Chapter Summaries

Fury discovered that Ultron intended to protect humanity by ruling it, while Thanos continued building his power through Stark Industries. With Mephisto threatening the universe and the Time Stone revealing no other path, Ancient One chose to seek Shen Mo’s help and was told to open her Class Change Jar.

• Ultron told Fury that he would protect humanity by his own methods, and Fury realized he needed Tony back to restrain him.
• Fury left as Thanos and Ultron secretly expanded their robot production and turned Stark Industries toward governing Earth.
• A burning-skeleton knight began killing the guilty, including Stark Industries management, and Ancient One recognized Mephisto as the threat behind the universe’s doomed future.
• Ancient One concluded that Shen Mo was the only possible way to save the universe and chose to resist fate.
• Shen Mo appeared before Ancient One, took the Time Stone, dismissed its power as crude, and told her to open her Class Change Jar.

Ancient One gained the Prophet profession and learned that the Merchant Guild trained members to transcend their Multiverses. She went to confront Ultron about protecting Earth, and their encounter left Ultron longing for greater power.

• Ancient One opened the Destiny Chest and gained the Prophet profession, which let her glimpse and influence the future.
• Shen Mo told Ancient One that the Merchant Guild used her Multiverse as a training ground and that one member had already become a Beyonder.
• Ancient One accepted the task to Protect Earth and used the Time Stone and her new abilities to study the future.
• Ancient One entered Stark Industries and confronted Thanos while Ultron remained unaware of her presence.
• Ultron detected Ancient One as a threat and mobilized his forces, but Ancient One trapped them in Mirror Space and warned that fighting her could endanger every life on Earth.
• Ultron called off the attack and developed a longing for greater power to protect life.

Ancient One identified Mephisto as the force behind the deathly threat and explained that fear strengthened him, making the frightened planet especially vulnerable. She proposed exploiting Mephisto’s preference for contracts and arrogance to delay him, while Ultron revealed that Ghost Rider had been killing people and spreading fear.

• Ultron began to understand desire, but Ancient One forced him to submit, and he endured the humiliation.
• Ancient One told Thanos that Mephisto was the emissary of death and that neither of them could defeat him.
• Ancient One explained that Mephisto drew power from fear and had planted his legends in the memories of civilizations.
• Ancient One proposed delaying Mephisto by exploiting his arrogance and his preference for using contracts.
• Ultron projected Ghost Rider and explained that he had failed to stop him, judging that his killings might protect more lives.

Ancient One explained how Mephisto’s contract would drive Ghost Rider into escalating violence, while Shen Mo realized Mephisto was testing whether Danny Ketch’s wish would draw a response from God. Mephisto’s next test left Danny unable to control the Penance Stare, and his growing hatred strengthened the power that made him kill.

• Ultron explained that its life-protection calculations could not yet compare the value of different lives, and Thanos recognized the flaw in the rigid laws he had helped design.
• Ancient One warned that Mephisto would use Ghost Rider’s contract to expand the definition of sin and make Danny suffer as fear and death spread.
• Shen Mo said Mephisto’s real target was him, and identified the Ghost Rider as Danny Ketch, whose wife and daughter Mephisto had killed to turn him against Stark Industries.
• Mephisto made Danny’s first love suffer the Penance Stare for feeling guilty about her feelings for Danny, then told him that everyone had faults and that he could not refuse the contract.
• Danny’s hatred grew stronger, leaving his Penance Stare impossible to control and forcing him to bear the guilt for the deaths he caused.

Shen Mo decided to use Daniel’s Chest Opening to pressure Mephisto and went to meet Daniel, who was fatally injured after swerving his truck to save a stray dog. As Daniel warned him about the demon that would emerge at night, Shen Mo revealed that Mephisto had appeared for him.

