Chapter Summaries

After his victory over Tony Stark made him an international sensation, Lee Stein returned to New York and directed Stein Group’s plans for wireless power and medical pods. He left Gwen to oversee the wireless network rollout and awaited a medical-pod prototype, while planning to keep the Lizard Transformation Serum off the market for now.

• News of the Monaco incident spread, boosting Lee Stein’s fame and increasing sales of Stein Group products.
• Lee returned to New York with Gwen instead of taking Tony Stark’s private jet.
• Lee instructed Gwen to launch wireless power transmission base stations in New York and expand coverage to first-tier cities within six months.
• Lee asked Otto Gunther and Curt Connors about the medical pods; Connors said his work was complete, and Otto expected a prototype within days.
• Lee ordered the medical pods to undergo repeated verification before reaching the operations department and planned to delay selling the Lizard Transformation Serum.

Lee refused the military’s demand for armor without a valuable trade and offered Jonathan a chance to become a trainer for a serum-enhanced gorilla. After work, Li Si learned that Kratos had accepted a mission to Skull Island, where the real King Kong might be waiting.

• Lee told Jonathan that the military would have to trade real Adamantium for armor and suggested he train a white-furred gorilla enhanced with transformation serum.
• Jonathan accepted Lee’s suggestion and began considering a future as a gorilla trainer.
• Li Si and Gwen prepared to leave for Tony Stark’s birthday party when Pandora reported that a Player had been hired to visit a newly discovered island.
• Li Si learned that Kratos was heading to Skull Island and realized it was the home of the real King Kong.

Lee realized Skull Island could serve as a concealed, mobile base and brought Gwen to Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion, where they found Tony studying a holographic city model. Lee also discovered Tony’s old plans for anti-Bumblebee armor.

• Lee recognized Skull Island’s hidden, drifting nature as an ideal location for a private base and told Gwen it would cost nothing to claim.
• Lee and Gwen drove to Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion and learned from Jarvis that Tony was in the Underground Laboratory.
• Pepper Potts quietly led Gwen away while Tony stood absorbed in holographic projections.
• Lee examined Tony’s old plans for special anti-Bumblebee armor and then saw that Tony was studying a miniature city model.

Li Si helped Tony Stark decode Howard Stark's architectural model and uncover the atomic structure of a new element. Tony planned to synthesize it with Li Si after his birthday dinner, but the gathering turned into a joke when Tony revealed his terrible cooking and admitted he had ordered food.

• Li Si recognized that Howard Stark's model represented an atomic nucleus and guided Tony Stark to reveal the new element's structure.
• Tony Stark praised Li Si for solving the puzzle and agreed to help synthesize the element after his birthday dinner.
• Li Si joined Tony Stark, Gwen, Pepper Potts, and Rhodey upstairs for the private gathering.
• Tony Stark served a disastrously spicy hot pot and charcoal-like bacon and eggs, prompting Rhodey to threaten to leave for a late-night snack.
• Tony Stark admitted he was joking and said hotel food would arrive soon.

After Tony Stark and Lee built the Prism Accelerator, they synthesized the new element and completed the Arc Reactor. Lee then learned that Player Kratos's signal had vanished near the likely location of Skull Island, while Pandora requested a lifelike robotic body for herself.

• Tony Stark pulled Lee into an overnight basement renovation to build and calibrate a Prism Accelerator.
• Tony Stark and Lee ordered lunch, then used the accelerator to synthesize the new element and build the Arc Reactor.
• Lee returned to Stein Tower and asked Pandora about locating Skull Island.
• Pandora reported that Player Kratos's signal had been interrupted near the Sumatra Archipelago, which might mark Skull Island.
• Pandora showed Lee a lifelike robotic-body blueprint modeled on her virtual appearance and explained that she wanted a physical body.
• Lee offered to build Pandora a more practical body, and she responded with a provocative joke.

Lee Si headed to Hammer Industries' weapons expo as Justin Hammer unveiled his drones and War Machine, but Ivan Vanko seized control of the machines and turned the event into an attack. Tony Stark escaped into the sky and contacted Lee Stein for help, while the battle continued above the panicked crowd.

