Chapter Summaries

After removing Nathaniel Richards’s Dimension Beacon, Chu Hang left the boy with a golden trace of the Alchemical Law that awakened his ability to control liquid metal. As the Phoenix Force awakened within Chu Hang, a warning about a coming World-Eater drove him to send an avatar into the Multiverse while his true body prepared to enter seclusion.

• Chu Hang told Tony Stark that Nathaniel would survive and suggested Tony guide him, then left to confront the Phoenix Force stirring within him.
• Nathaniel woke and discovered he could reshape a metal tray into a sphere, and Tony welcomed him as his student.
• Chu Hang found Wanda beside him as the Phoenix Force surged, and Loki warned that Young Kang was summoning a hungry entity known as the World-Eater.
• Chu Hang created an exploration avatar to seek power that could contain the Phoenix Force, and the avatar entered the Multiverse.
• Chu Hang prepared to enter seclusion while Wanda promised to protect Earth and wait for him.
• The avatar sensed a primal force of thunder and bloodlust in a new world and changed course toward it.

Chu Hang entered a universe where Omni-Man was slaughtering the Global Guardians and copied the Viltrumite Smart Atom structure to help his body withstand the Phoenix Force. He left after defeating Omni-Man and went to observe Mark Grayson, seeking further ways to strengthen his body.

• Chu Hang found Omni-Man attacking the Global Guardians and stopped him from killing War Woman.
• Chu Hang scanned Omni-Man’s Smart Atoms, copied the Viltrumite Physiology, and found that it only partly eased the Phoenix Force’s erosion.
• Chu Hang restrained Omni-Man with the Law of Space and punched him deep underground, sparing his life.
• Chu Hang detected other potential sources of genetic and Viltrumite data, including Mark Grayson.
• Chu Hang traveled to Mark Grayson’s home and watched him have dinner with his mother.

Chu Hang secretly observed Mark Grayson and tested his potential during an alien invasion, revealing that Mark’s Smart Atoms could grow stronger under extreme pressure. After disabling the GDA’s attempt to retrieve Mark, Chu Hang offered to teach him control and warned that the aliens would return stronger, leaving Mark unsure what to do.

• For three days, Chu Hang watched Mark’s ordinary life and clumsy attempts to fly, then observed him rush into the city to fight an alien invasion.
• Mark fought the alien attackers with brute strength, while Chu Hang secretly prevented his mistakes from causing further destruction.
• When an alien commander nearly killed Mark, Chu Hang crushed it with an invisible force and pinned Mark down as well.
• Mark’s rage awakened his Smart Atoms, and he broke free before stopping his punch just short of Chu Hang’s face.
• Chu Hang disabled the GDA’s teleportation portal and explained that Mark’s Smart Atoms could grow beyond his father’s limits, offering to teach him control.
• Chu Hang warned Mark that the aliens would return with weapons designed for him, then vanished as Mark stood among the ruins, uncertain about his future.

After being defeated by Chu Hang, Nolan returned home and lied to Debbie and Mark about his absence, but Mark tested his father and realized he was hiding the truth about Smart Atoms. Chu Hang then appeared in the GDA command center, demanded Sinclair’s research, and warned Cecil that Nolan was dangerous, leaving Cecil to order Nolan’s surveillance.

• Nolan escaped from the Earth's core, returned home, and told Debbie and Mark that he had dealt with a powerful alien.
• Mark told Nolan that a strange man had mentioned Smart Atoms and his mother; Nolan concealed his reaction, then claimed Smart Atoms were the name of Viltrumite cells.
• Mark tested Nolan by repeating that his potential came from his mother, and Nolan admitted it was partly true while warning Mark not to trust the stranger.
• Cecil Stedman learned that Nolan had been punched into the Earth's core and classified the unknown attacker as an Omega-level threat.
• Chu Hang appeared in the GDA command center, demanded Sinclair's research materials, and offered to intervene if Nolan lost control.
• Cecil agreed to provide the research, then ordered the GDA to place Nolan under the highest level of surveillance and keep watch on Mark.

