Recaps

Mark reassured Rosalie about keeping his and Li Qianhuan’s mutant identities secret, then investigated Aldrich Killian and discovered the dangerous Extremis experiments behind Future Pharma. After learning Killian was desperate for funding, Mark called him and confronted him over the deaths caused by the virus, leaving Killian in tears and convinced Mark that his conscience remained intact.

• Mark warned Rosalie not to reveal that he and Li Qianhuan were Mutants, and she agreed to keep their identities secret.
• Mark searched for Aldrich Killian and hacked into Future Pharma’s database, uncovering Killian’s secret animal laboratory and Extremis enhancement experiments.
• Mark learned that Killian and Maya Hansen lacked funding and decided to acquire Future Pharma and recruit them, using his twelve million dollars.
• Mark called Killian anonymously and confronted him with the deaths and injuries caused by the Extremis virus he had sold.
• Killian broke down, apologized, and admitted responsibility, and Mark decided that Killian had not completely lost his conscience.

Mark offered to invest in Killian’s Future Pharma on the condition that he took control and halted human-enhancement research until the Extremis virus was safe for medical use. Killian agreed under threat of exposure, but Mark caught him trying to move the secret laboratory and forced him to shut it down.

• Mark offered Killian ten million dollars for a fifty-one percent stake in Future Pharma and demanded that Killian close his North Carolina laboratory and focus on medical applications with Maya Hansen.
• Killian questioned Mark’s motives and objected to postponing human enhancement research, but accepted the conditions after Mark promised at least ten billion dollars for that research in ten years and threatened him with prison.
• Mark told Alice to monitor Killian, while Killian secretly contacted a construction crew to move the laboratory and disconnected its network.
• Alice monitored Killian’s calls through a communications base station, allowing Mark to interrupt his call to the crew and warn him that he would go to prison if he disobeyed.
• Killian abandoned his plan to move the laboratory and chose to shut it down completely.

Mark secured control of Advanced Idea Mechanics while leaving Killian and Maya Hansen to focus on Extremis research, then used his time away from school to build and test a powerful Electromagnetic Gun. After proving it could pierce thick alloy steel with little recoil, he let Faith try it.

• Mark invested ten million dollars for 51 percent of Advanced Idea Mechanics, hired a CEO and financial director, and had Alice monitor the company's network and employees.
• Mark went to school with Li Qianle, completed his assessment perfectly, and received three weeks of extended leave.
• Mark modified his Electric Shock Gun into a Multistage Electromagnetic Gun and pierced a five-centimeter alloy steel plate from thirty meters away.
• Faith tested the Electromagnetic Gun and joined the bodyguards in marveling at its power and low recoil.

Mark upgraded the bodyguards’ weapons and built Electromagnetic Pulse Glasses to conceal his face and disable nearby electronics. Dalton then told him that Tony Stark had gifted him a Falcon G-V, and Mark completed the transfer at the airport.

• Faith asked Mark to modify Electromagnetic Guns for the bodyguards, and she arranged approval through Global Security Company.
• Mark modified four Electromagnetic Guns and designed and built Electromagnetic Pulse Glasses to obscure his face and destroy nearby electronic devices.
• Mark tested the glasses with Rosalie, Li Qianhuan, Faith, and the bodyguards, who could not see his face clearly.
• Dalton told Mark that someone had gifted him a Falcon G-V and asked him to come to the airport to sign for it.
• Mark suspected Tony Stark had given him the aircraft in return for rescuing him, then completed the transfer and boarded it with Dalton.

Mark outfitted the Falcon G-V with a workshop and used its high-altitude flight to rapidly collect Sunlight Value. Meanwhile, Obadiah urged Tony Stark to return to New York for a military contract signing, and Tony watched footage of Mark working aboard the plane.

• Mark toured the Falcon G-V and ordered equipment for its office, which he planned to turn into a workshop.
• After the crew returned from vacation, Mark flew the Falcon G-V and rapidly gained Sunlight Value at high altitude.
• Obadiah called Tony Stark about missing a board meeting and told him to return to New York in three days to sign a military procurement agreement.
• Tony agreed to return, then asked JARVIS what Mark had been doing.
• JARVIS showed Tony footage of Mark soldering electronics in the plane's workshop, and Tony felt a strong kinship with him.

