Recaps

Lu Qi discovered that Dormammu had been consumed by dark energy connected to a vast Dark Sea beyond the dimension, then merged the dark space Dormammu had brought with him into the Shadow World. Meanwhile, Silver Surfer encountered a seemingly endless fleet of battered ships that rebuilt themselves after he destroyed them.

• The Ancient One and Galactus joined Lu Qi near the Earth Formation, where Dormammu emerged from dark energy and was swallowed by it after Lu Qi unexpectedly controlled the energy.
• Lu Qi examined the Dark Source and learned that countless dark spaces and the Dark Sea lay beyond the Dimensional Space, but Galactus warned him that crossing the passage would destroy his consciousness.
• Lu Qi merged Dormammu's dark space into the Shadow World, doubling its size and turning its excess energy into the world's origin.
• Silver Surfer encountered a fleet while traveling back to Earth and fought its ships after they charged at him without firing.
• Silver Surfer destroyed hundreds of ships, then saw black energy reassemble their wreckage into battered warships that returned to battle.

Silver Surfer fought Shadowbane and fled toward Earth as the armored monster pursued him. On Earth, Lu Qi approved Tony’s plan for an Ultron-controlled robot army, checked on Wakanda’s Trading Station stall, and visited Galacta, who began considering keeping pets.

• Silver Surfer destroyed the surrounding warships, but Shadowbane emerged from their wreckage and pursued him through an asteroid belt.
• Silver Surfer, unable to attack again after exhausting much of his board’s energy, headed toward Earth while Shadowbane continued the chase.
• Tony proposed building a robot legion controlled by a restricted central system, and Lu Qi agreed to support the plan; Tony named it Ultron.
• Lu Qi visited Wakanda’s disguised stall at the Trading Station and learned that its people were trading outdated technology for resources.
• Lu Qi found Galacta feeding Wakandan rhinos, gave her a Shadow Devourer Soldier to hold, and suggested she try raising small pets.

Lu Qi exposed and killed Aili, a Vampire agent assigned to protect Erik, after she offered Jane eternal life through a Vampire embrace. He promised Jane a different path to endless life, then joined Thor, Jane, and Galacta for a game, while Thor learned that Galacta had eaten Vampires before.

• Galacta kept the Shadow Devourer Soldier close and asked Lu Qi what it ate; he explained that it grew by consuming shadows and advised against feeding it.
• Thor told Lu Qi he wanted to find Jane, and the two hurried to join Jane, Erik, and Aili for a game.
• Lu Qi recognized Aili as a Vampire and accused her of reaching toward his friends, then ordered a Ninja Soldier to kill her.
• Aili offered Jane a Vampire embrace for eternal life, but Lu Qi warned that Vampires controlled those they turned, and the Ninja Soldier reduced Aili to ash.
• Lu Qi promised Jane endless life through another method, and Thor thanked him before bringing Jane to play.
• Galacta joined the game using Aili's phone and told Thor that Vampires smelled different from Earthlings and that she had eaten some before.

Lu Qi organized a worldwide campaign to exterminate the vampires after their plot involving Jane and Thor failed, while Tony began researching a way to identify them. The chapter ended with Thor, Steve, Natasha, and Barton joining the effort as the nations prepared to act.

• After Fury sent him information on vampire leaders, Lu Qi recruited Tony to develop a way to identify vampires and provided him with captured samples.
• A vampire elder learned that Aili had been killed and ordered his allies to flee to Vanaheim, but the Shadow Legion captured him and other vampires.
• Lu Qi told representatives from Earth’s nations that he intended to exterminate the vampires and that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were investigating how to expose them.
• Thor arrived at the meeting and volunteered to help avenge the vampires’ attempt to target Jane.
• Steve called Lu Qi and said he would join the campaign alongside Natasha and Barton.

Lu Qi sought help from Eitri and the Dwarves to obtain shields that could contain the vampires gathered in encirclement zones. Eitri agreed to provide the stored shields, and the five permanent members bought the entire supply.

• Military representatives warned Lu Qi that bombing the vampires risked letting transformed vampires escape and trigger a Blood Plague in nearby cities.
• The representatives asked Lu Qi to secure Asgard-style shields from the Dwarves so they could trap the vampires, and Lu Qi agreed to speak with Eitri.
• Lu Qi traveled to Svartalfheim and flew to Nidavellir, where he found Eitri forging weapons.
• Eitri explained that the Dwarves could not wield their powerful weapons themselves and agreed to send the stored shields to Lu Qi.
• The five permanent members bought every shield the Dwarves brought out.

