Recaps

Xiang Qian explored his Memory Planet while an unseen voice urged him to abandon his human form and seize greater authority. He found a golden memory bubble showing his childhood and the origins of the galaxy, leaving him gazing at the stars it had created.

• Xiang Qian absorbed energy from a blue star, displayed his power, and silenced the voice that mocked his refusal to become a ruler.
• Xiang Qian descended to the brain-shaped Memory Planet and gathered related information from its memory bubbles.
• Xiang Qian found a file dated February 14, 1991, but ignored the voice’s taunt and continued searching.
• Xiang Qian noticed a golden memory bubble that would not return to its place and approached it.
• Xiang Qian watched memories of his childhood unfold in the bubble and recognized the galaxy beyond the ravine as the one created when the little black dot exploded.

Xiang Qian traveled with the Spear Bureau task force to a joint operation against the Ten Rings, where he learned that Temugin might be leading their underground base. At the field camp, he revealed that his new drone was on its way and reunited with the intimidating team leader Weather Witch.

• Saber resented being assigned to guard Xiang Qian, and the two traded barbs during the convoy ride.
• Vector briefed Xiang Qian on the Ten Rings’ cave network and reported that their local leader was likely Temugin, Mandarin’s son.
• Xiang Qian asked whether the Bureau planned to use Temugin to draw out Mandarin and said they could question him after capturing him.
• The convoy reached the field camp, where Vector explained that Weather Witch’s Sky Team was holding the front line as Tajik forces struggled.
• Weather Witch asked about Xiang Qian’s new equipment, and he showed her a tablet indicating that his drone would arrive shortly.

Xiang Qian charmed the joint operation’s officers before revealing that his laboratory’s radar-equipped drone had mapped the militants’ underground cave system. The officers prepared to choose how to attack, while Saber withdrew, still resentful of Xiang Qian.

• Xiang Qian praised the joint forces’ recent operation, while the Weather Witch explained that he was courting Russian military procurement contacts and teased Vector about Saber’s grudge against him.
• The Weather Witch told Vector that Saber had clashed with Xiang Qian over the design of his sabers and warned her not to raise the subject again.
• Xiang Qian presented a detailed 3D map of the militants’ caves, generated by a drone equipped with Microwave Deep-Earth Penetrating Radar.
• Xiang Qian offered the officers a choice between sending in a strike team and using a bunker-buster, and confirmed that the drone could attack but carried no weapons because of aviation regulations.
• The officers praised Xiang Qian, while Saber left the tent and grumbled about his showboating.

Xiang Qian challenged the joint force’s plan to kill Temugin with bunker busters and uncovered signs that local commander Hashimov might be helping the terrorists. Weather Witch agreed to watch Hashimov and keep Saber behind to protect support staff and civilians, while Xiang Qian warned that Temugin might have an unexpected move planned.

• Weather Witch explained that Tajik forces planned to seal the caves and destroy them with bunker busters, despite the Bureau’s preference to capture Temugin alive.
• Xiang Qian reviewed the operation briefings and asked for more information about Hashimov, whose armed police unit had repeatedly ignored orders.
• Xiang Qian connected Hashimov to Temugin’s aide Maksum through their shared Kuliya origins and Hashimov surname, and noted that Hashimov’s forces guarded a hidden tunnel exit.
• Weather Witch said they could not act on suspicion alone, but agreed to watch Hashimov in case he helped Temugin escape.
• Xiang Qian suggested leaving Saber to protect support staff and civilians, warning that Temugin might have an unexpected surprise planned.

Xiang Qian’s ground-penetrating radar helped the joint forces tighten their assault on the militants, while the Spear Bureau task force quietly adjusted its deployment over his warning. As Vector questioned him about the radar, Xiang Qian revealed its origins and teased her that her team might have to pay for it.

• The joint forces used Xiang Qian’s radar to encircle the militants and finish the fight with bunker-busting bombs.
• The Spear Bureau task force adjusted its deployment after taking Xiang Qian’s unsupported warning seriously.
• Weather Witch left, and Vector sat near Xiang Qian, watching him until he asked why she was staring.
• Vector asked how Xiang Qian had produced the radar so quickly, and he explained that its original design was for mineral exploration.
• Xiang Qian teased Vector that the task force’s director might deduct the radar’s overtime costs from her pay.