Mark monitored Killian after the police publicly attributed Lucas’s death to a manic episode and suicide, then warned Killian not to pursue any hidden plans. He reviewed Payne Games’ growth while considering how to improve surveillance of Killian.

• Mark built twelve miniature Fly Monitors with surveillance, tracking, eavesdropping, and attack functions while traveling by plane.
• The Los Angeles Police Department announced that Lucas had suffered an acute manic episode and died by suicide, temporarily closing the case in public.
• Alice told Mark that Killian behaved normally at work but disconnected his home network and avoided communication devices at home.
• Mark arranged for the plane to stop for maintenance in Texas and decided to intensify surveillance of Killian using Fly Monitors.
• Mark called Killian, warned him against crooked plans, and threatened to give evidence to the police if he acted against him; Killian panicked and threw away his phone.
• Mark checked Payne Games’ results and found that Myth of Heroes had 3.5 million users and over $100,000 in daily profits, while Panda Chat had surpassed four million registered users.

After upgrading his Super Physique, Mark surveilled Killian and discovered he was secretly trying to sell Extremis research to Trask Industries to regain control of Future Pharmaceuticals. Mark anesthetized Killian and headed to his villa, leaving his next move unresolved.

• Mark upgraded his Super Physique to level six, gaining greater strength, durability, and sharper senses.
• Mark sent three Fly Monitors to watch Killian at his villa and prepared to choose between anesthetic and VX based on what he uncovered.
• Killian read rejection letters from major corporations, then decided to send Trask Industries a USB drive containing Extremis research data.
• A Fly Monitor injected Killian with anesthetic, and he collapsed unconscious at his desk.
• Mark left the hotel and headed for Killian's villa.

Mark implanted a surveillance and explosive capsule in Killian’s neck, forcing him to submit to Mark’s control. After Mark left Los Angeles, a masked figure appeared beside Joe Morgan’s bed, and Joe suspected Madame Gao had sent them.

• Mark broke into Killian’s villa, cut his neck, and implanted a capsule containing a signal transceiver and a miniature explosive.
• Mark called Killian and warned him not to remove the capsule or enter an area with signal jamming, leaving Killian terrified and powerless.
• The next morning, Mark saw news that Tony Stark had returned to New York.
• A shadowy figure entered Joe Morgan’s bedroom in the Oakland slums, and Joe dismissed his guards before asking whether Madame Gao had sent them.

Joe Morgan mobilized the Latin Gang to seize the item Li Zhan left behind, targeting the Payne Family and the Qianhuan sisters. Mark learned of the threat and turned his plane back toward Los Angeles, but the gangs launched their operation before he arrived.

• Joe Morgan agreed to Madame Gao’s order to find Li Zhan’s item and gathered Latin Gang leaders to plan another move against the Payne Family.
• Joe Morgan ordered Athel to investigate the family and contact Wyatt of the Iron Blood Gang for help.
• Alice warned Mark that Latin Gang members were watching his house and gathering armed men, so he told her to keep Li Qianhuan and Qianle safe.
• Mark ordered Dalton to turn their plane around and head back to Los Angeles.
• The Latin Gang sent a convoy of over a hundred vehicles into Clem District, and Wyatt arrived with sixty Iron Blood Gang members to support them.

Joe Morgan led the Latin Gang in a siege on Mark’s home while Mark was still two hours from Los Angeles. As the defenders were overwhelmed, Li Qianhuan instinctively unleashed powerful plasma to save Li Qianle, then prepared to fight on as Michael ordered an evacuation.

• Joe Morgan ordered Wyatt and other gang members to seal off the Clem District’s entrances before leading nearly five hundred fighters to Mark’s home.
• Michael and his five bodyguards defended the property while Li Qianhuan fired from the balcony and Li Qianle hid inside.
• The gang broke into the courtyard, and Li Qianhuan killed an intruder who tried to seize Li Qianle.
• When two more gang members threatened her sister and Li Qianhuan’s gun ran out of ammunition, she instinctively blasted them apart with plasma.
• Li Qianhuan returned to the balcony and gathered plasma as Michael told everyone to prepare to evacuate.

Li Qianhuan used her growing plasma ability to devastate the Latin Gang’s attack on her family, while Mark raced toward Clem District. The chapter ended with Mark spotting Wyatt at a barricade and sending a neurotoxin-carrying fly monitor after him.