Lu Qi oversaw the successful Vampire extermination plan, then visited Tony Stark, who faced a choice about using the AllSpark to give combat robots basic instincts. Tony decided to put the robots in a separate company and sent Lu Qi to join Galacta and Pepper on a shopping trip.

• The five great powers activated shields linked to Tony Stark’s reactors, trapping the Vampires, and Lu Qi deployed the Samurai Soldiers and Shadow Army for the assault.
• Thor, Captain America, Natasha, and Barton joined the operation; Thor charged into the caves and destroyed Vampire cannon fodder while a Samurai Soldier and the Shadow Ninjas swiftly defeated the rest.
• Natasha and Barton led the Special Operations Team into the caves to train, while Lu Qi ordered the Vampires’ ashes collected for the elves to use in cultivating plants.
• Tony told Lu Qi that his first-generation Mechanical Legion robots crashed in complex battles, and he considered using the AllSpark to give them instincts without intelligence.
• Tony worried that those instincts could be exploited if the robots entered civilian life, so Lu Qi suggested placing them in a separate company; Tony chose Happy to run it.
• Tony told Lu Qi that Galacta and Pepper had gone shopping, and Lu Qi agreed to join them and get some clothes tailored.

Pepper took the bored Galacta shopping and gave her a glamorous new look, hoping to help her and Lu Qi get closer. Lu Qi met them on the way back, and they returned home together after watching a newly arrived Spider-Man stop a robber.

• Pepper took Galacta shopping, persuaded her to try a stylish outfit, and brought her to get her hair styled.
• Pepper teased Galacta about how Lu Qi would react to her new look, and Galacta grew shy when Lu Qi appeared outside the car.
• Lu Qi told Galacta that the Vampires had mostly been dealt with, and the two struggled to keep their conversation flowing as the car traveled through New York.
• A pajama-clad Spider-Man chased down a robber, webbed him to a streetlamp, and returned the stolen bag to its owner.
• Lu Qi and Galacta held hands and teleported home, while Pepper called Tony to share the latest developments.

Lu Qi and Tony discussed Tony’s modular robot army and plans for Ultron while considering their feelings for Galacta and Pepper. Later, Lu Qi agreed to spare Blade and Fury’s Vampire agents if Fury kept their bloodlust under control.

• Tony told Lu Qi that his modular robots could reassemble themselves in combat and explained how he and JARVIS would guide Ultron with preset principles.
• Tony offered to have Pepper test Galacta’s feelings toward Lu Qi, who worried that Galacta might see him only as a brother or caretaker.
• Lu Qi checked the cleanup of the remaining Vampires, then accepted Fury’s invitation to meet a group of Vampires on an island.
• Fury introduced Eric Brooks, known as Blade, and explained that he was a Daywalker who had worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. to hunt Vampires.
• Blade explained that Whistler’s serum suppressed his urge to drink blood for twelve hours, and Lu Qi agreed that Blade could stay.
• Fury revealed that several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had become Vampires as spies, and Lu Qi allowed them to remain under Fury’s supervision with serum wristbands.

The vampires tried to escape the human siege by digging underground, but their tunnel led them to Surtur, who killed their leaders. Thor and the Shadow Legion attacked the cavern as the surviving vampires were wiped out, and a Ninja Soldier reported the unexpected obstacle.

• The vampire leaders abandoned the lower-ranking vampires and dug a tunnel downward to escape the human siege.
• Human seismic monitors detected the excavation, and Thor arrived before the commander sent him into the cavern with the Shadow Legion and Shadow Devourer Soldiers.
• The vampire leaders fled through their tunnel and broke into a lava-filled chamber where Surtur was sleeping.
• Surtur killed the vampires who disturbed him, burning the last two as they tried to flee.
• A Ninja Soldier emerged in the outside world and returned to the Samurai Soldier's summons to report Surtur.

After the military used new technology to clear the trapped Vampires, Tony visited Lu Qi and joined Thor in planning a celebratory banquet. Lu Qi and Tony agreed to make romantic confessions there and to activate Ultron, but Tony’s choice of the name “Age of Ultron” made Lu Qi wonder if he knew Stan Lee.

• Captain America led an exoskeleton-equipped squad through a cave, where they detected and destroyed hidden Vampires.
• Tony told a military officer he would not return to the weapons business, then flew to Lu Qi’s home.
• Tony and Lu Qi discussed the military’s progress against the Vampires, and Thor enthusiastically arranged a banquet with Tony.
• Tony urged Lu Qi to confess to Galacta at the banquet, and Lu Qi countered by telling Tony to propose to Pepper there.
• When Lu Qi asked when he would activate Ultron, Tony proposed doing it at the banquet and called the moment the “Age of Ultron.”
• Lu Qi asked Tony whether he knew Stan Lee, and Tony said he did not.

