Chapter Summaries

Nick Fury asked Peggy Carter to help save S.H.I.E.L.D. from Hydra, and she awakened her powers with an X Crystal, regaining her youth because of her unresolved feelings for Steve. Elsewhere, a badly wounded man and Mr. Killian arrived at an underground base, where a glasses-wearing man welcomed Killian.

• Nick Fury told Peggy Carter that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked her to help stop it.
• Fury offered Carter an X Crystal and Blood of Apocalypse, but Carter revealed Sharon had already given her an identical crystal.
• After learning Steve was still fighting, Carter said she wanted him to have a fresh start and shattered the X Crystal.
• Carter's power awakened, restoring her youth, and she declared that Steve still owed her a dance.
• Two injured men arrived at an underground base, where a man wearing glasses greeted Mr. Killian.

Whitehall rescued Killian and revealed that he had secretly funded Killian’s Extremis research, but rejected Killian’s plan to build an army of Extremis Soldiers. He showed Killian a plant growing beneath an artificial miniature sun and explained Hydra’s goal of completing humanity so people could stand alongside the gods.

• Killian recovered and learned that the man who had saved him was Daniel Whitehall, a Hydra scientist who had survived since Peggy Carter’s era.
• Whitehall told Killian that he had secretly funded his Extremis research and had also been studying plants.
• Killian proposed mass-producing Extremis Soldiers, but Whitehall rejected the idea as outdated and insufficient for the changed world.
• Whitehall led Killian to a laboratory machine containing a fire-covered plant beneath a contained miniature sun.
• Whitehall described Hydra’s plan to use the Garden of Eden myth as a model for elevating humanity to stand alongside the gods.

Whitehall used Killian’s blood to stabilize Subject 084, which grew into a vast plant that absorbed artificial suns, while Hydra prepared to mobilize its resources. At Academy City, Cyclops approved a team to protect S.H.I.E.L.D. from Serpent Shield, and Lu Yifang discovered that a mysterious little girl had summoned him to class alongside Old Magneto.

• Subject 084 began losing control, so Whitehall asked Killian for blood and had it feed the plant, which then grew and contained its energy.
• Whitehall opened the chamber and activated additional artificial suns; Subject 084 wrapped around nine suns and absorbed their energy.
• Whitehall resolved to gather Hydra’s resources, unaware that the head he trusted most had already betrayed Hydra and joined forces with Academy City.
• Lu Yifang told the council that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted mutant and psychic support at its headquarters, and Cyclops approved a team led by Emma.
• Storm told Lu Yifang to visit the counseling room, where he found Old Magneto and another elderly man doing lessons under a black-haired little girl’s supervision.
• The little girl handed Lu Yifang textbooks and told him it was time for class.

Lu Yifang wanted to take charge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. situation, but Luna made him continue studying before taking him to the sports field for practical training. She explained that his power’s essence was control, not merely vector manipulation, and told him to begin mastering the four fundamental forces.

• Lu Yifang told Professor X and Old Magneto he planned to handle the S.H.I.E.L.D. situation himself, but Luna stopped him and insisted he finish his studies.
• Luna persuaded Lu Yifang to leave with her for practical training, while Professor X and Old Magneto discussed her reborn personality and concluded she was like a carefree princess.
• At the sports field, Luna told Lu Yifang that skipping foundational stages had limited his development and asked him to identify the true nature of his ability.
• Luna explained that Lu Yifang’s power was control rather than vector manipulation and instructed him to learn to control all four fundamental forces before expanding his abilities.

Lu Yifang learned how mental perception and mental power could strengthen his control over abilities, then spent weeks completing elementary-school exercises. After S.H.I.E.L.D. announced Nick Fury’s assassination, Lu Yifang visited the supposedly dead director and learned Fury had faked his death to expose Hydra’s plans to seize energy, including the power source of the Chitauri mothership.

• Luna taught Lu Yifang a four-stage perception-training method and explained how mental power affected his abilities.
• Luna ordered Lu Yifang to complete the elementary-school curriculum, and he spent more than half a month doing exercises.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. announced that Nick Fury had been assassinated, and Lu Yifang visited him at a recuperation facility.
• Fury admitted he had copied a disguise-and-transformation ability and faked his death to make Hydra believe it had taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Fury told Lu Yifang that Whitehall was plundering energy and targeting the power source of the Chitauri mothership, then led him through a hidden passage.

