Chapter Summaries

Meng Zu revealed to Tony Stark that Pepper had sent him to rescue Tony, but Tony refused to leave Dr. Yinsen behind. After Tony offered an additional reward for rescuing them both, Meng Zu accepted a new contract to save Yinsen and went to deal with the Ten Rings members.

• Meng Zu startled Tony into ending his pretense of sleep by teasing him with a piece of wire, and Dr. Yinsen confirmed that Meng Zu was not with the Ten Rings.
• Meng Zu told Tony that Pepper had sent him to rescue him and described a plan to disguise themselves as Ten Rings members and escape.
• Tony refused to leave Dr. Yinsen behind, and Meng Zu suggested contacting Colonel Rhodey before Tony pointed out the camp's signal jamming.
• Tony offered Meng Zu another ten million dollars to rescue both him and Dr. Yinsen, prompting the system to present a 100-Contract-Point mission to save Yinsen.
• Meng Zu accepted Tony's offer and the new mission, then left the cave to deal with the Ten Rings members.

Meng Zu disguised himself and Tony as Ten Rings members and led Tony and Dr. Yinsen in an escape from the cave. When their cover was exposed, Meng Zu fought off the camp and helped the jeep break out, leaving their pursuers behind in explosions and gunfire.

• Meng Zu returned with two unconscious Ten Rings members, and he and Tony put on their clothes and human-skin masks.
• Meng Zu, Tony, and Dr. Yinsen left the cave with rifles, pretending they were taking Yinsen to the toilet.
• When guards questioned them, Meng Zu knocked them unconscious and continued toward the jeep with Tony and Yinsen.
• Two Ten Rings members challenged the group near the jeep, so Meng Zu shot them and ordered Tony and Yinsen into the vehicle.
• Meng Zu covered the jeep's escape with gunfire and grenades, killing many Ten Rings members and forcing the rest into cover.

Meng Zu and Tony Stark escaped the Ten Rings camp and reached the U.S. military, where they reunited with Colonel Rhodey. They stayed at the military base and planned to fly back to New York at dawn.

• The Ten Rings leader ordered his men to pursue Meng Zu and Tony, but his camp had no working vehicles and he told them to prepare to relocate.
• Meng Zu shot down a missile aimed at their jeep and killed the two attackers, then guided Tony around the Ten Rings sentry posts.
• Meng Zu called Colonel Rhodey once his phone regained a signal, and Tony confirmed his identity and asked Rhodey to arrange their pickup.
• U.S. military helicopters found the jeep, and Rhodey embraced Tony and thanked Meng Zu for rescuing him.
• Meng Zu told the military where the Ten Rings camp was, but the group had already relocated before the U.S. forces arrived.
• Rhodey took Meng Zu, Tony, and Ethan to the infirmary, arranged accommodations and clean clothes, and said they would fly to New York at dawn.

Tony Stark returned safely to New York with Dr. Ethan, while Meng Zu collected his payment and returned to his company and home. As Meng Zu planned to save Contract Points for higher-tier draws, Nick Fury examined a file about him.

• Pepper and Happy welcomed Tony, Meng Zu, and Dr. Ethan at the military airfield, and Meng Zu reminded Tony to pay Dr. Ethan’s share before leaving.
• Tony refused to go straight to the hospital, asking Pepper to arrange a press conference after he got an American cheeseburger.
• Meng Zu discarded his disposable phone, called Yang Hai, and received a twenty-million-dollar payment from Pepper.
• Meng Zu split the commission with Uncle Yang by transferring five million dollars to his account, then returned home and decided to save his Contract Points.
• Nick Fury examined a file about Meng Zu on a tablet.

Meng Zu dealt with a late-night disturbance from his neighbors John and Jane, the Smiths, then urged Yang Hai to hold onto Stark Industries stock after Tony Stark announced he was ending weapons production. The chapter ended with Meng Zu watching Tony’s press conference and concluding that Iron Man would still be born.

• Meng Zu went next door after John and Jane’s noisy gunfire woke him, then told the arriving Martin and Susan that the couple had merely been too passionate.
• Meng Zu recalled that he had discovered John and Jane were both assassins and had agreed to keep their identities secret from each other.
• Yang Hai told Meng Zu that Tony Stark’s decision to close Stark Industries’ weapons division had sent the company’s stock falling.
• Meng Zu urged Yang Hai to keep his shares and offered seventy million dollars to buy Stark Industries stock when it hit bottom.
• Meng Zu watched Tony Stark announce the immediate closure of the weapons division and reflected that Iron Man was still destined to be born.

