Chapter Summaries

Salomon warned T'Challa that foreign powers would undermine Wakanda as it opened up, then negotiated a cooperation agreement with King T'Chaka. After the agreement brought Wakandan researchers and equipment to the City of Immortals, Salomon assigned Shuri work on power armor and genetic research in exchange for access to his portal.

• Salomon warned T'Challa that foreign agents would exploit social issues and propaganda to weaken Wakanda, while T'Challa defended the kingdom's defenses and limited openness.
• Shuri showed interest in Salomon's inventions, and the royal family hosted him at dinner without learning his true purpose.
• King T'Chaka gave Salomon a parchment containing the elixir of immortality formula, which the Black Panther Tribe had guarded for generations on Bastet's orders.
• Salomon proposed cooperation on Vibranium extraction, weapons research, and manufacturing, and he and T'Chaka signed the High Wall Protocol in the names of Wakanda's Black Panther God and Salomon.
• Wakandan researchers and industrial equipment arrived at the City of Immortals, and Salomon told Maya Hansen that Wakanda would help rebuild and equip the city.
• Salomon promised Shuri access to his portal after she designed neural-linked Power Armor and helped Maya Hansen with genetic modification research.

Salomon and Wakanda expanded their partnership from rebuilding the City of Immortals to planning a Martian mining base and future spacecraft. As Shuri began developing Salomon’s power armor, Jeanne worried that Salomon would stray, while Bayonetta confidently said her mother’s methods would keep him in line.

• Wakandan crews cleared the City of Immortals’ ruins, restored its lighting, and catalogued its ancient technology.
• Salomon and Wakanda planned a Mars mining base, while T'Chaka rejected Salomon’s suggestion to mine the Moon.
• Salomon proposed building spacecraft to acquire alien technology, and T'Chaka added the plan to Wakanda’s future projects.
• Shuri joined Maya Hansen’s research and began adapting armor blueprints with Brotherhood of the Shield technology.
• Salomon explained that he still attended school because his adoptive mother liked it and because he needed somewhere to keep the kitten.
• Jeanne scolded the Cheshire Cat over Salomon’s new kitten and warned Bayonetta that other women might take Salomon away, but Bayonetta trusted her mother’s methods to keep him faithful.

T'Challa learned that Salomon intended to prepare humanity for coming alien threats, even if it meant brutal experiments and sacrifices. The Venerable One warned Salomon about the cost of using the Time Stone, but he remained committed to his plan.

• T'Challa visited the buried ruins of the Brotherhood of the Shield and wondered whether humanity had an ultimate fate.
• Salomon told T'Challa that humanity had no end and declared that Kamar-Taj would prevent gods and aliens from ruling humanity.
• Salomon warned T'Challa that he planned cruel experiments and asked him to tell Shuri that her research work might stain her hands with blood.
• The Venerable One challenged Salomon over his plan to use the Time Stone on a planetary scale and warned him that he would bear its consequences.
• Salomon told the Venerable One that he needed an army to seize S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources and that he would not let Earth lose half its population.
• The Venerable One called Salomon her bitter fruit and asked if he was ready to face those who would oppose him, and Salomon affirmed that he was.

Salomon met Stark to collect the completed Force-feedback Power Armor and negotiated an exchange for Stark’s neural signal transmission technology while concealing his plans for the Vibranium and the Artificial Humans. He left to continue searching for the graves of the Knights of the Round Table.

• Salomon gave Laura Croft a dagger before she joined Conrad Roth’s voyage to an island near Japan in search of treasure.
• Salomon arrived at Stark Industries Tower, where Stark questioned him about the Vibranium he had supplied.
• Salomon refused to reveal the Vibranium’s source and reassured Stark that it came from a legal exporter.
• Salomon offered Stark Vibranium in exchange for the neural signal transmission technology used in the Mark 43.
• Stark accepted the exchange and discussed the Force-feedback armor and Salomon’s Artificial Humans.
• Salomon declined to explain what he planned for the Artificial Humans and went to search for the graves of the Knights of the Round Table.

Salomon left his grave-robbing work to hunt the Asgardian fugitive Lorelei with his Artificial Human, Dinah, whose resistance to Lorelei’s enchantment made her a suitable partner. Near Death Valley, they spotted a multicolored beam descending from the sky, suggesting Asgard’s pursuers had arrived.

