Chapter Summaries

Wang Nanxuan, a lonely Hell Lord, slipped a projection onto Earth through Blackheart and planned to use the chance to secure access to the planet. After Blackheart arrived to seek the San Venganza Pact, Wang Nanxuan secretly gathered souls and began taking control of him.

• Wang Nanxuan spotted Blackheart slipping through Earth’s shield and infused him with most of his power so his projection could enter the planet.
• Blackheart arrived in Texas, where Wang Nanxuan recognized the Marvel universe and identified Earth’s guardians as Kamar-Taj and the Sorcerer Ancient One.
• Blackheart killed the people in a biker bar, and Wang Nanxuan collected their souls before Blackheart summoned the Earth Demon, Water Demon, and Wind Demon.
• Mephisto appeared as a Phantom Image and warned Blackheart that his Rider would hunt him, but Blackheart refused to return to Hell.
• Blackheart announced that he would rule Earth and Hell, then black vapor poured from his body and began shrinking him as Wang Nanxuan spoke to him.

Wang Nanxuan captured Blackheart, used modern news and his knowledge of superhero movies to find the San Venganza Pact, and confronted Carter Slade. He obtained the Pact and a Contract from Slade, who agreed to serve him for one year, but she still did not know which Hell Lord he was.

• Wang Nanxuan turned Blackheart into a statue, subdued the Three Demons, and learned from a phone that it was 2008 and that Blaze Barton was buried near St. Michael's Church.
• Wang Nanxuan led the Three Demons to the cemetery and identified the gravedigger as Carter Slade, who denied knowing anything about the Pact.
• Carter Slade attacked Wang Nanxuan and called on Michael's Holy Light, but Wang blocked it with Blackheart's statue and ordered the Three Demons to seize her.
• Wang Nanxuan broke Slade's shovel and found the San Venganza Pact hidden inside it, then offered her one year of life in exchange for the Spirit of Vengeance.
• Carter Slade signed Wang Nanxuan's Contract and asked which Hell Lord he was.

Wang Nanxuan took control of Carter Slade’s Spirit of Vengeance, revived Slade, and set his demons on separate tasks before heading to San Venganza Village to claim its trapped souls. As Johnny Blaze and Mephisto tried to stop him, Wang Nanxuan began building a Minor Hell, and Mephisto called Kamar-Taj for help.

• Wang Nanxuan removed the Spirit of Vengeance from Carter Slade, absorbed it, erased its consciousness, and restored Slade with Blackheart’s power.
• Wang Nanxuan sent Earth Demon away with a flame and ordered Water Demon to find Roxanne, then traveled with Wind Demon to San Venganza Village.
• Johnny Blaze rode toward the village as the Ghost Rider after Mephisto told him Blackheart had obtained the Contract.
• Wang Nanxuan activated the Contract to gather the village’s souls, while Wind Demon fought the Ghost Rider and revealed that Water Demon was looking for Roxanne.
• Wang Nanxuan used the souls to construct a Minor Hell, and Mephisto called the Ancient One and Kamar-Taj to intervene.

Wang Nanxuan came close to completing Minor Hell while Kaecilius and Johnny fought, but the Ancient One stopped time and brought him into an Illusion Realm to negotiate. She allowed him to keep Minor Hell on the condition that he protect humanity and collect souls only through willing contracts.

• Mephisto summoned Kaecilius, but Johnny attacked the sorcerer to protect Roxanne, and Wind Demon joined the fight.
• Wang Nanxuan lent Johnny the Spirit of Vengeance's power, allowing Johnny and Wind Demon to battle Kaecilius while Wang Nanxuan gathered the final soul needed for Minor Hell.
• The Ancient One stopped time just as Minor Hell was about to be completed and brought Wang Nanxuan into an Illusion Realm.
• The Ancient One explained that three worlds had fused with Earth over the past year and warned that the process would continue.
• The Ancient One agreed to let Wang Nanxuan keep Minor Hell if he avoided large-scale harm to humans and obtained souls only through voluntary contracts.

Wang Nanxuan and The Ancient One established a Contract, and Wang named his newly created domain Rebirth Hell. After The Ancient One took Ghost Rider back to Kamar-Taj, Wang rejected Mephisto’s offer to cooperate and demanded ten thousand souls in exchange for Blackheart.

• Wang Nanxuan and The Ancient One agreed that he could claim the souls of those who provoked him and intercept appearing souls, while the Contract would become invalid if she attacked or secretly plotted against him.
• Wang Nanxuan and The Ancient One signed the Contract, and Wang named his domain Rebirth Hell and himself the Rebirth Lord.
• When time resumed, Mephisto was shocked that The Ancient One had not stopped Wang, and The Ancient One ordered Kaecilius to take Ghost Rider back to Kamar-Taj.
• Kaecilius subdued Johnny and extinguished his flames, while Wang offered to help care for Roxanne and quietly offered Kaecilius immortality.
• Mephisto proposed joining forces against The Ancient One, but Wang refused and declared that he had no intention of sharing Earth’s souls.
• Wang offered Mephisto Blackheart’s statue for ten thousand souls, and Mephisto protested that obtaining that many souls was extremely difficult.

