Chapter Summaries

Sophia asked Salomon to reveal his prophecy, but he refused and agreed to let her visit Laura if she kept her people under control. Later, Natasha questioned Salomon about his actions in Hell's Kitchen, and he offered her an early Christmas gift after preparing cold medicine for her.

• Sophia urged Salomon to tell the people of the City of Immortals about his prophecy, but he refused because he needed to keep his plans secret from enemies throughout the Outer Dimensions.
• Sophia asked for a vacation to see Laura, and Salomon agreed on the condition that her people stayed under control and away from the garrison.
• Salomon reflected on the heavy drinking habits of Sophia, Athena, the Witch, Wanda, and Natasha Romanoff.
• Natasha told Salomon that Tony and Steve wanted an explanation for his use of field artillery in Hell's Kitchen, while the State Government continued investigating.
• Salomon asked whether Natasha had investigated who was conducting the inquiry, and she realized the investigators were his people.
• Natasha resisted drinking Salomon's foul-tasting cold medicine, so he told her he had prepared a Christmas gift and would give it to her early.

Salomon discussed the political and legal threats facing the Avengers with Natasha Romanoff and proposed ways they could protect themselves. He left her with a reflection on prophecy, time, and the power of acting in the present.

• Salomon argued that Congress could use the Avengers’ collateral damage and lack of oversight to justify nationalizing and controlling them.
• Salomon proposed that Stark and Rogers build political support for the Avengers by backing popular causes and economic investment, or by entering politics themselves.
• Salomon described regulating superpowers like firearms or limiting the Avengers to a New York State militia as other possible paths.
• Natasha asked what Salomon had seen in prophecy, and he said the future had many possibilities and that their actions shaped it.
• Natasha teased Salomon for his romantic remarks about physics and time.

Salomon showed Natasha reports on the City of Immortals’ operations against human trafficking and warlords, and explained how its work and control of resources kept markets stable. When Natasha realized he might possess nuclear weapons, Salomon invited her to see his spacecraft in outer space.

• Salomon showed Natasha mission reports detailing efforts to rescue trafficking victims and child soldiers and build infrastructure in Africa.
• Salomon explained that Wakanda supported the African projects, while T’Challa and King T’Chaka backed the plan despite opposition from some Wakandans.
• Natasha praised Salomon’s practical aid but questioned why diamond and other mineral prices remained stable.
• Salomon said he was Earth’s largest diamond dealer and could turn mined resources into products using the City of Immortals’ currency.
• Natasha suspected Salomon had nuclear weapons, and he told her they were conventional strike forces before inviting her to see his ship in outer space.

Natasha Romanoff learned that Salomon was building Space Battleships and preparing humanity for an impending war against a powerful alien threat. Salomon explained why he kept the technology under his control and revealed that the Power Armor he had given Natasha was made for her future role in battle.

• Natasha reflected on the City of Immortals’ harsh rule in Africa and joked that Salomon should conquer the world.
• Salomon told Natasha that he lacked the manpower and specialists needed to operate his Space Battleships and rebuild infrastructure.
• Salomon explained that Earth faced a civilization-ending war against the Chitauri’s master, and that Asgard would fall before Earth could rely on its protection.
• Salomon said he could not entrust Space Battleship technology to humanity because it would provoke conflict and waste resources.
• Salomon revealed that Natasha’s Power Armor had silent Servo Motors, energy wrist blades, and a Jetpack, making it suited to her as an assassin.

Natasha Romanoff joined the City of Immortals’ assassination department and received an investigation assignment to steal secrets from financial power brokers. After meeting Victoria and collecting a stealth aircraft, she discovered the City’s hidden airfield and launched from the sea.

• Stephanie Malik gave Natasha Romanoff an investigation list of power brokers and secret locations, and Natasha accepted the documents.
• Natasha reflected on Hydra’s place in the City of Immortals and decided she needed to gain power of her own.
• Victoria approached Natasha and asked her to cooperate with the Intelligence Department on an upcoming assignment.
• Victoria led Natasha to collect a stealth aircraft, and Natasha discovered the City of Immortals’ underground water park airfield.
• Agent Hand explained that the unfinished water park project had been contracted through the local Mafia, which was the City of Immortals.