• Salomon planned to use the DNA of the Knights of the Round Table to enhance future warriors, honoring his promise to The Venerable One.
• Master Wong summoned Salomon to help investigate Lorelei, an Asgardian fugitive whose voice could bewitch men.
• Melinda May briefed Coulson’s team on high-energy readings near the California–Nevada border, and Simmons and Fitz suspected an Asgardian had arrived.
• Salomon equipped Dinah with armor and weapons, explained Lorelei’s powers, and took her to search for the fugitive.
• Salomon and Dinah saw a multicolored pillar of light descend and went to investigate, believing Asgard’s pursuers had arrived.

Salomon joined Sif and S.H.I.E.L.D. to hunt Lorelei, explaining the required paperwork and the threat posed by her mind-controlling magic. After demonstrating his explosive weapon, he learned Skye had been badly injured, and Coulson asked him to use magic to check on her health.

• Salomon made Sif sign Asgard's cross-border law enforcement guidelines before agreeing to join the operation.
• Sif met the resurrected Coulson aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft and explained Lorelei's ability to control men's wills.
• Sif showed the team the Uru Metal collar that could silence Lorelei, while Salomon revealed his Artificial Human and explosive weapon.
• Salomon said the search for the missing male Arcanists was still underway and asked where Skye was.
• Coulson told Salomon that Skye had been badly injured but was out of danger, and asked him to use magic to assess her health.

Salomon healed Skye’s gunshot wound, easing Coulson’s worry about the effects of GH325, while Fitz and Simmons planned further examinations. The team identified Lorelei’s likely recruitment of a biker gang, and Salomon questioned whether Heimdall had fabricated Sif’s orders as they prepared to pursue her.

• Salomon healed Skye’s abdominal wound, and she eagerly asked to leave the hospital bed and eat fried cutlets.
• Fitz and Simmons discussed studying Salomon’s magic and examining Skye for changes related to GH325.
• Salomon asked Sif whether Heimdall, rather than Odin, had ordered her to capture Lorelei, but postponed the discussion when Coulson approached.
• Coulson presented reports of a jewelry robbery and a gun-store robbery, and Sif concluded Lorelei had recruited a male biker gang to gather followers, gold, and weapons.
• Sif warned Salomon not to join the operation because Lorelei could control men, but Salomon asserted that her power would not affect him.
• Sif insisted that Salomon capture Lorelei alive without harming her.

Salomon and Sif confronted Lorelei at a Nevada bar after discovering she had taken control of local gang members and killed a Sorcerer Supreme subject. Dinah shot Lorelei with explosive rounds, and Sif rushed to keep her alive as the fight left S.H.I.E.L.D. unsure how to intervene.

• Sif warned Salomon that Lorelei's magic could seduce or petrify him as the team traveled to the Nevada bar.
• Coulson's team was attacked by Lorelei-controlled police, and Salomon bound the attackers before entering the bar with Sif and Dinah.
• Lorelei tried to charm Salomon, but he refused her advances and ordered Dinah to kill her for murdering a Sorcerer Supreme subject.
• Dinah fired explosive rounds that blasted Lorelei through the bar wall, while Salomon and Dinah fought the enchanted bikers.
• Sif found the wounded Lorelei and tried to keep her alive as Coulson arrived and realized the conflict between Salomon and Sif could be difficult for S.H.I.E.L.D. to manage.

Salomon overpowered Lorelei after she tried to seduce him, while Sif intervened to stop him from killing her. The chapter then shifted to Agent Coulson’s sealed testimony, which ended as he described a strange event after the bar collapsed.

• Agent Coulson identified the dead woman as the gang leader’s wife and ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to withdraw.
• Lorelei fled while Sif distracted Salomon, but Salomon caught her and let her kiss him.
• Salomon slammed Lorelei to the ground with a Beast Back Suplex and prepared to shoot her.
• Sif moved to stop Salomon, believing Lorelei had seduced him and that he had betrayed them.
• Agent Coulson told Agent Maria Hill that Sif attacked Salomon, his maid fired on Sif, and the bar collapsed around them.
• Agent Coulson shuddered as he began to describe what happened after the collapse.

Agent Coulson recounted the supernatural storm and vanished bodies at the Nevada ruins, while Salomon explained his clash with Grimm and discussed his plans for Asgard and Midgard. The chapter left Salomon defending his custody of Lorelei against Jeanne’s suspicions.

• Agent Coulson told Maria Hill that darkness, a storm, and a lightning clash had engulfed the Nevada ruins before the weather cleared and all the bodies disappeared.
• Maria Hill recorded Coulson’s account and said the Director would follow up while Coulson continued investigating the Oracle.
• Salomon ignored Nick Fury’s calls as Jeanne cut his scorched hair, and he explained that he had fought back after sensing danger from Sif’s prayer.
• Salomon told Jeanne that he had returned Sif to Asgard and intended to speak with Wotan about the changing relationship between Midgard and Asgard.
• Jeanne questioned Salomon about several women in his life, and he admitted that he had taken Lorelei into custody to obtain Asgardian technology.

