Recaps

Reed abandoned his plan to steal Lee Stein’s car after learning Bumblebee was a powerful robot, while Max saw a news report crediting him for Bumblebee’s circuitry and electric attack. Max celebrated being recognized on television, convinced that his talent and name would no longer be overlooked.

• Reed warned Tom Cruise that Lee Stein’s car was a robot and refused to take part in stealing it.
• After watching the news, Tom Cruise panicked and confirmed that Lee Stein had not discovered their plan.
• At Oscorp Tower, Max saw a report showing Bumblebee’s battle with the Lizard Monster and Lee Stein crediting Max’s work.
• Max loudly told the elevator passengers that he had designed Bumblebee’s circuitry and electric attack, but they thought he was delusional.
• Max felt vindicated as he realized that the news had finally made his talent and name visible.

After Curt Connors was arrested, Li Si realized Oscorp would conceal Connors’s identity to avoid a scandal. He reassured Gwen, then left her after noticing George Stacy speaking with Peter Parker about Spider-Man becoming a cop.

• Curt Connors regained his human form, apologized to Li Si, and was escorted away by the police.
• Reporters prepared to publish stories about the Lizard incident, but Li Si recognized Dr. Lada’s arrival as a sign that Oscorp would keep Connors’s identity secret.
• Li Si comforted Gwen and suggested Connors had been overcome by the animalistic effects of his genes.
• Li Si pointed out that George Stacy was speaking with Spider-Man and reminded Gwen of his suggestion that Spider-Man become a cop.
• Gwen revealed she had figured out Spider-Man was Peter, and Li Si left her to take care of a few things.

Li Si searched Curt Connors's sewer laboratory for research that could help him create temporary transformation serums without permanently altering his genes. He uncovered Connors's recorded confession implicating Norman Osborn and copied it, intending to expose the evidence.

• Li Si found Curt Connors's temporary laboratory in the New York sewers and began copying its files.
• Li Si examined Connors's research and valued its temporary genetic-connection technique as a way to gain strength without permanently changing his genes.
• Li Si watched Connors's video confession, in which Connors accused Norman Osborn of forcing an unfinished serum on him and seeking human test subjects.
• Li Si copied Connors's confession onto a portable hard drive and said he would make it public.

After completing his missions, Li Si spent his seventy thousand faction points on an Achievement Point, equipment, and two technologies, using the remainder to buy General Experience. The technology transfer flooded his mind with painful data and left him with a nosebleed.

• Li Si returned home, ate the burgers he had bought, and opened the faction shop to inspect his seventy thousand points.
• Li Si spent twenty thousand points on a limited Achievement Point, which he valued for its use in bringing items or abilities into reality.
• Li Si exchanged points for a Lizard Tail Whip, Potent Growth Hormone Technology, Bionic Muscle Fiber Technology, and eighteen thousand General Experience.
• Li Si realized the Lizard Tail Whip was the severed tail the Lizard Doctor had lost to Spider-Man, fitted with a metal handle.
• Li Si received the technical data transfer and cursed as the information caused severe pain and a stream of blood from his nose.

Li Si upgraded his Commoner Template to level 3 and checked his status, then impulsively spent experience to raise two knowledge fields. With his enhanced energy keeping him awake, he faced the rest of the night at four in the morning.

• Li Si spent his remaining general experience to upgrade the Commoner Template from level 0 to level 3.
• Li Si checked his status panel and saw that his attributes and knowledge had improved, with Cyber Knowledge and Energy Dynamics Knowledge close to leveling up.
• Li Si spent 350 experience to raise Cyber Knowledge to level 4 and Energy Dynamics Knowledge to level 3, then regretted wasting the points.
• Li Si closed the status panel and washed his face, but his boosted energy left him wide awake at four in the morning.

Li Si browsed the forums and found players complaining about his loot boxes while praising Bumblebee’s fight with Lizard. The discussion also reignited speculation that Li Si was a player, and he was stunned to find someone defending him.

• Li Si read forum complaints blaming him and the Astral Gaming Company for disappointing loot boxes.
• Players praised Bumblebee’s fight with Lizard and asked whether they could obtain a robot like him.
• Li Si considered using a lottery to profit from players eager to get Bumblebee.
• Li Si read a revived faction-quest thread where players argued over whether he was a player.
• Li Si saw someone defend him in the forum discussion and was dumbfounded.

Li Si read a debate about whether he was a player, then checked the morning news and realized Osborn had helped shift public attention toward his achievements. He was pleased that the coverage advanced his plan to gain fame in American academic circles.