Lu Yifang met the rejuvenated Carter and joined Fury and Pierce as they discussed Hydra’s plans and a trap for Whitehall. Captain America unexpectedly appeared at the warehouse, and Carter watched him fight alongside a woman, shattering her glass in anger or distress.

• Lu Yifang met Carter and called her “Sister,” delighting her while Fury and Pierce reacted with disbelief.
• Carter admitted she was not ready to see Steve, then asked Pierce to brief Lu Yifang on Hydra.
• Pierce reported that Whitehall was mobilizing Hydra branches, and Lu Yifang inferred that Hydra’s leaders were competing for power.
• Pierce revealed a plan to let Whitehall’s agents steal the Chitauri mothership power source so they could follow them to Whitehall.
• Captain America unexpectedly attacked the Hydra agents in the warehouse, and Carter watched him fight with a woman before crushing her glass in her hand.

Captain America and Natasha uncovered Hydra agents inside S.H.I.E.L.D., while Lu Yifang revealed that Fury was alive and Carter confronted Steve. Their reunion was interrupted when Hydra attacked and occupied Hawaii, prompting Fury to mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D.’s aircraft carriers.

• Captain America and Natasha defeated Hydra agents in a warehouse, and Lu Yifang killed the last two before they could self-destruct.
• Fury revealed that his death had been faked, and Carter appeared, causing Steve to mistake her for an impostor until she reminded him of their long-ago dance.
• Pierce reported that Whitehall had attacked and occupied Hawaii, and the president authorized military action with S.H.I.E.L.D. support.
• Fury decided to deploy the three aircraft carriers from Project Insight against Hydra.

Pierce and Fury launched S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Sky Carriers toward Hawaii after Whitehall hinted that HYDRA was pursuing its ultimate goal. Whitehall uploaded himself into Subject 084, which awakened and began devouring life as Hawaii's volcanoes erupted, leaving the invading Military forces under attack.

• Pierce questioned Whitehall about his plans, but Whitehall ended the call after claiming he had found a better power source and was close to achieving HYDRA's ultimate goal.
• Fury and Pierce launched the Sky Carriers toward Hawaii, where Captain America and Carter joined them and learned about Fury's claimed campaign against HYDRA infiltrators.
• The Military attacked HYDRA's stronghold while Fury watched, and Whitehall prepared to upload himself into Subject 084 beneath Mauna Loa.
• Killian began Whitehall's upload into Subject 084, which awakened, devoured the laboratory staff, and absorbed Killian.
• The Military began landing on Hawaii as Subject 084's roots burst from the ground, destroying craft and attacking troops while volcanic eruptions spread across the island.

A golden-red Giant Tree erupted from Mauna Loa and destroyed the Military fleet, then spawned a Human Apostle that tried to absorb humanity into a collective consciousness. Lu Yifang arrived to confront it aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. Sky Carrier.

• The Military's bombardment enraged Mauna Loa, and a golden-red energy blast destroyed the fleet as a Giant Tree grew from the volcano.
• Luna sensed the unusual energy from afar and left Mutant Academy.
• Fury ordered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Sky Carriers to attack the Giant Tree, but it regenerated and produced a humanoid figure from a giant fruit.
• The Human Apostle told Fury and the others that humanity would join its collective consciousness, while Pierce recognized Hydra's ultimate goal.
• Lu Yifang appeared on the Sky Carrier, severed the Human Apostle's arm, and challenged it with a Plasma Light Blade.

Lu Yifang fought through the Human Apostles and used electromagnetic power to blast holes in the Giant Tree, while Fury prepared a nuclear strike. The chapter left Lu Yifang in contact with Agent 0233, an agent he recognized, as the bomb-carrying fighters took off.

• Lu Yifang killed a regenerating Human Apostle, then faced dozens more that emerged from the Giant Tree's fruits.
• Lu Yifang and Fury agreed to split up, with Lu Yifang drawing the Apostles' attention while the Sky Carriers attacked from the air.
• Lu Yifang cut down the Human Apostles and severed the Giant Tree's root tendrils as the Sky Carriers struggled to advance.
• Lu Yifang used magnetism to launch steel rods into the Giant Tree, piercing its trunk and inflicting several large wounds.
• Fury told Lu Yifang that three nuclear bombs were airborne and connected him with Agent 0233, whom Lu Yifang recognized.