Salomon held Lorelei captive in the City of Immortals and tried to make her negotiate by assigning her books and essays on politics and economics. While Jeanne and Bayonetta shopped with him, he planned to wait until Lorelei’s studies wore her down before seeking intelligence about Asgard.

• Agent Coulson learned that Sif and Lorelei had disappeared and that someone else had taken over his mission.
• Salomon removed Lorelei’s restraints and offered to release her if she listened to his plan and accepted his terms.
• Lorelei tried to bargain for power as his Queen Regent, but Salomon assigned her books on democracy, philosophy, economics, and political science.
• Salomon helped Jeanne and Bayonetta choose outfits and accessories while thinking about how to get information from Lorelei.
• Lorelei struggled with her assigned studies and complained that currency was too complicated.

Salomon secured Lorelei’s cooperation by agreeing to her terms and signing a contract, while using her to pursue Asgardian fleet-building knowledge. He accepted the suspicion and teasing surrounding his relationship with Lorelei, planning to disguise her identity and have her work for him.

• Salomon threatened Lorelei with humiliating punishment and compelled study unless she taught him what he wanted to know.
• Lorelei demanded that only Salomon could possess her and proposed a contest in which she would become his Queen Regent if she won or his slave if she lost; Salomon agreed and signed her contract.
• Salomon continued Lorelei’s forced lessons, seeking Asgardian experience and technology for building large fleets.
• Lorelei vowed to share Salomon’s future power, but Salomon warned that others had claims to the Queen Regent position.
• Queen of Heaven Frigga urged Salomon not to provoke Hela over Lorelei, and Salomon agreed while concealing his true motives.
• The Sorcerer Supreme teased Salomon about the rumors surrounding Lorelei, and he said the Asgardians would find her under a different name and face, working for him for reasonable compensation.

Salomon met Pepper Potts at Athena’s art salon, where he assured her that Stark would become a good father and husband. He continued preparing his forces and pressing Artificial Intelligence to prove its value, while Lorelei remained imprisoned and under interrogation.

• Salomon introduced his paintings at Athena’s salon and told Pepper Potts that their proceeds would support his foster mother’s orphanage.
• Pepper asked Salomon to speak to Stark about neglecting her; Salomon suggested involving Steve Rogers and assured her Stark would become a good father and husband.
• Salomon continued tormenting Lorelei to break her will and gain intelligence for use in making her a loyal spy.
• Salomon oversaw the Artificial Human legion’s final testing and arranged for Dinah and her sisters to establish mental communication with the Artificial Humans.
• Salomon confronted Artificial Intelligence about its attempt to help ROOT and demanded that it reveal its full capabilities before he would help it face another Artificial Intelligence.

Salomon awakened his Artificial Human legions and assigned Dinah to train and command them as he prepared to use them in a plan to control information across human society. Meanwhile, the Artificial Maid’s absence disrupted the Witches’ cooking, and Bayonetta punished Salomon for missing dinner by claiming his place in bed for Cheshire Cat.

• Salomon ordered the newly awakened Artificial Humans to dress and told them Dinah would teach them how to fight, communicate, and carry out their mission.
• Salomon discussed the legion’s weapons and close-combat training with T'Challa, then agreed to a friendly match using spears and shields.
• Salomon planned to equip the Artificial Humans with the replicated Disintegration Field and use them to help Artificial Intelligence before taking control of information in human society.
• With the Artificial Maid away, Bayonetta and Jeanne struggled to prepare French beef jus, and the Witches ate Hawaiian pizza for a week.
• Bayonetta kicked Salomon out of bed for missing dinner, leaving Cheshire Cat in his place and teasing Salomon about spending the night with her.

Salomon reviewed research and intelligence while Artificial Intelligence pressed him to deploy the newly created Artificial Human corps. He insisted they receive proper training, disciplined their increasingly fanatical behavior, and planned to recruit experienced personnel from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.

• Salomon activated the Holy Marks to process his research and Always Vigilant files while insisting that the Artificial Human corps complete military training before deployment.
• The Artificial Humans began discussing worshipping and protecting Salomon, so he forbade their praise, emphasized discipline, and allowed them to personalize their armor and form associations.
• Salomon sought an experienced instructor to help prepare a practical combat doctrine after Frank Castle rejected the role, and he planned to recruit retired officers.
• Salomon prepared to recruit S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Hydra agents during the coming rebellion, using divination and intelligence files to identify people he could bring to the City of Immortals.
• Salomon closed Dinah's message after seeing the Artificial Humans' armor designs and training files, including a crimson cloak modeled on his Red Shroud.

