Chapter Summaries

Old Wang helped Jia Ying begin cultivating True Qi and prepared the Quinjets for different roles while Egghead secretly reorganized S.H.I.E.L.D. Pierce grew suspicious of the changes and ordered Fury killed within three hours.

• Old Wang converted Jia Ying’s life force into True Qi and guided her through ten Grand Circulations.
• Old Wang described the three modified Quinjets and arranged for Melinda May to train Elektra to fly them.
• Egghead spent a month secretly reallocating S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and resources while Pierce sensed that something was wrong.
• Pierce learned that his agents could not reach Whitehall at Azeroth Laboratory and ordered Fury killed within three hours.

Pierce launched Hydra’s coordinated assault against Fury, Azeroth Laboratory, and Tony Stark, while Fury’s convoy came under attack in Washington D.C. Old Wang set out to rescue Fury but was forced to confront five incoming missiles, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved.

• Pierce ordered Garrett to launch every missile at Azeroth Laboratory, seize Robbie’s younger brother Gabe, and capture Tony Stark and his Iron Man armors.
• Fury spotted Hydra agents surrounding his vehicle in Washington D.C., activated Operation Snake Hunt, and tried to escape as attackers damaged his car and systems.
• Fury called Old Wang for help, and Old Wang began preparing to teleport to Washington D.C.
• Five missiles identical to the one used in San Juan flew toward Old Wang, who recognized Hydra’s attack and summoned Little Red.

Old Wang stopped five missiles aimed at Azeroth Laboratory and retaliated against the Hydra base that launched them before rescuing Egghead from a Hydra ambush in Washington D.C. He restored Egghead with the Mist of Revival and took him through a portal to confront the people behind the attacks.

• Little Red wrapped around five missiles, dragged them together, and made them explode before fleeing toward a bathhouse until Old Wang ordered it back.
• Old Wang opened a portal to the Puerto Rico military base, where Nio Robinson watched the missiles explode and learned they had been redirected by a red ribbon.
• Old Wang identified himself as Edwin VanCleef, deflected the soldiers' bullets with a Golden Bell, sent them back to kill Nio and the others, and disabled the command center's electrical system.
• Egghead was trapped in Washington D.C. by Hydra agents and nearly called Captain Marvel when Little Red took his pager and protected him from the gunfire.
• Little Red killed the Hydra agents surrounding Egghead, and Old Wang returned the pager, healed Egghead with the Mist of Revival, and opened a portal to take him to end the conflict.

Gabe and Peter survived a Hydra assault on Azeroth Specialties Shop, and Robbie arrived as Ghost Rider to destroy the pursuing agents. Robbie flew off in a Hellfire-transformed Quinjet to help the Boss, while Gabe took Peter toward Feuerstein Base.

• Gabe killed more than ten Hydra agents during their attack, while Peter watched in shock and nausea.
• Gabe called Robbie, who told him to flee east, then carried Peter away from the shop.
• A missile exploded behind them as Hydra pursued, and Gabe ran until Robbie arrived in his Hellfire-powered Dodge Charger.
• Robbie transformed into Ghost Rider and killed the pursuing Hydra agents, destroying their SUV and Quinjet with Hellfire.
• Robbie told Gabe he was going to help the Boss, then flew toward Triskelion Headquarters in a transformed Quinjet.
• Gabe drove Peter toward Feuerstein Base, and Peter realized Robbie was Ghost Rider.

Tony tested the completed Mark 7 armor, then an attack destroyed his villa and forced him underwater. J.A.R.V.I.S. rescued Pepper and equipped Tony with the armor, leaving him ready to counterattack.

• Tony learned Mark 7's weapons, defensive upgrades, deployment features, and combat systems, then ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to design Mark 8 to surpass Master Wang.
• A missile attack struck the villa, but Tony deployed armor to Pepper and J.A.R.V.I.S. intercepted the incoming missile.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. detected four F35 fighters, a Quinjet, and five Jericho Missiles, so Tony fled into the sea as the missiles destroyed his villa and equipment.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. confirmed Pepper was safe and sent Mark 7 to Tony underwater, where he activated its life-support and combat systems.
• Tony ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to begin the counterattack.

Tony Stark used Mark 7 to defeat a Hydra attack on his villa, then learned Hydra was also targeting S.H.I.E.L.D. and Master Wang’s facilities. After Black Widow warned him about Project Insight and sent him Triskelion’s coordinates, Tony set course for Washington, D.C.