• Mark watched Li Qianhuan’s plasma attacks kill and injure the Latin Gang members, then ran toward Clem District to support her.
• Joe Morgan learned that Li Qianhuan was a Mutant and ordered his men to keep attacking, but her plasma stopped them from crossing the courtyard wall.
• Michael recognized Li Qianhuan’s ability and canceled the bodyguards’ retreat, ordering them to fight alongside her as she grew weak from exertion.
• Ansel urged Joe Morgan to retreat as the gang’s casualties mounted, but Joe Morgan hesitated because he feared future revenge and the Hand’s censure.
• Mark reached a police barricade, leaped over the abandoned cars, and recognized Wyatt, the Iron Blood Gang’s leader, among the gang members.
• Mark flicked a fly monitor carrying neurotoxin toward Wyatt.

Mark helped drive off the Iron Blood Gang and Latin Gang, then infiltrated Joe Morgan's headquarters to uncover why the Latin Gang had targeted Li Qianhuan and her sister. Joe revealed that The Hand wanted a bone fragment Li Zhan had bought, and Mark killed Joe after learning the truth.

• Alice used the Fly Monitor to inject Wyatt with neurotoxin, killing him and throwing the Iron Blood Gang into chaos.
• Mark charged into the gang members surrounding his home, while the police moved in and Joe Morgan ordered the Latin Gang to retreat.
• Mark followed Joe's vehicle but avoided confronting him during the police response, then tracked him back to Latin Gang headquarters.
• Mark confronted Joe in his bedroom and forced him to explain The Hand's role in founding the Latin Gang and targeting Li Zhan's family over a bone fragment.
• Joe revealed that Madame Gao suspected Li Qianhuan and her sister knew where the fragment was, and Mark killed Joe before leaving.

Mark learned that The Hand had targeted Li Qianhuan’s family over a bone fragment, then helped her use her father’s golden key to retrieve a mysterious fragment from a Florida vault. The chapter ended with Mark and Li Qianhuan looking at the bluish, gold-lit bone fragment in the suitcase.

• Mark questioned and dealt with the Latin Gang leaders, causing the gang to collapse.
• Mark told Li Qianhuan that Joe Morgan had linked her parents’ deaths to The Hand and a bone fragment.
• Li Qianhuan showed Mark the golden key her father had given her, and Alice identified it as likely belonging to a Florida Vault safe deposit box.
• Mark took Li Qianhuan to Lauderdale Castle in Florida after she recovered, and she used the key to open box G-15-4502.
• Mark and Li Qianhuan found a fist-sized, bluish bone fragment with faint golden light inside the suitcase.

Mark obtained the Dragon Bone Fragment from Li Qianhuan and sent it to Killian and Maya to help with their Extremis virus research. After ten days of collecting Sunlight Value, he upgraded Super Physique to LV7 and gained a major increase in strength.

• Li Qianhuan gave Mark the Dragon Bone Fragment, and Mark promised to protect her from The Hand and help her get revenge.
• Killian told Mark that Trask Industries wanted the Extremis research data, and Mark ordered him to refuse while asking about the research's progress.
• Mark arranged for Killian and Maya to study the Dragon Bone Fragment alongside the Extremis virus.
• After returning home, Mark flew west for ten days to gather Sunlight Value and upgraded Super Physique to LV7.
• Mark tested his new strength and found that his one-handed grip exceeded two tons and his arm's pulling force approached four tons.

Mark returned home, completed his exams, and learned that Trask Industries wanted Killian’s Extremis research materials. After Mark arranged extra security at Advanced Idea Mechanics, a Mutant Clone infiltrated the facility and reached the laboratory’s server room.

• Mark returned from his trip, reconciled with Rosalie by giving her gifts, and then completed his exams with Li Qianle.
• Alice told Mark that Killian had refused to give Hopson Hart the Extremis research materials Trask Industries wanted, and Killian reported their conversation to Mark.
• Mark hired two security teams from Global Security Company to protect Advanced Idea Mechanics, and they strengthened the facility’s defenses.
• Lawrence Trask ordered Mutant Clone N-5 to infiltrate Advanced Idea Mechanics and steal the research materials.
• Mutant Clone N-5 slipped past the security systems, passed through the company walls, and entered the server room beside the Extremis laboratory.