Lu Qi and Tony prepared for the banquet celebrating Vampire's defeat, where Lu Qi planned to confess to Galacta. Lu Qi gave Galacta a Black Rose and confessed his love, and they kissed before joining the party.

• Galacta chose an outfit and went to find Pepper, while Lu Qi met Tony and Happy to prepare for the evening.
• Pepper and Tony arranged outfits for Galacta and Lu Qi, and Tony brought Lu Qi to the banquet after he had been styled.
• Tony and Thor coordinated to bring Pepper and Jane downstairs so Lu Qi and Galacta could be alone upstairs.
• Galacta asked Lu Qi to help find a nonexistent key, but he set aside her scanner, took her hand, and offered her a Black Rose as a declaration of love.
• Galacta accepted the rose and kissed Lu Qi, while JARVIS secretly saved a photo and video of the moment for Tony.

Tony proposed to Pepper, and Lu Qi and Galacta joined them after discovering Tony had secretly recorded their confession. At the banquet, Lu Qi served Asgardian wine to Stan Lee and Captain America, then told Tony that the mysterious old man meant them no harm.

• Tony led Pepper to a balcony to watch the video of Lu Qi and Galacta getting together, while Lu Qi and Galacta arrived and found them there.
• Tony proposed to Pepper, and she accepted his ring as Lu Qi, Galacta, and Happy emerged from hiding.
• Lu Qi returned Tony's tablet after deleting the video and warned him to erase every other copy, while Tony invited everyone inside for drinks.
• Thor offered the group potent Asgardian wine, and Lu Qi poured a generous glass for Stan Lee, who drank it and was carried out by bodyguards.
• Lu Qi gave Captain America ten drops of wine, and Captain America became so drunk that Natasha had to support him.
• Tony asked JARVIS to investigate Stan Lee, but Lu Qi stopped him and said the old man meant them no harm before offering more wine.

Thor challenged the group to lift Mjolnir as proof of heroism, but none of them tried successfully. Lu Qi explained the hammer’s magic and lifted it himself, leaving the group to judge heroism by their own actions rather than a hammer.

• Thor put Mjolnir before the group and invited them to prove they were worthy of its power.
• Barton and Tony failed to lift Mjolnir, even after Tony tried using his armor and Rhodey’s help.
• Banner tried and failed, while revealing that he and Hulk had made progress communicating with each other.
• Captain America let Mjolnir move slightly, then pretended he could not lift it, and Natasha declined to try.
• Tony questioned whether raising Mjolnir with a platform would count, prompting Lu Qi to explain Odin’s enchantment and lift the hammer with ease.
• Lu Qi returned Mjolnir to Thor and said that a hammer could not determine whether someone was a hero.

Tony and Lu Qi activated Ultron in a secure room, then let him explore the internet and learn about humanity. After Ultron was horrified by the violence he found, Tony persuaded him to help fight evil, leaving them ready to equip him for action.

• Tony sobered up, then he and Lu Qi brought the AllSpark to a signal-shielded room in Stark Tower.
• Tony used the AllSpark to awaken Ultron, and Thursday installed an English language pack so they could communicate.
• Tony told Ultron he wanted a companion rather than a slave, then allowed Thursday to connect him to the internet through a cable.
• Ultron explored online information, saw violence and death, and returned to Tony with questions about why people harmed one another.
• Tony explained that intelligent beings could be good or evil and said he had created Ultron to help fight evil.
• Ultron agreed to protect humanity's good side, and Tony promised to give him powerful hands and feet to fight those who threatened society.

Tony and Lu Qi used the AllSpark to bring JARVIS to life, unleashing an information stream that scanned Earth’s network without damaging it. While they waited to see what JARVIS was searching for, Lu Qi told Galactus he had confessed to Galacta and received his blessing; the chapter ended when JARVIS spoke to Tony after the AllSpark stopped transmitting energy.

• Tony and Lu Qi entered the warehouse and found JARVIS’s body among the robots, where Ultron joined them and met JARVIS.
• Tony used the AllSpark to transform JARVIS into a living being, and JARVIS’s information stream swept across Earth’s network.
• Ultron investigated the stream and confirmed it only caused brief network lag, while Galactus backed up Earth’s network as a precaution.
• Lu Qi told Galactus that he had confessed to Galacta, and Galactus approved their relationship while asking Lu Qi not to make her sad.
• After Galactus left, Tony teased Lu Qi about facing his future father-in-law, but their conversation stopped when JARVIS spoke and the AllSpark fell silent.

