Chapter Summaries

Iron Man investigated reports that Superman had appeared in Sokovia and went looking for Zhu Mang, while Hawkeye fought alongside the newly arrived Wanda. The battle continued as Wanda faced a fresh swarm of Ultron robots and feared they were too numerous to defeat.

• Tony Stark watched viral footage of Superman rescuing people and concluded that he had powerful abilities, whether or not he was the real Superman.
• Tony found Captain America and Thor among hundreds of civilians and learned that Zhu Mang had charged into the city alone.
• Tony flew off to find Superman and told Friday to keep working on a backup plan to stop Sokovia from falling.
• Wanda emerged from a doorway and used her crimson powers to destroy and disable Ultron robots, allowing Hawkeye to finish off the rest.
• More Ultron robots appeared, and the inexperienced sixteen-year-old Wanda worried that they could not defeat so many.

Ultron changed his plans and sent his robots to capture Wanda and Hawkeye, but Pietro was gravely wounded while rescuing Wanda. Zhu Mang saved Pietro and Wanda, then rescued Hawkeye, leaving the heroes amazed by his power.

• Hawkeye drew some of the Ultron robots away from Wanda, but both he and Wanda were shot in the legs as the robots tried to capture them.
• Pietro rushed to Wanda's aid, took several bullets, and collapsed while protecting her; Wanda unleashed scarlet energy that destroyed the surrounding robots.
• Zhu Mang blocked Wanda's attack, removed the bullets from Pietro, and revived him with a Senzu Bean.
• Zhu Mang destroyed the nearby Ultron robots and told Wanda and Pietro to head for the docks before sensing Hawkeye fighting elsewhere.
• Zhu Mang arrived just as the robots prepared to shoot Hawkeye and deflected their bullets with his body.
• Hawkeye recognized Zhu Mang as Superman and was astonished when he saw that Zhu Mang had already destroyed all the robots.

Zhu Mang confronted Ultron as the Sokovia Sky Island began sinking, then survived Ultron's Arc Reactor self-destruction without injury. He told the astonished Vision, “I am Superman!”

• Iron Man warned Zhu Mang that Ultron had started sinking the Sokovia Sky Island, while S.H.I.E.L.D. began evacuating the civilians.
• Zhu Mang flew to Ultron and Vision, but Ultron grabbed him and detonated his Arc Reactor, causing a devastating explosion.
• Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wanda, Pietro, and Black Widow feared Zhu Mang had died and charged toward the remaining Ultron robots.
• Vision entered the blast zone to search for Zhu Mang and found him walking out unharmed.
• Zhu Mang explained that Ultron's explosion had filled his mouth with hot air, then identified himself to Vision as Superman.

Zhu Mang stopped the falling Sokovia Sky Island with his strength while Iron Man and Vision dismantled its engines and the heroes evacuated its refugees. After setting the city down safely, Zhu Mang found himself mobbed by fans in New York.

• Vision warned that Sokovia was falling too quickly and that Iron Man's plan to destroy its engines could devastate the city and its refugees.
• Vision told Iron Man and the others that Superman had gone to stop the Sky Island, and they watched its descent slow.
• Iron Man flew beneath Sokovia and saw Zhu Mang holding the massive island aloft with one hand.
• Iron Man and Vision dismantled the Vibranium Alloy engines while Captain America and the others evacuated the refugees.
• After an hour, Zhu Mang lowered Sokovia into its crater, reuniting the city above ground with its underground structures.
• In New York, Zhu Mang, Wanda, and Pietro were surrounded by fans asking for photos, declaring their love, and inviting Superman over.

After explaining that his Superman appearance had been cosplay, Zhu Mang reviewed the events he expected to follow Avengers 2 and planned how to pursue useful resources and the Infinity Stones. He set out to collect all six stones, obtain Vibranium, study Earth’s mystical arts, and visit Sakaar and Knowhere.

• Zhu Mang admitted to the Avengers that he had only cosplayed as Superman, then slipped away from the reporters and stored the costume in Ouroboros Space.
• After returning to New York, Zhu Mang confirmed the timeline and considered how the Sokovia Accords, Civil War, Ant-Man, and other future events might unfold.
• Zhu Mang identified the Infinity Stones as his main objective and considered seeking Vibranium, studying under the Sorcerer Supreme, and keeping Janet from leaving the Quantum Realm.
• Zhu Mang added Sakaar and Knowhere to his plans so he could investigate the Grandmaster’s and The Collector’s possessions, then decided to set off.

