Chapter Summaries

Alvin considered arranging a private meeting between the United States and Russian leaders to ease tensions, then used Mind Control on a captured agent to keep her cooperative until the antidote was ready. He explained to Yelena that he wanted to protect his home in Hell’s Kitchen, not reshape the world, while the Red Mercury Bomb still threatened any reconciliation.

• Zhang Qiang urged Alvin to connect the United States and Russian leaders, arguing that reconciliation could help Russia recover and give the world stability.
• Alvin considered investing in Russian factories if relations improved, while Natasha questioned whether he was pursuing peace for business reasons.
• Yelena warned that the Red Mercury Bomb had to be dealt with before the United States and Russia could agree, then offered to silence the captured agent.
• Alvin used the Mind Stone ring to control the agent, learned her name was Ksenia, and promised to keep her obedient until the antidote was ready.
• Alvin told Yelena that he rejected controlling the world and valued protecting his family, home, and life in Hell’s Kitchen.

Alvin used Mind Control on Ksenia and learned little about the Red Room, then planned to question more Black Widows while Natasha and Yelena reunited. Meanwhile, Jinna realized the Russian Security Service had abandoned her and faced an unknown visitor in her hospital room.

• Ksenia revealed what she knew about the Red Room, but her contact had disappeared, so Alvin planned to take her to the Black Widows' usual haunts for more clues.
• Yelena recalled the stories she had told others about Natasha, and the sisters shared a quiet reunion while Alvin prepared to rest before stealing the Antidote.
• Melina urged Alvin to use Mind Control on five Black Widows held by his school, but he refused and found that he no longer wanted to kill Ksenia.
• Jinna overheard that her mission could cost her life either way and decided she needed Nick Hammer to escape the Russian Security Service's plans.
• Alex Tchenkov visited Jinna in the hospital and warned her that her survival depended on Nick cooperating, then Jinna heard a stranger enter her room and gripped her removed IV needle.

Alvin and Yelena broke into the Moscow Central Bank vault to retrieve an antidote, but Alvin stayed behind when another thief arrived. He triggered the bank alarm, escaped, and then used a grenade to draw attention to a nearby car.

• Alvin and Yelena entered the vault through a Space Gate while Angel hacked the bank security system.
• Alvin and Yelena opened safety-deposit box 0876 and took a vial and notebook from a metal box.
• When a thief entered the vault, Alvin sent Yelena back to the hotel and concealed himself with camouflage fabric.
• The thief began photographing documents, so Alvin teleported outside the vault, shut the door, and had Angel trigger the alarm.
• Alvin escaped the bank as police arrived, then used Telekinesis magic to send a grenade toward an inconspicuous car.

Alvin discovered that men posing as Russian special forces were CIA agents trying to retrieve a thief from a bank, and he sabotaged their escape, triggering a deadly clash with Russian authorities. After the CIA team was wiped out, Lanny Miller sought a way to save himself and his staff by targeting Jinna.

• Alvin recognized that the masked men leaving the bank were impostors holding the vault thief hostage.
• Alvin detonated grenades beneath their armored vehicle, stopping it and giving Russian Security Service agents time to arrive.
• The rescued thief shouted that the men were CIA, and the CIA agents opened fire as Russian police and Security Service agents fought back.
• The CIA agents failed to break through the Russian perimeter, while Alvin slipped away to his hotel room.
• Lanny Miller realized the failed operation had destroyed the CIA's Moscow network and ordered his staff to gather information on Jinna so he could recruit her.

Alvin sent President Ellis, Russian President Jingpu, and Zhang Qiang an encrypted group-chat app, hoping to prepare them for future negotiations over the Red Mercury Bomb Crisis. After waking to find the leaders trading scandalous gossip and photos, he realized they were willing to communicate but could not discuss politics openly yet.

• Alvin sent Yelena and the Antidote to Dr. Yinsen, then returned with Yelena to his hotel room and went to sleep.
• Alvin created an encrypted group chat for President Ellis, Russian President Jingpu, and Zhang Qiang, then drifted off before anyone joined.
• Yelena told Alvin that Russian Security Service officials were waiting outside, and Alvin ordered her to turn them away and fetch him breakfast.
• Alvin checked his phone and found more than a thousand messages of gossip and explicit pictures from the group chat.
• Alvin posted a photo with Fox and declared his love for his wife, prompting President Ellis and Russian President Jingpu to share photos and boast about their romantic lives.
• Alvin concluded that the leaders were avoiding political talk until the Red Mercury Bomb Crisis ended, then decided to leave the chat after dealing with the Red Room.

