Wanda, then traveled to Sokovia to meet Natasha and Steve Rogers.
• Natasha told Dane that America had submitted a War Act, while Wakanda’s king, T'Chaka, had formally asked Sokovia for diplomatic support.
• Dane agreed to have Sokovia’s allies challenge America’s war plans at the United Nations, but warned that a low-intensity war would likely happen so Wakanda could demonstrate its strength.
• Erik told T'Chaka that roughly five hundred armed men were advancing toward Wakanda, and T'Chaka put him in charge of keeping them outside the border.

Erik’s forces met a mercenary advance near Lake Turkana, where Namor and the Talokan people delayed the attackers until Wakanda’s air force arrived. The Talokan warriors retreated into the lake, and Wakandan aircraft began striking the mercenaries as they tried to deploy anti-air weapons.

• Erik assembled his troops, flew out of Wakanda, and asked an ally to delay the enemy.
• The Talokan people ambushed the mercenaries at Lake Turkana with water mines and Vibranium arrows, but the attackers’ firepower drove them back.
• Namor arrived and used his strength and speed to destroy soldiers and Quinjets, though he repeatedly had to return to the water as his body dried out.
• The mercenaries noticed Namor’s need for water and blasted him away while continuing to overwhelm the Talokan warriors.
• Wakanda’s air force arrived, and the Talokan people retreated into the lake with most of their fallen comrades.
• Wakandan aircraft bombarded the mercenaries, who launched smoke-producing rockets and began to fall back.

Wakanda struggled against American-backed forces as T'Chaka learned that Talokan possessed Vibranium and considered using it to divert pressure from his country. Thor warned Dane that Thanos was searching for the Infinity Stones, and Dane revealed that Earth held four of them.

• Erik ordered Wakandan soldiers to land and fight after missiles from Somali waters shot down several aircraft, while the mercenaries clashed with them on the ground.
• Dane asked Natasha to contact T'Chaka about Talokan's involvement, and Umbrella watched the conflict without intervening.
• T'Chaka learned from Sokovia's letter that Talokan had Vibranium, then ordered Shuri to deploy hundreds of unmanned fighters as Wakanda faced stronger enemies.
• America accused Wakanda of attacking its fleet and submitted a war plan to the United Nations, leaving Wakanda increasingly isolated.
• T'Chaka told T'Challa to investigate Talokan, hoping the underwater kingdom could draw the Western world's fire away from Wakanda.
• Thor warned Dane that Thanos was hunting the Infinity Stones, and Dane explained that Earth held four, including the Time Stone in the Sorcerer Supreme's possession.

Dane and Thor discussed Loki’s escape and Sif before Natasha reported that Taskmaster was investigating the Ten Rings. Antonia found the Ten Rings’ hidden headquarters, where Xu Xialing turned against Shangqi and he fled from her Japanese warriors.

• Thor told Dane that Loki had escaped from his sealed Asgardian prison and that Sif had returned to Asgard before leaving with a force for another world.
• Dane asked Natasha about the investigation into the Ten Rings, and she said Taskmaster was carrying it out.
• Antonia used her intelligent program to resist a magnetic field and found the Ten Rings’ headquarters hidden in the mountains.
• Xu Xialing confronted Shangqi over his failure to uphold the Ten Rings’ goal of ruling the world and revealed Japanese warriors on her side.
• Shangqi realized the headquarters staff would not help him, feinted at the warriors, and ran when they moved to protect Xu Xialing.