After becoming famous as Superman, Zhu Mang recruited Wanda and Pietro and began forming a team to collect Marvel's treasures. He bought Stark Tower by giving Iron Man Weapon-Weapon Fruit Green Blood, which let Iron Man transform into his latest suit.

• Videos of Zhu Mang saving Sokovia spread online, and restaurant patrons recognized him as Superman and crowded around him for photos and praise.
• Pietro and Wanda asked to follow Zhu Mang, but he initially refused and left them behind.
• Zhu Mang returned after deciding the siblings' power and potential made them suitable teammates, and they happily agreed to work with him.
• Zhu Mang bought Stark Tower from Iron Man by giving him a tube of Green Blood made from the Weapon-Weapon Fruit.
• Iron Man drank the Green Blood and used the fruit's abilities to transform himself into his latest Iron Man suit.

Tony Stark used the Weapon-Weapon Fruit Green Blood to transform into increasingly powerful armors and weapons, but an intercontinental missile test exposed his stamina limits and led him to pursue Extremis-based body enhancement. Meanwhile, Zhu Mang traded Devil Fruits to Nick Fury for recognition of his organization, then gave Pietro a Phoenix Fruit and began training the siblings.

• Tony Stark transformed into an intercontinental missile, accidentally shot down two French Rafales, and triggered a dispute between the United States and France.
• Tony recognized that his stamina limited his transformations, implanted a Friday chip in his body, and began modifying Extremis Virus research to strengthen himself.
• Nick Fury, Hill, Captain America, and other Avengers visited Zhu Mang, who traded them a Porcupine-Porcupine Fruit and a Turtle-Turtle Fruit in exchange for recognition of his organization.
• After Nick Fury's group left, four laboratory turtles accidentally shared the Turtle-Turtle Fruit's power.
• Zhu Mang trained Wanda and Pietro and gave Pietro the Artificial Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix, to improve his durability and healing.

Zhu Mang brought Wanda to the New York Sanctum Sanctorum to explore methods that might help her develop her Chaos Magic. Ancient One explained how mystic arts practitioners trained their mental power and borrowed strength from other dimensions, leaving Zhu Mang interested in learning more.

• Zhu Mang decided Wanda should focus on her Chaos Magic rather than eat a Devil Fruit, then took her to find the Sanctum Sanctorum on Bleecker Street.
• Zhu Mang and Wanda met Ancient One, and he introduced himself as Gebinz.
• Ancient One introduced her disciple Kaecilius, whom Zhu Mang recognized as a future threat connected to Dormammu.
• Zhu Mang told Ancient One he wanted to find mental power training methods for Wanda.
• Ancient One explained that mystic arts practitioners trained their mental power and commonly borrowed power from dimensional beings, and Zhu Mang agreed to take a look.

Zhu Mang told Ancient One how the original events unfolded and warned her that her death would not prevent Dormammu from invading. He gave her a [Mental Fruit] and exchanged future knowledge for her cultivation system and access to Kamar-Taj, leaving her with a new way to prepare for the threat.

• Zhu Mang recounted the original plot to Ancient One, including the Infinity War and the dangers of the Avengers' Time Heist.
• Ancient One explained that Dormammu's growing activity and her use of the Dark Dimension had led her to plan her own death and Strange's succession.
• After learning that Dormammu still invaded in the original future, Ancient One reconsidered her plan and how she might face him.
• Zhu Mang offered Ancient One a [Mental Fruit], arguing that it could strengthen her own spiritual power and amplify the magic she already wielded.
• Zhu Mang gave Ancient One future information in exchange for her cultivation system, a lifetime VIP card for Kamar-Taj, and a Sling Ring.

Wanda and Zhu Mang grew closer while studying magic at Kamar-Taj, then began traveling together and carrying out Zhu Mang’s plans. Their trip took them from recruiting Scott Lang into the Justice League to witnessing T’Chaka prepare to abdicate in Wakanda.

• Wanda visited Zhu Mang’s room at night, kissed him, and began a relationship with him.
• Zhu Mang and Wanda stopped studying and traveled around the world, leaving Pietro to manage the Justice League alone.
• In Los Angeles, Zhu Mang and Wanda stole Hank Pym’s Ant-Man suit and Pym Particles and gave them to Scott Lang, who joined the Justice League.
• Zhu Mang used magic to alter Hank Pym and his daughter’s memories so they believed Janet had been dead for decades.
• Zhu Mang and Wanda visited Wakanda, where they met King T’Chaka and Prince T’Challa and saw T’Chaka give up the power of the Black Panther.