An intruder used a Trask Industries satellite connection to steal research data from the lab’s Supercomputer, unaware that Alice had replaced the real files with deceptive data and traced the breach. The security teams killed the intruder, whose corpse then burst into flames and turned to ashes.

• The intruder connected the Supercomputer to Trask Industries’ satellite network, and a hacker began uploading its files.
• Alice detected the breach, tracked the intruder, and alerted Mark and the security personnel.
• The security teams surrounded the lab after Alice displayed the intruder on the surveillance screens.
• The intruder turned semi-transparent and tried to escape through a wall, but Alice warned the guards that she was a Mutant.
• The security captain used a flashbang to force the intruder out of the wall, and the guards shot her.
• The security captain confirmed the intruder was dead, but her corpse burst into flames and became ashes.

Mark watched Trask Industries destroy a failed Mutant clone and learned that its attempt to steal Extremis research had yielded flawed data. After Alice detected a Trask Industries team heading for Ian Knight’s house, Mark suspected they were going to capture the three Mutants living there.

• Lawrence confirmed that Clone N-5’s genes and brain chip had been destroyed, and Trask Industries had recovered only about seventy percent of the Extremis research data.
• Mark had Alice search for Trask Industries’ secret laboratory, but she found no clues in the company’s servers.
• Lawrence learned the stolen Extremis data was genuine but dangerously flawed, so he ordered all related materials destroyed and abandoned interest in Advanced Idea Mechanics.
• Mark kept security teams on alert, then had the damaged laboratory repaired and allowed Killian and Maya to return to work.
• Alice alerted Mark to six armed Trask Industries personnel leaving the company building, and he tracked them to a rundown house in Fair Street.
• Mark learned that Ian Knight and two women lived in the house and suspected all three were Mutants Trask Industries intended to capture.

Mark warned Ian that Trask Industries was coming to capture him and his companions, prompting the three Mutants to flee and fight back. They escaped into the darkness, while the wounded Trask operative recovered and ordered his team to pursue them.

• Mark called Ian and warned him that armed Trask Industries personnel would reach his home in three minutes.
• Ian woke Olive and Harumi Cangtian, and the three tried to escape through the back of the house.
• Ian shook the ground and collapsed the house on the pursuing flat-haired young man, but the man clawed his way out and continued the chase.
• Olive fought the young man while Harumi Cangtian used an illusion to make the armed personnel shoot him instead of Olive.
• Olive climbed over the wall with Ian and Harumi Cangtian, and the three fled into the darkness.
• The flat-haired young man recovered after receiving an antidote and ordered his team to pursue the fugitives.

Mark helped Ian, Olive, and Harumi Cangtian escape Trask Industries’ pursuit and offered them work after revealing that he was a Mutant. He sent them to a safe house while Alice misdirected their pursuers, and Trask Industries responded by cutting its satellites’ external connections.

• Mark watched the trio’s escape on surveillance footage and considered recruiting them for their courage and abilities.
• Ian told Olive and Harumi Cangtian that Mark had warned him about the hounds, then Mark called to warn them that Trask Industries’ pursuers were closing in.
• Mark offered to help them in exchange for future work, and Olive agreed to the arrangement if he proved he was a Mutant.
• Mark directed the trio to a safe house at 67 Punk Street and used Alice to alter the satellite’s location signal, sending the pursuers after the wrong vehicle.
• President Lawrence berated Trask Industries’ information department and ordered it to disconnect the satellites from external communications while fixing the security flaw.

Mark hired Ian, Olive, and their companion as Mutant employees, arranging firearms training before returning home for Christmas 1999. After reaching Super Physique Level 9, he learned that Killian and Maya had been invited to a technology summit in Bern where Tony Stark would appear.

• Mark met Ian and the others at the safe house, proved that he and Li Qianhuan were Mutants, and offered them employment contracts.
• Mark told the three to stay at the safe house and improve their abilities, then assigned Sean to teach them firearms and tactical skills.
• Over the next six months, Mark raised Super Physique to Level 9 and returned home for Christmas at Rosalie's insistence.
• Killian told Mark that he and Maya had invitations to a technology summit in Bern where Tony Stark would attend, and Mark approved their plans to go.

Mark arranged for Maya to bring Extremis research to Tony Stark for guidance while managing family and business affairs at home. The Bern International Technology Summit began, and Tony arrived and noticed Maya Hansen.