Alvin planned to share alien technology with capable countries and hoped Earth could cooperate against outside threats while continuing limited competition. As Yelena learned the Antidote could be ready soon, Alvin told her he would go after the Red Mercury Bomb while she kept the Russian Security Service convinced he remained in his room.

• Alvin planned to let his people select alien technology projects first, then license the remaining technology to countries able to use it.
• Alvin reflected on Earth's economic rivalries and discussed with himself the possibility of countries forming a loose union against threats from beyond Earth.
• Yelena arranged for Alvin to receive familiar food and awaited news about the Antidote, hoping to save the other Black Widows.
• Dr. Yinsen told Alvin that the first Antidote batch would be ready within 12 hours and that he could synthesize enough for Yelena within three days after testing it.
• Alvin told Yelena he would pursue the Red Mercury Bomb with Church and the others, while she stayed behind and kept the Russian Security Service from discovering his absence.

Church, Sarah, Katya, and Marvin staged a gas explosion at a restaurant near Red Square to enter a passage beneath the Kremlin while Alvin watched for the Red Room. The team got inside, but Alvin discovered that numerous people were watching him and a sniper had him in their sights.

• Marvin summoned Church and Sarah to an alley, where Katya knocked out two police officers and the group prepared to infiltrate the Kremlin through the restaurant restroom.
• Church assigned Sarah to watch the restaurant entrance while he and Katya disguised themselves as police officers, and Marvin triggered an explosion at the restaurant.
• Church and Katya entered the restaurant in uniform, followed by Sarah and Marvin in gas company uniforms, while Alvin observed from a coffee shop nearby.
• The group used the gas explosion as a pretext to take control of the restaurant, and the responding police left after finding no casualties.
• Alvin asked 47 whether anyone suspicious was nearby, and 47 revealed that several people, including a sniper, were watching Alvin because he was reading his newspaper upside down.

Alvin disrupted a British intelligence team waiting to ambush Church and his group, using his strange gunshot-like power to overpower them and confuse the Russian authorities. He escaped by teleporting to a department-store roof after leaving the agents for the police.

• Alvin provoked the British agents watching him, then mimed shooting one of them and caused the man to collapse with a real gunshot wound.
• Alvin shot the agents’ sniper, disabled their sedan, and forced the surviving agents to sit with him at a café table.
• Alvin disarmed the afternoon tea woman, snapped the car driver's fingers, and pricked the group with a needle hidden in a ring.
• Alvin claimed he was an obscure sharpshooter and told the agents to pass James Bond a message that he was the best agent.
• Alvin entered the café, threw a Grenade, and teleported to the department-store roof as Russian police moved in.
• The captured car driver insisted to the Russian men in black that Alvin was a madman and not one of them.

Alvin used himself and Natasha as bait to draw out the Red Room, while Church’s team escaped an ambush and lost the briefcase to a motorcyclist. Alvin secretly swapped the bomb into his Space Backpack and sent Scott Lang along with the stolen case to infiltrate the enemy headquarters.

• Alvin told 47 that he had deliberately drawn the Red Room out, then called Natasha to mock her lack of progress.
• A silver-haired Red Room agent attacked Natasha, who escaped by car and led her pursuers toward Point 3.
• Church and his group left the Restaurant, but a gunner ambushed them as a motorcyclist stole Marvin’s briefcase.
• Marvin used a grenade launcher hidden in his pink pig to destroy the gunner’s van, then accused Katya of tripping him.
• Alvin retrieved the real bomb from the repair truck, stored it in his Space Backpack, and told Scott Lang to let the motorcyclist take him to the Red Room headquarters.

Alvin used a counterfeit Red Mercury Bomb to lead the Red Room back toward its headquarters while he and Yelena prepared to help Natasha. Meanwhile, Jinna chose to act on Alvin’s files by targeting a corrupt politician, despite the cost of the Russian healing serum and the danger to her life.

• Alvin revealed that Scott Lang had followed Church with the fake bomb, allowing him to track the Red Room and Dr. Belial while Church’s crew pressured the agents to retrieve it.
• Alvin returned to the hotel, enjoyed Yelena’s Chinese feast, and agreed to meet Jinna the next day.
• Yelena urged Alvin to help Natasha, and he agreed to leave with her and Tarkov to close the net around the people pursuing Natasha.
• Jinna endured a painful Repair Serum treatment that cost her years of cellular lifespan and reviewed Alvin’s files identifying corrupt politicians as targets.
• Jinna learned that one target planned to visit an upscale prostitute that evening, then called for a car.