Meng Zu learned that assassins had placed John and Jane Smith on a bounty list and went to warn them, only for attackers to arrive at their home. He killed the assassins and left the Smiths to deal with the police and the aftermath.

• Charon told Meng Zu that John and Jane Smith had each been given a $500,000 bounty by another assassin organization.
• Meng Zu went to the Smiths’ house and warned John and Jane to leave before assassins arrived.
• Assassins opened fire as Meng Zu warned the Smiths, and he knocked them to the ground and returned fire.
• More assassins arrived with a grenade-equipped robot, but Meng Zu disabled it and moved through the house to shoot the attackers.
• Meng Zu killed the remaining assassins, told John and Jane to handle the aftermath, and returned home to sleep.

Meng Zu went to Randy Austin’s mercenary bar and recruited Frank Martin, who was ready to leave the courier business. Frank agreed to try working at Meng Zu’s private detective company, leaving the company with a new recruit.

• Meng Zu watched John and Jane Smith leave with packages, guessing they were going after revenge.
• At work, Meng Zu rejected a low-paying adultery investigation and suggested hiring more private detectives to handle routine jobs.
• Meng Zu drove to Hot Rose, where Randy Austin asked what mercenary job he wanted to take.
• Frank Martin told Meng Zu he planned to quit the courier business and return to Paris to work at an auto repair shop.
• Meng Zu offered Frank a position at his detective company, and Frank agreed to come by the next day and give it a try.

Meng Zu accepted a contract to protect Jack Byron’s research team as they searched Borneo’s primeval forest for the Blood Orchid, a plant he recognized from the film Anaconda. After learning the mission involved dangerous giant pythons, he prepared for the team’s trip to Palan Province and urged them to secure weapons.

• Meng Zu asked Randy about unusual contracts and accepted the job protecting Jack Byron’s group in Borneo.
• Meng Zu arranged for Frank to start at the Free Detective Agency, then met Jack’s team at New York Airport and flew with them to Borneo.
• Jack introduced the team’s search for the Blood Orchid, and Meng Zu realized the plant could extend cellular lifespan and attract giant pythons.
• Jack planned to travel to Palan Province, hire a guide, rent a boat, and search upriver despite Meng Zu’s warnings about the rainy season.
• Meng Zu insisted the group find a weapons dealer, and Jack explained they needed weapons for protection before everyone went to rest.

Jack and his companions traveled through heavy rain to a tavern in Palan Province to find a captain who would take them upstream in search of Blood Orchids. Jack agreed to pay Bill Johnson one hundred thousand dollars to guide them through the dangerous rainy-season rivers, and Bill offered to show them his boat, the Bloodthirsty Mary.

• Meng Zu asked why Jack was rushing to search for Blood Orchids, and Jack explained that their brief blooming season might already be underway.
• Jack, Gale, Gordon, and Meng Zu went to a tavern and learned that Bill Johnson was the only captain willing to sail upstream during the rainy season.
• Meng Zu advised the group to find Bill Johnson directly, and Jack paid the bartender a dollar to identify him.
• Bill offered to rent his boat for fifty thousand dollars but demanded one hundred thousand to accompany them upstream.
• Gale protested the price, but Jack agreed to pay Bill one hundred thousand dollars, and Bill offered to show them the Bloodthirsty Mary.

Jack’s group hired Bill and prepared to travel by boat to Satan Basin in search of the Blood Orchid. After Kerr plotted a faster route and Bill approved it, the Bloody Mary departed, leaving Meng Zu and Bill talking about their pasts as the group headed upriver.

• Jack chose to leave the next morning, and Meng Zu arranged for Bill to provide six shotguns and ammunition for the group.
• Meng Zu packed his own weapons from his storage space into a duffel bag, while Jack and the others prepared their belongings.
• Jack’s group boarded Bill’s boat, the Bloody Mary, and learned that Achuan was Bill’s assistant and first mate.
• Bill proposed a safe route to Satan Basin that could take up to two weeks, but Kerr calculated a route expected to take just under four days, which Bill approved.
• The Bloody Mary left the dock, and Meng Zu told Bill that Jack’s group was searching for the Blood Orchid.

