Chapter Summaries

Old Wang recounted how he had returned from Azeroth as a baby, lost the Heart of Azeroth to a thief, and spent eighteen years searching for it while struggling to afford college. When Skye called to say they had found the person he was looking for, Old Wang rushed out, hoping to recover his lost artifact.

• Old Wang had transmigrated from Azeroth to Earth as a baby, and the orphanage director had rescued him from the storm.
• A thief had taken the Heart of Azeroth from Old Wang on the night he arrived.
• Old Wang had spent eighteen years cultivating Pandaren martial arts and searching for the Heart while supporting himself after leaving the orphanage.
• Old Wang worried about paying for college and considered taking work as a nightclub host or a kept man.
• Skye called Old Wang and told him they had found the person he was looking for, so he rushed out.

Old Wang learned that the Heart of Azeroth had ended up with the Fifth Street Gang in Los Angeles, and he persuaded Skye to help him get it. They set out to contact the gang’s second-in-command and arrange a trade, though Old Wang planned to rob him instead.

• Skye revealed that her three-year search had traced the necklace to Peter, the Fifth Street Gang’s second-in-command in Los Angeles.
• Old Wang asked Skye to drive him to Los Angeles, and she warned him that the gang was armed and dangerous.
• Old Wang offered to help Skye gain abilities like his if she assisted him, and Skye agreed.
• Old Wang told Skye to contact Peter and arrange a meeting, then said they would rob him rather than buy the necklace.

Old Wang and Skye delayed the sale of the Heart of Azeroth while traveling toward Los Angeles, where Robbie Reyes waited in vain for the agreed transaction. Peter of the Fifth Street Gang brought armed men to meet the buyers, convinced the deal was a trap.

• Skye discovered that Robbie Reyes had agreed to buy the Heart of Azeroth from Peter for fifty thousand dollars and planned to meet him within two hours.
• Old Wang told Skye to offer a hundred thousand dollars and postpone the transaction until the following night.
• Robbie prepared to use the Spirit of Vengeance to take revenge on the Fifth Street Gang, but no buyer appeared at the meeting place.
• Peter recalled how the Fifth Street Gang had failed to kill Eli, pursued payment from Joseph, and acquired the necklace before Peter arranged its sale.
• Peter arrived at the meeting with more than a dozen armed subordinates and a rocket launcher, then prepared for a possible ambush when the buyers arrived in an old truck.

Old Wang confronted the Fifth Street Gang, but Robbie Reyes arrived in a Hellfire-powered Dodge Charger and attacked them. As Robbie began fighting the gang, a rocket aimed at him veered toward Old Wang, forcing him to act.

• Old Wang left Skye in the truck and approached Peter with a suitcase holding his rolling pin and a bottle of erguotou.
• A flaming 1969 Dodge Charger rammed the Fifth Street Gang's car, and Peter recognized it as Eli's supposedly destroyed vehicle.
• The Charger survived the gang's gunfire, crashed the gang's car, and set its occupants ablaze with Hellfire.
• Robbie Reyes stepped out of the Charger with a flaming skull and chain, and Peter recognized him as Eli's nephew, whom he had shot dead.
• Peter ordered a rocket launcher fired at Robbie, but the rocket flew toward Old Wang, who prepared to intervene.

Old Wang demonstrated Tiger Stance and Crane Neck Kick by redirecting a rocket-propelled grenade, then helped Robbie punish Peter before the police arrived. Robbie drove off with Peter, and Old Wang urged Skye to leave with him.

• Peter panicked when William's rocket-propelled grenade veered off course, then caught fire from Robbie's hellfire and begged for mercy.
• Old Wang demonstrated Tiger Stance for Skye, while Robbie and the Spirit of Vengeance watched in astonishment.
• Old Wang kicked the rocket back toward the Fifth Street Gang's truck, which exploded and killed more than a dozen gang members.
• Old Wang used a True Qi whip to pull Peter toward him, but Robbie claimed Peter and crushed his hand and pistol with a flaming foot.
• Robbie took Peter away in his Dodge Charger, and Old Wang collected his suitcase and told Skye to leave before the police arrived.

Old Wang and Skye fled in a battered truck after an RPG attack, while Old Wang tried to restore the Heart of Azeroth by feeding it True Qi. Skye hacked the police and discovered that Robbie Reyes had killed the remaining Fifth Street Gang members, leaving Old Wang relieved that they had no leads.

