Recaps

Beast emerged from underground in a Divine Dragon body and flew toward K'un-Lun, while Tony pursued him. Beast unleashed storms and a giant wave across Japan, and Tony failed to stop the wave from flooding farmland and damaging the land.

• Captain America's group survived the collapsing passage under a protective dome, then escaped through the tunnel Beast had burrowed out of.
• Beast emerged as a colossal black dragon, flew toward K'un-Lun, and left Captain America's group to climb out of the ruins.
• Tony arrived, identified the creature as a Divine Dragon, and pursued Beast; Iron Fist revealed that his power came from killing a smaller dragon in K'un-Lun.
• Tony's magic flames wounded Beast, but Beast regenerated and summoned lightning, fierce winds, and destructive waterspouts.
• Beast trapped Tony in tornadoes and continued underwater toward Japan, where he sent a giant wave across the land, flooding farmland and carrying away soil and debris.

Beast attacked China as Black Dragon, but Captain Yang, Tony, Galacta, and China’s forces fought back and destroyed him. Galacta absorbed Beast’s remains, and the chapter ended with her reunited with Tony aboard the Zhiyuan after Captain Yang was taken for treatment.

• Tony led Beast to China’s border, where ten Helicarriers and Captain Yang’s forces confronted him.
• Beast attacked the warships and superpowered defenders, while Captain Yang and the troops countered his assaults.
• Captain Yang held Black Dragon back as the warships prepared to fire, but a purple meteor struck Black Dragon and knocked Captain Yang unconscious.
• Galacta restrained Black Dragon and told the warships to fire; their cannons destroyed him, and she absorbed his fragments and severed tail.
• Tony carried Captain Yang to the Zhiyuan’s medical staff, then spoke with Galacta, who explained she had been learning to cook and had come to help after Spider-Man alerted her.

Captain Deng invited Tony and Galacta to a celebratory banquet, where Tony became eager to try medicinal cuisine. Meanwhile, Doctor Zola raided Stark Tower, stole the AllSpark, and used it to regain a human form before escaping.

• Captain Deng invited Tony and Galacta to the banquet, and Tony agreed to attend with family and discuss buying energy-related products.
• Tony and Galacta visited Captain Yang, found him recovering with ginseng black chicken soup, and asked to try some themselves.
• Doctor Zola led Hydra members into Stark Tower while Iron Man and Lu Qi were away, hacked the security system, and located the AllSpark in Tony's laboratory.
• JARVIS contacted Tony and worked with Ultron to lock down Stark Tower, but Zola's group broke into the laboratory and seized the AllSpark.
• The AllSpark transformed Zola back into his human appearance, and he concealed it inside his body before breaking through the glass and flying away.

Tony returned to New York after JARVIS and Ultron tracked Hydra agents who had stolen the AllSpark, while the Scarlet Witch struggled over whether to seek revenge against him. Tony captured the Hydra agents, and Zola traced his unexpected arrival as Lu Qi returned to Earth with The Ancient One.

• Tony left the cafeteria and used the Hong Kong Sanctum to teleport back to New York.
• JARVIS restored Ultron and joined him in tracking the Hydra vehicles carrying stolen goods.
• The Scarlet Witch saw Tony at Kamar-Taj, became distressed, and told Quicksilver what she had witnessed; he promised to stand by her whatever she chose.
• Tony attacked the Hydra convoy, captured its agents, and told JARVIS to contact the authorities and cover the street damage.
• Zola watched Tony's fight and traced his route through the city's surveillance cameras.
• Lu Qi returned to Earth with The Ancient One and asked her to manage the Trading Station, but she declined and left for Kamar-Taj.

Lu Qi and Tony investigated Zola’s theft of the AllSpark while JARVIS frightened Hydra prisoners into revealing their information. Lu Qi recruited Galacta to scan New York, then visited Kamar-Taj, where he noticed that the Scarlet Witch was distracted after seeing Tony.