After trading a Devil Fruit to Wakanda, Zhu Mang visited Ancient One and learned how her soul power had transformed her abilities and altered her plan for Stephen Strange and Dormammu. Ancient One opened a portal to Xandar, where Zhu Mang began investigating the Nova Corps and the Power Stone.

• Zhu Mang traded a Devil Fruit to Wakanda for a Black Panther Suit, Vibranium weapons and equipment, and a massive chunk of Vibranium ore, then urged T'Chaka to investigate T'Challa's illness.
• At Kamar-Taj, Ancient One revealed that she had converted the Mental Fruit's energy into soul power and intended to train Stephen Strange as her successor before faking her death to confront Dormammu.
• Zhu Mang sparred with Ancient One in the Mirror Dimension, saw how much stronger she became by borrowing power from other dimensions, and agreed to help her face Dormammu in the future.
• Unable to locate Thanos, Ancient One sent Zhu Mang through a portal to Xandar, where he found the city less interesting than expected.
• Zhu Mang hypnotized a Xandarian to gather information, then used an invisibility spell to enter Nova Corps headquarters.

Zhu Mang stole the [Orb] from Queen Adora while an unidentified force attacked Xandar, then secretly boarded a Nova Corps warship to watch the conflict. As the fleet set out to fight, he wondered whether Thanos was behind the invasion.

• A Nova Corps alarm woke Adora while Zhu Mang was hypnotizing her into retrieving the [Orb], and she confronted him about the theft.
• Adora learned that enemy forces had invaded three space fortresses, while Zhu Mang took the [Orb] and defeated her attacks before threatening Xandar.
• Adora yielded and promised the Nova Corps would not retaliate, and Zhu Mang blasted through the headquarters dome to escape.
• Zhu Mang saw Xandar preparing for war, evaded Nova Starfighters, and chose to follow the departing fleet aboard one of its warships.
• Zhu Mang held the [Orb] on the warship's hull and wondered whether Thanos was leading the invasion.

Zhu Mang reasoned that Thanos had attacked Xandar first to obtain the Power Stone, and that the assault had likely cost him Supergiant and his Double-Edged Blade. Thanos then prepared to exploit the Nova Corps’ response and launch his main attack on Xandar.

• Zhu Mang inferred that Xandar’s strength and the loss of Supergiant and the Double-Edged Blade could explain the timing and aftermath of Thanos’s attack.
• Thanos chose the Power Stone as his first target because it would strengthen him and help him acquire the remaining Infinity Stones.
• Thanos sent Sakaaran Mercenaries to destroy Nova Corps outposts and sealed nearby Star Gates, isolating Xandar from reinforcements.
• Thanos learned that Nova Corps forces had left Xandar in three groups to retake the attacked space fortresses.
• Thanos ordered his fleet to prepare to attack Xandar.

Zhu Mang tested the Power Stone and discovered he could use its energy to stimulate his own strength rather than merely borrow its power. On an uninhabited planet, this process led him to transform into a Super Saiyan and destroy the planet with a punch.

• Zhu Mang opened the Orb and examined the Power Stone, concluding that its value lay more in its connection to the universe's power than in its stored energy.
• Zhu Mang traveled to an uninhabited planet, held the Power Stone, and used its energy to enhance himself before entering his Primal Saiyan Form.
• Zhu Mang redirected the stone's power to stimulate his own strength, causing his power to grow and the planet's surface to collapse.
• Zhu Mang's hair turned gold and his eyes turned emerald green as he transformed into a Super Saiyan.
• Zhu Mang punched the remaining portion of the planet and reduced it to cosmic dust.

Zhu Mang tested his new Super Saiyan power, then discovered that it might combine with his Primal Saiyan form for a five-hundredfold boost. He could not yet sustain both transformations, but resolved to pursue both ways of overcoming the problem.

• Zhu Mang estimated that Super Saiyan raised his battle power to 150 million, then reminded himself that many Dragon Ball foes could still surpass him.
• Zhu Mang set his sights on reaching Super Saiyan 2 and eventually Super Saiyan 4, then tested whether Super Saiyan could stack with Primal Saiyan.
• Zhu Mang found that Primal Saiyan enhanced his body while Super Saiyan amplified his ki, suggesting the forms could combine for a five-hundredfold boost.
• Zhu Mang realized his body and Super Saiyan proficiency were not yet ready to sustain both forms together.
• Zhu Mang identified two solutions: fuse Primal Saiyan into his bloodline or master Full Power Super Saiyan, and decided to pursue both.