Xiang Qian arranged covert surveillance of Hashimov’s defensive zone by borrowing a reconnaissance satellite from Tony Stark. With the satellite tracking the camp and bunker-busting bombs due within four hours, he waited for Hashimov and Temugin to act.

• Xiang Qian rejected surveillance plans that lacked time or access and called Tony Stark for help.
• Xiang Qian joked with Tony before requesting a near-Earth reconnaissance satellite for six hours.
• Tony authorized the satellite, and Xiang Qian used its camera to monitor Kuliya’s armed police camp under Hashimov.
• Xiang Qian calculated that Hashimov and Temugin had to act before the bunker-busting bombs arrived within four hours.
• Vector realized Xiang Qian had borrowed an advanced satellite from Tony Stark and marveled at his connection to the richest man in the world.

As the joint forces prepared bunker-buster bombs, Xiang Qian reassured nervous Vector until the Ten Rings launched a surprise attack on the cordon. Weather Witch moved to support the front while Xiang Qian stayed at headquarters, where he noticed Hashimov's forces advancing toward them.

• Xiang Qian told Vector that understanding her fears could help her control her nerves and boasted that he had witnessed the Statue of Liberty Incident.
• Weather Witch warned Xiang Qian that the Ten Rings had attacked the flank with heavy firepower, forcing Tajik troops to fall back.
• Weather Witch suspected Hashimov had helped the Ten Rings operate in the Kuliya region and said she would reinforce the front line.
• Xiang Qian told Weather Witch to protect herself and the allies, then watched Hashimov's forces move toward headquarters.

Xiang Qian helped prepare a safe zone and brought Weather Witch’s reinforcements through Vector’s portal while the allied camp grew alarmed by attacks on both the front line and a patrol. After showing the commander footage of an advancing Kuliya Armed Police Force and warning of an apparent mutiny, Xiang Qian rejoined the veterans and wondered when Temugin’s backup plan would emerge.

• Xiang Qian and Saber chose a supply depot as a safe zone, and Vector brought Weather Witch’s designated reinforcements through a portal.
• Xiang Qian teased Vector about using her portal to rob a bank, then returned to the increasingly unsettled command post.
• A major general learned that a patrol had lost contact and angrily demanded to know who had attacked it.
• Xiang Qian showed the major general footage of Kuliya Armed Police Force troops advancing toward the command post and engaging a squad.
• The major general declared the advance a mutiny and ordered the command post’s security force onto combat alert.
• Xiang Qian rejoined Saber and the veterans, who agreed that Temugin must have a backup plan for the Ten Rings’ attack.

Xiang Qian and the Special Task Force watched Ten Rings fighters breach the joint command center’s defenses, then saw Temugin arrive with a squad and unleash fiery explosions. Xiang ordered the noncombatants evacuated and prepared his team to capture Temugin alive.

• The rebellious police attacked the camp, and Vector concluded that Kuliya’s armed police had been infiltrated by the Ten Rings.
• Two armored vehicles broke through the defenders’ lines, but Javelin missiles destroyed one and disabled the defenders’ counterattack.
• Temugin burst through the camp’s eastern defenses with flames and explosions while his squad covered his advance.
• Xiang recognized Temugin and ordered Vector and Team Two to evacuate the noncombatants while Team One provided suppressing fire.
• Xiang told the teammate who stayed behind to help capture Temugin alive.

Saber exploited Temugin’s poor control of the Ten Rings to gain the advantage, while Xiang Qian disarmed the returning Vector and demonstrated his marksmanship. When Javelin missiles targeted them, Vector redirected the missiles through portals and destroyed their operators, earning Xiang Qian’s praise as a potential field agent.

• Saber identified Temugin’s dependence on the Ten Rings and disrupted his attempts to control fire and trigger explosions.
• Vector returned after evacuating the civilian staff, and Xiang Qian took her pistol and spare magazines.
• Xiang Qian emptied the pistol to kill three armed men with headshots, leaving Vector stunned.
• Two Javelin missiles targeted Xiang Qian, but Vector sent them through portals that redirected them onto the launchers’ operators.
• Xiang Qian praised Vector’s portal skills while warning her against using a gun.