• A forum poster argued that Li Si had to be an NPC, citing game mechanics and a canceled mission, and promised to livestream himself eating shit if the New York merchant proved to be a player.
• Other readers agreed with the poster, and Li Si read their discussion before putting it aside to watch a movie.
• At dawn, Li Si searched the news and found extensive reports praising his fight against the Lizard Doctor and his work on intelligent robots, but none mentioning Osborn or Curt Connors.
• Li Si concluded that Osborn had arranged the publicity to distract the public from the Lizard Doctor, and he welcomed the coverage because it helped build his reputation in American academic circles.

Li Si received the clue to the Scientist Template after attracting recognition in American academic circles and considered how its research skill worked. He waited for the military and Osborn to respond, since joining a major project at a cutting-edge laboratory was the only requirement he still needed to fulfill.

• Li Si received the Scientist Template clue after gaining attention and recognition in American academic circles.
• Li Si reviewed the template’s Intelligence and learning bonuses and compared its research skill in standard and full-immersion virtual modes.
• Li Si decided that the military and Osborn’s response would determine whether he could join a major research project and complete the template requirements.
• Li Si waited at home, hoping Bumblebee would interest powerful organizations without prompting them to seize it unlawfully.

Felicia invited Li Si to join Oscorp’s unnamed, military-run research department focused on next-generation individual weapons, and he accepted after signing a confidentiality agreement. He left with Felicia in his own car, accompanied by Bumblebee, to visit the facility.

• Felicia introduced herself as an assistant to Oscorp’s board and offered Li Si a researcher position in a secret department.
• Li Si accepted the offer and signed the employment contract and confidentiality agreement, learning the department was jointly run by Oscorp and the military.
• Felicia said the department had no name or company database file and researched next-generation individual weapons.
• Li Si declined Felicia’s sedan because he was concerned about being watched and summoned Bumblebee from his garage.
• Felicia recognized Bumblebee as the robot from the previous day, and Li Si confirmed its name.

Li Si brushed off Agent Coulson’s attempt to speak with him and explained to himself why he had no intention of joining S.H.I.E.L.D. The chapter ended with him comparing the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Template unfavorably with the ordinary Agent Template.

• Felicia admired Bumblebee and praised Li Si before they set off in separate cars.
• Coulson stopped Li Si to introduce himself and ask for a few minutes, but Li Si refused and joked about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s long name.
• Li Si drove away in Bumblebee and suspected Coulson had come on Nick Fury’s behalf to recruit him.
• Li Si considered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vulnerabilities and decided that joining it would offer him little benefit.
• Li Si compared the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Template with the ordinary Agent Template and judged its bonuses useless to him.

Li Si joined Oscorp’s CJ-2042 Laboratory as a deputy project supervisor and changed his locked identity template to Scientist. After using Research and Development to organize his knowledge and memories, he headed to the laboratory with his new ID card.

• Li Si received the Scientist and Office Worker templates after becoming an Oscorp employee, but chose Scientist as his locked identity template.
• Li Si activated Research and Development and spent 7,450 general experience points to enhance his ability to retrieve and organize information.
• Li Si reviewed his recent research and memories of movies from before he crossed over while the skill remained active.
• Felicia returned with Li Si’s ID card and told him it gave him access to CJ-2042 Laboratory and Oscorp’s intelligent program, Carly.
• Li Si discovered his position was Deputy Project Supervisor and used the employee elevator to head to the basement laboratory.

Li Si arrived at the secret laboratory and interrupted Dr. Brock as he tried to coerce Luna. After using his ID to stop the guards from confronting him, Li Si learned Brock had taken charge of the powered armor project while Mr. Norman was away.

• Li Si rode the elevator below the laboratory’s lowest listed floor and heard Dr. Brock pressuring Luna to become his assistant in exchange for help learning research.
• Li Si stepped in as Brock cornered Luna and was about to grope her.
• Brock called for security and ordered the guards to arrest Li Si as an intruder.
• Li Si showed the guards his ID, and they lowered their batons and deferred to him.
• Brock went into the laboratory, and an older guard explained that Brock had once assisted Mr. Norman and now effectively ran the powered armor project.

Li Si discovered that Brock had staged a scene to retaliate against him, and that Luna had already been assigned as his assistant. As Luna led him through the lab, Li Si suspected she was a player and began wondering if she might be the famous Earth prodigy Zhou Lulu.

• Li Si realized Brock had faked his outrage because he resented Li Si taking a position he wanted.
• A security guard told Li Si that Luna had been assigned as his assistant the previous day.
• Li Si asked Luna to take him to the lab supervisor, and she eagerly led him down the corridor while peppering him with questions.
• Li Si suspected Luna might be a player but could not recall any player matching her description.
• Li Si remembered the Earth scientist Zhou Lulu and wondered if Luna could be her, though Luna looked much younger.