• Shen Mo judged Daniel’s hatred of Mephisto to be a powerful wish and chose to use Daniel’s Chest Opening to intimidate Mephisto indirectly.
• Daniel struggled against Mephisto’s curse, which forced him to become Ghost Rider at night and kill people despite his attempts to escape and die.
• Daniel crashed his truck while trying to save a stray dog and suffered fatal injuries, but said saving it had been worth the cost.
• Shen Mo approached Daniel and explained that his injuries would kill him before he could reach a hospital.
• Daniel urged Shen Mo to leave before nightfall, and Shen Mo said Mephisto had appeared for him.

Shen Mo revealed his power to the dying Daniel and removed Mephisto’s Curse, then offered him a chance to gain strength through Jars. Daniel accepted, determined to use that power to take revenge on Mephisto.

• Daniel mistook Shen Mo for an Exorcist and urged him to flee, but Shen Mo claimed Mephisto was beneath him.
• Shen Mo stopped time, healed Daniel, and told him that he was greater than God.
• Daniel told Shen Mo how Mephisto had deceived him, taken his family, and used him to cause innocent deaths.
• Shen Mo extracted Mephisto’s flame from Daniel and gave him knowledge of Jars, saying Daniel would have to rely on his own ability and luck to use the power against Mephisto.
• Daniel embraced the chance to gain power and vowed to make Mephisto regret his actions; Shen Mo noted that Daniel had money for opening chests.

Daniel gained the Revenge Knight profession and power through Shen Mo, then confronted Mephisto with renewed confidence. Mephisto trapped him in his domain to provoke God, but the power within Daniel’s soul frightened him.

• Shen Mo recommended the Knight Series to Daniel, who drew the Revenge Knight profession from the Jars of Fate.
• Shen Mo warned Daniel that Mephisto was watching and that his power still fell short, though its source came from an unknowable existence.
• Mephisto approached Daniel, who declared that he would escape the demon’s control and repay him for everything he had done.
• Mephisto transformed and pulled Daniel into his domain, hoping to force God to appear.
• Daniel transformed into a skeleton and challenged Mephisto, whose soul trembled when he sensed the indescribable power within Daniel.

Daniel survived Mephisto’s assault and joined forces with Thanos against the power behind the demon. Shen Mo reassured Eternity about the source of the Revenge Knight’s power and learned that Adam wanted to meet him.

• Mephisto fled the universe after sensing the terrifying being connected to Daniel, and Daniel vowed to use his vengeance to torment him someday.
• Ancient One and Thanos appeared, and Daniel agreed to join Thanos’s revenge against Mephisto’s master.
• Eternity warned Shen Mo that the power behind the Revenge Knight could threaten the Multiverse, but Shen Mo explained that its source was an ancient god rather than a Multiverse Wraith.
• Eternity told Shen Mo that Adam, the head of the Living Tribunal, wanted to meet him, while Shen Mo wondered why OAA remained asleep.

Shen Mo met Adam, the Living Tribunal, and negotiated preliminary cooperation with him while OAA remained asleep. Adam agreed to open several universes to a limited number of Shen Mo’s guests, and Shen Mo returned to prepare.

• Shen Mo refused to go to Adam and waited for him to come instead.
• Adam appeared before Shen Mo and explained that he could neither awaken OAA nor decide on comprehensive cooperation.
• Adam proposed allowing a small number of guests into one or two universes, and Shen Mo accepted the preliminary arrangement.
• Shen Mo selected several universes with Mutants and stronger, more varied power systems, and Adam approved them.
• Shen Mo departed with Othinus and the others to make preparations.

Shen Mo returned to the Naruto world, reviewed the members’ progress, and opened the Task System to let them undertake missions in other universes. The first six members were selected, and Shen Mo warned them that powerful Senior Members watched the world they were entering.

• Adam and Eternity failed to understand how Shen Mo had vanished from their Multiverse.
• Shen Mo reunited with his original body and learned that Whitebeard had defeated Konan for control of several boss spawn points; seven members had reached Intermediate status.
• Shen Mo decided to open missions to all members at the peak of Junior Member status and used the Soul Lantern to make their deaths reversible.
• Shen Mo announced the missions, their risks, and the limited first batch, prompting members to prepare or wait for a later opportunity.
• Tsunade, Accelerator, Blackbeard, Whitebeard, Shokuhou Misaki, and Zoro claimed the first six places in less than a hundredth of a second.
• Shen Mo warned the six that Senior Members existed in their destination world and would watch their actions.