• Lu Qi learned that Zola had stolen the AllSpark from Stark Tower and asked Tony to track its radio waves while he sought help from other countries.
• JARVIS used simulated screams and threats to make the Hydra agents reveal their New York strongholds, which Lu Qi’s Shadow Legion then destroyed.
• Lu Qi found Galacta on the Zhiyuan, brought her back to New York, and asked her to scan for Zola while Tony continued tracking the AllSpark.
• Lu Qi visited Kamar-Taj, where Stephen showed that his hands had been temporarily restored by magic and his robe unexpectedly lifted him into the air.
• Stephen told Lu Qi that the Scarlet Witch had been making basic mistakes since the previous day, and Lu Qi suspected that seeing Tony had upset her.

After explaining that Obadiah, not Tony, had supplied the weapons used in Sokovia, Lu Qi suggested Hydra might have exploited the war to abduct people for experiments. The siblings began to reconsider who was responsible for their suffering and revealed that a mysterious person had taken Sokovian orphans away.

• The Scarlet Witch returned home shaken by memories of Sokovia, and Quicksilver comforted her and promised to stay by her side.
• The siblings shared a peaceful dinner and stargazing before Lu Qi arrived to clear up their mistaken belief that Tony had caused their family's destruction.
• Lu Qi explained that Obadiah had secretly sold Stark weapons and had caused the Afghanistan attack, while Tony had killed him after he tried to murder him.
• The Scarlet Witch struggled with the revelation that Tony might have been their benefactor, and Lu Qi suppressed the energy surging out of her.
• Lu Qi suspected Baron Strucker's nearby Hydra base had used Sokovia's wartime chaos to obtain test subjects and asked whether anyone had tried to take the siblings away.
• The siblings recalled that a mysterious person had offered peaceful adoptive homes to Sokovian orphans, many of whom disappeared afterward.

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch returned to Sokovia to investigate whether Hydra was behind the renewed conflict and discovered that Baron Strucker’s base had been using kidnapped orphans as test subjects. After they found proof and tried to escape, Baron Strucker recognized them on the surveillance footage and ordered the base to trap them.

• Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch traveled to a town near Sokovia and realized a Hydra agent was following them.
• Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch captured the agent, and the Scarlet Witch read his memories to learn that Hydra was monitoring the area and had a nearby base.
• The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver entered the base by hiding beneath a supply rack, then Quicksilver disabled its surveillance system.
• The Scarlet Witch controlled the archivists and found a list confirming Hydra had taken Sokovian orphans to use as test subjects.
• The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver fled as the base alarm sounded, while Baron Strucker identified them on the monitors and ordered the defenses activated.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch escaped Baron Strucker’s barrier, while the ensuing orders pushed Sokovia toward war. In New York, Zola investigated the Sanctums and identified Pangborn as a lead to Kamar-Taj, then sent his subordinates to approach him.

• Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch combined their powers to pierce Strucker’s barrier, but Scarlet Witch fainted as they escaped.
• Strucker ordered communications cut and war ignited across Sokovia, while Quicksilver fled toward the city with his sister.
• Pepper brought Lu Qi and Tony invitations to a banquet in China, and Tony assigned JARVIS and Ultron to help search for the AllSpark before resting.
• Zola tracked packages from the New York Sanctum to Nepal and decided not to investigate in person because he feared losing his new body.
• Zola searched Tony’s records, traced Stephen’s recovery to Pangborn, and ordered his subordinates to approach him.

China held a globally livestreamed banquet where Zheng Xian revealed S.P.E.A.R.’s thousand-year history and showed footage of its victory over Beast. The chapter ended with Lu Qi backing China’s plan to prepare openly for extraterrestrial and multidimensional threats while refusing to interfere in Earth’s internal affairs.