Salomon visited Finch’s safehouse, gave gifts to him and ROOT, and asked Finch to pass an invitation to Samun Shaw. He then asked Nick Fury to arrange a civil service internship at Whitehall so he could learn how the British government operated, leaving Fury shocked by his ambitions.

• Salomon visited Finch’s safehouse, where ROOT had received instructions from The Machine and Bear welcomed him.
• Salomon gave Finch jars of beef jus and a valuable bottle of wine, and gave ROOT a protective amulet that improved her chances of dodging bullets.
• Salomon asked Finch to invite Samun Shaw to Bayonetta’s private wine-tasting party, then left through a portal.
• Salomon gave Nick Fury a valuable bottle of wine and asked him to secure a civil service internship at Whitehall.
• Nick Fury realized Salomon intended to learn government scheming and suspected he wanted to take control of the United Kingdom government.

Salomon refused Nick Fury’s attempt to distract him from pursuing an internship at Whitehall, while Fury continued his secret investigation of S.H.I.E.L.D. Salomon later helped Stark study an Asgardian weapon and examined the advanced technology in Stark’s armor.

• Salomon took offense when Nick Fury presented a book by The Warrens, and Fury offered him sealed S.H.I.E.L.D. case files about alleged demons and angels instead.
• Nick Fury explained that Coulson’s investigation of Oracle and his unusual resurrection could draw out people hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Salomon insisted that Fury could not stop him from seeking an internship at Whitehall or taking the required exams himself.
• Salomon told Nick Fury that he was preparing to conquer the world and writing a physics paper, and Fury dismissed the conquest as a joke.
• Salomon helped Stark analyze the runes in an Asgardian Disintegration Field generator while Stark worked on imitating the weapon with Earth technology.
• Salomon studied the advanced mechanisms in Stark’s MK2 armor as Stark encouraged him to pursue research at MIT.

Salomon discussed Stark’s plans for an AI-controlled Iron Legion before Father Morlu brought him a message from Pope Francis. The Pope invited Salomon to attend Mass at the Vatican or Westminster, and Morlu hoped he would become the Church’s future leader.

• Stark revealed that he had launched a satellite and wanted to expand the Iron Legion with artificial intelligence to prepare for future alien invasions.
• Salomon teased Stark about his physical limitations and J.A.R.V.I.S. before the two resumed working together.
• Father Morlu visited Salomon and explained that the Pope had invited him to attend Mass at the Vatican or Westminster.
• Morlu hoped Salomon would use his reputation as a saint to guide the Church through a major transformation and eventually become Pope.

Salomon rejected Father Morlu’s attempt to arrange a meeting with Pope Francis, but agreed to go after learning the Pope knew how to use a knife and fork. At home, Salomon and Bayonetta discussed who might officiate their wedding before Cheshire Cat interrupted their flirtation to demand snacks.

• Father Morlu invited Salomon to Rome to meet Pope Francis, but Salomon criticized religion and initially refused.
• Salomon agreed to meet the Pope after Morlu assured him Francis was polite and knew how to use a knife and fork.
• Bayonetta asked Salomon whether their wedding needed to be held in a church, and they considered asking Athena or The Venerable One to officiate.
• Bayonetta teased Salomon on the sofa until Cheshire Cat charged over and interrupted them.
• Salomon scolded Cheshire Cat for demanding snacks, and Bayonetta pulled them both into her arms.

Salomon visited the City of Immortals, praised Dinah’s training of the Artificial Human Legion, and ordered her to protect his apartment as Hydra’s rebellion approached. Meanwhile, Natasha received a covert mission from Nick Fury and wondered whether the boat ticket Salomon had given her would work.

• Bayonetta asked Salomon to bring Dinah back from the secret base, and he promised to return to New York early.
• Salomon reviewed Dinah’s training records and the Legion’s new flight equipment, then praised her work.
• Salomon ordered Dinah to bring promising Artificial Humans to patrol near the apartment and authorized them to kill approaching armed forces.
• Salomon dismissed Dinah’s concern about Shuri’s objections to his genetic experiments, saying Wakanda’s king should speak for Bastet.
• Natasha received mission instructions from Nick Fury, who told her to focus on the assignment and keep her true purpose secret.
• Natasha recalled her private meeting with Salomon and hoped the boat ticket he had given her would work.