Chapter Summaries

Yelena discovered that Hydra’s research in Japan aimed to reproduce Wolverine’s Healing Factor, and Ke Chen agreed to let Viper try despite Wolverine’s objections. The chapter ended with Ke Chen confronting Wolverine just as he tried to leave and telling him he would be studied.

• Black Widow and the others took Shiro Yashida’s Adamantium samurai armor and the Hydra research files from the base.
• Viper explained to Yelena that she hoped to use Wolverine’s Healing Factor to give regenerative abilities to one person or potentially everyone.
• Yelena reported Viper’s plan to Ke Chen, who decided the research was worth attempting for the Black Widows’ sake.
• Ke Chen ordered Yelena to take the equipment and materials, then went to find Wolverine.
• Wolverine said he was leaving, but Ke Chen told him they needed to study his regenerative ability.

Ke Chen brought Wolverine Logan and Viper Ophelia into Black Widow’s Healing Factor research project after destroying their base. The group arrived at Black Widow’s advanced Helicarrier, where Wolverine prepared himself for the experiments and Ophelia checked the equipment.

• Wolverine Logan refused to join the research, but Ke Chen surrounded him with Black Widows and persuaded him to cooperate.
• The Black Widows evacuated the base and destroyed its tower, then Ke Chen offered Ophelia a place in Black Widow in exchange for her help researching the Healing Factor.
• Ophelia agreed to join because she feared Ke Chen, and Mariko and the others were released before the aircraft departed.
• The cloaked aircraft carried the group to Black Widow’s Vibranium-covered Helicarrier, which astonished Wolverine Logan and Ophelia.
• Ke Chen assigned Ophelia to check the research equipment and told Wolverine Logan to prepare for the experiments.

Ke Chen explained to Melina that he wanted to recruit Black Widows to build an organization in space to protect Earth from threats beyond the planet. While Julia gathered recruits and Wakanda prepared to help build a space station and spaceship, Ke Chen stayed aboard the Helicarrier and spent time with Skye as he waited for the experiment to begin.

• Yelena told Melina about the situation, and Ke Chen reassured Melina that the outsider would face death if she failed.
• Melina chose Julia to groom as a leader, and Ke Chen agreed that the Black Widows needed recruits beyond their own family.
• Ke Chen told Melina that Earth faced dangers from across the universe and proposed a space-based organization to protect it; Melina warned that they would need more support than Wakanda could provide.
• Ke Chen met with Skye, encouraged her through her demanding training, and spent time with her aboard the Helicarrier.
• Julia gathered Black Widows for Ke Chen's new mission, while Melina contacted Wakanda to begin work on a space station and spaceship; Ke Chen stayed on the Helicarrier and waited for the experiment.

Viper extracted Wolverine Logan’s Healing Factor and began experiments to replicate it, while Ke Chen returned to the Yashida Clan’s company to meet Mariko. The chapter ended with Mariko offering to summon Yukio as she served Ke Chen beneath her desk.

• Viper activated her machine and extracted Wolverine Logan’s Healing Factor, leaving him severely weakened.
• Viper explained that Wolverine’s Healing Factor would recover over time and reported the successful extraction to Ke Chen.
• Ke Chen ordered Viper and the Black Widows to begin trying to replicate the Healing Factor.
• Ke Chen left Melina and returned to the island nation, where Mariko greeted him at a Yashida Clan company.
• Mariko offered to call Yukio if Ke Chen was dissatisfied, then slipped beneath the desk.

Ke Chen visited Asgard to obtain spacecraft blueprints for Midgard, and Odin agreed to give him most of Asgard’s technology. Ke Chen left with the chip, while Odin reflected on his power and Hela departed without reconciling with him.

• Ke Chen asked Hela for Asgardian spacecraft blueprints, and she told him to speak to Odin.
• Hela accompanied Ke Chen to meet Odin, who questioned why Midgard needed spacecraft technology.
• Ke Chen challenged Odin’s confidence in Asgard’s weakened military, and Odin agreed that Midgard should be able to defend itself.
• Sif brought Odin a chip containing Asgard’s technology except for its latest classified research, and Odin gave it to Ke Chen.
• Ke Chen refused Odin’s invitation to stay and teleported away; Odin remarked on his strength, while Hela left without acknowledging her father.

