Chapter Summaries

Mark acquired Carol Bank, formed Payne Group to manage his four companies, and left its operations to Talia Griffin and other professionals. As he focused on study and absorbing Sunlight Value, Killian asked permission to begin treating terminally ill patients, with the supply of Dragon Bone fragments limiting treatment to about 800 people.

• Mark approved the $52 million acquisition of Carol Bank, which was renamed Payne Bank, and left Curtis Dalton temporarily in charge of its daily affairs.
• Mark hired Talia Griffin as Payne Group’s president, and she established its organizational framework within a week.
• Mark incorporated Payne Bank, Payne Security, Payne Games, and Future Pharmaceuticals into Payne Group, drawing attention from news outlets and financial circles.
• Mark handed company matters to professionals and spent more time absorbing Sunlight Value and studying advanced subjects.
• Killian told Mark that Extremis clinical trials had succeeded and asked to begin accepting terminally ill patients for treatment.
• Killian explained that the remaining Dragon Bone fragments could treat about 800 more patients.

Mark approved Future Pharmaceuticals’ temporary five-million-dollar treatment fee and planned to build a separate hospital as the company rapidly earned profits and gained value. Meanwhile, Obadiah learned that six-year-old Mark Payne was the real force behind Advanced Idea Mechanics and suspected he was Tony Stark’s son.

• Mark told Killian to develop a substitute for Dragon Bone Fragment and planned to retrieve the dragon remains beneath Manhattan once he could defeat The Hand.
• Killian explained that Future Pharmaceuticals would charge five million dollars per terminally ill patient because it had only eight hundred treatment slots, and Mark approved the temporary price.
• Future Pharmaceuticals announced its treatment program, treated seventy-six wealthy patients in one month, and earned more than two hundred million dollars in profit.
• Declan suggested building a separate high-end hospital, and Mark approved an initial investment of one hundred million dollars.
• Obadiah received an investigator’s report identifying Mark Payne as the person who acquired and controlled Advanced Idea Mechanics, then concluded that Mark was likely Tony Stark’s son.

Obadiah paid Rising Tide to expose Mark’s identity and alleged relationship to Tony, triggering a wave of national media coverage. Tony refused to publicly acknowledge Mark and ordered the outlets to stop reporting false claims, but Mark’s own story continued to spread.

• Obadiah transferred Rising Tide three million dollars and paid an extra million to send information about Mark to major news outlets.
• News organizations published evidence identifying Mark as Tony Stark’s suspected son and the child owner of Payne Group, drawing attention across the Federation.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to investigate the leak, and JARVIS traced it to Rising Tide but could not identify the client.
• JARVIS asked whether Tony would publicly acknowledge Mark, but Tony refused and ordered a warning sent to the media.
• The outlets halted coverage about Tony, while reports revealing Mark’s life and background continued to intensify.

After the media exposed Mark’s childhood work, games, and intelligence, reporters swarmed his home while Mark stayed aboard the Falcon. Alice traced the leak to Eason Robert, and Mark had his information sent to the police as he continued searching for the person who had hired him.

• Rising Tide leaked Mark’s identity and past commercials, prompting the media to connect him with the former “Angel Baby” and report on his childhood acting and gaming work.
• Reporters surrounded Mark’s home and questioned neighbors and teachers, learning about his exceptional intelligence and perfect exam scores.
• Mark saw the crowd outside his home on surveillance footage and asked Alice who had leaked his information.
• Alice identified Eason Robert, a senior hacker from Rising Tide, but could not trace his client.
• Mark ordered Alice to send Eason’s identity and location to the Bateson District Police Station while he looked for the mastermind behind the leak.

Mark had Eason Robert arrested for leaking his information, reassured Rosalie, and decided to move the family from Clem District. After more than a month, he upgraded Super Physique to Level 10 and discovered his senses had become dramatically sharper.