Lu Yifang used Agent 0233’s demolition power and three nuclear bombs to destroy the Giant Tree. They escaped the blast, but the tree’s fall triggered catastrophic earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis across Hawaii.

• Lu Yifang learned that Agent 0233 could turn touched objects into remotely detonated bombs and told him the United States government would handle reconstruction.
• Lu Yifang ordered Agent 0233 to fly straight toward the Giant Tree without firing, while he cleared the way through the Human Apostles.
• A branch destroyed the fighter’s left wing, so Lu Yifang landed on it and kept it moving toward the Giant Tree.
• Lu Yifang pulled Agent 0233 from the fighter and ordered him to detonate the nuclear bombs as the Giant Tree enveloped the plane.
• Agent 0233 detonated the bombs, and the explosions split the Giant Tree apart and sent its canopy crashing down.
• The tree’s fall caused a major earthquake, volcanic eruptions, and a super tsunami that affected all 132 Hawaiian islands.

Luna subdued the Initial Tree of Life by possessing it, ending the destruction across Hawaii and turning the tree toward restoring life. Fury organized relief efforts and assigned Agent 0233 to oversee them, but the exhausted agent fainted before he could respond.

• The damaged Initial Tree of Life unleashed roots and blood across Hawaii as Lu Yifang considered how to destroy it.
• Luna revealed the tree shared an origin with Ymir and let it absorb her, then used her demigod soul to suppress and possess it.
• The tree stopped attacking, absorbed dead plants and animals to heal, and helped new life emerge as the volcano, earthquakes, and tsunami subsided.
• Lu Yifang told Fury the tree was harmless, and Fury agreed to leave it in place while S.H.I.E.L.D. began rescue operations.
• Fury assigned Agent 0233 to lead relief work and warned him about radioactive contamination, but Agent 0233 fainted before answering.

After graduating from elementary school, Lu Yifang was forced into middle-school tutoring while Academy City continued rebuilding. Coulson then asked him to save Melinda from a supernatural curse, and Luna warned that a five-thousand-year cycle was about to begin.

• Luna told Lu Yifang that he had started middle school and made him study despite his reluctance.
• Lu Yifang watched Academy City rebuild and worried that something terrible was approaching.
• Coulson arrived in a panic and explained that ghosts had left Melinda trapped in extreme terror after one touched her.
• Luna agreed to help Melinda and said she sensed a curse on Coulson.
• Luna refused to open a portal, warning that the five-thousand-year cycle was about to begin and the world would become more chaotic.

Luna removed a vicious curse from Melinda and explained that Coulson’s right-hand ability could destroy supernatural forces through direct contact. Fury began revealing why he had secretly sent agents into the field and asked Lu Yifang and Luna whether they had heard of the Dark Tome.

• Melinda attacked Lu Yifang while under the curse, but Coulson calmed her briefly and Luna pulled the curse from her mind.
• Luna explained that the curse was tied to a trace of divine power and demonstrated that Coulson could destroy it by touching it with his right hand.
• Luna suspected Fury had sent the agents to investigate the curse, so Coulson called him and demanded an explanation.
• Fury admitted the secrecy could no longer be maintained and asked Lu Yifang and Luna whether they had heard of the Dark Tome.

Fury explained the Darkhold’s corrupting power and traced it to the ghosts at the Roxxon Hydroelectric Plant, where Lu Yifang and his team fought their way inside. As the female researcher ghost warned that a powerful being was about to succeed, a fire-wreathed skull appeared behind her.

• Luna told Fury that the Darkhold had belonged to Mephisto and could corrupt anyone who read it.
• Fury revealed that the missing Power Laboratory researchers had taken the Darkhold and that their trail led to Eli and the Roxxon Hydroelectric Plant.
• Lu Yifang, Luna, Melinda, and Coulson entered the plant, where unstable power threatened the dam and the team lost contact with the outside.
• A female researcher ghost and hordes of ghosts attacked, but Coulson and lightning defeated many of them.
• Luna identified a Screaming Demon from Hell among the attackers, and a fire-wreathed skull appeared as the female ghost warned that a great one was close to succeeding.

