Chapter Summaries

Zhang Ye helped Dick recover his memories and reclaim his identity as Nightwing, then used his power to bring Dick out of the dark world. Dick awoke in his cell, where Zhang Ye welcomed him home.

• Zhang Ye considered finding the Ultimate Nullifier in the Wasteland's past as protection against Planet Eater.
• The circus melted away, and Dick emerged in a Nightwing suit after recovering his memories and identity.
• Dick asked Zhang Ye about the Titans, the Justice League, and Earth, but Zhang Ye said Damian would explain once they were out.
• Zhang Ye summoned the Seven Deadly Sins and unleashed immense power as the darkness swallowed Dick.
• Dick regained control of his body in his cell, saw Zhang Ye transform from a monster into a man, and heard him welcome him home.

After rescuing Dick Grayson's soul, Zhang Ye entered Raven's mind to confront the seal Trigon had placed on her. He discovered Raven was close to giving in to her father, and Trigon sensed an unseen visitor in his prison.

• Zhang Ye left Dick Grayson with Damian Wayne and Jason, then worried that Galactus and the Universal Truth Church threatened the Wasteland Universe.
• Zhang Ye found the unconscious Raven in the medical area, disabled the surveillance cameras, and entered her mind through the crystal on her forehead.
• Zhang Ye saw Trigon bound before an altar and heard him pressure Raven to release him by blaming her for the deaths of her friends.
• Raven resisted Trigon but broke down as she remembered the Teen Titans' deaths and admitted she could barely endure any longer.
• Trigon sensed Zhang Ye watching and challenged the hidden visitor to reveal himself.

Zhang Ye appeared in Raven’s mindscape and revealed that he had come to negotiate with Trigon. After sending Raven to the Dream World, he prepared to discuss the deal with the imprisoned demon.

• Trigon sensed an intruder in Raven’s mindscape and called Zhang Ye out from hiding.
• Zhang Ye introduced himself to Raven and exchanged words with Trigon, who recognized him as a Dimension Lord who had devoured the Seven Deadly Sins.
• Zhang Ye admitted that he had come to make a deal with Trigon, alarming Raven.
• Zhang Ye sent Raven’s spiritual body to the Dream World so he and Trigon could speak privately.
• Trigon agreed to hear Zhang Ye’s proposal.

Zhang Ye negotiated a Demon Contract with Trigon, offering to free him in exchange for a portion of his power. After returning to reality, Zhang Ye learned that Trigon's energy was spilling into the universe because devouring the Seven Deadly Sins had thrown its power out of balance.

• Trigon questioned Zhang Ye's motives and argued that ruling the Multiverse was the only path to peace.
• Zhang Ye admitted he wanted Trigon's demon energy and proposed a deal in exchange for releasing him from his seal.
• Zhang Ye and Trigon signed a contract under which Trigon would provide power after breaking free.
• Zhang Ye returned to Raven's side and sensed that Trigon's power was rising.
• Miss Minutes scanned Earth and reported that Zhang Ye's consumption of the Seven Deadly Sins had created an energy imbalance, allowing Trigon's sealed power to generate new original sins.

After learning that devouring the Seven Deadly Sins had disrupted the world’s balance and triggered Trigon’s power to create new sins, Zhang Ye discovered Raven was the likely target. He confronted Constantine about concealing the consequences, then warned him that Constantine had a role in his own plan.

• Miss Minutes explained that Zhang Ye’s devouring of the Seven Deadly Sins had accelerated their death and that Trigon’s power was beginning a new cycle of original sins.
• Miss Minutes revealed that Trigon’s influence could not corrupt Zhang Ye, so it was settling on Raven, Trigon’s daughter and a fitting vessel for the sin of pride.
• Zhang Ye considered dispersing the demonic power affecting Raven but left the infirmary without doing so.
• Zhang Ye found Constantine drinking beside the sleeping Etrigan and accused Constantine of hiding the consequences of devouring the Seven Deadly Sins.
• Constantine said the universe was doomed regardless, and Zhang Ye replied that Constantine was indispensable to his plan.

Clark outlined a plan to attack Apokolips while Darkseid was away, but the heroes questioned its risks and the reliability of his informant. Zhang Ye then revealed that the Federation in the wasteland was in danger and that he needed to return.