Li Si met Dr. Abner and Army Colonel Jonathan at the laboratory, where he received his vehicle registration and began a tour of the facility. Abner assigned Luna to serve as Li Si’s assistant as they explored the laboratory.

• Li Si entered Abner Aldrich’s office and mistook Colonel Jonathan for Dwayne Johnson.
• Jonathan introduced himself as an Army colonel who coordinated with Osborn and gave Li Si his license plates and vehicle registration papers.
• Abner explained that Jonathan had handled a problem for Li Si and resumed discussing the laboratory and its next-generation individual combat armor.
• Abner named Luna as Li Si’s assistant and led them on a tour of the laboratory.

Abner showed Li Si the research facilities beneath Oscorp Tower and introduced him to the Individual Armor Project Department’s work. Li Si recognized the Green Goblin Armor and praised its design before Abner presented a prototype mech, leaving Li Si to inspect the department’s current project.

• Abner explained how the three departments at CJ-2042 were organized and led Li Si and Luna into a technology display chamber, where Brock remained openly hostile toward Li Si.
• Luna marveled at the exhibits as Abner showed Li Si the Green Goblin Armor and described its development under Norman Osborn.
• Li Si recognized the armor and considered its mobility, affordability, and emergency life-support system more impressive than its combat capabilities.
• Li Si praised the Green Goblin Armor’s design, then Abner led him to a prototype mech shaped like a mechanical rhinoceros.

Li Si condemned Brock’s Rhino Armor prototype and forced Abner to take the dispute to Osborn’s board. After Brock grabbed Abner in a frenzy, Li Si pulled him away and left him sitting dazed beside the armor.

• Abner showed Li Si and the others the Rhino Armor prototype, and Li Si immediately said the project should be scrapped.
• Li Si criticized the armor’s clumsy limbs, unsafe cockpit, poor speed, questionable weapons, and outdated lever controls, leaving Brock unable to answer.
• Li Si told Abner that either he or Brock should go and demanded that Osborn’s higher-ups decide whom to keep.
• Abner said he would take the matter to the board, and Brock grabbed him in desperation, insisting his research was unfinished.
• Li Si pried Brock’s hands off Abner and shoved him into a corner, where Brock sat dazed and stared at the Rhino Armor.

Li Si recognized the mechanical tentacles in Osborn’s underground laboratory as Doctor Octopus Arms and accused Brock of stealing their design. Brock denied the charge, and Li Si proposed questioning the Individual Armor Project Department, believing the arms’ real creator was nearby.

• Luna drew Li Si’s attention to a display of four silver mechanical tentacles capable of delicate work and tremendous force.
• Li Si asked Abner who had designed the arms, and Abner said he thought Brock had made them.
• Brock claimed the arms as his own and challenged Li Si to explain why they were supposedly worthless.
• Li Si accused Brock of stealing someone else’s research, citing the arms’ advanced neural interface and Brock’s inability to use that technology.
• Brock called the accusation slander and threatened to sue Li Si.
• Li Si suggested asking the Individual Armor Project Department who had created the arms, suspecting a short, stout man he had seen in the laboratory was Doctor Octopus.

Lee Stein confronted Brock over stealing Otto Gunther Octavius’s designs for the Doctor Octopus Arms and used his new authority as deputy project supervisor to get Otto to speak up. As Lee began calling the police, Brock lost his composure.

• Lee Stein entered the Individual Armor Project Department with Brock, Abner, and Luna, then called over a short, stout assistant.
• Lee learned the assistant’s name was Otto Gunther Octavius and recognized him as the future Doctor Octopus.
• Lee asked who had designed the Doctor Octopus Arms, and Otto admitted he had created them and accused Brock of stealing his blueprints.
• Brock denied the accusation and demanded evidence, while Abner and Lee pressed Otto to tell the truth.
• Lee said he would take Brock to the police station and began dialing the emergency number, setting Brock off.

Li Si stopped Brock from attacking him and helped expose Brock’s alleged theft of Otto Gunther’s mechanical-arm design. He then discovered Luna had livestreamed the confrontation to the forum, where viewers had mistaken the scene for an NPC assault and were frantically trying to reach her brother.

• Brock lunged at Li Si, who kicked him into a workbench, and Abner ordered security guards to restrain and remove him.
• Brock insisted he was being framed, while Abner said he would report the incident and have the higher-ups investigate.
• Abner left Li Si to meet his colleagues, and Otto Gunther thanked Li Si for defending his work.
• Li Si praised Otto’s mechanical arms, and Luna enthusiastically repeated that a researcher’s work should not be stolen.
• Li Si checked the forum and found Luna’s livestream of the laboratory, along with her brother’s post asking viewers to watch over her.
• Li Si read panicked replies from viewers who had misinterpreted the confrontation and were trying to contact Luna’s brother.