Johnny Blaze tracked the demon Roch to Earth and encountered Lu Yifang’s group, but Roch’s attack displaced them between worlds. Eli appeared transformed by the Dark Tome, and Lu Yifang blasted him with a plasma ball.

• Ghost Rider judged the researchers and turned on Coulson until Coulson punched Johnny and brought him back to himself.
• Johnny told Lu Yifang that Doctor Strange had severed his connection to Mephisto, but his curse had left the Spirit of Vengeance harder to control.
• Roch emerged from Johnny’s shadow and revealed that he had come to Earth while Odin was nearly finished.
• Roch’s energy wave pushed Lu Yifang, Luna, Johnny, and the others out of normal space, leaving them falling toward another world.
• Eli appeared with the Dark Tome and a Devil-shaped shadow, but Lu Yifang struck him with a plasma ball.

Luna rescued Lu Yifang and the others from the gap between realms, but Demon Roch revealed that he had used her return as a coordinate to summon demons from Hell. As the battle erupted at the Roxxon Hydroelectric Plant, Coulson and Melinda fused into Iron Cavalry Coulson Beast and began fighting back.

• Luna brought everyone back to solid ground, and Roch explained that he had used her as a planar coordinate to summon his demon army from Hell.
• Roch activated the runes embedded in Eli, turning the area around the Roxxon Hydroelectric Plant into a vast altar as blood-red pillars rose from the ground.
• Lu Yifang charged Roch, killed a Lava Demon, and fought off pillars Roch created with the Dark Tome's power.
• Melinda failed to destroy a regenerating demon pillar, but Coulson broke it apart with a touch and stopped it from reforming.
• Coulson and Melinda fused into silver-white armor, and Iron Cavalry Coulson Beast killed a Lava Demon with a metal sword.

Lu Yifang and Coulson used their combined powers to battle Roch, whose body sustained the demon altar. After Coulson’s hand erased Roch’s magic, he struck the devil and ended his fantasy of being unstoppable.

• Coulson destroyed demon pillars while Lu Yifang and Ghost Rider fought the demons, but Roch regenerated after Lu Yifang cut him apart.
• Luna explained that Roch was the altar’s core, so destroying the pillars alone would not stop the demons from returning.
• Lu Yifang used his powers to wield Coulson in the Cavalry armor as a weapon, swinging him at demons and pillars while Coulson erased whatever his hand touched.
• Lu Yifang redirected Coulson after Roch dodged his first charge, and Coulson broke through Roch’s magical defenses.
• Coulson punched Roch in the face, declaring that the devil’s fantasy of being unstoppable would end.

After Roch's defeat, Luna explained how demons create nested avatars, and Mephisto appeared to discuss Hell's plans as the Nine Realms approached overlap. Mephisto proposed joining forces against Roch, but Lu Yifang remained wary of trusting him.

• Coulson shattered Roch's laws, and Luna claimed the Dark Tome before purifying Roch's avatar.
• Luna explained that Roch was an avatar and described how demons created layers of avatars to control their followers.
• Mephisto appeared and warned Ghost Rider that their pact still bound him, while Lu Yifang reached for an iron hammer after recognizing him.
• Mephisto said Roch had betrayed him and stolen the Dark Tome, then explained that he had come to Earth ahead of the Nine Realms' overlap while Odin neared death.
• Mephisto proposed that he and the others work together to stop Roch, and Lu Yifang hesitated to trust him.

Lu Yifang and Luna negotiated a contract with Mephisto to deal with Roch, adding the Dark Tome as their reward and tightening the terms with expert advice. Mephisto explained why Earth attracted Devils, then failed to tempt Lu Yifang, who declared that he wanted women above all else.

• Mephisto offered Lu Yifang a contract to provide information about Roch in exchange for driving Roch back to Hell or killing him.
• Lu Yifang had Coulson send the contract to S.H.I.E.L.D. for expert analysis, while Luna insisted that Mephisto include the Dark Tome as their reward.
• After Lu Yifang and Luna added numerous clauses, Mephisto explained that Roch had come to Earth to harvest souls and grow stronger amid humanity's upheaval.
• Mephisto tried to tempt Lu Yifang by asking what he desired most, and Lu Yifang answered that he wanted boobs.
• Mephisto became furious and decided to blacklist Lu Yifang once their deal was complete.