Wang Nanxuan traded Blackheart back to Mephisto for souls, then arranged clean identities and had the Ancient One remove Mephisto’s tricks from his chosen souls. He established his true body on Earth and set out for Las Vegas with Wind Demon to explore America.

• Wang Nanxuan bargained with Mephisto, exchanging Blackheart for five chosen souls and five hundred low-quality souls, then converted the latter into Soul Gold Coins.
• Mephisto realized Wang Nanxuan had seen through his scheme and took out his anger on Blackheart.
• Wang Nanxuan contacted the Ancient One and traded a hundred Soul Gold Coins for four legitimate identities and the cleansing of his five chosen souls.
• Wang Nanxuan made Wind Demon an official member of Rebirth Hell and received four driver's licenses from the Ancient One.
• Wang Nanxuan turned his Earth projection into his true body, absorbed the Spirit of Vengeance, and left with Wind Demon for Las Vegas.

Wang Nanxuan struck a deal with Doctor Doom, trading Cynthia’s soul for three future favors and Doom Group shares. Doom returned to Latveria to study magic, while Wang turned to Susan Storm and offered her a promotion.

• Wang Nanxuan left Las Vegas for New York, intending to meet Doctor Doom and Tony Stark.
• Wang Nanxuan offered Doctor Doom Cynthia’s soul in exchange for three future favors and Doom Group shares, and Doctor Doom signed the Contract.
• Wang Nanxuan returned Cynthia’s soul to Doctor Doom, who awakened her with his blood and learned he had a year to find a way to save her.
• Doctor Doom gave up his company shares, asked Susan Storm to return to Latveria with him, and left for his homeland after she refused.
• Wang Nanxuan met with Susan and announced that he intended to promote her to group vice president.

Wang Nanxuan prepared to take control of Doom Group while directing Howard and the Three Demons to build his soul-buying operation. At the board meeting, he confronted the directors by forcing them to relive their past crimes.

• Wang Nanxuan told Susan to attend the board meeting with him and promised she could become vice president if they won.
• Howard reported that the investment company’s procedures were complete, then explained how Mephisto had claimed his soul.
• Wang Nanxuan ordered the Three Demons to buy souls through voluntary deals, confront rival Devil worshippers, and never harm humans.
• Wang Nanxuan brought Howard and Susan to the board meeting, where Ned and the other directors demanded to buy his shares and told him to stay silent.
• Wang Nanxuan lit flames in his eyes, making the directors see their evil deeds, including Ned’s betrayal of his brother and the deaths caused by his loans.

Wang Nanxuan forced Doom Group’s directors to sell their shares, renamed the company Rebirth Group, and arranged to acquire the Daily Bugle. After S.H.I.E.L.D. ordered an investigation into him, he walked Susan home and encountered tattooed men attacking two strange homeless people.

• Wang Nanxuan used the Eye of Judgment to terrify Doom Group’s directors, then ordered Howard to buy their shares and rename the company Rebirth Group.
• Wang Nanxuan arranged to acquire the Daily Bugle so he could use its media outlets to spread the truth and frighten the public.
• Nick Fury ordered Phil Coulson to investigate and arrest Andrew Wang, while Coulson requested Natasha’s help and agreed to divert Wang’s money into a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. account.
• Wang Nanxuan walked Susan home after overtime, told her he was Ghost Rider, and offered to take her for a ride on his Harley.
• Wang Nanxuan and Susan found tattooed men beating two homeless people who had unusual physical features, and the attackers knocked them down when they tried to flee.

Susan explained to Wang Nanxuan that failed Mutants were often homeless and desperate, prompting him to plan a way to trade them relief from their mutations for their souls. In Rebirth Hell, he enlisted Bolivar Trask to develop a magical and technological means of suppressing the X-Gene.

• Wang Nanxuan drove off the Tattooed Men threatening Susan and learned that the two homeless men were Epsilon-class Mutants whose Evolution had failed.
• Wang Nanxuan considered offering failed Mutants a way to become normal in exchange for their souls after death.
• Wang Nanxuan inspected Rebirth Hell's growing factories and complained that its few hundred Demon-Men were not enough workers.
• Wang Nanxuan asked Bolivar Trask whether he could separate the X-Gene, and Trask proposed an Inhibitor Device that could suppress mutant abilities.
• Wang Nanxuan proposed extracting and replicating the ability-disabling factor in Leech's blood so it could serve as a medium for a Curse.
• Trask agreed to research the factor, and Wang Nanxuan promised to obtain Leech's blood and the necessary equipment.