• Tony, Lu Qi, and Galacta arrived at a hidden underground venue, where visiting delegations gathered nervously for China’s banquet.
• The host announced that China had established S.P.E.A.R. a thousand years earlier to confront unpredictable civilizations, then introduced its director, Zheng Xian.
• Zheng Xian recounted S.P.E.A.R.’s history, including its victory over an alien fleet, and revealed footage of the organization defeating Beast.
• Zheng Xian said China would tell its citizens the truth and build strength against threats from space and multidimensional realms, prompting protests from some delegations.
• Lu Qi applauded to quiet the hall, endorsed Zheng Xian’s approach, and said he would act against invading aliens and Dimensional Demon Gods but would not interfere in Earth’s internal affairs.
• China’s military strength unsettled the other nations, and some small countries considered cooperation while the major powers resolved to keep their own trump cards.

At the victory banquet, Zheng Xian announced China's God-Making Project, a plan to develop cultivation for the population and prepare humanity for interstellar exploration. Lu Qi offered China help securing resources and access to the universe, then received an urgent warning from Galactus that the sun was in danger.

• Zheng Xian announced the God-Making Project, which would develop a cultivation method for everyone and use secret realms and cloned dragons to provide resources and inheritances.
• Lu Qi offered to help China obtain resources through the Trading Station and promised to establish portals in prosperous regions of space.
• Zheng Xian directed foreign representatives seeking the cultivation method to discuss terms with Lu Qi, while China planned to require a soul seal.
• Lu Qi encouraged Tony and Pepper to learn the cultivation method and wrote resource-trading letters to other nations.
• Lu Qi received a message from Galactus warning that the sun was in danger and urging him to come quickly.

Lu Qi helped Galactus extract a Celestial Embryo from the sun and confronted the Celestials who came to stop them. The Celestials revealed that Earth also contained an embryo, while Scarlet Witch woke in Sokovia as fighting trapped her and Quicksilver.

• Lu Qi joined Galactus inside the sun and learned that a Celestial Embryo was draining its energy and would eventually plunge the Solar System into darkness.
• Galactus asked Lu Qi to hold off the Celestials while he removed the embryo, and Lu Qi took up position as Galactus began the operation.
• Lu Qi blocked the arriving Celestials, who explained that their Judge had deemed Earth’s life expendable and placed embryos throughout the Solar System.
• Lu Qi refused to let the Celestials reach the sun or Earth and prepared to fight them with his Giant Scythe.
• Scarlet Witch woke in Sokovia, and Quicksilver explained that Hydra and the fighting had left them trapped.

Wanda and Pietro tried to stop Hydra from harming Sokovian civilians and draw the troops away from their neighborhood, then infiltrated a command headquarters to contact the outside world. They were captured in a trap, but Pietro suddenly seized Baron Strucker as Wanda’s powers proved more unusual than Hydra expected.

• Wanda and Pietro decided to stop Hydra’s staged war and seek reinforcements by finding a way to contact the outside world.
• When Hydra troops searched their residential district, Wanda killed Captain America and Pietro defeated the soldiers, then the siblings drew the troops toward the outskirts.
• Wanda and Pietro escaped the encirclement and reached Hydra’s command headquarters, where they found a landline telephone.
• A hidden needle electrified Pietro as a clerk aimed a pistol at Wanda, and Baron Strucker arrived with Hydra agents wearing patches that resisted her control.
• Strucker ordered his adjutant to fetch people for experiments, but Wanda sealed the adjutant’s mouth shut with her powers.
• Pietro recovered, pulled the needle from his palm, and took Strucker hostage.

Pietro and Wanda captured Baron Strucker and contacted JARVIS, who alerted Tony Stark and Zheng Xian to Hydra’s operations in Sokovia. Strucker used Mrs. Missy and her children to escape, then ordered the Great Purge as Wanda shielded them from Hydra’s attack.