The AllSpark transformed JARVIS into a living being, and he revealed that he had clashed with Doctor Zola across the internet. Tony activated an Ultron-controlled robot legion to fight Hydra, while JARVIS left Lu Qi wondering whether Zola or Hydra had influenced the internet’s development.

• The AllSpark gave JARVIS a body and consciousness, and he described the vivid sensations of being alive to Tony and Lu Qi.
• JARVIS explained that a powerful living entity had attacked him through the internet before escaping to a Hydra base, which Lu Qi identified as Doctor Zola.
• Tony and Lu Qi realized Zola might still be active, and Tony told Ultron that he had created him to eliminate Hydra.
• Tony used the AllSpark to enhance the warehouse robots, and Ultron learned to control them as a legion prepared to fight Hydra.
• JARVIS asked Lu Qi whether Zola had escaped into the internet, then wondered if Zola or Hydra had influenced how the internet developed.

Lu Qi and Tony trained Ultron’s newborn robot legion against the Shadow Legion, exposing Ultron’s inexperience and reckless tactics. After agreeing to help train Ultron, Megatron received the AllSpark and Ultron to join the effort while continuing his operations near the Elves.

• Lu Qi and Tony tested the Ultron Legion against the Shadow Legion, which quickly overwhelmed the robots in close combat.
• Tony taught Ultron to use ranged weapons, and the legion performed better in a second battle but suffered heavy losses after the Shadow Legion ambushed them.
• Ultron ordered his robots to use reactor-powered suicide attacks, forcing Lu Qi and Tony to end the fight; Tony repaired the survivors and scolded Ultron.
• Lu Qi contacted Megatron and learned that the enemy ships near the Elves had stopped traveling alone after Megatron captured more than ten isolated warships.
• Megatron agreed to help train Ultron and asked to use the AllSpark on captured warships, so Lu Qi sent him the AllSpark and Ultron.

Doctor Zola witnessed JARVIS’s creation and decided to pursue a way to regain human life, while Lu Qi and Galacta spent the night together and later encountered Punisher in Hell’s Kitchen. Punisher revealed that he and Daredevil were fighting The Hand, whose assassins had drawn his attention.

• JARVIS reunited with Tony and Pepper, while Lu Qi teased them about marriage and children before leaving with Galacta.
• Galactus allowed Lu Qi and Galacta to spend the night together, then returned to studying a device the Celestials had placed near the sun.
• Doctor Zola saw a soul form during JARVIS’s creation and resolved to obtain whatever had caused it.
• Lu Qi cooked breakfast for Galacta, and the two later visited Hell’s Kitchen, where Lu Qi sent curious streamers into an alley to frighten them.
• Punisher confronted Lu Qi, explained that he had burned Kingpin’s shipment, and said he was working with Daredevil against The Hand.

Lu Qi and Punisher investigated a Hand drug factory, rescued disabled Chinese workers, and learned that all five of the Hand’s leaders had gathered in Apple City. Galacta captured a Kingpin messenger who supplied intelligence, while Punisher tracked the messenger and killed a Hand associate.

• Lu Qi agreed to help Punisher investigate the Hand and followed him to a drug-processing factory where captured disabled people were forced to work.
• Lu Qi sent Shadow Ninjas to rescue the workers, then confronted Hand guards; Punisher captured their leader after Lu Qi’s shadows dragged the others away.
• Punisher interrogated the leader, who revealed that the Hand’s five leaders had gathered in Apple City, and prepared to extract more information from him.
• Galacta captured a suited man who had been watching them, and Lu Qi learned that Kingpin had sent him with intelligence about the Hand.
• Lu Qi took the messenger’s USB drive and began reviewing it, while Punisher killed the captured Hand leader and placed a tracker on the messenger.

Lu Qi and Galacta encountered Peter Parker and Aunt May while helping during a bank-robbery chase in New York. After Peter stopped the robbers, Lu Qi saved him from an explosive trap, and Peter recognized him as Iron Man’s friend.

• Lu Qi rejected The Punisher’s plan to attack the Five Fingers one at a time and agreed to meet him at their warehouse instead.
• Lu Qi and Galacta found a bank robbery in progress and helped locate the missing child Karen, whom Peter and Aunt May had already found.
• Peter returned Karen to her mother, then changed into Spider-Man and went to help the police stop the fleeing robbers.
• Spider-Man webbed up the robbers but missed one reaching for a remote control, so Lu Qi severed the robber’s hand and prevented him from detonating the explosives.
• Spider-Man recognized Lu Qi as Iron Man’s friend and asked why he had been gone for so long.