• Mark watched officers arrest Eason Robert for illegal intrusion and cybercrime.
• Rosalie called Mark in worry about the news reports, and he assured her he was fine.
• Mark decided to leave Clem District and asked a real estate agent to find him a luxury estate in Beverly Hills.
• Obadiah grew angry when Tony refused to publicly acknowledge Mark as his child.
• More than a month later, Mark used over 500,000 Sunlight Value to upgrade Super Physique to Level 10.
• Mark's enhanced vision and hearing let him see vehicles through the clouds and hear his fellow crew members' heartbeats.

After reaching Super Physique LV10, Mark discovered he had unlocked Biological Field and tested his greatly increased strength and durability. In Bangkok, he chased down a speeding van after hearing someone inside being kidnapped and forced it to stop.

• Mark tested his strength and durability, finding that ordinary firearms could not harm him and that his wounds healed rapidly, though his Electromagnetic Gun could still injure him.
• Mark discovered that Super Physique LV10 had unlocked Biological Field, which could protect him and distort nearby force fields, but he postponed testing it until he could gather more Sunlight Value.
• After arriving in Bangkok, Mark left the hotel at night and sprinted toward the outskirts at more than two hundred kilometers per hour.
• Mark broke an oak tree with a punch and then heard a terrified person struggling inside a speeding van while a man threatened them in Thai.
• Mark chased the van and stopped it with his hands, slowing it over several dozen meters so the person inside would be less likely to be hurt.

Mark rescued Lina from kidnappers and learned she could see the spirits of the dead. After hearing that a dark-arts mage had targeted her and her parents had been killed, he offered to take her to the Federation.

• Mark knocked down the five armed men who had stopped their van and freed the bound Lina.
• Lina warned Mark that the men he had killed were following him as spirits, and he realized she could see ghosts.
• Mark gave Lina a phone, but she said she had no parents or relatives to call and feared the kidnappers had influence in the police department.
• Lina told Mark that a mage had hired the kidnappers, who had killed her parents and taken her from home.
• Mark suspected the mage had targeted Lina for her rare ability and offered to take her to the Federation.

Mark rescued Lina, recruited her to work for him, and used his connections to secure her a visa so she could leave Thailand with him. Afterward, he raised his Biological Force Field to Level 3 and tested its effects on movement and defense.

• Mark agreed to take Lina with him in exchange for her working for him, and she revealed that she could see spirits and judge people by their light.
• Mark disposed of the van and the five dead thugs, explained Mutants to Lina, and took her to the airport hotel.
• Mark asked Killian to arrange an expedited visa appointment through Senator Nathan Falco, who agreed to help.
• Mark took Lina to the Federal Embassy, where she received a visa, then left Thailand with her by plane.
• Mark absorbed 6,320 points of Sunlight Value over two days and raised his Biological Force Field to Level 3.
• Mark tested the force field and found that it reduced the effects of gravity and protected his body and clothes from a dagger.

Mark returned to Los Angeles and settled his family and team into Payne Manor, then transferred to an elite school before taking leave. Over the next three months, his Biological Force Field reached Level 9, and he began building a glider to help him fly.

• Mark arrived in Los Angeles with Lina and Hans and returned to his Beverly Hills estate, Payne Manor, where Rosalie welcomed him and showed him around.
• Rosalie took Mark and Li Qianle to an elite elementary school, where Mark completed his transfer and secured three weeks of leave after passing exams.
• Over the next three months, Rosalie settled into life at Payne Manor and gained new entertainment-industry connections, while Mark continued developing his abilities.
• Mark raised his Biological Force Field to Level 9, allowing him to leap hundreds of meters and briefly hover in the air.
• Mark bought aviation-grade materials and began building a glider in the plane's workshop.

Mark built a stealth glider, skipped from first grade to fourth, and used his powers to rescue 258 people from a burning Los Angeles skyscraper. After news footage made him famous as the “Wind Rider,” Nick Fury sent Coulson to find him and invite him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Mark finished building a foldable glider and returned home after testing it.
• Mark passed the grade-skipping exam with a perfect score and became a fourth-grade student.
• Mark spotted a fire in a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper and flew there on his glider.
• Mark rescued all 258 people trapped in the burning building and escaped before the crowd could identify him.
• News reports nicknamed Mark the “Wind Rider,” and Nick Fury assigned Coulson to find him and invite him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury, Hydra, and Trask Industries tried to locate Wind Rider, but Mark’s precautions kept them from finding him. Mark then launched online banking and payments for Payne Games, while recognizing that limited cash reserves would delay Payne Bank’s expansion.