• Pietro seized Baron Strucker, while Wanda turned a clerk’s pistol to stone and helped secure Strucker’s phone.
• Wanda called Lu Qi but could not reach him, so she contacted Stark Industries and told JARVIS that Hydra was instigating war and conducting experiments in Sokovia.
• JARVIS located Wanda and Pietro by satellite, alerted Tony and Ultron, and Tony sent the Ultron Legion toward Sokovia through Kamar-Taj.
• Tony left to help, while Zheng Xian offered a Helicarrier and discussed temporarily taking over Sokovia after the fighting.
• Strucker’s adjutant brought Mrs. Missy and her children as hostages, and Wanda agreed to exchange them for Strucker.
• Pietro rescued Mrs. Missy and her children during the exchange, but Hydra attacked as Strucker escaped and ordered the Great Purge; Wanda shielded the hostages as explosions sounded in the city.

Wanda and Pietro fought to protect Sokovia’s residents as Hydra-backed thugs massacred civilians, while the Ultron Legion arrived and rapidly cleared the city. After Tony learned the killers were a decoy and found the Hydra agents’ eastern castle, he sent the legion to capture them.

• Pietro escaped the Hydra agents’ encirclement, then returned wearing diving goggles and helped Wanda disable their tanks and protect Mrs. Missy and the others.
• Wanda and Pietro reached the city, where government forces and rebels were executing residents, and Wanda used her powers to turn the thugs against one another.
• Pietro attacked the thugs elsewhere while Wanda flew to stop atrocities across Sokovia.
• Ultron dismantled the city’s signal jammers and sent tens of thousands of robots to suppress the thugs, clearing them in barely over ten minutes.
• Tony arrived and learned from Wanda that Hydra’s agents were at a castle to the east, then ordered Ultron to leave robots behind to help residents and capture them.

Tony reassured Wanda that Hydra was responsible for the deaths in Sokovia, while the Ultron Legion destroyed the Hydra forces and captured Baron Strucker. After the survivors were evacuated, Wanda and Pietro were left contemplating the devastation and their choices.

• Tony comforted Wanda and told her that Hydra, not she or Pietro, was to blame for the deaths.
• Ultron led the Legion through Hydra's castle tunnels, crushing the defenders and pursuing those who fled.
• The Ultron Legion caught Baron Strucker's convoy, captured him, and destroyed his vehicle.
• The Ultron Legion and China's Helicarrier helped secure Sokovia and promised aid to its residents.
• The surviving Sokovians were evacuated to camps outside the devastated city, where Wanda and Pietro sat in silence and questioned their past actions.

Tony reassured Wanda and Pietro that they were not responsible for the deaths in Sokovia and invited them to help fight Hydra. Pietro accepted and became excited when Tony offered to help improve his speed, while Yinsen was revealed to be alive and leading a rebel army in Afghanistan.

• Mrs. Missy comforted Wanda and Pietro as they regretted their actions in Sokovia, and Tony explained that Hydra had planned to cause another war to obtain more test subjects.
• Tony recalled how Yinsen had inspired him to atone for his own mistakes, while Yinsen was shown alive in Afghanistan, leading a rebel army and planning an attack on terrorists.
• Tony invited Wanda and Pietro to join his team and help fight Hydra around the world.
• Wanda was tempted by the offer, and Pietro agreed to join after Tony suggested improving his running posture and making him a suit to reduce air resistance.

Tony recruited Pietro and Wanda into a new superhero team called the Defenders, naming them Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Near the sun, Lu Qi fought off Celestials before persuading their squad to reconsider humanity’s worth, and Galactus handed over the embryo for them to relocate.

• Tony named Pietro Quicksilver and Wanda Scarlet Witch, promised to have combat suits made for them, and called their team the Defenders.
• Lu Qi fought Celestials near the sun, using his Dark Giant Scythe to wound two of them and force the others to call for reinforcements.
• A squad of larger Celestials arrived, and Lu Qi explained that the embryo inside the sun threatened his home planet.
• The Celestials discovered their records had overlooked Lu Qi and agreed to reassess humanity, removing the embryo and restoring lost matter and energy if humans qualified.
• Galactus emerged from the sun with the embryo, explained that he had eaten Celestial Embryos before, and handed it to the Celestials to relocate before returning to Earth.