• Old Wang drove recklessly while Skye clutched her laptop and struggled with motion sickness, so he used True Qi to steady her body.
• Old Wang controlled the steering wheel with True Qi and narrowly swerved around a box truck, then drove fifty kilometers to escape the scene of the RPG attack.
• Old Wang explained that he wanted to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D. because Hydra had infiltrated it, and he continued cultivating as the Heart of Azeroth drained his True Qi.
• Skye hacked the Los Angeles Police and found that Robbie Reyes had killed twenty-three members of the Fifth Street Gang, while police had found no clues about Old Wang and Skye.
• Skye took over driving as Old Wang cultivated, and the Heart of Azeroth stopped absorbing his True Qi and awakened.

Old Wang entered the Heart of Azeroth and met Azeroth, learning that the failed trip to his home universe had been an experiment. When he demanded another attempt, Azeroth revealed that the Azeroth Blood needed to power the journey was gone, leaving him unable to return for now.

• Old Wang gave Skye the car to drive after she blamed him for the repairs.
• Old Wang’s soul entered the Heart of Azeroth and found a temple containing the purified soul of Argus.
• Azeroth appeared as a little girl and told Old Wang she had waited eighteen years for him to wake.
• Azeroth admitted that Aman'Thul and Norgannon had used Old Wang’s journey to test whether cross-universe travel was possible.
• Old Wang asked Azeroth to open the Time-Space Channel so he could return home.
• Azeroth revealed that she had no mana left, and Old Wang realized the Azeroth Blood meant for the journey had been used up.

Old Wang learned that Azeroth Miss had spent nearly all her blood getting him safely to Earth and reshaping him into a baby, then showed him Norgannon’s Temporal Nexus as a way to summon items, skills, and creatures from Azeroth. He discovered that its exchanges required valuable matter, leaving him with a system showing zero Azeroth Blood.

• Azeroth Miss explained that interference during their journey had sent them to the Marvel universe, and she had used nearly all her blood to conceal Old Wang from powerful beings there and reshape his body.
• Old Wang learned that the Pantheon had created a Temporal Nexus with channels of different levels, each consuming Azeroth Blood at a different rate.
• Azeroth Miss explained that the Nexus could transport items and one-use skills from Azeroth, or temporarily summon creatures while a channel remained open.
• Azeroth Miss said Old Wang had to exchange nonliving matter for more Azeroth Blood under Norgannon’s equivalent-exchange rules.
• Azeroth Miss showed Old Wang the system panel, which listed the True Heart of Azeroth as a Supreme Artifact and Azeroth Blood as zero.

Old Wang learned that the Heart of Azeroth needed blood and time to recover before it could send him home, then returned to the truck with Skye. He drove them toward Robbie’s workplace to ask about Ghost Rider and ways to make money, while insisting they share a cheap hotel room.

• The young woman explained that the Heart of Azeroth could expand as it stored blood, but Old Wang was too weak to use it for time travel yet.
• She said the previous crossing needed recalculation, an unknown force had interfered, and Old Wang would need to take the Heart with him to return.
• The Heart of Azeroth expelled Old Wang because the True Qi he provided contained too little energy.
• Old Wang woke in the truck, took over driving from Skye, and asked her to find Robbie’s workplace so he could ask about Ghost Rider and earning money.
• Skye calculated Old Wang’s debt as $7,426 and asked where they would stay that night.
• Old Wang proposed they share a cheap king room, and Skye angrily called out his name.

Nick Fury considered creating the Avengers Initiative as Agent Hill briefed him on a gang massacre in Los Angeles linked to two possible Special Ability Users. Hill recommended an investigation and challenged Fury over his interest in Super Heroes, leaving their disagreement unresolved.

• Nick Fury decided it was time to establish the Avengers Initiative because increasingly powerful Special Ability Users threatened S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability to maintain security.
• Agent Hill reported that the Fifth Street Gang in Los Angeles had been wiped out, with thirty-seven dead and evidence pointing to a Special Ability User.
• Hill assessed that a flame-wielding person using chains and an unidentified accomplice had likely killed the gang, including by redirecting a rocket into their truck.
• Fury assigned Hill to file the case and ordered an investigation of the surviving gang member by Agent Coulson or Agent Romanoff.
• Hill asked Fury whether he was interested in Super Heroes, then said she trusted systems and collective strength more than heroes or illusory hope.