Wang Nanxuan sent Wind Demon and Howard to steal research from Worthington Labs and Trask Industries, then watched Tony Stark and learned that Tony would soon face a dangerous trial. After Rebirth Group rejected Natasha Rushman's job application, S.H.I.E.L.D. decided to approach Susan Storm to learn more about Wang Nanxuan.

• Wang Nanxuan asked Trask to obtain Sentinel Robot research and told him that a new energy source would soon emerge.
• Wang Nanxuan sent Wind Demon and Howard to steal Worthington Labs' research and Leech's blood, then collect Sentinel Robot research from Trask Industries.
• Wang Nanxuan rejected Natalie Rushman's application and watched Tony Stark with Howard, revealing that Tony would be kidnapped and injured but survive.
• Howard insulted Tony as the weakest Stark, prompting Tony to ask Happy to find him a female fitness coach.
• Natasha Rushman urged Coulson to arrest Andrew Wang, but Coulson instead proposed approaching Susan Storm, and Natasha agreed.

Wang Nanxuan watched Tony Stark survive his attack and begin developing the Arc Reactor while he planned new ventures and recruited Howard and Trask to build robots for Hell. Tony escaped the terrorists in his Mark I armor after Yinsen died helping him, marking the beginning of Iron Man.

• Wang Nanxuan told Howard that Tony would survive, ordered him to publicize Tony’s attack, and proposed profiting from Stark Industries’ falling stock.
• Wang Nanxuan assigned Howard to develop a mobile short-video company’s software and algorithms after Twitter rejected his negotiations.
• Natasha became Susan’s secretary, and the two discussed Tony’s disappearance and Wang Nanxuan’s supposed good fortune.
• Tony miniaturized the Arc Reactor in captivity, and Wang Nanxuan ordered Howard to produce its New Element and Trask to build robots powered by possessed Ghosts.
• Howard and Trask agreed to design a Battle Suit and robots for Hell, while Tony escaped in the Mark I after Yinsen sacrificed himself to help him.

Wang Nanxuan watched the consequences of Tony Stark ending Stark Industries' weapons research as Obadiah Stane built his own Battle Suit and prepared to seize power. Tony confronted Obadiah at Stark Tower, where their clash escalated into a battle between Iron Suits, government agents, and the U.S. Army.

• Wang Nanxuan sent Yinsen's soul to Trask in Rebirth Hell, while Dr. Reed panicked as Stark Industries' stock fell after Tony announced the weapons division's closure.
• Obadiah obtained the Mark I wreckage, blueprints, and footage from Lazar, then killed the terrorists and returned to America with Yinsen's corpse.
• Obadiah's scientists built a Counterfeit Arc Reactor, and he began mass-producing Battle Suits.
• Pepper Potts found evidence that Obadiah had hired the men who attacked Tony and was manufacturing Battle Suits, prompting Coulson to request Military support.
• Tony arrived at Stark Tower in Mark III to confront Obadiah as agents and the U.S. Army joined the fight, turning the area into a battlefield.

Tony Stark fought Obadiah’s Iron Monger while Black and White Armors battled the military and caused widespread civilian casualties. Wang Nanxuan drew hundreds of people near death into an Illusion Realm, offered them Contracts in exchange for their souls after death, and ended the chapter by ordering Howard, Trask, and Wind Demon to rescue people.

• Obadiah’s Iron Monger battered Tony Stark as the two fought across the highway.
• Black and White Armors attacked military forces, destroying vehicles and buildings and leaving civilians trapped or injured.
• Wang Nanxuan sealed Rebirth Tower and pulled around seven hundred frightened or badly injured people into an Illusion Realm.
• Wang Nanxuan offered the gathered people Contracts that promised survival in exchange for their souls after death, and more than three hundred signed.
• Wang Nanxuan received a reward from Rebirth Hell, returned everyone from the Illusion Realm, and ordered Howard, Trask, and Wind Demon to begin rescuing people.

Howard, Trask, and Wang Nanxuan’s Peace Knights rescued people during the battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger, while the Black and White Armors’ Arc Reactors began to fail. Wang Nanxuan used the looming explosions to draw hundreds into the Illusion Realm and secure new Contracts, then prepared to act with his Black Hellfire-powered motorcycle.

• Howard arrived in a dove-emblazoned Battle Suit, knocked Iron Monger away from Tony, and led the Peace Knights in rescuing people.
• Trask directed the robots to save Contractors and other victims while the Black and White Armors continued fighting S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and soldiers.
• Coulson learned that Rhodes had sent fighter jets, and Trask warned Wang Nanxuan that the Black and White Armors’ Arc Reactors would explode within thirty seconds.
• Wang Nanxuan pulled people near Stark Tower into the Illusion Realm and offered to save them if they signed Contracts; about five hundred people accepted, including neither Pepper nor the other excluded people.
• Wang Nanxuan rode a transforming Harley motorcycle coated in Black Hellfire as the Arc Reactors threatened to explode.