Meng Zu and the others traveled deeper into the rainforest, where a crocodile attack nearly caught Gale and Meng Zu rescued her. After Bill drove the crocodiles away, Meng Zu warned the group to take the dangers of the rainforest seriously.

• Gale panicked when Xiaogang the monkey startled her aboard the boat, and Bill introduced the animal to the group.
• Meng Zu relaxed on the riverboat as Gordon and Gale handled work calls, while Achuan carved wooden figures and the group later heard an animal cry in the rainforest.
• Bill searched for Xiaogang the next morning, and Gale fell into the river while looking for a phone signal.
• Meng Zu jumped into the water to rescue Gale, then kicked away a crocodile that lunged at him as he climbed aboard.
• Bill shot a crocodile while others gathered near the boat, drawing the remaining crocodiles away so Achuan could get underway.
• Gale thanked Meng Zu, who warned the group to stay alert, and Gordon apologized to Gale for joking while she was in the river.

After their boat was wrecked by a waterfall, Meng Zu and the others salvaged guns and set out through the jungle to meet Bill’s friend and continue searching for the Blood Orchid. The group reached a river, where Meng Zu’s Danger Sense and Xiaogang’s warning cries alerted them to danger in the water.

• Xiaogang startled Jack and the others after dinner, and Jack later spoke with Bill in the wheelhouse.
• The boat’s engine liner broke, leaving the group unable to steer as they approached a waterfall; the boat struck a boulder, overturned, and began sinking.
• Meng Zu brought a case of guns and ammunition ashore, and Bill proposed crossing the jungle to meet his friend at Danaga Rock.
• Bill led the group through the jungle while Meng Zu guarded the rear and carried Xiaogang on his shoulder.
• The group waded into a large river, where Meng Zu sensed danger and Xiaogang screeched; Bill and Achuan ordered everyone to get ashore.

Meng Zu and Bill's group encountered a giant mutated anaconda, and Meng Zu helped kill it after nearly being crushed. Jack concluded that the snake had eaten the Blood Orchid and said the group was close to finding it.

• Meng Zu shot the giant anaconda as it attacked Ben, then grabbed its head to keep it from biting him.
• Bill stopped Kerr from shooting Meng Zu, and Bill and Achuan waded in to attack the snake with their machetes.
• The anaconda knocked Bill and Achuan into the water, but Meng Zu used a machete to cut off its head and escape its coils.
• Meng Zu, Bill, and the others fled the riverbank and reached a safe place to rest.
• Jack told the group the anaconda was likely mutated after eating the Blood Orchid, and said they were about to find the plant.

Jack's group lost their boat and learned that Giant Pythons were gathering for mating season, so they headed for the Lopa Tribe village to find another way out. They found the village abandoned and its boats gone, leaving Meng Zu to propose building a raft.

• Gordon found a leech on Kerr, and Meng Zu and Bill removed more than a dozen leeches from Kerr's back.
• Achuan found a Stone Spider in Gordon's shoe, but Meng Zu crushed it before Jack could capture it.
• An explosion destroyed the group's boat, and Achuan led them toward a nearby Lopa Tribe village in search of another boat.
• The group found Livingston dead and learned that multiple Giant Pythons might be gathering to mate; Meng Zu agreed they should leave the jungle rather than seek the Blood Orchid.
• The group reached the Lopa Tribe village and found a dead Giant Python, no villagers, and no boats, so Meng Zu suggested building a raft from the village houses.

Meng Zu and the others pursued Jack to the Blood Orchids, where Jack forced Meng Zu to collect the flowers above a pit of Giant Pythons. Jack was killed when the pythons attacked, and an explosion destroyed the Blood Orchids before the group escaped the ensuing mudslide by raft.

• Meng Zu's group discovered Gordon had been bitten by a Stone Spider and fought off a Giant Python, then found that Jack had stolen their raft and ammunition.
• Sam led the group along a shortcut to the Blood Orchids, where they found Jack and recovered the raft while Gordon was carried on a stretcher.
• Jack returned with Meng Zu's Remington M870, took Sam hostage, and forced the group toward the Blood Orchids.
• Meng Zu crossed a narrow log to collect more than twenty Blood Orchids, but a Giant Python climbed toward him as Jack demanded the backpack.
• The Giant Python seized Jack and fell into the pit, while Meng Zu escaped the breaking log and joined the others.
• Meng Zu used gasoline, a flare gun, and TNT to ignite an explosion that buried the pit and destroyed the Blood Orchids, then the group paddled away ahead of a mudslide.