• Zhang Ye told Lady Shiva and the League of Assassins that he could move Earth’s refugees to the wasteland and asked them to help rebuild it.
• Clark proposed attacking the three Apokoliptan Engines on Earth while another team infiltrated Apokolips to destroy its central energy facility.
• Constantine, Batwoman Kate, Barbara Gordon, and others challenged the plan, doubting they could survive the Doomsday Para-demons or confront Darkseid.
• Clark said Lois had received intelligence from an Apokolips informant that Darkseid would soon leave to fight the Green Lantern Corps, and Zhang Ye recognized the informant as Lex Luthor.
• Kara noticed Zhang Ye’s silence, and he revealed that the Federation built by Old Barton and the others faced a devastating threat, prompting Ashley and Kara to ask what had happened.

Zhang Ye explained that the Universal Truth Church was threatening the Wasteland Universe and divided the heroes between defending it and continuing the fight against Apokolips. He sent a team led by Pietro and Constantine through a portal to the Wasteland, while the others stayed behind.

• Zhang Ye told the group that the Universal Truth Church was targeting Earth in the Wasteland Universe and that the Ultimate Nullifier was its only defense.
• Zhang Ye chose Raven for the Wasteland team and falsely assured her that Trigon's influence could not reach her there.
• Kara offered to go to the Wasteland, but Zhang Ye said the aged sun would weaken her and she should stay to help fight Apokolips.
• Zhang Ye assigned Raven, Kate, Barbara, Billy, Pietro, Constantine, and Etrigan to support the Wasteland, with Pietro and Constantine leading them.
• Pietro led the team through a purple portal, and Zhang Ye privately reminded Constantine that their deal was important and that he must avoid mistakes.

Zhang Ye sent Pietro, Constantine, Etrigan, and other heroes to the Wasteland Universe, where they arrived at Blood Nest. Fula escorted them inside after Old Barton and Mayor Bishop confirmed they were allies, and she explained that Blood Nest and Bishop Sanctuary had formed a federal alliance.

• Zhang Ye sent heroes who had died in the original story through a portal to Blood Nest in the Wasteland Universe.
• Constantine sensed that the world lacked familiar sources of magic and suspected Zhang Ye had planted the seeds of magic there.
• Fula and her soldiers surrounded Pietro's group, but Old Barton and Mayor Bishop confirmed that they were allies.
• Fula guided the visitors into Blood Nest and described plans for a trading plaza and a monument to fallen heroes.
• Fula told Pietro that Blood Nest and Bishop Sanctuary had established a federal alliance and hoped to contact the Avengers.

Led by Fula, Pietro’s group met with Old Barton in Blood Nest and learned more about the Universal Truth Church and the isolated Earth. Constantine recognized that Star-Lord was not simply imagining his dead teammates, and their encouragement began to rekindle his resolve to fight.

• Fula led the group into Blood Nest’s inner city, where Barton had transformed the industrial park and established arms production lines.
• Pietro introduced Constantine, Barbara, Kate, Billy, and Etrigan to Old Barton, Kate Bishop, and the Punisher.
• Old Barton explained that Earth had lost contact with the universe 45 years earlier and introduced the withdrawn Star-Lord as a former captain of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
• Star-Lord argued with the imagined Rocket Raccoon, and Constantine told him that traces of his dead teammates’ souls were attached to him.
• Star-Lord grieved over his past failures, but Gamora and the other Guardians encouraged him to accept his role and continue the fight.

Star-Lord told the heroes that the Universal Truth Church was conquering the universe and that the Ultimate Nullifier was their only hope against Planet Eater. As the group discussed how to reach it inside the dangerous Baxter Building, Constantine sensed the church’s forces had already arrived.

• Gladiator and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard followed Star-Lord to Earth, intending to stop him from reaching the Ultimate Nullifier.
• Astra activated the flagship’s spatial jump toward Earth after Gladiator dismissed the planet’s heroes as no threat.
• Constantine’s lighter failed to spark, and he relit his cigarette with magic as Star-Lord explained the Universal Truth Church’s growing power.
• Barton told the heroes that the Ultimate Nullifier was kept by the Fantastic Four and was likely lost inside the unstable Baxter Building.
• Constantine warned the group that the Universal Truth Church’s forces were already there.