Mark fought a prepared Flaxan invasion whose Time Synchronizers erased his speed advantage, while Nolan watched and forced him to face the threat alone. On the verge of death, Mark awakened his Smart Atoms, healed, and gained enough power to destroy the Flaxan officer, leaving the surrounding soldiers stunned.

• A purple rift opened above Mark's school, and he flew up to confront the returning Flaxans as their shielded fleet poured through.
• Mark struggled against soldiers wearing Time Synchronizers, which let them track and attack him, and he realized their force had canceled his time-based speed advantage.
• The Flaxan officer wounded Mark and overwhelmed him, while Nolan watched from above without intervening until Mark was about to be killed.
• Nolan stopped the officer's first lethal attack, then challenged Mark to rise using his own strength and prove his potential.
• Facing another energy sphere, Mark embraced the pain of his Smart Atoms awakening, survived the blast, and rapidly healed.
• Mark's new power let him smash the officer's armor and gemstone with one punch, sending him crashing through three warships.

Mark defeated the Flaxan invasion after his power surged, while Nolan watched with wary scrutiny. Chu Hang rejected Sinclair’s resurrection research, learned Robot’s location from Cecil, and Nolan later dismissed Mark’s questions about Smart Atoms.

• Mark wiped out the remaining Flaxans after an unseen force destroyed their fleet and closed the dimensional rift.
• Nolan praised Mark’s limitless potential but regarded him with concealed wariness.
• Chu Hang took a Flaxan Time Synchronizer and decided to seek information from Cecil Stedman.
• Chu Hang read Sinclair’s memories, destroyed the reanimated corpse, and dismissed the Sinclair Project as worthless.
• Cecil told Chu Hang where to find Robot, and Chu Hang reaffirmed his deal to intervene if Omni-Man lost control.
• At dinner, Nolan denied Mark’s questions about Smart Atoms and said Mark’s strength came from his Viltrumite blood.

Chu Hang infiltrated the Teen Titans' base, copied Rudy Connors's biological genetic engineering knowledge, and developed a plan to reprogram Viltrumite Smart Atoms to contain the Phoenix Force. He left after giving Rudy Alchemical Law, but discovered the transformation would require a century of a medium-mass star's energy and began searching the universe for a sufficient power source.

• Chu Hang passed through the Teen Titans' defenses, withstood Rex's attacks, and dismantled Eve's metal barrier before confronting Robot.
• Chu Hang revealed that Robot's true body was Rudy Connors and promised to cure him, persuading Robot to lead him to the underground laboratory.
• Chu Hang copied Rudy's S-rank biological genetic engineering mastery and learned that Viltrumite Smart Atoms could be reprogrammed as energy-containment units.
• Chu Hang gave Rudy the foundational theory of Alchemical Law and departed under the name Prometheus.
• Chu Hang calculated that reprogramming every Smart Atom in his body required the energy of a medium-mass star burning for one hundred years, then searched for another vast energy source.

Chu Hang invaded the Grayson home, overpowered Nolan, exposed his Viltrumite mission to Debbie and Mark, and drained much of Nolan’s stored energy to advance his own Smart Atom reconstruction. He left Mark powerless but urged him to train, while Mark’s Smart Atoms began responding to his anger and determination.

• Chu Hang confronted Nolan in the Grayson dining room and immobilized him by rewriting his Smart Atom commands.
• Chu Hang revealed that Nolan was Omni-Man, a Viltrumite advance agent sent to prepare Earth for the Empire’s invasion, and Nolan’s silence devastated Debbie and Mark.
• Chu Hang drained Nolan’s stored energy, advancing his own Smart Atom reconstruction to thirty percent while leaving Nolan alive but severely weakened.
• Mark’s Smart Atoms fluctuated as he watched his father being drained, and Chu Hang noted that Mark had greater potential than Nolan.
• Chu Hang warned Mark to take care of Debbie and train before vanishing, and Mark’s anger and determination stirred his Smart Atoms.