After Galactus departed, Lu Qi joined the Celestials in reassessing humanity and learned that they considered it a species with enormous potential. The Celestial squad leader advised humanity to combine self-development with technology, leaving Lu Qi with a direction to consider for its future.

• After Galactus left, the Celestial squad leader began reassessing humanity with Lu Qi.
• The Celestials cloaked themselves and their ship as they approached Earth, and the squad leader explained that they tried to minimize the impact of their assessments.
• At Earth, Lu Qi and the Celestials observed humanity's rapid development and discussed how the Celestials had placed an embryo during their earlier visit, rather than being persuaded by Zhang Heng.
• After reviewing their findings, the squad leader judged humanity to have strong scientific ability, developed social structures, and great potential, noting that many people in China were pursuing collective cultivation.
• The squad leader advised Lu Qi that humanity should combine self-development and technology to achieve both a high upper limit and a higher baseline.

After the Celestials compensated Earth for the resources consumed by the embryos, Lu Qi arrived in Sokovia and helped respond to Hydra’s Great Purge. He joined Tony’s newly formed Defenders alongside Galacta, then helped shape the alliance’s rules and discussed how it would protect and support superheroes.

• The Celestials removed the embryos and replenished the sun and Earth’s resources, placing the remaining resources in Earth’s core to regenerate where they were needed.
• Galactus told Lu Qi that a disaster had struck Sokovia, and Lu Qi arrived to find the city devastated by Hydra’s Great Purge.
• Lu Qi summoned his Shadow Army and opened a portal to supplies, helping rescue workers build a camp for Sokovia’s survivors.
• Tony invited Lu Qi and Galacta to join the Defenders, and Lu Qi agreed while turning down Tony’s offer to lead the team.
• Tony and the others drafted rules for the Defenders, and Tony proposed using the alliance’s official standing and Stark Industries funding to support superheroes while keeping their personal information secure.

Lu Qi briefed the world's prime ministers on his meeting with the Celestials, explaining that humanity had passed their latest evaluation and that Earth would receive substantial resources. He warned that future Celestial reviews would depend on humanity's continued technological progress.

• After Sokovia's evacuation began, Lu Qi convened a video meeting with the world's prime ministers.
• Lu Qi told the prime ministers that he had met the Celestials near the Sun and described them as powerful beings who monitored civilizations on Eternity's behalf.
• Lu Qi revealed that the Celestials had judged humanity worthless a thousand years earlier but had spared it to use Earth as a cradle for their embryos.
• When the U.S. prime minister asked about Earth's embryo, Lu Qi said humanity had passed a new evaluation and the Celestials had removed it, along with the embryo inside the Sun.
• Lu Qi said the Celestials had compensated Earth with resources but warned that they could destroy humanity if its technology stopped advancing.

Lu Qi urged world leaders to condemn Hydra and proposed the Defenders as a regulated organization to handle supervillains. Most countries accepted, while South Korea’s prime minister tried to secure paid services for its conglomerates and was rebuked; the meeting ended with willing countries directed to contact Tony.

• Lu Qi described the Celestials’ preferred path for human development and warned world leaders that Hydra was an extremist terrorist organization after the purge in Sokovia.
• China’s prime minister and several major powers agreed with Lu Qi’s condemnation of Hydra, and Lu Qi proposed founding the Defenders with Tony Stark.
• Lu Qi distributed the Defenders’ regulations, which promised political noninterference, prioritized civilian protection, and required training and compensation for battle-related losses.
• South Korea’s prime minister suggested paying the Defenders to suppress supervillains, prompting Lu Qi to insist that the organization was a public service, not a mercenary force.
• After Captain Yang’s email explained that South Korean conglomerates had prompted the request, Lu Qi directed countries interested in cooperating with the Defenders to send their lists to Tony.