• Lee Si received the Iron Man faction quest while driving to Hammer Industries' weapons expo.
• Justin Hammer introduced the Hammer Drones and War Machine at the expo, but the audience responded with little enthusiasm until Tony Stark arrived.
• Tony Stark demanded to know where Ivan Vanko was, and the controlled drones and War Machine began targeting him and the attendees.
• Tony Stark fled into the sky as the machines pursued him, and he asked Jarvis to contact Lee Stein for help.
• Lee Stein told Tony Stark that he was nearly at the expo.

Lee Stein responded to Tony Stark’s call for help at the expo, arriving in his Project Armor with Pandora’s Box. He entered the battle against Hammer’s robots while Players followed him, and Pandora’s Box began transforming into a weapon.

• Tony Stark told Lee Stein that Vanko had taken control of Rhodey’s armor and Hammer Industries’ robots, and Lee promised to come help.
• Lee sent Pandora’s Box from Stein Tower toward the expo, where he was already arriving in Bumblebee.
• Lee told the panicked crowd to evacuate orderly and notify the police, then donned the Project Armor.
• Lee led Pandora’s Box into the expo to fight the Hammer Drones, and a group of Players asked to join him for contribution points.
• Tony asked Lee why he had not hacked the robots, and Lee said he would simply destroy them as Pandora’s Box began transforming.

Lee Stein deployed Pandora’s Heavy Guardian Spirit, a heavily armed robot that shielded him and the nearby civilians from the Hammer Steel Soldiers’ barrage. He then ordered Pandora to launch a devastating counterattack against the Steel Soldiers near the expo.

• Lee Stein’s Pandora’s Box transformed into the five-meter-tall Heavy Guardian Spirit, covered in gun barrels and equipped with shields, thrusters, and pulse cannons.
• Ivan Vanko redirected the Hammer Steel Soldiers’ fire toward Lee Stein, but Pandora blocked the attack with its arms and an electromagnetic deflection field.
• Pandora shot down incoming missiles and redirected bullets away from civilians, prompting the survivors to cheer and thank Lee Stein.
• Lee Stein ordered Pandora to prepare a barrage bombardment and fired nearly every weapon at the nearby Hammer Steel Soldiers.

Lee’s bombardment destroyed the Hammer Steel Soldiers and much of Tony Stark’s exhibition hall, leaving Tony furious and the nearby Players terrified. Lee arranged for help at the scene, called Max to absorb the remaining Arc Reactors, and set off with Pandora to confront Ivan Vanko.

• Lee used the Heavy Guardian Spirit to bombard the Hammer Steel Soldiers, destroying them and damaging a third of the exhibition hall.
• Tony Stark argued with Lee over the destruction, and Lee agreed to pay half the reconstruction costs in exchange for half the property rights before Tony ended the call.
• The Players abandoned their plans to steal kills and quietly left the exhibition, deciding to seek safer missions elsewhere.
• Lee told Pandora to arrange an evacuation and contacted Max, inviting him to Flushing to absorb the Steel Soldiers’ remaining Arc Reactors.
• Lee boarded a platform formed from the Heavy Guardian Spirit’s arms, and Pandora carried him toward Ivan Vanko.

Lee and Heavy Guardian Spirit rescued Tony Stark from Rhodey’s War Machine Armor, then destroyed the approaching Hammer Drones in a barrage of fire. One drone survived—Ivan Vanko—and Lee began preparing Pandora’s box to face him.

• Lee arrived at the indoor park and pulled Rhodey and his War Machine Armor away from Tony Stark.
• Lee and Pandora restrained Rhodey’s armor and dismantled it, leaving Rhodey pinned in the stream.
• As Hammer Drones approached, Lee unleashed Heavy Guardian Spirit’s weapons and destroyed nearly all of them.
• Tony Stark spotted Ivan Vanko’s surviving armor, and Lee began transforming the combat platform back into Pandora’s box.