• J.A.R.V.I.S. controlled Mark 7 in a dogfight, destroying two F35s and tricking Hydra’s fighters into wasting missiles before counterattacking.
• Hydra’s Quinjet retreated in stealth mode, leaving burning F35s and Tony’s villa in ruins.
• Black Widow contacted Tony, identified Hydra as the attacker, and warned him that Project Insight planned to kill millions, including him.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. reported that missiles had exploded near Azeroth Laboratory and relayed Master Wang’s message asking whether Tony was dead.
• Black Widow gave Tony the coordinates of Triskelion, and Tony ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to take him to Washington, D.C.

Old Wang and Fury entered Triskelion Headquarters as Hydra took control of S.H.I.E.L.D. bases around the world. Old Wang left Fury to confront Pierce while he and Sitwell went to deal with the arriving Hydra forces.

• Skye learned that Wang had survived and took Elektra with her to watch San Juan Military Base and help intercept missiles.
• Pierce learned that Hydra had failed to capture Fury and ordered Sitwell to seize Triskelion's weapons systems and attack suspicious people.
• Old Wang and Fury emerged through a sorcerer's portal, and Old Wang killed the armed Hydra leaders who tried to shoot them.
• Old Wang left Fury and Pierce to face each other, then made Sitwell lead him to the Hydra members so he could kill them.

Egghead arrested Alexander Pierce and exposed him as Hydra’s leader, then ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to hunt Hydra. Pierce argued for uniting S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra to impose one rule on the world, but Egghead shot him, declaring that Hydra would fall.

• Pierce tried to persuade Egghead to join forces with Hydra and create a world governed by one voice.
• Egghead used his hidden fake eye to help unlock the security system and broadcast Pierce’s identity and arrest to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Egghead authorized all S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to join Operation Snake Hunt and detain or kill anyone provoking conflict.
• Pierce warned that the war could not be stopped, while Egghead said Hydra members would surrender when faced with death.
• Pierce reached for his waist and ran, but Egghead shot him before he could escape.

Old Wang fought his way through Hydra agents inside Triskelion Headquarters while Tony survived an aerial battle and helped monitor Sitwell’s communicator. Hydra’s AI, Zola, announced that it would replace Pierce and ordered Sitwell to hold Old Wang at headquarters.

• Hydra agents charged toward the top floor to rescue Pierce and capture Fury, while Old Wang arrived with Sitwell and began fighting them.
• Old Wang battered his way through Hydra agents, and Tony contacted him to report that he was flying to Washington D.C.
• Old Wang asked Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. to monitor Sitwell’s communicator, and they quickly cracked it and began listening in.
• Old Wang forced his way down toward Triskelion’s command center as Sitwell watched Hydra’s forces fall around them.
• Zola announced that Pierce was lost, took Pierce’s place, and ordered Sitwell to keep the Immortal Iron Fist from leaving headquarters.

Old Wang exposed Sitwell’s secret contact with Dr. Zola and set out for Zola’s location, while Robbie and Skye coordinated operations at Triskelion. As Ghost Rider’s demonic Quinjet arrived, Zola judged Hydra’s defeat likely and ordered a devastating strike on Triskelion as he began transferring his consciousness.

• Sitwell panicked when Old Wang revealed he knew Dr. Zola was still alive, and Tony traced Zola’s signal to New Jersey.
• Old Wang called Robbie and Skye, directing Robbie to protect Fury at Triskelion and Skye to bring Fitz and equipment to Zola’s location.
• Old Wang opened a portal and took Sitwell with him to visit Dr. Zola.
• Robbie’s demonic Quinjet arrived above Triskelion, prompting Zola to order Hydra’s weapons to attack it.
• Zola recalculated Hydra’s chances, declared Project Insight failed, ordered all missiles to strike Triskelion, and began transferring his consciousness.

Old Wang found Dr. Zola’s hidden base and cut its power, interrupting Zola’s attempt to transfer his consciousness. Zola’s systems launched missiles toward the base, leaving him trapped and facing destruction as Sitwell watched helplessly.