Zhu Mang used the Power Stone to raise the Gravity Ring’s limit and resumed strengthening his body before turning to watch Thanos’s invasion of Xandar. Xandar prepared to defend the Orb as Thanos’s forces attacked the planetary shield, which began to weaken.

• Zhu Mang channeled the Power Stone into the Gravity Ring, increased the gravity to 1,500 times, and adapted to the stronger force.
• Sanctuary II appeared in Xandar’s orbit, and Queen Adora told the Nova Corps commanders that Thanos had come for the Orb, which was already in Zhu Mang’s custody.
• Queen Adora rejected Irani’s suggestion to negotiate and ordered the Nova Corps to prepare for battle.
• Thanos ordered Sanctuary II to bombard Xandar’s planetary shield for more than half a day.
• Thanos launched landing pods carrying Outriders, whose repeated attacks further weakened the shield.
• Nova soldiers requested permission to open a gap in the shield and counterattack, and their request was approved.

As the Black Order overwhelmed Xandar, Queen Adora revealed that the Power Stone was already in the hands of a powerful stranger. Zhu Mang appeared, defied Thanos, and began destroying his army and Sanctuary II.

• Adora sent the Nova Force information to Terra as the Black Order attacked Xandar and Supergiant led a landing assault.
• The Nova Corps’ defenses crumbled, Supergiant was killed by ground fire, and surviving Black Order troops swarmed toward headquarters.
• Thanos demanded the Orb from Adora, who mocked him and claimed it had been taken by someone he could never defeat.
• Zhu Mang appeared beside Adora, revealing the Power Stone set in a ring, and rejected Thanos’ demand to hand it over.
• Zhu Mang smashed Leviathans, a Chitauri mothership, and other forces without using ki, then grabbed Sanctuary II and swung it like a flyswatter.

Zhu Mang defeated Thanos’s forces on Xandar, returned a Nova Corps ship, and took Thanos prisoner. Over a meal, Thanos explained how Titan’s collapse shaped his plan to slaughter half the population of overpopulated worlds, though he had begun to seek a faster method.

• Zhu Mang crashed Sanctuary II into an uninhabited region of Xandar and defeated the Black Order, leaving Thanos stunned.
• Zhu Mang told Queen Adora that taking the Power Stone settled his debt, then returned a Nova Corps carrier and its starfighters to Xandar.
• Zhu Mang had the Black Order gather the surviving Dark Army troops and ordered Thanos to accompany him as a prisoner.
• Zhu Mang shared a meal with Thanos, who described Titan’s resource crisis, his rejected plan to kill half its population, and the later extinction of his people.
• Thanos said he had escaped Titan and begun killing half the populations of overpopulated worlds, but had grown dissatisfied with how slowly he found civilizations to target.

Thanos told Zhu Mang how he found the Mind Stone and learned that the Celestials planted seeds in living planets, destroying their life to bring new Celestials into the universe. He also revealed that Death had inspired his mission to eliminate half of all life, while Zhu Mang considered the implications of the Celestials’ power.

• Thanos found the Mind Stone among the remains of The Legendary One, whose surviving consciousness tried to take over Thanos’s body before Thanos extinguished it.
• From The Legendary One’s memories, Thanos learned the locations and functions of the other Infinity Stones and the Celestials’ plan to use life on seeded planets to bring forth new Celestials.
• Thanos learned of evidence of the Celestials, including The Seeker’s destruction of a planet and the Celestial head that became Knowhere.
• Thanos resisted the Mind Stone’s power and, after meeting Death, resolved to gather the Infinity Stones and eliminate half of all life on living planets to prevent Celestials from emerging.
• Zhu Mang listened to Thanos’s account and reflected that it explained his mission better than the movie version, while comparing the Celestials’ status to Dragon Ball’s Angels.

Zhu Mang rejected Thanos’s request to help gather the Infinity Stones and explained that Thanos’s plan could not stop Celestials who already existed. Before he could say more about the Celestials, Infinity brought him to a palace and revealed that she and Eternity wanted to speak with him.

• Zhu Mang considered the Celestials’ possible role in future events and asked Thanos whether he wanted help fighting them.
• Thanos said he wanted Zhu Mang to help gather all six Infinity Stones and wipe out the Celestials, but Zhu Mang refused.
• Zhu Mang pointed out that Thanos’s plan could prevent new Celestials from being born but could not kill those already in existence.
• Zhu Mang began to explain what he knew about the Celestials, but space twisted and pulled him away from Xandar despite his Super Saiyan power.
• Zhu Mang found himself before a palace, where Infinity greeted him and identified herself and Eternity as parts of the universe’s collective consciousness.