Lee Stein used the Hope Cannon to blast Ivan Vanko out of the sky, then welcomed Max, who had arrived in an electrical humanoid form. The chapter left Tony Stark and Max introduced to each other, while Rhodey remained confused about being overlooked.

• Lee Stein offered Ivan Vanko a place in the Stein Group, but refused his demand to kill Tony Stark.
• Lee Stein fired the Hope Cannon at Ivan Vanko, shattering his armor and sending him falling from the sky.
• Tony Stark admired the cannon, and Lee Stein explained why he had named it the Hope Cannon.
• Lee Stein freed Rhodey and told him the fight was already over.
• Max emerged from Pandora's Box as a naked electrical figure, and Lee Stein introduced him to Tony Stark as someone eager to kick Stark's ass.

The Flushing robot riot sparked national outrage, while Lee Stein and Tony Stark faced Nick Fury at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. Fury invited them to join the Superhuman Alliance, and Tony agreed to consider it in exchange for a favor involving Senator Stern.

• News coverage of the Flushing riot blamed Spider-Man for arriving too late, prompting debate about vigilantes and the police.
• Reporters could not find Lee Stein or Tony Stark after the two flew away from the scene.
• Nick Fury questioned Lee Stein about Vanko's death, but Lee claimed he had blasted Vanko into orbit.
• Lee rejected the Superhuman Alliance proposal and said he had no interest in working under S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Tony Stark reviewed the proposal and asked Nick Fury to arrange for Senator Stern to present their medals.
• Nick Fury agreed to try to arrange Tony's request.

After receiving honorary medals with Tony Stark and Rhodey, Lee Stein told reporters that his and Tony’s superpower was being rich, then mocked Tony’s ability to sleep deeply. Players watching the ceremony’s livestream complained about Lee’s scams but still wanted to buy his new robot.

• Senator Stern presented honorary medals to Rhodey, Lee Stein, and Tony Stark, then posed for a photo with them.
• Lee told reporters that he and Tony had superpowers and revealed that their power was being rich.
• Lee claimed Tony had another superpower, Deep Sleep, and said Tony could be operated on without anesthesia while asleep.
• Tony jokingly claimed his own superpower was having rich friends.
• Players watching the ceremony on the forum complained about Lee’s money-making schemes, but some still hoped to buy his new robot.

Lee Stein defeated Lizard, secretly injected him with an antidote, and completed three faction missions for Spider-Man’s side. The victory ended the Players’ quest, while Lee was mobbed by reporters before he could inspect the Faction Store.

• Lee Stein used Shadow Follow Mode to distract the crowd while Bumblebee injected Lizard with an antidote made from Richard Parker’s research.
• The system declared the battle won by Spider-Man’s faction and awarded Lee Stein high contribution ratings, faction points, and a Lizard Hunter achievement.
• Players across New York erupted when they learned the faction mission had ended, and Li Ritian blamed an unknown Player for stealing the kill.
• Li Ritian led Ye Lin, Wang Ze, and the others to find Spider-Man and demand an explanation.
• Reporters surrounded Lee Stein, who agreed to answer selected questions after realizing he needed an assistant.

Li Si weighed buying Primitive T-Virus research data against a Pacific Rim privateering license, then chose the license to secure resources for his long-term plans. He suspected someone had manipulated the faction store to force his choice, and the possibility that multiple parties could interfere with the game system gave him hope.

• Li Si found Primitive T-Virus data in the faction store for 100,000 points and considered its potential research and military value.
• Li Si used Research and Development mode to compare the T-Virus data with the privateering license, despite sensing that the two items had been placed there to make him choose.
• Li Si bought the Pacific Rim privateering license, prioritizing resources that could help him build strength and confront the pursuit squad in reality.
• Li Si considered that the game system might have multiple parties capable of interfering with it, and saw that possibility as good news.
• Li Si resolved to keep studying so he could bring his knowledge into reality without relying on the game system.

Li Si spent his remaining faction points on instance credentials and returned home to find Ivan Vanko unconscious in his basement. As he headed underground with Max, Li Si said he could get Vanko to work for him without Vanko knowing who he was working for.