After Nolan was imprisoned, Mark refused Cecil’s offer to join the GDA but vowed to help protect Earth and began training. Three weeks later, Chu Hang defeated Allen, copied his adaptive-evolution ability, learned the Interstellar Council’s location and the Viltrum Empire’s patrol routes, and set off to hunt the Empire.

• Cecil told Mark that the GDA had known Nolan was a Viltrumite, and Mark refused to join the agency while promising to help if Earth was threatened.
• Mark returned home with Debbie and began training, determined to grow stronger after realizing how powerless he had been against Chu Hang.
• Three weeks later, Chu Hang encountered Allen in Earth orbit and defeated him in a fight.
• Chu Hang copied Allen’s adaptive-evolution ability and forced him to reveal the Interstellar Council’s location and the Viltrum Empire’s patrol routes.
• Chu Hang flew toward the Viltrum Empire’s border patrol line, while Allen headed to warn the Council and Nolan waited for the Empire to retaliate.

Chu Hang attacked the Viltrumite cruiser Conqueror, defeated its fifteen warriors, and drained their energy to advance his Smart Atoms’ reconstruction. He left the aged commander Craig alive to warn the Viltrumite emperor that the hunters had become prey.

• Chu Hang approached the Conqueror and survived its main cannon blast, with Adaptive Evolution Physiology healing and strengthening his body.
• Chu Hang let a Viltrumite warrior strike him, then broke the warrior’s wrist and hurled him into two companions.
• Chu Hang fought the remaining warriors and incapacitated all fourteen in less than three minutes.
• Chu Hang drained Craig’s life force and raised his reconstruction progress from thirty to thirty-five percent.
• Chu Hang drained the fourteen injured warriors, raising reconstruction progress to sixty-five percent, then ordered Craig to warn the emperor that a hunter had arrived.
• Craig remained alive as Chu Hang flew away, terrified and intending to report the threat to the Grand Regent.

After Chu Hang’s attack left Viltrumite forces terrified, Thragg sent Conquest to hunt him, while Chu Hang continued draining Viltrumites to complete his transformation. On Earth, Cecil gave Mark information about the Viltrumites and his father as Mark prepared to grow stronger.

• Craig returned alone to the Viltrumite command hall, delivered Chu Hang’s warning that Viltrumites were now the prey, and Thragg killed him.
• Thragg ordered Conquest and his Reckoners squad to find Chu Hang, while placing border fleets on maximum combat readiness.
• Chu Hang destroyed a Viltrumite cruiser and drained twelve warriors at Furnace Star, raising his energy reserves to 85%.
• Chu Hang sensed Conquest approaching and waited for the Viltrumite warrior, expecting his energy to complete the final 15% of his transformation.
• Cecil showed Mark footage of Chu Hang’s attacks and gave him data on the Viltrumites, including information about his father, and Mark left determined to get stronger.

Chu Hang drained Conquest to complete his reconstruction, fused with the Phoenix Force, and reached Universal-level before returning to the Main Universe. Thragg learned that Chu Hang was heading back to Earth and ordered the Viltrum Empire to assemble for an attack.

• Conquest arrived at Furnace Star with eleven Viltrumite soldiers and killed a wounded survivor before challenging Chu Hang.
• Chu Hang blocked Conquest’s attacks, used Alchemical Law to immobilize him, and drained his accumulated energy to complete his reconstruction.
• Chu Hang fused with the Phoenix Force, reached Universal-level, and opened a rift to return to the Main Universe.
• The eleven surviving Executioner Squad members fled to the Viltrum Empire and reported Conquest’s defeat to Thragg.
• Thragg ordered every fleet and elite soldier assembled, naming Earth as their target.