Ke Chen brought Asgardian ship designs to Wakanda, where Shuri agreed to build spacecraft and the Black Widows began training to pilot them and learn alien languages. As they prepared to leave Earth and protect it with space stations, Ke Chen took out an old pager.

• Ke Chen showed Shuri, Melina, and the others a chip of Asgardian technology containing designs for spaceships and fast flying vessels.
• Shuri said Wakanda could build the ships, and Ke Chen prioritized spacecraft for interstellar travel and space stations to defend Earth.
• Shuri warned that the Black Widows would need to train as pilots, so Melina organized their training.
• The Black Widows began studying spacecraft controls and alien languages from the chip.
• Ke Chen took out an ancient pager.

Ke Chen recruited Captain Marvel Carol to help establish an Earth-protection organization led by the Black Widows in Wakanda. He named the group Dawn, and Carol offered alien intelligence and spaceship blueprints in exchange for something valuable.

• Carol landed in Wakanda, where Ke Chen introduced her to Melina and the Black Widows.
• Ke Chen proposed forming an organization to protect Earth, and Carol agreed to join him.
• Carol said Nick Fury had previously discussed an organization called S.W.O.R.D. and a plan involving the Skrulls.
• Ke Chen argued that the Skrulls might try to make Earth their new home, and Carol agreed that they could not be trusted completely.
• Ke Chen named his organization Dawn, and Carol offered classified alien information and spaceship blueprints in exchange for a valuable trade.

After returning to New York, Ke Chen attended a charity event and arranged for Professor X to publicize Wolverine Logan’s sacrifice. He then took Clarice out to celebrate her belated birthday and promised her the best gift.

• Ke Chen returned to New York after Carol left Earth and pressured Viper to produce results on the Healing Factor research within a year.
• Captain Carter resented that Black Widow could no longer help her attack Hydra bases, and Ke Chen reassured her that Hydra would eventually be eradicated.
• Ke Chen attended a charity event organized by Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where Professor X’s publicity efforts had improved Mutants’ standing.
• Ke Chen told Professor X that he had found Wolverine Logan and asked him to publicize Logan’s willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
• Clarice told Ke Chen that her birthday had passed, so he took her out and promised to give her the best gift.

Ke Chen was summoned to Wakanda as Melina hinted at good news, while S.H.I.E.L.D. found Captain America frozen in the Arctic and prepared to revive him. A Quantum Collider experiment pulled Richard into a portal, which remained open and brought Ghost-Spider to Earth.

• Melina contacted Ke Chen and summoned him to Wakanda, so he called the Black Panther Goddess to come along.
• A Russian oil exploration team found a frozen aircraft in the Arctic, and S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered Captain America and his Vibranium Shield inside.
• Nick Fury ordered scientists to thaw Captain America slowly after they confirmed he still had weak vital signs.
• Nick Fury oversaw a large Quantum Collider experiment with Richard, and the machine pulled him into a portal without shutting down.
• Ghost-Spider appeared through the portal, and Nick Fury asked who she was before she gave her alias.

Ke Chen inspected Wakanda’s newly completed Royal Palace Ship and learned that the Black Widows had grown to more than three thousand under his support. In Wakanda’s underground laboratory, Viper announced that she had successfully researched the Healing Factor, and a Black Widow demonstrated it to Ke Chen.

• Shuri showed Ke Chen and the Black Widows the enormous stealth-capable Royal Palace Ship she had built with Wakanda’s resources and Asgardian knowledge.
• Shuri told Ke Chen that a space station was ready to be transported and assembled in space.
• Melina assured Ke Chen that the Black Widows were prepared for long-term space missions and told him their numbers had grown to more than three thousand.
• Ke Chen used Telepathy to check the newly recruited Black Widows for spies before leaving the ship for Wakanda’s underground laboratory.
• Viper told Ke Chen that she had completed her research on the Healing Factor, and a blonde Black Widow demonstrated the ability by stabbing her arm with a scalpel.