Old Wang pushed Skye through an intense morning of martial arts training, then promised to make her powerful and told her to investigate a hidden city in Puerto Rico and S.H.I.E.L.D. Box 084. At the repair shop, Robbie faced the arrival of Old Wang and Skye, while the Spirit of Vengeance still remained inside him.

• Old Wang woke Skye at four in the morning and insisted she practice martial arts, claiming the world would soon grow chaotic and promising to make her strong enough to defeat a S.H.I.E.L.D. field team.
• Old Wang told Skye to investigate an underground city in Puerto Rico and find Box 084, which contained an Obelisk connected to her.
• After three hours of training, Skye discovered Old Wang had checked out their rooms and refunded the extra payment, then he used True Qi to restore her energy.
• Old Wang took Skye to buy burgers and drove her to Robbie's repair shop.
• Robbie reflected that the demon inside him had stayed after his revenge, then went to meet the customer who had requested him and found Old Wang.

Old Wang and Skye met Robbie at his garage, offered to repair his truck, and assured him they had erased footage that could expose Ghost Rider. Old Wang revealed that a member of the Fifth Street Gang had survived and was imprisoned in Los Angeles, then asked whether Robbie’s uncle was in the same prison.

• Old Wang and Skye arrived at Robbie’s workplace, claiming they had come to fix his truck, and Robbie escorted them to the repair bay.
• Skye told Robbie she had deleted surveillance footage that could identify his Dodge Charger as Ghost Rider’s car.
• Old Wang asked whether Robbie had wiped out the Fifth Street Gang and revealed that one member had survived.
• Robbie fought the Spirit of Vengeance’s urge to kill and demanded to know where the surviving gang member was.
• Skye said the man was in Los Angeles Prison and might be released in eight years, leaving Robbie unable to get revenge immediately.
• Old Wang asked whether Robbie’s uncle was also in Los Angeles Prison.

Robbie learned that his uncle’s laboratory accident involved a secret project and the Darkhold, a book his uncle had desperately wanted. Old Wang sensed the Spirit of Vengeance react to the Darkhold and decided he wanted to acquire the book for trade with Azeroth Miss.

• Robbie confronted Old Wang for bringing up his imprisoned uncle, but Old Wang described the uncle’s history and the fatal laboratory accident.
• Old Wang told Robbie that the laboratory’s leaders, Joseph and Lucy, controlled its core technology, while Robbie’s uncle had only handled menial work and coveted the technology and a book.
• Robbie recalled his uncle’s recent anger and questioned whether he could really have caused the accident through negligence.
• Old Wang revealed that the book was the Darkhold, and Robbie sensed the Spirit of Vengeance stir at its name.
• Old Wang recognized the Spirit of Vengeance’s reaction and decided he wanted the Darkhold because it could be exchanged for valuable Azeroth Blood.

Old Wang explained that Eli had sought the Darkhold’s power, causing the deaths at the laboratory and the tragedy that fueled Robbie’s vengeance. Robbie struggled to accept that his uncle was involved, and Old Wang challenged the Spirit of Vengeance over whether the Darkhold was the true culprit.

• Old Wang offered to help Robbie get revenge and asked what Peter had revealed before Robbie killed him.
• Old Wang explained that the Power New Energy Laboratory used the Darkhold to draw energy from another dimension, making things appear from nothing or vanish.
• Old Wang said Eli tried to obtain the Darkhold, used Joseph’s equipment to turn laboratory members into ghosts, and prompted Joseph to hire the Fifth Street Gang to kill him.
• Old Wang explained that the gang mistook Robbie and his brother for Eli after they took their uncle’s car, while Eli later confronted Joseph, who hid the Darkhold and fell into a coma before Eli was arrested.
• Robbie said he still could not believe his uncle would kill anyone, and Old Wang blamed the Darkhold’s corrupting influence before asking the Spirit of Vengeance if he was wrong.

Robbie resisted the Spirit of Vengeance while Old Wang taunted him, then struggled to decide who deserved his vengeance. Skye interrupted with news that S.H.I.E.L.D. was watching the Fifth Street Gang.