Chu Hang's duplicate returned with immense energy and merged with him, stabilizing the thirteen laws within him and transforming him into a universal-level being. The chapter ended with Chu Hang realizing that his will could now become the law of the universe.

• Chu Hang held back the Phoenix Force in a sealed chamber while his duplicate returned from beyond the universe with a vast ocean of energy.
• Tony Stark, Thor, Strange, and Nathan sensed the duplicate's arrival as reality's physical constants began to change.
• The duplicate stepped through a rift and joined palms with Chu Hang, triggering a cosmic wave that affected Earth, the Solar System, and the wider universe.
• The duplicate merged into Chu Hang, who unified the thirteen laws and evolved beyond matter into an energy-based form.
• A giant phoenix calmed the disturbed universe before dissolving into Chu Hang, who awoke as a universal-level being.

After reaching the middle stage of Universal-level, Chu Hang restored the damaged base, upgraded Tony’s armor, and empowered Thor’s Stormbreaker. He made an understanding with Eternity, Death, Infinity, and Oblivion, then prepared for the Council of Kangs’ main force while sensing that the Phoenix Force longed for something beyond the Multiverse.

• Chu Hang revealed that he had become a miniature universe and described himself as middle stage of Universal-level, leaving Tony, Thor, and Strange stunned.
• Chu Hang transformed Tony’s damaged armor with Uru metal and infused Thor’s Stormbreaker with the concept of the Eternal Flame so it could repair and evolve.
• Chu Hang met the creator gods Eternity, Death, Infinity, and Oblivion in the void and assured them he meant no offense, after which they withdrew.
• Chu Hang sensed the Phoenix Force longing toward something beyond the universe and the parallel worlds, but did not explain it to Tony.
• Chu Hang told Tony, Thor, and Strange that everything was ready and that they would wait for the Council of Kangs’ main force to arrive.

Chu Hang sent a powerful duplicate to the DC Universe while remaining in the Marvel Universe to face the Council of Kangs. The duplicate arrived at the Watchtower, rescued the Justice League from the Shadow Demons, and prepared the defenders to confront the Anti-Monitor before it found the Anti-Life Equation.

• Chu Hang sensed the Anti-Monitor’s invasion of the DC Universe and created a mid-stage Cosmic Overlord-level duplicate to answer his promise to Ganthet.
• The duplicate arrived at the besieged Watchtower, erased three Shadow Demons, and healed Batman’s wounds.
• Chu Hang learned that Superman was weakened by Kryptonite weapons, Wonder Woman was nearing her limit, and the Green Lantern Corps had suffered heavy casualties.
• Chu Hang entered the battlefield and erased the Shadow Demons around the Watchtower, then told Superman and Wonder Woman to follow his lead.
• Batman revealed that the Anti-Monitor was searching for the Anti-Life Equation, and Chu Hang called on every remaining hero to prepare for battle.

Chu Hang used the Alchemical Law to free Superman from Kryptonite and then restored the Green Lantern Corps with a surge of will. He began forming a Great Wall of Will across the battlefield as the Shadow Demons pressed their attack.

• Chu Hang rewrote the Kryptonite in the Shadow Demon fighters’ emitters into harmless particles, freeing Superman from their effects.
• Superman destroyed all three fighters and charged into the Shadow Demon army while Wonder Woman and Batman recognized Chu Hang’s intervention.
• The Green Lantern Corps’ defensive line collapsed, and Hal Jordan warned that the Lanterns were nearly out of energy.
• Chu Hang spread his consciousness across the battlefield, replenished the Green Lanterns’ rings, and strengthened their resolve with his own will.
• Chu Hang gathered the surging energy into the immense shape of a Great Wall of Will across the battlefield.

Chu Hang empowered the Green Lantern Corps and helped the heroes turn back the Shadow Demons while they advanced on the rift. As Chu Hang began sealing it, the Anti-Monitor struck through it, and Chu Hang discovered that it was searching for the Anti-Life Equation.