Wang Nanxuan transformed into Ghost Rider, destroyed Obadiah’s armor units, and returned to Rebirth Tower after learning that the Fifth World had merged with Earth. The next morning, Coulson helped Tony prepare a public statement while Nick Fury took over the investigations into Andrew Wang and the Peace Knights.

• Wang Nanxuan rode up Stark Tower, destroyed the Black and White Armor units, and vanished before the crowd could see him return.
• Tony learned from Howard that S.H.I.E.L.D. held materials left by his father that could help with his Palladium Poisoning, while Obadiah escaped.
• Wang Nanxuan asked Ancient One about sensing a new world merge, and she confirmed the Fifth World had joined Earth.
• Wang Nanxuan admitted to Susan that he was Ghost Rider, then invited her to his place to answer her questions.
• Coulson reported to Nick Fury, who ordered him to stop investigating Andrew Wang and to locate the Peace Knights after handling the aftermath.
• Coulson gave Tony a speech draft the next morning, and Tony asked what he knew about the Peace Knights and the Hellfire Knight.

Tony Stark’s identity as Iron Man became public after the Daily Bugle broadcast footage of his battle with Obadiah. At Rebirth Tower, Wang Nanxuan confronted Nick Fury, forced S.H.I.E.L.D. to pay for the damage, and was left disappointed that Fury did not fight him.

• Pepper showed Tony Stark and Coulson the Daily Bugle’s report and clear footage of Tony’s battle with Obadiah, while J. Jonah Jameson accused a special organization of suppressing the truth and promoted TikTok’s videos.
• Tony discarded his prepared speech and announced, “From now on, I am Iron Man,” as Coulson accepted that the truth was already public.
• Wang Nanxuan arrived at his office and found Nick Fury waiting; he called security and the police, then rejected Fury’s attempt to recruit him on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury tried to leave in a Stealth Quinjet, but Wang Nanxuan’s Black Flame took control of the aircraft and aimed its Gatling gun at him.
• Wang Nanxuan demanded payment for his broken window and damaged chair, then released the Quinjet after Fury agreed to transfer the money.
• Nick Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team withdrew, leaving Wang Nanxuan dissatisfied that Fury had not attacked him.

Nick Fury visited Tony Stark and revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ties to Howard Stark, prompting Tony to investigate a file about vampires. In July, Wang Nanxuan encountered Peter Parker at the Daily Bugle and received reports of vampires and drained corpses, leaving him intent on investigating.

• Nick Fury told Barton not to make rash moves against the aircraft-controlling threat and went to Malibu Villa to meet Tony Stark.
• Nick Fury revealed that Howard Stark had helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. and gave Tony a tablet containing information about vampires.
• Wang Nanxuan visited the Daily Bugle, revealed to J. Jonah Jameson that he was the Hellfire Knight, and saw Peter Parker working as a photographer.
• Jameson told Wang Nanxuan about photos of vampires and drained corpses found in hospitals.
• Wang Nanxuan asked Jameson to report the facts without claiming vampires were real and decided to investigate the reports himself.

Wang Nanxuan followed two vampire women to an underground bar in Hell’s Kitchen, where he met Gwen Stacy and her classmates. When the vampires revealed themselves, Wang Nanxuan shielded Gwen as the group was surrounded.

• Jameson gave Wang Nanxuan a document bag, and Peter learned that Wang was the chairman of the Rebirth Group.
• Wang Nanxuan visited a Hell’s Kitchen bar and recognized two women who tried to lure him as vampires.
• The vampire women led Wang Nanxuan and a group of NYU students, including Gwen Stacy, to a hidden underground bar.
• Wang Nanxuan introduced himself to Gwen and opened a black umbrella when blood sprayed from the ceiling.
• The vampires revealed their fangs and surrounded the students, while Gwen huddled fearfully against Wang Nanxuan.

Wang Nanxuan defeated a group of Vampires and questioned one about the Blood Clan, while Blade arrived and killed many of them. The surviving Vampire revealed the Blood Clan’s agreement with humans and Deacon Frost’s plan to overthrow the Vampire Council and enslave humanity.

• Wang Nanxuan protected Gwen from attacking Vampires with his reinforced umbrella and kung fu.
• Blade arrived at the bar and shot Vampires, turning them to ash, while Wang Nanxuan placed a Magic Mark on him.
• Wang Nanxuan took a Vampire outside and forced him to explain the Blood Clan’s origins and the Vampire Council’s agreement with humans.
• The Vampire said Deacon Frost planned to overthrow the Council and make humans slaves, and Wang Nanxuan and Gwen pointed out Vampires’ weaknesses.