Natasha questioned Salomon about The Trinity and learned that Kamar-Taj had long-standing knowledge of secret societies. Salomon sent her to steal intelligence from Langley, while a second aircraft secretly followed the Quinjet to protect her.

• Natasha asked whether The Trinity was an organization like Hydra, and Salomon explained Kamar-Taj’s history of dealing with secret societies and mundane families.
• Salomon argued that secret societies had helped dismantle monarchies but had outlived their purpose, and Natasha suspected he intended to destroy The Trinity to clear obstacles to his plans.
• Salomon tasked Natasha with infiltrating Langley’s server room and stealing data so the Intelligence Department could identify The Trinity’s important financial figures.
• Salomon warned Natasha that the mission was minor compared with her value and told her not to risk her life.
• Natasha’s Quinjet entered the upper atmosphere, while an unnoticed black aircraft carrying people assigned to protect her followed its route.

Victoria Hand sent Natasha Romanoff to infiltrate the CIA and search for classified files on the Council on Foreign Relations and America’s financial and military-industrial elites. Meanwhile, Salomon tasked Malphas with learning to reproduce a Space Battleship and developing battle robots before Malphas faced a dangerous temporal distortion.

• Victoria Hand asked Natasha Romanoff to search CIA files for information about the Council on Foreign Relations and the powerful groups behind it.
• Victoria told Natasha that Salomon intended to break the plutocratic groups’ power before using them, and hinted that the City of Immortals held other secrets.
• Salomon ordered Malphas to master the Space Battleship’s technology and eventually replicate it to build thousands of expeditionary fleets.
• Salomon reminded Malphas to continue their battle-robot project, with Ultron involved under strict surveillance.
• Salomon warned Malphas that he would face a terrifying stretch of time alone after they entered the temporal distortion, and insisted they prepare carefully.

Steve Rogers and the Avengers searched for Natasha Romanoff while Agent Hill reported a deadly attack on Langley, suspected to be the work of Hydra remnants. Two days later, Victoria Hand told Frank Castle that his former superior William had been killed by her agents, but Frank did not believe her claim that it was a coincidence.

• Steve Rogers asked Clint Barton where Natasha Romanoff was, but Clint said she had disappeared and might be handling personal matters.
• Clint raised concerns about retirement and Pietro Maximoff’s education, while Steve said Sam and Pietro could continue the mission against Hydra without Tony Stark.
• Maria Hill reported that unknown attackers had massacred CIA agents at Langley and escaped in a modified Quinjet, suggesting Hydra remnants were responsible.
• Two days later, Victoria Hand gave Frank Castle a dossier and told him that his former superior William was dead.
• Frank asked Victoria why she had killed William, and she claimed her agents had killed him by coincidence, but Frank did not believe her.

Frank Castle agreed to work with Victoria Hand and the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after learning that Agent Orange was tied to CIA black operations. Back at his hideout, Frank prepared for the mission while telling David Lieberman that revenge for his family remained his only goal.

• Victoria Hand told Frank Castle that William Roslyn had been involved in CIA drug trafficking and that his brain was being used to extract information.
• Frank Castle agreed to work with Victoria Hand, while David Lieberman warned him that the group might be tracking them.
• David Lieberman destroyed Frank's phone and removed its SIM card to keep their hideout from being exposed.
• Frank Castle examined the weapons and intelligence Victoria Hand had provided, including a briefcase weapon capable of releasing solar-flare-level heat.
• David Lieberman urged Frank Castle to consider a life beyond revenge, but Frank said he would not rest until his family's killers suffered.

At a City of Immortals meeting, Salomon coordinated intelligence, assassination, weapons research, and military recruitment while planning to weaken the CIA and establish a Middle Eastern base. After the meeting, Natasha left to join the Avengers, carrying Salomon’s message and his regards for Captain Rogers.

• Salomon reviewed the successful Langley operation, which Natasha had carried out and the Assassination Department had covered up by framing Hydra remnants.
• Victoria Hand secured Salomon’s approval to have William Roslyn executed and obtain his brain for intelligence and Frank Castle’s recruitment.
• Department heads coordinated Power Armor improvements and Sophia’s recruitment and training of veterans for the City of Immortals’ army.
• Salomon told Natasha to say he was fully funding the DEA’s fight against drug trafficking as part of the City’s plans for the Middle East.
• Natasha kissed Salomon, asked whether he was in his real body, and left for an Avengers operation with his regards for Captain Rogers.