Viper's Healing Factor experiments succeeded, giving the Black Widows rapid healing and sharp nails. After most of them received the transformation, Ke Chen celebrated New Year's Eve with them in Wakanda and prepared to launch a spacecraft on January 1, 2011.

• Viper demonstrated that the Healing Factor let a Black Widow heal quickly and extend her nails into sharp claws, and Melina reported Hydra records of Wolverine clones and related research.
• Ke Chen praised Viper, and the Black Widows began receiving the Healing Factor, which made them less afraid of injuries and disfigurement.
• Ke Chen stayed in Wakanda for New Year's Eve, when the Black Widows celebrated aboard the Helicarrier and many of them got drunk.
• The next morning, Melina asked Ke Chen where he had gone, and he changed the subject by telling everyone to prepare for departure.

The Royal Palace Ship carried Ke Chen and the Black Widows from Wakanda to Titan, where Dawn planned to build a hidden space station. Captain Marvel, Carol, joined Ke Chen in assembling it by hand, and its initial framework soon took shape.

• Julia reported that the Royal Palace Ship had entered orbit, and Melina wished the crew a smooth journey.
• The ship reached Titan in about an hour, and Julia announced that construction could begin.
• Ke Chen told the others to wait, and Captain Marvel, Carol, arrived outside the ship.
• Ke Chen put on his Kryptonian Suit and joined Captain Marvel, Carol, in space.
• Julia and the Black Widows directed them as Ke Chen and Captain Marvel, Carol, docked the space station sections and built its initial framework.

Ke Chen completed the Celestial Court space station with the Black Widows, then returned Wolverine Logan to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and reunited with Lorna and the other Mutants. As he spent time with Clarice, he sensed Diana calling him from another Earth and prepared to leave.

• Ke Chen and Captain Marvel finished assembling the space station, and Ke Chen named it the Celestial Court.
• The Royal Palace Ship returned to transport more supplies while Black Widows stayed aboard the station.
• Ke Chen returned Wolverine Logan to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where Logan reunited with Professor X.
• Ke Chen visited the school’s Mutants, and Lorna took him away to spend time with her.
• Ke Chen sensed Diana calling from another Earth and told Clarice he needed to leave.
• Clarice clung to Ke Chen before he departed, while Captain Carter continued hunting Hydra bases with Susan and the others.

Diana told Ke Chen that her mother, Queen Hippolyta, wanted to meet him in Themyscira, while also warning him that an alien spaceship had been activated on Earth. Meanwhile, General Zod’s surviving Kryptonians detected a signal from a House of El spacecraft and headed for Earth to reclaim the Codex.

• Diana waited for Ke Chen, and he appeared behind her and carried her inside.
• After spending the night together, Diana told Ke Chen that someone had found the frozen spaceship and activated it, and that she believed the alien was the one who had fallen to Earth as a baby.
• Diana explained that Queen Hippolyta wanted to meet Ke Chen, but he said he was not ready to visit Themyscira yet.
• Diana requested leave so she could stay with Ke Chen.
• Faora reported that the Kryptonian ship had received a signal from a House of El spacecraft, and General Zod ordered his group to head to Earth for Jor-El’s son and the Codex.

General Zod’s Kryptonians arrived on Earth seeking Clark Kent and the Codex, while Ke Chen and Diana realized the refugees intended to claim Earth as a new home. Ke Chen saw an opportunity to gather Kryptonians, and they prepared to find out what General Zod would do.

• General Zod traced the House of El signal to Earth and broadcast a demand for Clark Kent and the Codex, threatening war if they were not surrendered.
• Diana dressed in her divine armor and weapons as she stood with Ke Chen, who reassured her that Krypton had been destroyed and no reinforcements would come.
• Ke Chen suggested that the Kryptonians wanted a new home, and Diana quickly realized they might intend to settle on Earth.
• Ke Chen considered leading the Kryptonian refugees, while Diana suspected their intentions went beyond finding Clark Kent.
• Diana and Ke Chen recognized that General Zod would seek to conquer Earth and transform it into a new Krypton.