• Li Si bought credentials for the Avatar Operation Guide and Eden Citizen Credential, then exchanged his remaining points for general experience.
• Li Si returned to his detached house, where Max told him Ivan Vanko was still unconscious and being kept sedated with electric shocks.
• Li Si and Max took the elevator to the underground facility, where Vanko was being held on the third level.
• Max doubted Vanko would ever work for Li Si because of their conflict and Li Si's connection to Tony Stark.
• Li Si explained that he would conceal his identity from Vanko, while Max worried the deception could eventually be exposed.

Li Si explained his plan to use a virtual world to make Ivan Vanko develop technology for him while believing he was pursuing revenge against Tony Stark. After placing Vanko in the Virtual Game Pod, Li Si reassured Max that their own lives were real to them regardless of whether their world was genuine.

• Li Si questioned Max about whether he would believe the world was fake and said he needed Max to do nothing for the plan.
• Li Si found the battered Ivan Vanko on the third underground level and had Engineering Robots carry him to the eighth level.
• Li Si placed Vanko inside the Virtual Game Pod and explained that neural signals could make its simulated world indistinguishable from reality.
• Li Si planned to let Vanko develop technology in the virtual world, with Pandora simulating the results and Li Si receiving the completed data and procedures.
• Max worried that he and Li Si might also be inside a virtual world, and Li Si told him their lived experience made their world real to them.

Ivan Vanko believed a hooded man had recruited him into Hydra and began developing weapons at a remote base, while Lee watched him work inside a virtual pod. Ivan was convinced he had ample time to prepare his revenge, unaware that his perception was accelerated eightfold.

• Ivan Vanko survived the ion cannon blast and was approached by a hooded man who offered him money and resources to help him take revenge on Tony Stark and Lee Stein.
• Ivan Vanko recognized the recruiter's words as a sign of Hydra and followed him to a remote mountain base.
• The hooded man gave Ivan Vanko access to research files, a laboratory, two assistants, and the option to request materials.
• Ivan Vanko reviewed Hydra's weapon and machine concepts, requested palladium and Secondary Adamantium Alloy, and vowed to take revenge on Tony Stark and Lee Stein.
• Pandora told Lee that Ivan Vanko had started working, and Lee watched him labor in a virtual pod where his perception of time was accelerated eightfold.

Li Si tried to organize a company trip for Doctor Otto, Curt Connors, Samuel Sterns, and Max, but they refused until he revealed the destination was an uncharted island with dinosaurs and giant gorillas. The group eagerly agreed to go, and Samuel Sterns ended the meeting by lunging at Max after discovering everyone had been teasing him.

• Li Si gathered Doctor Otto, Curt Connors, Samuel Sterns, and Max at Stein Tower and announced a mandatory group trip, but they all showed little interest.
• Li Si mentioned a newly discovered island with dinosaurs and giant gorillas, prompting the researchers to demand to go.
• Li Si warned that the island's primitive ecosystem and unknown bacteria and viruses made it dangerous, but Curt Connors, Otto Gunther, and Max each claimed they could protect themselves.
• Samuel Sterns insisted that his Hulk-like skin made him strong enough to fight, and the others laughed at his skinny appearance.
• Samuel Sterns realized the group had been teasing him and lunged at Max while Li Si sighed about having to trick them into taking a trip.

Lee Stein searched for Skull Island, but it appeared only after Max announced its arrival. Meanwhile, a hostile metal giant landed in New Mexico and attacked S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Phil Coulson to call for Tony Stark’s help.

• Lee Stein’s group searched the sea near the Sumatra Archipelago but found no sign of Skull Island, and Otto Gunther and Samuel Sterns could not detect it.
• Lee proposed that Skull Island might exist in an independent pocket dimension and decided to wait before leaving monitoring devices behind.
• Max appeared aboard the ship and announced that Skull Island had appeared.
• A silver-white metal giant landed in New Mexico, and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Jasper Sitwell and Phil Coulson approached it.
• The metal giant attacked the Agents with fire, and Coulson ordered civilians evacuated and headquarters to contact Tony Stark.