After Pietro and the others left, Zhang Ye used magic to extract the Liquid Kryptonite from Clark, despite the excruciating pain it caused him. Clark survived but passed out, while Zhang Ye stored the recovered Kryptonite and turned his attention to it.

• Clark, Damian, Dick, and Jason agreed they would have to rely on themselves to rescue Batman, and Zhang Ye proposed extracting Clark's Liquid Kryptonite before meeting Lois and the others.
• Zhang Ye warned that extraction would hurt more than twice as much as the injection and explained that anesthesia could make the pain dangerous; Clark insisted he could endure it.
• Zhang Ye used separation magic to draw the Liquid Kryptonite from Clark's blood, muscles, and bones while Clark suffered unbearable pain.
• Zhang Ye collected the Kryptonite in a container and stored it, and Clark collapsed unconscious as Kara carried him to a sofa.
• Zhang Ye reassured Kara that Clark would recover under the Yellow Sun, then focused his thoughts on the extracted Kryptonite.

Zhang Ye restored Superman’s powers and teleported the group to Blackgate Penitentiary, where the surviving criminals had gathered under Harley Quinn’s rule. They arrived to find Lois fighting Harley in a ring before a cheering crowd.

• Zhang Ye preserved the Kryptonite removed from Clark because it contained Kryptonian blood and bone marrow.
• Clark awoke with his powers restored, though Zhang Ye doubted he had already returned to peak condition.
• Clark told the group that Lois and the surviving criminals were at Blackgate Penitentiary, and Zhang Ye teleported everyone there with his black umbrella.
• The group learned that Harley Quinn ruled Blackgate Penitentiary after Amanda Waller’s death.
• Clark opened the prison gates and found Lois facing Harley in a fighting ring as the crowd cheered them on.
• Jason shoved past Superman and strode into the prison.

Lois fought Harley Quinn in Blackgate’s arena to win the inmates’ help against Lex Luthor, but Ashley stepped in and challenged Harley instead. Ashley disarmed Harley and left the fight unresolved as Harley called on Lois to join her.

• Harley Quinn overwhelmed Lois in the arena, and Jason, Dick Grayson, Robin Damian Wayne, and Zhang Ye watched from the crowd.
• Harley pulled out electrified pacemakers, prompting Clark to move to intervene, but Ashley leaped onto the stage first.
• Ashley offered to fight both women and asked Harley whether defeating her would make Ashley the boss of Blackgate.
• Lois explained that she had arranged to fight Harley to secure the inmates’ help against Lex Luthor and his fortress.
• Ashley easily matched Harley’s attacks, taunted her, then knocked the pacemakers from her hands.
• Harley praised Ashley’s strength and asked Lois to help her fight.

Ashley Barton defeated Lois and Harley Quinn in Blackgate Penitentiary’s ring and was acclaimed as its new king. She rallied the villains to join a counterattack on Apokolips, and the prison erupted in cheers.

• Zhang Ye observed the villains gathered in Blackgate while Damian Wayne teased Dick Grayson about his old enemies.
• Ashley used her Venom-enhanced strength and Spider-Sense to defeat Lois and Harley Quinn and win the fight.
• Captain Boomerang announced Ashley as the new champion, and the criminals cheered her as their king.
• Ashley declared that Blackgate was under her control and urged the villains to fight the alien invaders.
• Ashley announced a counterattack on Apokolips, setting off a wild celebration among the prisoners.
• Harley Quinn laughed and said she liked Ashley.

Harley Quinn’s group learned that Darkseid’s engines were draining Earth and heard the plan to destroy Apokolips before escaping to New Earth. Zhang Ye offered to attack all three engines alone, solving the team’s manpower problem.

• Harley Quinn welcomed Ashley and explained why the surviving villains trusted her to lead them.
• Captain Boomerang recounted how Harley rebuilt the Suicide Squad and gave the villains a safe haven after their defeats.
• Lois revealed that Darkseid’s engines were active in Congo, China, and England and were draining Earth’s resources.
• Zhang Ye explained that the group had to defeat Darkseid before opening a portal to New Earth, or Darkseid could follow them and invade another universe.
• Lois and Clark outlined a plan to lure Apokolips’s Doomsday Para-demons away by attacking the engines, but admitted they lacked enough people to attack all three.
• Zhang Ye volunteered to attack all three engines as a feint.