Ke Chen stopped Faora from taking the Kryptonian Codex and exposed her to the Yellow Sun’s radiation, awakening her Kryptonian powers. Faora challenged him for the Codex, and their fight began with her realizing how vast the difference between them was.

• General Zod ordered Faora to retrieve the Codex from Clark’s spacecraft at his adoptive mother’s farm.
• Ke Chen intercepted Faora, took the Codex, and defeated her when she attacked him.
• Ke Chen removed Faora’s mask, and the Yellow Sun’s radiation gave her immense strength and the ability to fly.
• Ke Chen claimed to be the God of Krypton and offered Faora the Codex if she defeated him, or demanded that she become his subordinate if she lost.
• Faora accepted the challenge and attacked Ke Chen with a rapid series of strikes, but she sensed the gap between them.

Ke Chen defeated Faora and forced her to acknowledge him as the Kryptonian God, then claimed her as his subordinate. He left her subdued and intent on making all Kryptonians his property.

• Ke Chen struck Faora down with one punch and crushed her communicator as she tried to rise.
• Ke Chen repeatedly beat Faora and demanded that she call him the Kryptonian God until she surrendered.
• Ke Chen declared that Faora no longer served General Zod and was now his subordinate, Lieutenant Faora.
• Ke Chen demanded that Faora call him her master and insisted that all Kryptonians belonged to him.
• Ke Chen reflected that he had adopted the Kryptonian God identity through repeated self-persuasion and pursued conquest for his own amusement.

Ke Chen took control of Faora and the remaining Kryptonians, then ordered them to preserve and remove their ship rather than transform Earth. The Kryptonian Ship left the atmosphere while General Zod and Clark were away fighting, and Faora wondered what would happen to Zod.

• Diana joined Ke Chen after killing the Kryptonian Warriors Faora had brought, and Faora explained that the soldiers had refused to surrender.
• Faora told Ke Chen that her ship contained advanced Kryptonian technology, including Spacetime Freeze, and he decided to preserve it.
• Ke Chen and Diana boarded the Kryptonian Ship and learned that General Zod had taken a warship to fight Clark.
• A Kryptonian Warrior reported that Zod had ordered the ship to transform Earth, but Ke Chen ordered Faora to take the ship away instead.
• Faora called Ke Chen the Kryptonian God, and the remaining soldiers obeyed as they flew the ship into space.

Ke Chen returned Diana to Earth, then confronted General Zod after he knocked Clark unconscious. Ke Chen overwhelmed Zod and demanded that he submit, leaving Clark to organize the civilians in Metropolis.

• Ke Chen carried Diana back to Earth and told her he intended to keep the Kryptonian soldiers as useful subordinates.
• General Zod discovered his ship had left without carrying out his orders, knocked Clark unconscious, and faced the arriving Ke Chen and Diana.
• Ke Chen woke Clark and sent him to organize Metropolis's civilians while he challenged General Zod.
• Ke Chen stopped Zod's punch without moving, then struck him through Wayne Enterprises Tower and carried him to the outskirts.
• Ke Chen beat Zod into submission and demanded that he submit to the Kryptonian God or die.

Ke Chen defeated General Zod, who died after securing Ke Chen’s promise to preserve the Kryptonians. Ke Chen took charge of Faora and the four other survivors, planned to use the Codex and incubation chambers to rebuild their people, and entered a room full of Kryptonite despite Faora’s warning.

• General Zod refused to surrender and fought Ke Chen until Ke Chen beat him mortally; Zod asked him to ensure the Kryptonians survived, and Ke Chen agreed.
• Ke Chen buried General Zod and told Faora and the other survivors that their leader had sacrificed himself for Krypton's continuation.
• Ke Chen counted five surviving Kryptonians and planned to use the Codex and the ships’ incubation chambers to create new Kryptonian children.
• Ke Chen entered a room filled with Kryptonite after Faora warned him what it was, while Faora and the others stayed outside.