Xiang Qian helped the Spear Bureau Special Task Force eliminate Temugin’s armed followers while Saber fought Temugin, then used Temugin’s attempted escape to strike him down. Xiang Qian aimed to capture Temugin alive, and his shoulder strike left the outcome of the takedown unresolved.

• Xiang Qian coordinated his pistol fire with the assault team and killed more than half of Temugin’s armed followers as the team wiped out the rest.
• The surviving guards sealed the breach, leaving Temugin isolated while Saber continued their duel.
• Xiang Qian teased Saber over comms, and Vector joked that everyone must have feared the law for Xiang Qian to grow up.
• Temugin used small explosions to break away from Saber and charged toward Xiang Qian and Vector, hoping to escape through their position.
• Xiang Qian evaded Temugin’s punch and hit his chest with a Baji Quan Mountain-Leaning Strike, intending to incapacitate him and capture him alive.

Xiang Qian defeated Temugin, contained the flames from the Ten Rings, and used the ring to devastate the armed men’s position. He ended by demanding that Temugin tell him where Mandarin had gone.

• Xiang Qian struck Temugin with a Mountain-Leaning Strike, leaving him badly injured and unable to fight.
• Temugin activated his ring and unleashed an uncontrolled blast of fire, but Xiang Qian trapped the flames in a golden light and contained the explosion.
• The blast destroyed Temugin’s right hand and left him with extensive injuries, while Xiang Qian took the ring.
• Xiang Qian used the ring to condense flames into a point that destroyed an armored vehicle, then hurled fireballs at the armed men’s defenses.
• Xiang Qian crouched beside Temugin and asked where Mandarin had gone.

Xiang Qian tortured Temugin in an attempt to make him reveal information about his father, but Saber stopped him before he could continue. Xiang Qian backed down, and Vector was left wondering whether he had deliberately tossed her an empty pistol.

• Xiang Qian shot Temugin in both knees and threatened to shoot him in the neck unless he answered questions about his father.
• Xiang Qian described the possible lasting injuries in detail while Temugin resisted and Vector watched, frightened.
• Saber knocked Temugin unconscious and confronted Xiang Qian, telling him that professionals should handle the interrogation.
• Xiang Qian accepted Saber's intervention without defending himself and turned away from Temugin.
• Xiang Qian tossed Vector his Type 06 Pistol, and she discovered its magazine was empty.

After defeating the militants, Xiang Qian used Temugin’s Ruby Ring to find and confront the Mandarin in the ring’s mental realm. The Mandarin escaped before Xiang Qian could locate his real body, but Xiang Qian drew an accurate portrait for Vector and the Spear Bureau.

• Xiang Qian watched the battle end as armored reinforcements arrived and soldiers pursued the fleeing militants.
• Xiang Qian examined Temugin’s Ruby Ring, sensed the Mandarin trying to reclaim it, and entered the ruby’s mental space.
• Xiang Qian confronted the Mandarin and turned his flames back against him, overpowering him in their mental battle.
• The Mandarin fled by severing his connection to the ring, leaving Xiang Qian unable to discover his location.
• Xiang Qian drew the Mandarin’s portrait and showed it to Vector, who confirmed the Spear Bureau had no reliable image of him.

Xiang Qian returned home after the battle while the Weather Witch stayed behind to oversee Temugin's handover. During the flight, Xiang Qian tested the energy field in Temugin's gemstone ring in his Soul Universe, confirming how it absorbed and stored radiation and reflecting on the universe's value as a research tool.

• The Weather Witch sent Xiang Qian home and promised to personally oversee Temugin's case and bring him back.
• Vector and several injured Special Task Force members joined Xiang Qian aboard his private jet for the return flight.
• Xiang Qian replicated the gemstone ring's energy field on a crystalline asteroid in his Soul Universe.
• He exposed the asteroid to a red dwarf's radiation, confirming that the field absorbed and stored energy before the asteroid's material failed and exploded.
• Xiang Qian considered testing the field in the laboratory and recognized that his Soul Universe let him run experiments quickly without real-world limits.

Xiang Qian studied how the Gem Force Field worked when Jean Grey entered his mental domain with Professor Xavier’s help. Their affectionate reunion turned teasing before Xiang Qian wondered whether Xavier had seen their past intimacy in Jean’s memories.