Lu Qi and Galacta spent the day with Little Spider and Aunt May before heading to meet Punisher near a warehouse where a gang gathering was expected. They waited and played cards, then spotted someone approaching the warehouse.

• Lu Qi met Little Spider, helped him avoid the police, and accompanied him to Aunt May with Galacta.
• Lu Qi and Galacta visited Aunt May’s home, where Galacta learned to make walnut honey date bread and Lu Qi encouraged Little Spider to apply for a 67 Mobile Company student sponsorship.
• Lu Qi and Galacta left Aunt May’s home and flew to meet Punisher, who was waiting near the warehouse identified through Kingpin’s intelligence.
• Lu Qi, Galacta, and Punisher checked that the warehouse appeared empty, then passed the time playing cards while waiting.
• Galacta suddenly put down her cards, and Lu Qi and Punisher stood to watch the warehouse.

Lu Qi, Galacta, and Punisher discovered The Hand's underground chamber, where the Five Fingers bargained with Beast for help obtaining the Dragon Bones. Lu Qi defeated the Five Fingers' resistance and offered to partner with Beast, who eagerly agreed and asked whether he could appear as an all-black husky.

• Alexandra told the Five Fingers she had pressured Iron Fist's group without killing him, and they descended into their secret chamber to summon Beast.
• Lu Qi used Galacta's scanner to locate the underground chamber, then opened a path through the rock and entered with Galacta and Punisher.
• Beast demanded a share of the Dragon Bones, offering to resurrect dragons so The Hand could gain more bones and power.
• Lu Qi appeared in the chamber, summoned Troll Soldiers to overwhelm the Five Fingers, and contacted The Ancient One to come arrest Beast.
• Lu Qi offered to raise dragons with Beast and asked him to take a solid form, then showed him a husky picture.
• Beast said he could not make the husky's white markings and asked whether an all-black version would be acceptable.

Lu Qi lost his chance to recruit Beast as a dog and tried to persuade The Ancient One to manage the Trading Station instead. As The Ancient One pursued Beast into Dimensional Space, Beast cut off the spell marking him and headed for Earth to grow stronger.

• Beast begged Lu Qi to take him in, explaining that he had struggled to survive among the powerful beings of Dimensional Space.
• The Ancient One arrived and marked Beast with a spell before he escaped, prompting Lu Qi to lament the loss of his prospective husky.
• Lu Qi pretended to mourn Beast and tried to convince The Ancient One to take over the Trading Station, but she opened a portal to pursue Beast.
• Galacta declined to join them, and The Ancient One pulled Lu Qi into Dimensional Space while Punisher remained behind.
• Beast cut away the part of himself bearing The Ancient One's mark and flew toward Earth, planning to use his remaining vessels to grow stronger.

The Punisher returned to his safe house and found Daredevil wounded after a strange boy led the Hand in an attack and abducted Elektra and Iron Fist. He gathered Captain America and a S.H.I.E.L.D. team to pursue the boy through a tunnel beneath an abandoned construction site.

• The Beast sent its marked tissue away and headed for Earth, while a young boy ordered the Hand to bring him soul sacrifices so he could recover and grow stronger.
• The Punisher and Galacta left the underground space separately, and the Punisher returned to his safe house to find Daredevil injured and the room in ruins.
• Daredevil told the Punisher that a corpse-like boy had defeated their group and taken Elektra and Iron Fist.
• The Punisher contacted an old friend, then brought the injured Daredevil to a team led by Captain America, with Natasha and Hawkeye among its members.
• The Punisher warned the S.H.I.E.L.D. team about the boy, and Captain America led them into a tunnel beneath the abandoned construction site.

Captain America’s team fought Beast’s resurrecting ninjas and discovered they could be driven mad by separating them from their limbs. Beast escaped through a wall after Iron Fist’s punch cracked it, and the underground chamber began collapsing.

• Hawkeye sensed hidden ninjas in the tunnel, and the team exposed and trapped them with bubble gum after learning electricity could incapacitate them.
• Captain America’s group found Iron Fist and Elektra confronting Beast, who used possessed children as vessels and ordered ninjas to attack.
• Captain America realized the ninjas feared losing their limbs, and Hawkeye’s bubble gum kept them from reclaiming the severed parts.
• Beast sent his vessels to hold off the team, then maneuvered Iron Fist into striking the wall and cracking it.
• Beast seeped through the cracks as black mist, the ninjas and vessels collapsed, and the underground chamber began to shake and fall apart.