• Chu Hang infused the Green Lanterns with energy and will, enabling them to form a Great Wall of Will and launch a counterattack against the Shadow Demons.
• Batman restored the Watchtower's defenses and ordered its guns to fire, while Wonder Woman and Superman fought toward the rift.
• Chu Hang told Hal Jordan to surround the rift with a three-dimensional barrier, then took Superman and Wonder Woman toward its heart.
• Chu Hang used the Alchemical Law to begin rewriting the Antimatter at the rift's edge, but the Anti-Monitor sent a torrent of energy through it that shattered the Green Lanterns' barriers.
• Chu Hang detected coordinates in the torrent that revealed the Anti-Monitor was searching for the Anti-Life Equation.

Chu Hang transformed the Anti-Monitor’s antimatter torrent, devoured a projection of his will, and discovered the location of an Anti-Life Equation fragment in Queens. After the rift stopped expanding, he told the Justice League that they had to reach the fragment before the Anti-Monitor.

• Chu Hang turned the antimatter torrent into a crystal and extracted coordinates hidden inside it.
• Chu Hang resisted the Anti-Monitor’s psychic assault, devoured his projected will, and learned that an Anti-Life Equation fragment lay beneath an abandoned industrial district in Queens.
• The rift began healing, and Chu Hang repaired Superman and Wonder Woman’s mental damage while warning that the Anti-Monitor’s true body remained in the Multiverse’s Void Layer.
• Batman questioned Chu Hang over the comm channel, and Chu Hang called the League to a Watchtower meeting.
• Chu Hang revealed the fragment’s location and explained that destroying it would collapse the universe, prompting Batman to ask who Chu Hang really was.

Chu Hang and the Justice League found an Anti-Life Equation fragment beneath Queens, where Darkseid’s forces and the Anti-Monitor’s minions converged. Chu Hang absorbed and sealed the fragment, then warned Steel Bone that Darkseid had hidden a corrupting imprint in his Mother Box as Darkseid ordered his forces to capture Chu Hang.

• Chu Hang proved his standing to the Justice League with a ring from Ganthet and revealed that he wanted to stop the Anti-Monitor from assembling the Anti-Life Equation.
• Chu Hang copied Steel Bone’s Mastery of Mother Box Technology, allowing Steel Bone to locate the fragment and detect people corrupted by its influence.
• Chu Hang and the Justice League entered the underground chamber, where they found the fragment and faced its animated victims, Parademons, and Shadow Demons.
• Chu Hang sent the Justice League away, then absorbed the fragment’s energy and collapsed the chamber with the Apostle of the Anti-Monitor buried inside.
• Chu Hang contacted the Watchtower and warned Steel Bone that Darkseid’s imprint could eventually control him, while Darkseid ordered his forces to bring Chu Hang back.

On the far side of the moon, Chu Hang fully absorbed the Anti-Life Equation Fragment, defeated Steppenwolf, and turned Apokolips’s technology against its forces. After preparing to confront Darkseid, he encountered a temporal rift opened by the Council of Kangs and returned to the Main Universe, while Darkseid prepared Apokolips for war.

• Chu Hang digested the Anti-Life Equation Fragment, expanding Greed so it could consume will, concepts, and existence.
• Steppenwolf arrived with Parademons to reclaim the fragment, but Chu Hang caught and dismantled his axe, seized control of the Parademons, and forced Steppenwolf to kneel.
• Chu Hang extracted Apokolips’s coordinates, defenses, and Mother Box knowledge from Steppenwolf, then sent him through the Boom Tube and destroyed the transport hub as he warned Darkseid he was coming.
• Chu Hang fused the fragment with Greed, sensed its connection to the Mind Stone, and created a beacon to track Darkseid before heading for the Avengers Compound.
• A temporal rift opened on the moon as the Council of Kangs found Chu Hang; he mocked them and returned to the Main Universe before the rift closed.
• Darkseid saw the conflict as a challenge, rose from his throne, and mobilized Apokolips for war.