• Robbie fought the Spirit of Vengeance’s urge to attack Old Wang and forced it back under control.
• Old Wang compared Robbie’s struggle to Meryl Winterstorm’s conflict with a Dreadlord and mocked Robbie for holding back.
• Robbie warned Old Wang not to provoke the Spirit of Vengeance, then backed down after remembering Old Wang’s terrifying gaze.
• Robbie weighed whether to seek vengeance on the remaining Fifth Street Gang members, Joseph, Eli, or the Darkhold.
• Skye announced that S.H.I.E.L.D. had its eyes on the Fifth Street Gang.

Old Wang learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson and Natasha were investigating the Ghost Rider incident and decided to track their operation while searching for The Laboratory. At Los Angeles Prison, Coulson concluded that Eli was connected to the case and hurried to question him, suspecting someone else had already acted.

• Skye told Old Wang that Coulson and Natasha had gone to Los Angeles Prison with a field team.
• Old Wang decided to monitor the prison and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents while locating The Laboratory, and Skye began the surveillance work.
• Old Wang told Robbie to repair the car, and Robbie reluctantly started working on the battered vehicle.
• After questioning surviving gang members, Coulson identified Eli as a lead and decided to speak with him in prison.
• Coulson warned Natasha that someone had reached Eli before them, and Natasha agreed to investigate him.

Wang and Skye monitored S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation into Eli and learned that the Darkhold might be connected to the laboratory where Eli worked. After Coulson and Natasha decided to investigate, Wang and Skye set out for the laboratory as well.

• Robbie asked what to call Skye and Wang, and Wang introduced himself as Wang Jingze before telling Robbie to call him Wang.
• Skye told Wang that Natasha had left Los Angeles Prison and that Coulson had gone to question Eli.
• Coulson met Natasha outside the prison, where she shared a Level Ten file linking the Darkhold, Dark Matter research, Roxxon Corporation, and Eli's laboratory.
• Coulson decided to go to The Laboratory with Natasha.
• Wang announced that he and Skye would go to The Laboratory, then headed for Robbie's Dodge Charger.

Wang, Skye, and Robbie broke into the Laboratory, where Wang discovered that a Reaction Furnace was powering boxes containing ghosts. He opened one box and released a ghost, leaving Skye eager to learn more and the Spirit of Vengeance stirred by the presence of the Dark World.

• Robbie drove Wang and Skye to the Laboratory in five minutes, arriving before Coulson and Black Widow.
• Skye and Robbie argued over who would open the entrance, but Wang used True Qi to unlock the door without damaging it.
• Wang sensed a ghostly presence inside and led Skye and Robbie to the main laboratory room.
• The group found a Reaction Furnace powering five boxes, and Wang told them the boxes contained ghosts rather than the Darkhold.
• Wang opened the top box, and an orange-yellow light emerged and formed a ghost.

Lucy Bauer emerged as a ghostly being trapped between dimensions and demanded to know what had happened to her. Old Wang recognized her unusual state and kept Robbie from attacking her, while Lucy suspected that Eli had stolen the Darkhold and harmed Joseph.

• Lucy Bauer explained that Eli had used the Quantum Generator to turn her and others into ghosts, and she vowed to find the Darkhold and kill him.
• Lucy tried to sneak up on Old Wang, Skye, and Robbie, but Old Wang and Robbie tracked her while Skye excitedly tried to photograph her.
• Old Wang suggested that Lucy was trapped between dimensions, and Lucy asked whether he had read the Darkhold or was a quantum mechanics expert.
• The Spirit of Vengeance urged Robbie to kill Lucy, but Old Wang ordered him to stop and warned that he was too weak to fight.
• Lucy concluded that Eli had sent Old Wang and demanded to know what he had done to Joseph and where the Darkhold was.

Old Wang subdued Lucy and recruited her and the other ghosts into a scientific team, then set out to find the Darkhold. When S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived at the laboratory, Old Wang made the battery box vanish.

• Old Wang seized Lucy with energy, offered to restore her humanity in exchange for working for him, and ordered her to recruit her colleagues.
• Robbie transformed into Ghost Rider and nearly killed one of the newly released ghosts, prompting Hugo, Vincent, and Frederick to submit.
• Old Wang gathered Lucy, Joseph, Eli, Hugo, Vincent, and Frederick into the Power New Energy Laboratory team and announced they would find the Darkhold.
• Lucy offered to persuade Joseph to join them, but Old Wang said the Darkhold was hidden where they had found it and Robbie still wanted revenge on Joseph.
• Skye warned Old Wang that S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived at the laboratory, and Old Wang placed a hand on the battery box, making it disappear.