Natasha, Melina, and Yelena prepared to use the Red Room’s attack on Safe House No. 3 to further their search for its hidden base, while Alvin overwhelmed the agents sent against them. The fight spilled into the stairwell, where Jinna emerged from a nearby apartment and aimed her gun at Alvin.

• Natasha told Alvin she had chosen to face her past and asked him to help destroy the Red Room while keeping as many Black Widows alive as possible.
• Alvin agreed to help but urged Natasha to let Church’s team lead the search, then ambushed the Red Room agents entering Safe House No. 3 and knocked them unconscious with a mop.
• Natasha and Yelena fought attackers at the balcony while Melina dealt with a sniper, and Alvin captured more agents outside the window.
• Alvin charged down the stairwell and incapacitated four Black Widows, crashing through a fire door into the hallway.
• Jinna stepped out of a nearby apartment, shut the door on the bloodied man inside, and pointed her gun at Alvin.

Alvin confronted Jinna after she arrived to assassinate a target, then fought off a group of Black Widows and negotiated her silence. He rushed to rescue Yelena when she called for help, but the Black Widows had lured him into an electric trap.

• Jinna found Alvin masked at the apartment, but a four-person Black Widow team opened fire before she could question him.
• Alvin dragged Jinna inside, used a shoe cabinet to attack the Black Widows, and beat them before returning to make her promise not to reveal his identity.
• Jinna told Alvin she knew he was Nick Hammer and offered to meet him the next day, while Alvin considered helping her survive her situation.
• Yelena called for help while four Black Widows cornered her on a rooftop, and Alvin rushed to intervene.
• The Black Widows triggered hidden electric devices that shocked Alvin as he charged toward them, and Yelena warned him of the danger.

Alvin rescued Yelena from the Black Widows, then rushed to help Natasha and Yelena fight a second group of attackers. He disarmed the remaining Black Widows with his golden sword while Jinna watched, astonished by his abilities.

• Alvin emerged unharmed from the bomb blast, helped Venom defeat the Black Widows surrounding Yelena, and sent the captured women through a Space Gate to Dr. Yinsen.
• Alvin rushed downstairs to help Natasha, while Jinna stayed behind to handle the aftermath and explain the incident to the police.
• Natasha and Yelena struggled against two Black Widow blade warriors until Alvin arrived in the alley.
• Alvin knocked an attacking Black Widow unconscious with a headbutt, then drew a golden Long Sword and disarmed four more attackers.
• The final Black Widow deflected Alvin's sword, but its blade bent and tapped her spine, leaving Jinna wondering who Alvin really was.

Alvin and Natasha’s team rescued the captured agents and completed their mission, while Mason was released from interrogation and ordered Hydra to move ahead with its Red Mercury Bomb plot. Mason planned to get the bomb to headquarters, activate it, and detonate it near Red Square.

• Angel Siyla helped Alvin defeat the two Female Blade Warriors, while Yelena covered the captured agents and Natasha questioned Alvin about Jinna.
• Natasha spoke privately with Jinna, who then left, and Alvin opened a Space Gate to clear the battlefield; the team later reunited with Melina and completed its mission.
• Mason was released after three days of interrogation because the Russian Security Service could not prove he was a spy, and he took a Taxi home.
• Mason told his Hydra-linked driver to send the rogue woman to headquarters for examination and withdraw their people from the fight against Church’s group.
• Mason ordered his people to get the Red Mercury Bomb to Moscow Headquarters, have Dr. Bailey activate it, and detonate it near Red Square.

Alvin woke to news that the fake bomb might soon reach Dr. Bailey, then met with Jinna, who revealed her ties to the CIA and Russian Security Service and offered to help his operation. When Alvin tried to recruit her, Jinna recognized him as the Manhattan Axe, and Yelena recorded the exchange.

• Church told Alvin that their cover had been blown and the bomb could reach Dr. Bailey at any moment.
• Jinna brought Alvin breakfast and explained that the Russian Security Service had used them as sacrifices to push Steel Digital into investing in Russia.
• Jinna revealed that the CIA had ordered her to assassinate the head of the Russian Security Service and that she wanted Alvin’s help to secure her freedom.
• Alvin offered Jinna another option and proposed using her Russian Security Service connections to support his operation.
• Alvin claimed to be Zhang Qiang of the Gun Club, but Jinna identified him as Alvin, the Manhattan Axe.
• Yelena appeared at the door and recorded Alvin and Jinna’s exchange on her phone.

Alvin’s cover was exposed to Jinna, so he offered to help her escape Russia in exchange for her cooperation. After Scott Lang located the Red Room’s base near Red Square, Alvin and the Black Widows prepared to stop the Moscow Bomb Crisis while Jinna stayed behind to keep the authorities away.