Lois and Clark proposed a plan to use the Boom Tube at LexCorp Tower to rescue Batman and attack Apokolips, and Zhang Ye agreed. Meanwhile, Star-Lord’s team reached the Baxter Building ruins to find the Ultimate Nullifier, where they discovered a mysterious cave and a warning hologram.

• Lois revealed that her informant, the Sleeper, said Darkseid would leave Apokolips the next day to attack the Green Lantern Corps, and she urged the team to trust the intelligence.
• Clark supported the plan to seize LexCorp Tower, travel to Apokolips, rescue Batman, destroy its central energy facility, and send the Doomsday Para-demons back through the reversed Boom Tube.
• Zhang Ye weighed the crises facing both universes and agreed to proceed with the plan.
• Star-Lord, Wolverine, Pietro, Constantine, and their companions arrived at the Baxter Building ruins to search for the Ultimate Nullifier.
• Star-Lord noticed an unexplained hole in the ruins, and Barbara Gordon identified an appearing security guard as a hologram.
• The hologram warned the group that something had dug out the cave and that everyone who entered it had died.

Barbara hacked into the Baxter Building’s remaining systems and helped the group navigate its ruined interior as they searched for the Ultimate Nullifier. Constantine and Old Wolf Logan sensed danger approaching and warned the others.

• Barbara rebooted her Bat-computer network and hacked one of Hydra’s satellites to connect to the Baxter Building’s systems.
• Star-Lord led the group into the cave, where Kate identified it as a passage excavated into the Baxter Building’s ruins.
• The group found recently killed intruders and human remains, while Wolverine recognized the decades-old skeleton of Rhino.
• Barbara cracked part of the building’s systems and located an enormous pit beneath the structure’s most heavily reinforced section.
• Constantine and Old Wolf Logan sensed something coming through the dark passage, and Constantine warned the group.

Logan’s group fought a swarm of Subterraneans in the tunnels beneath the Baxter Building, then Billy revealed his Shazam powers and drove the creatures away with a burst of light and lightning. Constantine told the group they were deep inside the cave and that Barbara’s enormous pit lay ahead.

• Barbara detected a massive swarm of life signs approaching through the darkness, and Logan identified the creatures as Subterraneans, also called goblins.
• Star-Lord, Logan, and the others fought the charging Subterraneans while Constantine used a confusion spell to keep them away from him.
• Barbara realized the Subterraneans’ eyes could not withstand light, and Pietro prepared to modify his lightning scepter into a beacon.
• Billy flew toward the swarm and transformed into Shazam, whose blinding light and lightning wiped out the nearby Subterraneans and sent the rest fleeing.
• Constantine told the group that the Subterraneans had revealed their location and that Barbara’s enormous pit was just ahead.

Star-Lord and the others explored a hidden laboratory beneath the Baxter Building while searching for clues about the Ultimate Nullifier. They discovered the Fantastic Four’s robot Herbie and learned the lab housed a dangerous Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator, just as Constantine warned that powerful church members were approaching.

• Star-Lord led the group down into the underground corridor and through the ruins to a massive laboratory.
• Star-Lord found a Hulkbuster Armor, while Barbara discovered that an artificial intelligence was blocking her access to the network.
• A damaged robot identified itself as Herbie and revealed that the Fantastic Four’s lab maintained a Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator that could cause a one-mile-wide explosion if mishandled.
• Herbie detected multiple advanced life signs approaching, and the heroes prepared to defend themselves.
• Constantine recognized that the approaching forces were not Subterraneans and said the church members from Earth had come for them.

Doctor Doom learned that the Shi'ar Royal Guard was searching Earth for the Ultimate Nullifier and sent Madame Masque to destroy them, while he pursued other plans. The Church Empress told Planet Eater that Earth had no heroes protecting it, and he ordered his fleet to head there.

• Madame Masque reported that Gladiator and the Shi'ar Royal Guard had destroyed Doombots while searching for something on Earth.
• Doctor Doom connected their search to Peter Quill and identified the Ultimate Nullifier as the weapon they sought to stop Planet Eater.
• Doctor Doom ordered Madame Masque to lead half the Doombots to the Baxter Building ruins and eliminate the Royal Guard.
• The Church Empress told Planet Eater that Gladiator had tracked Peter Quill to Earth and that no heroes remained there.
• Planet Eater ordered his fleet to leave the Nova Corps alone and return to Earth.