Lee enjoyed the forum's praise and the customers promising to open more boxes, then took charge of the laboratory while Norman was away. He promoted Otto, appointed Luna as his assistant, and announced that he would end the Rhino Armor project and propose a new one.

• Lee read the forum thread, noted who praised or criticized him, and decided to give some commenters discounts on future boxes.
• Lee promoted Otto Gunther to full researcher and told him they would negotiate with the company over ownership of the Doctor Octopus Arms after its investigation.
• Lee appointed Luna as his assistant and said he would seek rewards for employees who did outstanding work.
• Lee rejected continuing the Rhino Armor research and told Charlie he would prepare a proposal for a new project.
• Dr. Nolan objected that canceling the project would waste years of work and company money, but Lee dismissed her concerns.

Four days after arriving at the CJ-2042 Laboratory, Lee Stein questioned Luna about artificial intelligence and gained a possible way to create strong AI by giving it an initial goal. He realized that the goal could shape an AI’s personality obsessively, leaving the danger of a flawed or misunderstood objective.

• Luna asked Lee Stein to teach her about technology because Otto’s explanations sounded like beeping to her.
• Lee Stein asked Luna what could make weak artificial intelligence become strong artificial intelligence.
• Luna said an AI needed desire and suggested giving it a goal or using a learning biological brain-computer.
• Lee Stein realized that an AI could develop thought and personality while pursuing an initial goal.
• Lee Stein concluded that an AI might pursue its original goal obsessively, as Ultron had when it interpreted protecting Earth as a reason to destroy humanity.

Li Si began teaching Luna the technologies behind his Transformers, disguising his most advanced designs as lessons in basic robot construction and combat principles. He revealed nearly all of Bumblebee’s core technologies, while Luna eagerly absorbed both the engineering and Li Si’s doctrine of overwhelming firepower.

• Li Si agreed to teach Luna anything he knew after recognizing her as likely Zhou Lulu.
• Luna asked to learn the Autobots’ balance system, transformation structure, mechanical arms, and combat-program algorithms.
• Li Si presented his giant, cannon-covered sphere design as a beginner robot and explained its spider legs and artillery algorithm as basic engineering.
• Li Si taught Luna that greater range and heavier firepower gave an overwhelming advantage, and she eagerly accepted his lessons.
• Li Si taught Luna nearly all of Bumblebee’s core technologies before their lesson ended at clock-out time.

Li Si finished testing and wore a technologically enhanced tuxedo he called his Gentleman Suit, though its design reminded him of Uncle Jackie’s outfit. Max encouraged him to fight crime like Spider-Man, but Li Si stayed focused on science, leaving Max disappointed that he would not become the Mechanic’s sidekick.

• Li Si arrived home and checked Max’s test results for the suit’s electrical signals and sensors.
• Li Si explained the suit’s Bionic Muscle Fiber lining, precise electrical stimulation, wristwatch computer, and belt with backup power and chemical injectors.
• Li Si finished sewing the tuxedo, tried it on, and realized its design resembled Uncle Jackie’s outfit.
• Max complimented Li Si’s appearance and declined to get a suit of his own.
• Max asked Li Si to become a superhero, but Li Si said he only cared about science; Max revealed he had hoped to be the Mechanic’s sidekick.

Li Si encouraged Max to overcome his social anxiety by running a stall, then showed him the explosive metal playing cards he had designed as weapons. Max became interested in learning to throw cards, and he and Li Si left the garage to sell their goods.

• Li Si urged Max to try selling items at a stall so he could practice interacting with people, and Max reluctantly agreed.
• Li Si opened a briefcase of metal playing cards he had made in the CJ-2042 laboratory and explained their explosive, turbine-assisted design.
• Li Si tested a card by throwing it into the garage wall, where it exploded and left a large charred hole.
• Max asked Li Si to teach him card throwing, but dropped the idea after hearing how much practice it would take.
• Li Si suggested Max build a coin-firing electromagnetic cannon, and the two left the garage to sell their goods.

Li Si returned to Osir Tower and announced that he would sell transforming robots for thirty million dollars each, prompting players to beg him to hold a raffle instead. He reluctantly agreed after warning them that the odds would be low, and the players insisted they were willing to pay.

• Li Si and Max arrived at Osir Tower, where players crowded around them and asked whether Li Si would sell transforming robots.
• Li Si confirmed that he would sell them, then Cheng Xiaofan challenged the players to consider whether they could afford one.
• Players rallied around the idea of trying their luck and urged Li Si to hold a raffle.
• Li Si refused at first, citing complaints about his previous raffle, and announced a firm price of thirty million dollars per robot.
• The players apologized and begged Li Si to reconsider, so he hesitantly agreed to a raffle after warning that the odds would be low.