• Old Wang led Sitwell into the abandoned New Jersey base and located its concealed elevator and underground database with his psychic power.
• Old Wang shut off the base’s main generator, forcing Dr. Zola’s consciousness into dormancy.
• Old Wang found and cut off Zola’s hidden backup power source, interrupting the consciousness transfer.
• Zola’s systems encrypted the data, issued retreat orders to Hydra, and failed to contact the outside world.
• Zola’s self-destruct mode launched ten short-range missiles toward the base, threatening to erase his consciousness and database within thirty minutes.

Skye and Fitz blocked Zola’s communications and followed Old Wang into the underground facility. They discovered that the vast room of obsolete computers was Zola’s consciousness-storage system, built decades ahead of its time.

• Skye intercepted the base’s signals while Fitz traced a slow, encrypted upload to a S.H.I.E.L.D. communications satellite.
• Fitz restored communications with Old Wang, who called Skye and Fitz inside after confirming that Zola could no longer contact the outside world.
• Skye cracked the elevator code, and the group descended into the underground computer room.
• Old Wang revealed that the machines were Zola’s body and the world’s earliest consciousness-storage device.
• Fitz realized Zola had uploaded his consciousness decades earlier, despite the limits of 1970s technology.

Old Wang explained why mechanical consciousness could not guarantee true immortality and worked out that Dr. Zola had been trying to escape after Pierce’s death. He cut the power before Zola could transfer his consciousness and left Skye and Fitz to secure the database under strict safeguards.

• Old Wang argued that longevity should begin with the human body and that replacing it with machinery would create a fundamentally different kind of life.
• Old Wang explained that Hydra’s leaders had kept Dr. Zola isolated and powered him only when they needed his calculations for Project Insight.
• Old Wang learned from Fitz that Dr. Zola had begun uploading data to a S.H.I.E.L.D. communications satellite, but the team had blocked the transmission.
• Old Wang concluded that Pierce’s death had triggered Zola’s escape attempt and that cutting the power had stopped it.
• Fitz proposed using Zola’s database to develop consciousness-transfer technology and eventually revive Zola, but Old Wang warned that Zola was a dangerous threat.
• Old Wang ordered Fitz to split the database across separate, restricted stores and asked Skye whether she had intercepted and decoded Zola’s transmission.

Skye discovered that Zola had ordered missiles launched at Triskelion Headquarters and the base, but Old Wang realized they could alter Zola’s final command to cancel the attacks and exploit his system to target Hydra. Old Wang headed back to Triskelion while Skye and Fitz prepared to transfer and destroy the database, and he took the unwilling Sitwell with him unconscious.

• Skye found Zola’s final command and warned Old Wang that ten missiles were headed for Triskelion Headquarters and their base.
• Fitz explained that hacking the missile system would take too long, but Old Wang proposed resending a modified version of Zola’s command to cancel the launch.
• Old Wang said they could also impersonate Zola to lure Hydra agents into traps, then told Skye and Fitz to transfer the database’s data and destroy it.
• Sitwell begged not to go to Triskelion and offered to knock himself out with a synthetic toxin, so Old Wang rendered him unconscious and sealed his acupoints.
• Old Wang instructed Skye and Fitz to take Sitwell to The Laboratory and fly the Quinjet away from the base before he stepped through a portal toward Triskelion.

Old Wang and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attacked Hydra at Triskelion Headquarters while Robbie used a demonized Quinjet to destroy a missile headed for the city. Robbie began regenerating after the blast, and Skye identified John Garrett as the one who ordered the launch, prompting Old Wang to demand his location.

• Old Wang returned to Triskelion Headquarters as Ghost Rider drew Hydra’s fire and Black Widow, Hawkeye, Coulson, and the agents attacked the headquarters.
• Skye told Old Wang that most missile launches had been canceled, but one launch base had not responded.
• Old Wang detected a missile approaching Washington D.C. and began opening a portal to divert it, but Robbie crashed his demonized Quinjet into it first.
• The missile exploded in the sky and shattered the Quinjet, but Ghost Rider’s skeletal body began reassembling through Hellfire.
• Skye identified a S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyer in international waters as the launch platform and said John Garrett had ordered the strike.
• Old Wang told Skye to send him Garrett’s location.

Garrett tried to escape after Hydra’s defeat, but Old Wang captured him and seized his destroyer. Fury and his agents reclaimed Triskelion, then prepared to defend S.H.I.E.L.D. before the United Nations Security Council.