• Mark told Killian to have Maya bring Extremis research materials and ask Tony Stark for guidance, warning him that Tony was arrogant and untrustworthy.
• Mark spent Christmas with Rosalie, learned that Daphne seemed sorrowful, and watched Rosalie’s standing rise until she became honorary chairwoman of the district committee.
• Silas reported strong sales and user growth for Mark’s games and apps, and Mark ordered Panda Chat to introduce paid memberships alongside the browser game Happy Farm.
• The Bern International Technology Summit began in Switzerland, where Tony Stark delivered a speech on new energy and greeted the gathered scientists.
• Tony’s eyes lit up when he saw Maya Hansen at the summit.

At the tech summit, Tony Stark met Maya and mistook her invitation to her room for romantic interest, but she wanted his help with the Extremis virus. After Happy accidentally triggered an exploding plant, Tony began working out a solution and asked JARVIS to investigate Maya’s employer, Future Pharmaceuticals.

• Tony Stark met Maya at the summit and agreed to visit her room after she invited him to discuss the Extremis virus.
• Aldrich Killian caught Tony in the elevator and tried to ask him about genetic cell inheritance, but Tony brushed him off and promised to meet him on the rooftop in five minutes.
• Maya showed Tony her Extremis research, and Happy accidentally snapped a branch from an explosive plant, coating all three of them in green fluid.
• Tony sent Happy away, identified an imbalance between energy consumption and regeneration as the virus’s key flaw, and began calculating a solution.
• As Maya washed up, Tony deduced a biological equation and told JARVIS to investigate Future Pharmaceuticals.

Tony discovered that Maya and Aldrich Killian worked for Mark’s company, then apologized to Killian and gained respect for his scientific ability. After the summit, Mark learned that Maya had received the key equation and Killian had not turned against Tony, but Rosalie soon told him that something had happened at Aunt Daphne’s house.

• JARVIS told Tony that Rosalie Payne was Future Pharmaceuticals’ majority shareholder and that Mark had funded the company, while Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian held smaller shares.
• Tony left Maya’s room after realizing she worked for Mark, then remembered Killian was waiting for him on the rooftop.
• Tony apologized to Killian for keeping him waiting, and they discussed biology until the cold drove them back inside.
• Tony came to admire Killian’s research, and Killian’s admiration for Tony deepened after their conversation.
• Mark heard from Killian that the summit had gone well, then spent the next two days celebrating New Year with Rosalie.
• Rosalie received a troubling phone call and told Mark that something had happened at Aunt Daphne’s house.

Mark told Rosalie that Future Pharmaceuticals was nearing human trials for a treatment that could cure Daphne’s mother’s terminal lung cancer, giving Daphne hope. After helping Daphne, Mark returned to work and considered establishing an online bank to improve payments.

• Rosalie told Mark that Daphne’s mother had late-stage lung cancer and that Daphne had borrowed money for her treatment.
• Mark called Killian and learned that the Extremis virus had passed animal testing, with human trials expected to begin in thirty days, though its neural suppressant had serious potential side effects.
• Mark told Daphne that Future Pharmaceuticals might treat her mother, and Daphne accepted the risks and thanked him.
• Daphne stopped pursuing treatment at other hospitals and focused on her mother’s hospitalization and recuperation while waiting for the trial.
• After winter break, Mark returned to school, secured three more weeks of leave, and boarded the Falcon as Silas reported that Panda Chat’s membership system and Happy Farm had launched.
• Mark considered establishing an online bank because poor online payment options were limiting game revenue.

Mark arranged to acquire a small private bank and oversaw Future Pharmaceuticals’ clinical trials while the media condemned the company. The trials cured eighteen of twenty terminally ill patients, including Daphne’s mother, and reporters rushed to investigate the unexpected results.

• Mark hired a financial law firm to find a small private bank he could acquire and obtain its operating license.
• Killian told Mark that Future Pharmaceuticals had begun testing and treatment for Daphne’s mother and twenty terminally ill volunteers, while the media criticized the trial.
• Silas reported that Panda Chat memberships had brought in over five million dollars in monthly revenue as rival chat apps struggled to compete.
• Killian told Allison Windsor and Daphne that Allison’s cancer cells had disappeared and her lungs had returned to normal.
• Future Pharmaceuticals’ trial cured eighteen patients, while two died, and the reporters waiting outside swarmed the survivors and their relatives.