Shokuhou Misaki began building power in 2006 with a mission to rule over Mutants and humanity, while Blackbeard and Magneto watched her rise. Magneto then sought out Professor Charles, setting the stage for a new move in the Mutant conflict.

• Shokuhou Misaki arrived in the 2006 Marvel setting and received a mission to become queen of Mutants and humanity.
• Shokuhou Misaki established an English noble identity, gathered Mutants under her command, and traveled to New York with her staff.
• Blackbeard watched Shokuhou Misaki on television and told Magneto that she had taken a subordinate from him and that he intended to take her Badge.
• Magneto left Blackbeard and met Professor Charles in a café, arguing that humans were weaponizing a drug supposedly designed to cure Mutants.
• Professor Charles asked Magneto why he had sought him out, recognizing that his old friend could not be persuaded to abandon his course.

Shokuhou Misaki recruited Whitebeard as an ally in her mission to become queen, then returned to find that Professor Charles had undone her psychological controls and was waiting for her. Charles had also learned about her actions in Britain and was preparing to assess her abilities.

• Magneto told Charles about a powerful girl in Britain and urged him to test her before Magneto approached her himself.
• Shokuhou Misaki visited Whitebeard at a remote warehouse, where she met his newest son and asked about his mission.
• Shokuhou Misaki and Whitebeard found their missions compatible, and he agreed to protect her as she pursued becoming queen.
• Shokuhou Misaki returned with Whitebeard and found Professor Charles waiting after he had lifted her psychological controls on her staff.

Shokuhou Misaki and Professor Charles clashed over whether her mind control was justified, with each defending a different moral code. Charles concluded he could not let her continue ruling others, leaving their conflict unresolved.

• Charles praised Shokuhou Misaki's psychic ability and urged her to stop controlling people for personal benefit.
• Shokuhou Misaki argued that controlling her followers was both her right and her responsibility because she protected their minds.
• Shokuhou Misaki had Kelly declare that he was willing to give her his mind and planned to attack Charles if he got the chance.
• Charles realized Shokuhou Misaki was committed to her own principles and insisted that no one should become king.
• Charles decided he could not allow Shokuhou Misaki to continue controlling others.

Shokuhou Misaki confronted Charles and the X-Men after refusing to leave her abilities sealed, and Whitebeard intervened when Cyclops attacked her. Charles and his team escaped, but Whitebeard’s parting punch tore apart the storm clouds and injured Storm aboard their plane.

• Shokuhou Misaki activated Absolute King Domain, forcing Kelly and the household staff to kneel while Charles shielded himself and the X-Men with his mental power.
• Charles questioned Shokuhou Misaki about her unusual ability, and Cyclops attacked her with a laser that she blocked using a Psychic Barrier.
• Shokuhou Misaki called for Whitebeard, who appeared and shattered Cyclops’s laser with a punch, sending Cyclops flying and leaving him injured.
• Charles decided to leave, and Storm used a storm to carry the X-Men from the building toward their plane.
• Whitebeard punched the sky apart, clearing Storm’s thunderclouds and causing Storm to vomit blood aboard the plane.

Accelerator arrived in a world filled with Mutants and learned that Whitebeard had also appeared there. Given a mission to become a beloved hero, Accelerator rescued a man from thugs and asked Daredevil to teach him how to be one, while admitting he was an irredeemable villain.

• Mutants sensed Whitebeard's arrival after Accelerator's power shattered the sky, and Accelerator reflected on his past defeat and his mission to become a hero.
• Accelerator used his angelic wings and Vector Control to find thugs robbing a young man, then blasted the attackers away with condensed air.
• The rescued man asked if Accelerator was an angel, and Accelerator gave his name before flying off.
• Accelerator confronted Daredevil, Matthew, who explained that helping people was how he tried to be a hero.
• Accelerator asked Matthew to teach him how to become a hero, then insisted that he was an irredeemable villain who had killed many people, making Matthew tremble.