• Jinna recognized Alvin as the Manhattan Axe, and he warned her to keep his identity secret before offering to help her.
• Natasha and Yelena pressured Jinna, then Alvin asked what she wanted; Jinna said she wanted to leave Russia and live in peace.
• Scott Lang’s signal revealed the Red Room’s base less than five hundred meters from Red Square, and Alvin sent Natasha and the others to stop the Moscow Bomb Crisis.
• Alvin told Jinna to keep the police away from the base and ordered his Crows to gather near Red Square.
• At the base, researchers opened the case containing the Red Mercury Bomb and brought Dr. Bailey in to activate it; Scott Lang suddenly appeared.

Scott Lang helped Alvin storm Dr. Bailey’s laboratory, where Alvin and his allies quickly killed the armed guards. Dr. Bailey then revealed he had poisoned the group with a neurotoxin and planned to use the Red Mercury Bomb formula as leverage, leaving Alvin seemingly incapacitated.

• Scott Lang signaled Alvin, who broke into the laboratory and killed the guards with help from his Corpse-Eater Vine.
• Alvin praised Scott and learned that Church, Marvin, Katya, and the others had dealt with the mercenaries outside.
• Scott noticed Dr. Bailey injecting himself with a substance, and Bailey greeted Church as Frank Moses, revealing they had known each other thirty years earlier.
• Dr. Bailey released an airborne neurotoxin that made Alvin and the others collapse, then explained that he had planted the Nightshade Plan online to lure rescuers.
• Dr. Bailey said he intended to use his knowledge of the Red Mercury Bomb as leverage, while Yelena pinched Alvin as he prepared to kill him.

Alvin stalled Dr. Bailey while the mad scientist negotiated with a terrorist over a bomb, unaware that Alvin and the others were only pretending to be incapacitated. Marvin killed Bailey before he could leave, but the group was left facing the radioactive bomb and Scott Lang’s apparent poisoning.

• Alvin questioned Dr. Bailey about his bomb and pinched Yelena to keep her from exposing their ruse.
• Dr. Bailey revealed he had built a dirty bomb and negotiated five hundred million dollars and a private plane with a terrorist over the communicator.
• The terrorist transferred the money and offered Dr. Bailey a Gulfstream, while Bailey prepared to leave the laboratory.
• Marvin shot Dr. Bailey and perfectly imitated his voice, telling the terrorist that shaking the bomb would activate it.
• Katya asked what they should do with the bomb, and Scott Lang called for help because he could not move after being poisoned.

After Church revived Scott Lang, Alvin and the others uncovered how the Red Room expected to recover Dr. Bailey’s five hundred million dollars and planned to confront the approaching agents. Alvin agreed to consider taking in the Red Room Orphanage’s girls and teachers, while he arranged to send the dangerous bomb to Qin Emperor.

• Church found an antidote hidden in Dr. Bailey’s shoe and injected it into Scott Lang, then explained how he had realized Dr. Bailey was planning something.
• Melina explained that the Red Room could recover Dr. Bailey’s money through a cryptography expert, and Natasha proposed bringing the Orphanage’s girls and teachers to Hell’s Kitchen.
• Alvin agreed to have Natasha send Nelson the teachers’ résumés, and Natasha promised Church and the others a share of the money.
• Church assigned Marvin and himself to investigate the airport, with 47 providing cover, while Alvin’s group prepared to deal with the Red Room agents coming to collect Dr. Bailey’s body.
• Katya warned that the bomb was dangerously sensitive, and Alvin called Qin Emperor to offer it for detonation in the Underground Palace.

Shang-Chi mastered Sword Aura while training under Qin Emperor in the Underworld, and Alvin arrived to help the Qin army destroy a bone city with a bomb. Back in Moscow, Natasha and the Black Widows prepared for the Red Room’s next move, while Yelena admired Qin Emperor from afar.

• Qin Emperor continued his Underworld campaign and pushed Shang-Chi to practice the Mountain Shaker Technique until he could make his sword ring with Sword Aura.
• Shang-Chi’s sword shattered after he unconsciously produced a powerful vibration, and Lu Tong deflected the flying fragments with his Luoyang Shovel.
• Chang Kong explained that a spear’s spirit came from its wielder’s heart, while Gai Nie and Meng Tian objected to his praise of Bai Qi’s Deer-Cutting Art.
• Alvin opened a Space Gate to the Underworld, then used telekinesis to place a bomb above a bone city before teleporting away as it exploded.
• Natasha secured the fake bomb and prepared to ambush the Red Room agents, while Yelena asked about Qin Emperor and Natasha told her she could never have him.