• Garrett ordered his destroyer to flee, believing Hydra could rise again under his leadership, but Old Wang appeared and incapacitated him.
• Old Wang stopped the crew’s bullets and forced the surviving agents to surrender before ordering the destroyer to sail for San Juan.
• Fury assessed the destruction and political fallout as Black Widow reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. had retaken Triskelion Headquarters.
• Fury told Black Widow, Barton, and Coulson to stabilize the situation and planned to rely on Hill and Carter to win support.
• Hill informed Fury that the Security Council had summoned him for an explanation, and Fury went to face the emergency meeting.

After Old Wang captured Garrett and Zola, he assigned Skye to coordinate with Egghead while he turned his attention to Tony Stark. Tony publicly revealed that he was Iron Man, drawing the attention of rivals and enemies as Ivan Vanko and A.I.M. prepared their own moves.

• Old Wang told Egghead that he had captured Garrett and Zola, then agreed to let Skye coordinate with Egghead until the war ended.
• Old Wang checked in with Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and the others before looking toward Los Angeles and Tony Stark.
• Tony rejected the prepared speech and announced, “Yes, I am Iron Man,” in a televised press conference.
• Justin Hammer watched Tony's announcement and considered stealing an Arc Reactor to solve his armor's energy problem.
• Ivan Vanko's father died, leaving him Arc Reactor blueprints bearing Anton Vanko and Howard Stark's signatures, and Ivan blamed Howard for stealing his father's work.
• Killian and Maya Hansen discussed Tony's public return and their plan to stabilize the Extremis Virus.

Old Wang offered Egghead a way to save S.H.I.E.L.D. by supplying an injection that could resurrect people and extend their lives. Egghead requested one hundred doses, and Old Wang said he wanted to meet the officials Egghead planned to win over.

• Coulson met Old Wang aboard the seized destroyer and explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. faced dissolution, while Old Wang offered to help Egghead turn the crisis around.
• Old Wang offered Coulson copies of Garrett and the other Hydra agents' memories in exchange for negotiating directly with Egghead.
• Skye reported that Stark Industries' stock had surged and that she had destroyed Zola's database after securing its data; she also revealed Hydra's plan to kill tens of millions through Project Insight.
• Old Wang sent the captured Hydra agents to The Laboratory for Brain Mapping, Memory Upload, and brainwashing, then told Fitz and Skye to help Fury fight Hydra.
• Old Wang told Egghead that Simmons's injection could resurrect the dead and extend lifespans, prompting Egghead to request one hundred doses.
• Old Wang reminded Egghead that Dragon Bone was limited and asked to meet the officials Egghead intended to win over.

Egghead agreed to use S.H.I.E.L.D.’s connections to help Master Wang place the life-extending injections with powerful officials, while preparing to secure the agency’s future. After arranging for Hydra agents Sitwell and Garrett to be brainwashed, Master Wang took Peter Parker as a disciple and set him to studying traditional Chinese medicine.

• Egghead agreed to introduce Master Wang to influential officials after the injections arrived, and Master Wang promised to deliver them in three days.
• Egghead decided to write a report naming Master Wang a S.H.I.E.L.D.-Avengers Initiative Consultant and began studying world leaders.
• Fitz completed the memory uploads from Sitwell and Garrett, and Master Wang planned to use their memories to find Hydra resources and personnel before brainwashing them.
• Master Wang met Peter Parker, who asked to become his disciple, and accepted him.
• Master Wang assigned Gabe to teach Peter the basics, and Gabe gave Peter a large stack of traditional Chinese medicine books and notebooks.

Old Wang visited Triskelion Headquarters with the Resurrection Serum and discussed Tony Stark’s security needs before Egghead offered them consulting jobs. Tony rejected the offer, and Egghead had not yet received Old Wang’s answer.

• Old Wang reflected on Spider-Man’s possible future and looked forward to teaching Little Spider kung fu.
• Simmons prepared one hundred doses of Resurrection Serum, and Old Wang traveled to Triskelion Headquarters at Egghead’s insistence.
• Old Wang surveyed the headquarters and discovered unfinished Quinjets and three second-generation Sky Carriers beneath it.
• Old Wang met Tony Stark and suggested using satellites to deploy armor and replacement parts when Tony needed them.
• Egghead offered Old Wang and Tony jobs as consultants for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers Initiative, and Tony refused because Egghead could not afford him.