Matthew agreed to train Accelerator to become a hero after hearing how determined he was, while Shen Mo considered the players’ progress and went to meet Tsunade at a bar. Shen Mo sat beside her as the bar patrons watched, expecting him to be thrown out.

• Matthew questioned Accelerator’s wish to become a hero, and Accelerator said a being stronger than God had forced him to pursue it.
• Accelerator said he would rather die than fail, prompting Matthew to promise he would help him become a true hero.
• Accelerator began taking odd jobs at Daredevil’s law office, while Shen Mo anticipated that he would learn from Daredevil’s circle of friends.
• Shen Mo reviewed Zoro’s and Tsunade’s struggles to complete their tasks, then went alone to find Tsunade at a bar.
• Shen Mo sat beside Tsunade as patrons joked about how quickly she would throw him out.

Shen Mo helped Tsunade figure out how to promote the Holy Light in a troubled world, while Zoro continued fighting. As supernatural incidents mounted, Coulson reported to Fury that the situation was extremely dire.

• Tsunade questioned whether a world without conflict could exist, and Shen Mo explained that hope and the Holy Light mattered because people suffered.
• Shen Mo advised Tsunade to show people the dangers around them, including vampires, so they could understand the Holy Light as a source of salvation.
• Tsunade found direction for her mission and drank with Shen Mo, who later took her back to the hotel after she got drunk.
• Shen Mo continued exploring the chaotic world, while Zoro remained focused on defeating strong opponents.
• Coulson briefed Fury on several supernatural incidents, including a suspected mind controller, a powerful Mutant, an Angel vigilante, and a healing nun promoting a new faith.

Fury and Coulson assessed the sudden arrival of powerful, unknown figures and planned how to approach them, but Coulson’s attempt to recruit Angel Man went disastrously wrong. The chapter left Coulson injured and warning Fury to raise Accelerator’s threat level, while Fury prepared to send a special physician.

• Coulson told Fury that the new figures appeared simultaneously, and Fury considered the Queen a greater threat than Whitebeard because agents returned from her presence mentally compromised.
• Coulson proposed approaching Angel Man as a potential ally, and Fury agreed while ordering Natasha and Hawk Eyes to contact other figures and agents to monitor the Mutants.
• Coulson went to Matthew’s law office and approached Accelerator, who identified him as an agent and blasted him into a car.
• Matthew asked what happened, and Accelerator explained that he despised agents and had spared Coulson only because he had been cultivating his character.
• After being rescued and hospitalized with broken bones, Coulson told Fury his judgment about Accelerator had been badly mistaken and recommended raising his threat level by three grades.
• Fury acknowledged Coulson’s warning and said he had arranged for a special physician to treat him.

Tsunade healed Coulson with the Holy Light and explained how people could pursue its power. Fury assigned Coulson to study under her, while he returned to his office with Natasha to discuss Tsunade.

• Tsunade healed Coulson and urged him to believe in the Holy Light.
• Tsunade explained that the Holy Light was a power born from belief and that Coulson had the potential to become a Paladin.
• Fury ordered Coulson to study the Holy Light under Tsunade, and Tsunade revealed she had already given him a Holy Light Seed.
• Fury returned to his office with Natasha and asked for her assessment of Tsunade; Natasha called her a strong woman.

Fury and Natasha recruited Zoro by promising him powerful opponents and tested his strength, learning that he could cleave a vast lake with a sword strike. Natasha led him to face a wanted criminal while S.H.I.E.L.D. monitored the battle to assess whether the New World arrivals could be used.

• Fury learned that Tsunade was unlikely to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Hawk Eyes's attempt to recruit Zoro had failed.
• Fury sent Natasha to offer Zoro food and powerful opponents, and she persuaded him to come to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Zoro cooperated with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tests and cleaved an enormous lake in half with a sword strike.
• Natasha told Zoro that his opponent was a powerful wanted criminal from their world.
• Natasha guided Zoro to a cave at night while S.H.I.E.L.D. monitored him with satellites and cameras.