• Xiang Qian tested the Gem Force Field by inscribing sections of its pattern onto asteroids and concluded that it absorbed thermal radiation most efficiently.
• A powerful soul resonated with Xiang Qian and tried to enter his mental domain, where Jean Grey appeared in the form of the Phoenix.
• Jean told Xiang Qian that Professor Xavier had located him and used the resonance from her previous visit to send her into his domain.
• Xiang Qian explained that their mental-world appearances and conversations came from their thoughts and subconscious, then teased Jean about their previous visit.
• Xiang Qian asked whether Professor Xavier had seen Jean’s memories of their last visit, including what happened in reality and in the mental domain.

Jean Grey visited Xiang Qian in his Soul Realm to ask whether Worthington Industries was developing a drug against mutants, but he shared only limited information. As Jean prepared to leave, Xiang Qian warned her that contact with his Soul Realm could make the Phoenix Force inside her lose control.

• Jean told Xiang Qian that rumors about a mutant-targeting drug at Worthington Industries had alarmed the Professor, Magneto, and mutant groups across North America.
• Xiang Qian admitted that Worthington Industries was researching genetic drugs but withheld details, saying its chairman had a mutant son he loved.
• Jean said she would report Xiang Qian's information to the Professor and explained that the others were waiting for her news.
• Jean and Xiang Qian spoke about his dangerous work and her visits to his Soul Realm before she prepared to leave.
• Xiang Qian warned Jean not to resonate with his soul again without his guidance because too much contact could make the Phoenix Force lose control.

Xiang Qian explained that the Soul Realm’s uncontrolled regions had assimilated part of the Phoenix Force, making Jean’s power more likely to escape her control. Jean feared the Phoenix’s instincts would eventually erase her humanity, and Xiang Qian suppressed another flare-up before offering to show her the Phoenix’s cute side.

• Jean demonstrated that she could control the Phoenix Force, but Xiang Qian touched her palm and caused the power to erupt before calming it.
• Xiang Qian explained that the Soul Realm was an independent universe fused with his soul, and that he could control only part of it.
• Xiang Qian revealed that the uncontrolled regions had absorbed and assimilated the Phoenix Force he had once driven there.
• Jean realized the Phoenix’s instincts could overwhelm her humanity and feared she would cease to be herself.
• Jean began radiating the Phoenix Force again, and Xiang Qian held her and suppressed it before offering to show her the Phoenix’s cute side.

Xiang Qian comforted Jean Grey in the Soul Realm, explaining that the Phoenix Force was a life force made hostile by years of suppression and urging her to accept and communicate with it. After Jean left, Xiang Qian returned to reality when his tablet alerted him that someone was trying to crack his computer's firewall.

• Xiang Qian took Jean Grey through the stars to a living planet whose life had been accelerated by a Phoenix Fragment that escaped from her soul during their previous visit.
• Xiang Qian explained that the Professor's repeated suppression had made the Phoenix Force feel threatened and fight back, and he urged Jean to accept and communicate with it.
• Jean worried that the Phoenix Force and Xiang Qian's universe could erode their identities, while Xiang Qian admitted he could not remove his universe because it might manifest in reality and collide with their universe.
• Jean kissed Xiang Qian and then left the Soul Realm as a Phoenix-shaped light, teasing him about Storm and his past actions.
• Xiang Qian returned to reality after his tablet alarmed him and saw a notification that someone was trying to crack his computer's firewall.

Xiang Qian caught Vector trying to hack his tablet and exposed how easily he had detected and monitored her attack. After explaining that his superior hardware and security system made the intrusion impossible, he offered to show her the Five Elements Laboratory’s supercomputer.

• Xiang Qian sat with Vector as she wrote a mission report and revealed that he was the Weather Witch’s younger brother, Xiang Tian’s sibling.
• Xiang Qian realized Vector was attempting to hack him and confronted her with the signal booster she had hidden.
• Xiang Qian explained that he had designed the Spear Bureau’s electronic information system and that its servers had alerted him to Vector’s attack.
• Vector examined Xiang Qian’s tablet, recognized her own intrusion program, and saw that its hardware and security had defeated her.
• Xiang Qian told Vector he could access the Five Elements Laboratory’s more advanced supercomputer and offered to show it to her.

After spending the night with Xiang Qian, Vector was caught by his sister Xiang Tian, who warned her not to mistake him for a good man. On the drive back to the Spear Bureau, Xiang Tian received orders to report to the director’s office and use secure communications.