• Nick Fury recalled Coulson to find and recruit Mark, while Jasper Sitwell told Alexander Pierce, who ordered Hydra to contact Mark first or eliminate him.
• Lawrence identified Wind Rider as a powerful Mutant and sent Trask Industries personnel to Los Angeles to obtain a genetic sample.
• Mark’s disguise and Beverly Hills security thwarted the search, though three Mutants fleeing other organizations contacted Ian and joined Mark’s recruitment program.
• Curtis told Mark that Payne Bank’s online banking system and encrypted USB drives were ready, and Mark approved the launch.
• Payne Games announced online payments, prompting users to open accounts at Payne Bank, while Mark concluded that limited cash reserves prevented rapid branch expansion and postponed outside investment.

After collecting enough Sunlight Value, Mark upgraded his Biological Force Field to level 10, learned Heat Vision, and tested his new ability to fly. While returning to Doman Island, he heard screams from a fortified private island and learned its owner was Eric Epstein, a man connected to a past attempt to kidnap him.

• Mark left Los Angeles, and Payne Bank and Payne Games continued growing as online banking attracted more users.
• Killian opened Future Hospital and moved Future Pharmaceuticals' patients into it, closing the pharmaceutical facility to outsiders.
• After gathering enough Sunlight Value, Mark upgraded his Biological Force Field to level 10 and flew out of his hotel room.
• Mark flew to 80,000 meters, collected 1,000 Sunlight Value, unlocked Heat Vision, and raised it to level 1.
• While flying back toward Doman Island, Mark heard people screaming on a guarded private island and asked Alice to investigate it.
• Alice identified the island as James Island, owned by Eric Epstein, whom Mark recognized as connected to a previous kidnapping attempt.

Mark infiltrated James Island and discovered a laboratory where victims were being prepared for organ removal. After rescuing them and masking the break-in, he uncovered Eric’s trafficking operation and decided to cleanse the island.

• Mark flew toward James Island, evaded its radar, and smashed through the laboratory’s bulletproof glass.
• Mark found three young people bound to operating tables and stopped a doctor from reaching for a gun by killing him with surgical scissors.
• Mark forced the surviving doctor to treat the victims, while Alice hacked into the island network and silenced the alarm.
• Eric reassured Senator Max that the disturbance was a minor laboratory accident, relying on false information Mark had planted.
• Mark reviewed Alice’s findings about Eric’s abducted victims and the powerful clients who received their organs, then resolved to kill those responsible.

Mark used Alice’s control of the island’s systems to kill its doctors, researchers, security personnel, and wealthy clients, then confronted Eric in the banquet hall. After Eric recognized him and denied knowing him, Mark killed him.

• Mark threatened the doctor stitching up three unconscious young people, then killed researchers and destroyed the blood-soaked materials in the laboratories.
• Mark cleared the island’s laboratories and killed the last doctor after the doctor finished stitching the patients’ wounds.
• With Alice controlling the island’s systems, Mark killed the security personnel and bodyguards before entering the banquet hall.
• Mark stopped the bodyguards’ bullets with his Biological Force Field, killed them, and then killed the fleeing wealthy and powerful guests.
• Mark confronted Eric, revealed his face, and killed him after Eric denied recognizing him.

Mark raided Eric's villa on James Island, taking precious metals, diamonds, and a mysterious piece of Vibranium while uploading Eric's records to Alice. He returned to Doman Island and sent Dalton and the crew back to Los Angeles, staying behind to handle other matters.

• Mark learned from Alice that Eric kept his important belongings in the safe in his bedroom and went to Eric's villa.
• Mark tore open the safe, took its cash, valuables, and digital records, and uploaded Eric's transaction files and account books to Alice's mainframe.
• Mark found a fist-sized piece of Vibranium among the precious metals and decided to take it with the gold and diamonds.
• Mark flew back to the hotel on Doman Island with the valuables under cover of night.
• Mark told Dalton to take the crew back to Los Angeles, then sent Hanson away when he offered to stay.