After the jungle mission ended, Meng Zu kept the Blood Orchids hidden and returned to New York, where he persuaded his friends to invest in Stark Industries. He then went to the Continental Hotel and asked Charon for a bounty.

• Gale reported the mission and paid Bill and Meng Zu, while Gordon went to the hospital and the Byron-Mitch Biological Company suffered heavy losses.
• Meng Zu kept the Blood Orchids in his Storage Space and explained that he had destroyed their growing site to prevent powerful people from pursuing them.
• Meng Zu returned to New York and learned Yang Hai had bought two hundred thousand dollars' worth of Stark Industries stock.
• Meng Zu claimed Tony Stark had invented something important, persuading Uncle Yang, Yang Hai, and Frank to invest in the stock.
• Meng Zu visited the Continental Hotel, where Charon told him he had a suitable bounty.

Meng Zu accepted a low-value bounty on the assassin Leon, then survived an attack by seven Ten Rings gunmen sent with help from Obadiah. After learning why they targeted him, Meng Zu prepared to retaliate and arranged for a “deluxe dinner for seven.”

• Meng Zu accepted the bounty on Leon for 200 Contract Points after learning that other assassins had rejected it.
• Meng Zu noticed armed figures approaching his house, cut the power, and took cover behind bulletproof tables as the gunmen opened fire.
• Meng Zu lured several gunmen upstairs, killed the attackers downstairs, then shot the remaining men upstairs and captured one alive.
• Meng Zu learned that the attackers belonged to the Ten Rings and that Obadiah had supplied them with his whereabouts and weapons.
• Meng Zu gathered weapons, called for a “deluxe dinner for seven,” and left to take care of urgent business.

Meng Zu confronted Obadiah at Stark Industries, where Iron Monger threatened Pepper, and helped give Tony time to intervene. After Tony and Obadiah flew off and crashed, Meng Zu prepared to use freezing bullets against Iron Monger.

• Meng Zu followed Clue Guidance to Stark Industries and found Pepper facing Obadiah in Iron Monger.
• Meng Zu shot Iron Monger twice, drawing Obadiah's fire, until Tony arrived in Mark III and carried Iron Monger away from Pepper.
• Pepper thanked Meng Zu, and he explained that Obadiah had targeted him because he had rescued Tony.
• Meng Zu warned Pepper to take cover as Tony and Obadiah rose into the sky, then broke into a building and prepared his sniper rifle.
• Meng Zu watched Iron Monger fall, briefly slow its descent with a burst of fire, and crash to the ground.

Meng Zu froze Obadiah inside Iron Monger, saving Tony from being crushed, while Tony and Pepper regrouped on the rooftop. Meng Zu left before S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, leaving Tony to decide what to do about his godfather and the authorities.

• Tony landed safely and spoke with Pepper, but Obadiah returned in Iron Monger and attacked him from behind.
• Tony's damaged Mark III could not match Iron Monger's strength, and Obadiah trapped him in a crushing embrace.
• Meng Zu fired freezing rounds at Iron Monger, encasing it in ice and shutting down its operating system.
• Tony and Pepper reunited, and Tony learned from JARVIS that the freezing energy was unknown.
• Meng Zu approached the frozen Iron Monger to check whether Obadiah was dead, while Tony warned him not to kill his godfather.
• After telling Tony to deal with the arriving government agents, Meng Zu disappeared into the darkness.

After the Iron Monger incident, Meng Zu strengthened himself with new equipment and skills, then went after the assassin Leon in Brooklyn. He found Leon with Matilda and prepared a disguise as Leon grew suspicious and began planning an escape.

• Coulson and Tony found Obadiah dead inside the Iron Monger, and Tony took its Arc Reactor back before leaving Pepper to handle the aftermath.
• Pepper told Tony that Meng Zu had saved her, while Tony remained wary of him and asked JARVIS to investigate Evan.
• Meng Zu bought a Laser Cannon and used his remaining Contract Points on draws, gaining Bullet Time, attributes, potions, and the skill Repeated Side-to-Side Jumping.
• Meng Zu tracked Leon to an apartment building in Brooklyn and used Clue Guidance to find his room.
• Leon sensed danger and prepared to leave with Matilda, but paused after the apartment manager delivered a water-shutoff notice.
• Meng Zu watched the manager make his rounds, then took out a human-skin mask and began applying makeup.