Salomon arranged sword training for Praetorian Guard Zero and contacted Agent Coulson to ask for the location of Camila, while Coulson requested help with a portal. The chapter ended as Salomon agreed to hear him out, saying they still needed to discuss payment.

• Salomon told Zero to prepare for sword training and added live fire from five machine guns to the exercise.
• Zero questioned Salomon's recruitment plans, prompting Salomon to think of an old friend and place a call.
• Salomon contacted Agent Coulson and asked him for the location of Camila, a Peruvian government officer and Coulson's former flame.
• Coulson revealed that he needed Salomon's help with a portal, and Salomon agreed to discuss the request and its payment.

Agent Coulson asked Salomon to help find Camila Reyes, and Salomon agreed in exchange for a way to contact her. As they prepared to meet Coulson’s team, Salomon’s companions revealed their distrust of S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought a Helicarrier to ensure they could not be outmatched.

• Coulson told Salomon that Camila had returned to Peru, vanished after escaping prison, and was connected to the growing Vanguard; Salomon agreed to help if Coulson gave him a way to contact her.
• Salomon arranged to meet Coulson in two hours, then told Catherine he planned to enter politics and reassured her that he regarded her as his daughter, not a tool.
• Catherine complained that Salomon was spoiling Zero before the boy had completed his trial, and she asked to join his swordsmanship training.
• Salomon joked that Coulson and his team would not be invited to his Christmas dinner or receive gifts, while Daisy Johnson expressed hostility toward him over the harm done to Jiaying.
• Coulson offered to transport Salomon and Stephanie to the base, but Stephanie refused and revealed a Helicarrier with its weapons aimed at the harbor.

Salomon brought Agent Coulson and Daisy Johnson aboard his Helicarrier to search for Jemma Simmons, whose disappearance could threaten humanity, while keeping the agents in the dark about the larger danger. They traveled to Coulson’s secret base, where Melinda May and Barbara received them as Zephyr One followed behind.

• Salomon explained that Jemma Simmons’s disappearance could lead to an event that might wipe out humanity, and he brought Coulson and Daisy aboard his Helicarrier.
• Stephanie insulted S.H.I.E.L.D. and argued with Daisy as they traveled to the base.
• Salomon admitted that he had deliberately driven Jiaying insane, and Coulson urged him not to let Daisy learn the truth.
• Coulson contacted his secret base, and Assault Transports carried Salomon, Stephanie, Catherine, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. representatives down to it.
• Melinda May and Barbara welcomed the group, while Stephanie mocked the base and Barbara said she liked her.

Salomon arrived at the base with a heavily armed team to investigate The Monolith and eliminate the threat posed by its Kree-created parasites. He told Coulson that the mission would become a war against an alien civilization and warned that many people would die.

• Coulson arrived at the base with scientists to help Fitz, but Barbara said Fitz was pursuing leads about The Monolith.
• Salomon arrived in ornate power armor with Catherine and the Sisterhood’s heavy weapons team, then told Coulson he would not tolerate the coming disaster.
• Salomon ordered Stephanie to take control of the warehouse containing The Monolith and warned Coulson to keep Lincoln away from his team.
• Stephanie’s force kept Daisy Johnson and Lincoln away from the research site, while Barbara and Hunter joined the work and Hunter eased tensions with jokes.
• Salomon told Coulson that The Monolith was linked to the Inhumans and warned him that they faced an alien civilization and a deadly war.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and the City of Immortals quarantined a research site while studying the boulder, and Salomon prepared a nuclear strike in case its infection escaped. Fitz arrived with a theory that the boulder was a black hole and learned that Jemma Simmons was alive inside, though Salomon warned she might have to be destroyed if infected.

• Coulson and Salomon oversaw strict quarantine procedures as Hunter worried that the boulder had infected people at the base.
• Salomon secretly prepared a nuclear strike to destroy Hive and the site if the infection became uncontrollable.
• Fitz arrived at the research site and told Coulson he believed the boulder was a black hole, but admitted he had no evidence.
• Salomon swore that Jemma Simmons was alive inside the boulder, but warned that she might not survive much longer.
• Fitz asked how they would save Jemma if she was infected, and Salomon answered that standard protocol meant destruction.