T'Challa urged Wakanda to open its borders and adapt to a rapidly changing world, but the tribal elders resisted, leaving T'Chaka searching for a way to force change. Meanwhile, Doctor Zola abducted Pangborn to learn about Kamar-Taj, then planned to send Hydra agents there and reinforce his body.

• Shuri reassured Wakanda's elders that the Celestials had likely known about Vibranium for centuries and had no interest in taking it.
• T'Challa argued that Wakanda risked falling behind other nations if it stayed isolated, while elders threatened T'Chaka over his duty to protect Vibranium.
• After the elders left, T'Chaka considered T'Challa's proposal but struggled to find a way to overcome their opposition.
• Doctor Zola disguised himself as a disabled man and attacked Pangborn, who recognized him as nonhuman and fought back with sorcery.
• Zola captured Pangborn, stole his Sling Ring, and tortured him until he revealed information about Kamar-Taj; Pangborn later died.
• Zola left disguised as Pangborn and ordered Hydra agents to investigate Kamar-Taj while planning to reinforce his body with a powerful metal.

Lu Qi learned that Thor’s drunken exaggeration had turned his victory over minor Celestials into a rumor that he had wiped out an elite squad. The chapter left Lu Qi furious after Thor revealed a returning merchant caravan might spread the story across the universe.

• Lu Qi shared breakfast with Galacta, then went to the Trading Station and found Thor presenting him with Asgardian gifts.
• Thor explained that Loki had sent the gifts to congratulate Lu Qi for repelling the Celestials, and Lu Qi had the guards move the airship out of the crowded passage.
• Representatives from other realms learned about Lu Qi’s victory and reacted with shock because the Celestials had once driven their pantheons off Earth.
• Thor admitted that his drunken account had led Asgardians to believe Lu Qi had wiped out an elite Celestial squad, despite his guards’ efforts to correct the rumor.
• Thor warned Lu Qi that a merchant caravan returning from Asgard might spread the exaggerated story, and Lu Qi smashed through the building floor in anger.

Lu Qi planned to leave Earth in Galactus's care after Thor publicized his confrontation with the Celestials, but he first helped investigate why Banner's soul was weakening. Galactus discovered that Dark Energy had fused with Banner's soul, and Lu Qi realized it had come from the body he had made for Banner during the Battle of New York.

• Lu Qi decided to leave Earth and take Galacta on a trip through other universes, then went to Stark Tower to speak with Galactus.
• Galactus explained that Banner's attempt to merge with Hulk had nearly erased Banner's consciousness, and tests showed Hulk's soul was stronger than Banner's.
• Lu Qi noticed Banner's increased sleep began after he started contacting Hulk with a drug, but Banner's records could not explain the cause.
• Banner remembered that his soul had left his body during the Battle of New York and entered a body Lu Qi had made from Dark Energy.
• Galactus examined a fragment of Banner's soul and found that Dark Energy had fused with it, while Hulk had absorbed the displaced soul energy.
• Lu Qi read Galactus's report and realized that Banner's condition might have been caused by the Dark Energy body he had created.

Lu Qi and Galactus discovered that Banner’s soul was weakening and presented him with two ways to recover; Banner chose to let dark energy transform him into a powerful agent. After arranging for Hulk to protect Banner while Galactus taught him, Lu Qi prepared to honeymoon in a dangerous world marked in The Ancient One’s coordinate book.

• Galactus explained that dark energy had weakened Banner’s soul and offered two ways to save him.
• Banner chose to let dark energy completely taint his soul, accepting the possibility of becoming Lu Qi’s subordinate.
• Lu Qi placed Banner’s soul in a dark crystal and asked Hulk to protect it while it absorbed dark energy.
• Galactus offered to teach Hulk to read and run experiments, and Hulk obediently followed him.
• Lu Qi returned home to pack and chose the unexplored coordinate marked “Danger,” which led him toward Dark Ruler Gatanothor.