• Vector woke beside Xiang Qian and realized she had missed a message from Sky Team about Temugin’s extradition.
• Vector found Xiang Tian waiting in the living room, and Xiang Tian sent her to wait in the car before punishing Xiang Qian for pursuing someone from the Bureau.
• Xiang Tian drove Vector back to the Spear Bureau and warned her that Xiang Qian was a womanizer who would likely forget her.
• The director contacted Xiang Tian, ordered her to come directly to the office, and told her to switch all communications devices to the secure channel.

After Temugin warned that the Ten Rings would take something precious from Xiang Qian, Zheng Xian and the Spear Bureau investigated what the group might target. Xiang Tian’s team was assigned to protect the secret Project Houyi, while Xiang Qian received a call from Tony.

• The Spear Bureau watched Temugin’s interrogation, where he said the Ten Rings had a planned operation involving something Xiang Qian cherished.
• Zheng Xian told Xiang Tian that intelligence suggested the Ten Rings had been planning an attack connected to Xiang Qian before Temugin was captured.
• Xiang Tian and the others considered whether the target might be her, one of Xiang Qian’s romantic partners, or Project Kuafu; Zheng Xian said Kuafu’s final test had already succeeded.
• Zheng Xian ordered Xiang Tian’s Special Task Force to cancel its other assignments and protect a top-secret joint project with the Five Elements Laboratory called Project Houyi.
• Xiang Qian received a call from Tony and thanked him for helping with a satellite.

Xiang Qian and Tony Stark discussed their battlefield footage, Kunlun abilities, and Tony’s newly completed Jericho Missile as Tony prepared to sell it abroad. The call ended when Tony told Xiang Qian to check the news about his business partner at Worthington Industries.

• Xiang Qian complained that Tajikistan’s military had taken credit for the operation, and Tony confirmed his satellite had recorded the battlefield.
• Tony and Xiang Qian teased each other about Tony’s spying habits before Tony asked how Xiang Qian had stopped the explosion; Xiang Qian explained that he had used power from Kunlun.
• Tony celebrated completing the Jericho Missile and read Xiang Qian parts of his sales pitch, including plans to sell the weapon to a buyer in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Israel.
• Pepper called for Tony, who then asked Xiang Qian about his Worthington Industries shares and urged him to check the news about his business partner.

After Worthington Industries announced a Mutant Gene Inhibitor without Wude Group’s consent, Xiang Qian ordered a lawsuit and argued with Professor X about the drug’s danger and potential benefits. He agreed to meet the X-Men in San Francisco, then confronted Mr. Worthington by phone as the chapter ended.

• Xiang Qian read reports that Worthington II had called Mutants diseased and announced a Mutant Gene Inhibitor.
• Xiang Qian confirmed Worthington Industries had breached its joint-development contract and ordered Wude Group’s lawyers to sue.
• Professor X accused Xiang Qian of deceiving the Mutants, and Xiang Qian argued that many Mutants might want the drug while warning against Professor X claiming to speak for them.
• Xiang Qian agreed to travel to the United States and meet Professor X in San Francisco to address Worthington Industries and the escalating danger.
• Mr. Worthington called Xiang Qian, who angrily challenged his belief that having an angel for a son made him God and entitled him to play savior.

Xiang Qian warned Worthington II that his press conference had angered a powerful terrorist and would bring ruin to Worthington Industries, then dismissed Lieutenant General Ross when he took over the call. After the Secretary of Defense intervened, Xiang Qian spoke to Ross again and challenged his confidence in the U.S. military.

• Worthington II called Xiang Qian to defend his remarks about helping Mutants, but Xiang Qian said they would cause enormous losses and warned that Worthington Industries faced catastrophe.
• Lieutenant General Ross took the phone and claimed the U.S. military would protect Worthington Industries, but Xiang Qian rebuked him and hung up.
• Worthington II called Xiang Qian again while Ross received a high-priority call from the Secretary of Defense, who overruled Ross's plans.
• Xiang Qian told Worthington II to hand the phone to Ross because he was no longer in charge of the situation.
• Xiang Qian asked Ross if he was ready to go to war and mocked his confidence by noting that Xiang Qian came from a country without American military bases.