Salomon and Fitz prepared to probe The Monolith, despite the danger that its other side could harbor an infectious parasite. Fitz jumped through the portal and disappeared, leaving Salomon determined to follow and investigate.

• Salomon warned Fitz that an infected Jemma Simmons might be controlled by the parasite and insisted that burning was the safest response.
• Fitz agreed to help research The Monolith, while Coulson ordered Barbara Morse and Hunter to withdraw from the research area.
• Fitz built a probe, and the engineering team moved The Monolith into a makeshift sealed pool for the experiment.
• When The Monolith liquefied, Fitz jumped into it with only a pistol, and the probe's cable was severed as he vanished.
• Salomon ordered the researchers to collect the sand left behind and prepared to open another portal so he could go after Fitz.

Salomon led the Sisterhood through a teleportation portal to confront the nanoscale parasite threat, while Stephanie stayed behind to guard the base. A confrontation with S.H.I.E.L.D. left Agent Coulson critically wounded, and the chapter ended with Mike agreeing to let the Sisterhood treat him.

• Catherine’s assault squad secured the landing pad as the Sisterhood and Praetorian Guard Zero assembled around Salomon’s teleportation spell.
• Salomon reviewed the combat plan, then reassured Bayonetta that he would return soon before teleporting with the first group of fighters.
• The Sisterhood’s remaining troops blocked Coulson, Barbara Morse, and Daisy Johnson from entering the warehouse.
• Stephanie fired at Daisy, and the bullet’s explosive fragments wounded Coulson and Daisy when Daisy’s powers failed to stop it.
• Mike ordered an emergency operation for Coulson, and Stephanie promised that the Sisterhood would keep him alive and summoned medical personnel.

Salomon led the Sisterhood across a storm-wracked planet while sensing the malevolent consciousness they had come to confront. Meanwhile, Jemma Simmons and Will discussed the strange presence stalking his shelter, as Simmons continued to hope Fitz would find her.

• Catherine and the Sisterhood’s assault and heavy weapons squads formed a defensive group after teleporting into the sandstorm.
• Salomon sensed the planet’s ancient, hostile collective consciousness and sent its location to the squad leaders while guiding his forces toward a rendezvous.
• Jemma Simmons heard someone calling her name and wondered whether someone had arrived outside Will’s shelter.
• Will told Simmons that he had heard a huge creature moving beyond the shelter and found mucus-bound, serpentine tracks circling it.
• Will revealed that he was not the first astronaut sent to the planet and that the others had died, leaving Simmons to consider whether a creature had killed them.

Salomon’s forces searched the ruins and tracked Leopold Fitz while discussing the lost alien civilization and checking squads for infection. Will and Simmons spotted armed pursuers near their tracks and fled, leaving their cave and water source behind.

• Salomon and his companions considered how civil war and a flesh-and-memory-consuming monster might have destroyed the alien civilization.
• Catherine guided a squad through the ruins, and Salomon inspected the arriving soldiers’ thoughts for signs of infection before they joined his formation.
• Salomon ordered squads to capture Leopold Fitz and received a report that scouts had found human footprints.
• Will and Simmons searched for water after the sandstorm passed, and Will realized they had left tracks that could reveal their cave.
• Will saw armed figures approaching and tried to lead them away from the cave, but Simmons had to pull him along and suggested setting a trap.

Will and Simmons fled across the planet while Salomon’s forces tracked them and prepared to face the parasite-bearing sandstorm. The chapter left Simmons running toward the approaching squads, Will injured and bleeding as the monster closed in, while Salomon cast a spell against the storm and Coulson’s surgery remained precarious.

• The Tau Team tracked human traces and waited for the command squad while the other squads converged on the area.
• Will refused Simmons’s suggestion to contact the pursuers, fearing they might be connected to the people who had stranded him on the planet.
• Simmons ran toward the distant figures, convinced they were a rescue team, and Will collapsed after a bout of hypoglycemia, cutting his forehead and palms.
• Will realized his blood could attract the monster and shouted for Simmons to return, but she continued toward the mountains as he pursued her.
• Salomon sensed the parasite swarm redirecting the sandstorm toward the Tau Team, warned the other squads, sped up nearby fighters with a spell, and began casting against the storm.
• Barbara struggled to locate a severed blood vessel during Coulson’s operation as Mike called for more plasma and urged the medical team to hurry.