Mark flew into space to collect Sunlight Value and upgraded his Heat Vision to level 7. He landed in Novigrad, Sokovia, where a firefight left a young girl in the path of two armed factions.

• Mark left the hotel wearing Electromagnetic Pulse Glasses and flew high into space, where he collected Sunlight Value at a faster rate.
• Mark gathered 110,000 Sunlight Value and used it to upgrade his Heat Vision from level 1 to level 7.
• Mark descended and learned from Alice that he was in Novigrad, the capital of Sokovia.
• Mark witnessed two armed factions fighting in the city and killing civilians, including a girl's parents.
• The girl sat beside her dead parents as the green-uniformed fighters fled and the blue-uniformed fighters pursued them toward her.

Mark intervened when soldiers fired into a crowded mall, killing them with his Heat Vision. After discovering that the boy who approached him was Pietro Maximoff and that the nearby girl was likely Wanda, Mark decided to stay and help them.

• Pietro rescued a young girl from gunfire and hid with Wanda in a shadowed corner.
• Mark landed in the city and saw soldiers pursuing one another fire into a crowded mall.
• Mark killed the soldiers with his Heat Vision, stopping their attack on civilians.
• Pietro approached Mark and said he dreamed of running as fast as lightning.
• Pietro identified himself, and Mark recognized him and Wanda as future Avengers.
• Mark offered to teach Pietro to use his powers if Pietro took him to a decent hotel.

Mark took Pietro, Wanda, and the orphaned Dalia to a hotel, then revealed that he was a young Mutant named Mark Payne. He told the twins that they both had powers waiting to awaken, and Pietro trusted him while Wanda cautiously began to believe him.

• Pietro called Mark his teacher and told Wanda he planned to learn superpowers from him, while Wanda remained wary of Mark.
• Mark agreed to take the orphaned girl with them and arranged for her parents' bodies to be collected and buried; Pietro learned her name was Dalia.
• Pietro led the group to a nearby hotel, where Mark booked two luxury suites.
• Mark removed his Electromagnetic Pulse Glasses and introduced himself as Mark Payne, a Mutant who had superpowers.
• Mark told Pietro that he would develop super speed and Wanda that she could control the Chaos Energy inside her once it was activated.
• Pietro thanked Mark and agreed to wait for a way to awaken their powers, while Wanda cautiously believed him.

Mark told Wanda and Pietro he would help them awaken their powers in exchange for working for him, then brought them to a hotel in Novigrad. When two rival warlord armies joined forces and advanced on the city to kill him, Mark confronted them outside Novigrad, where they opened fire.

• Wanda realized she might have stopped the missile that killed her parents from exploding with her powers, and asked Mark why he wanted to help her and Pietro awaken theirs.
• Mark said he wanted them to work for him, and Wanda agreed if he helped them gain powers and avenge their parents.
• Mark told Wanda and Pietro he would take them to the Federation, then brought them to a hotel in Novigrad.
• Mark heard two large military convoys approaching and sent Wanda and the others to the rooftop while he went to face the warlords.
• Kiran Valen and Felch Hart joined forces to eliminate Mark, and their armies advanced on Novigrad in more than forty armored vehicles.
• Mark appeared in the air outside the city, and the Valen and Hart forces opened fire on him with anti-aircraft guns.

Mark defeated a large force of armored vehicles, then took Wanda, Pietro, and Dalia to Payne Manor. The next day, Curtis told Mark that three thieves had been caught trying to rob Payne Bank.

• Mark used his eye beams to destroy thirteen armored vehicles and pursued the fleeing soldiers until only a few reached their base.
• Mark returned to the hotel, met Wanda, Pietro, and Dalia, and flew with them toward the Federation.
• Mark rested with the others overnight, then brought them to Payne Manor and had Lina arrange their accommodations.
• Curtis called Mark the next day to report that three thieves had been caught attempting to rob Payne Bank.