Chapter Summaries

After training with Superman, Zuo Ci tested the Power Transfer Gloves on him, but Superman’s immense power overloaded and destroyed one. Superman promised Zuo Ci a favor in compensation, leaving both men convinced they had struck a generous bargain.

• Zuo Ci fought Superman in training and accepted his loss, while Superman praised Zuo Ci’s skill and talent.
• Superman asked to examine the Power Transfer Gloves, and Zuo Ci handed them over.
• Superman put on a glove and clasped hands with Zuo Ci to test a power transfer, but neither man’s power changed.
• Zuo Ci’s system reported that Superman’s power had overloaded and destroyed the glove.
• Superman apologized and agreed to owe Zuo Ci a favor, while Zuo Ci privately celebrated the trade.

Zuo Ci let Conquest remain at the nursing home under constant monitoring after confirming he preferred Earth to Viltrum. At the Global Defense Agency base, Zuo Ci met Allen and discussed the growing team for the expedition against the Viltrumites, though the departure had to wait until others settled personal matters.

• Conquest accepted that the Global Defense Agency would transfer him, but Zuo Ci removed his cuffs and allowed him to stay at the nursing home under constant monitoring.
• Zuo Ci asked Conquest whether he preferred Earth or Viltrum, and Conquest immediately chose Earth.
• Zuo Ci returned to the Global Defense Agency base and greeted Allen, who had heard about him from Mark.
• Zuo Ci listed Mark, Oliver, Tech Jacket, and Superman among Earth's five expedition members, alongside Allen, Thaddeus, Space Racer, and Nolan.
• Zuo Ci learned that the departure would be delayed while Zoe said goodbye to her family and Nolan and Mark handled personal matters.
• Zuo Ci decided to use the extra time to prepare and look for a way to get money from Cecil.

After Zuo Ci’s ship leaves Earth, Cecil celebrates his departure but worries about the billions he took from the Global Defense Agency. Aboard the ship, Zuo Ci plays games with Oliver and Zoe, then talks with Superman about children and Mark’s family situation.

• The Global Defense Agency confirms that Zuo Ci’s ship has left Earth’s orbit, and Cecil celebrates while fretting over the agency’s depleted budget.
• Oliver and Zoe beat Zuo Ci at a video game, and he gives them snacks as their prize.
• Superman joins Zuo Ci and the children, and Zuo Ci explains why he enjoys spending time with kids.
• Zuo Ci shows Oliver and Zoe the Santa Hat, and they admire it after learning he once filled in as Santa Claus.
• Superman asks about Mark but hesitates to explain that Mark is spending time with Nolan while Oliver is left out.

Thalia’s crew was intercepted in Viltrumite territory, but Zuo Ci protected their ship while Superman defeated the attackers. The group captured the Viltrumite warship and faced the question of what to do with its enslaved passengers.

• Zuo Ci warned Thalia that the enemy had found them and used Buffer stacks to protect the ship from the Viltrumite warship’s attack.
• Thalia opened the hatch, and the crew went outside while Zuo Ci stayed aboard to protect the ship.
• Lucan and Kragg attacked the group, but Superman struck them back and continued fighting them.
• Mark and the others moved to disable the warship so its attacks would not hinder Superman.
• Superman defeated Lucan and Kragg, and the group captured the warship.
• Superman asked what they would do with the slaves aboard the ship.

Zuo Ci took control of the Viltrumite warship’s enslaved crew by promising them generous working conditions, though he planned to exploit them and hand them over to the Alliance later. He then began testing a replacement Power Transfer Glove on the injured Viltrumites, setting his battery project in motion.

• Zuo Ci silenced the warship’s captured soldiers with an intimidating display and declared them under his control.
• Zuo Ci promised the soldiers pay, benefits, and time off, and they cheered him as their savior.
• Zuo Ci told Allen and Superman that he had made the promises to keep the crew working, planned to hand them over to the Alliance, and intended to search them for valuables first.
• Zuo Ci showed Allen, Mark, Superman, and Nolan a new Power Transfer Glove and explained that it worked on objects as well as living beings.
• Zuo Ci put the glove on a plastic mannequin and pressed an injured Viltrumite’s hand against it to begin his Viltrumite battery project.

Zuo Ci and the others arrived at Thraxia to meet Coalition Chairman Thaedus, but War Beast attacked Superman after sensing his strength. Zuo Ci stopped him with cat wands, then apparently killed him while attempting to remove his curse.

• Zuo Ci, Allen, Superman, and Thalia arrived at Thraxia and headed to Coalition headquarters to meet Chairman Thaedus.
• War Beast burst into headquarters and challenged Allen to fight, then turned his attention to Superman after sensing his power.
• War Beast charged Superman, but Zuo Ci distracted him with cat wands and made him promise not to attack Superman.
• Zuo Ci gave War Beast two potions and transferred the power of two Viltrumites into himself.
• Zuo Ci used Grasp Heart on War Beast, who collapsed and died.

Zuo Ci killed War Beast to temporarily remove the curse that plagued him, then revived and cured him with two potions. When War Beast could not pay for the treatment, Thaedus offered Coalition funds and led everyone to discuss how to deal with the Viltrumites.

• Zuo Ci killed War Beast, then explained that the death was part of his plan to remove the curse.
• War Beast revived, drank Zuo Ci's potions, and discovered that his curse and bloodlust were gone.
• Zuo Ci demanded payment for the treatment, and War Beast admitted he had no money.
• Thaedus offered to pay with Coalition funds, while Zuo Ci refused to provide more resurrection potions.
• Thaedus led Zuo Ci, War Beast, Superman, Allen, and the others to the conference room to discuss the Viltrumites.

Zuo Ci led War Beast, Zoe, and Oliver to Viltrum and used his abilities to breach the planet’s shield and release Super Itch Powder. He returned to the warship after sealing the shield, leaving the Viltrumites trapped and itching.

• Zoe admired Viltrum’s purple planetary ring until Oliver explained it was made of Viltrumite corpses.
• When a Viltrumite approached the warship, Zuo Ci had War Beast strike him and used Boogie Woogie to swap places with him.
• Zuo Ci used Sticky Fingers to unzip Viltrum’s shield and dropped specially made missiles that spread Super Itch Powder across the planet.
• Viltrumites tried to flee through the opening, but Zuo Ci restored the shield and they crashed into it.
• Zuo Ci returned to the warship and told Oliver that the missiles contained Super Itch Powder, not the Scourge Virus.

Zuo Ci and War Beast captured and drained the Viltrumites on Viltrum, while Superman and the Alliance defeated the slave armies and surrounded Thaedus’s last forces. The chapter ended with Superman overwhelming the remaining Viltrumites as the two Thaeduses fought on uncertain terms.

• War Beast and Zuo Ci surveyed the devastation caused by Zuo Ci’s itching powder and brought the surviving Viltrumites aboard their warship.
• Zuo Ci treated the Viltrumites, drained their power into energy-storage dummies, and left Oliver and Zoe to watch them while Oliver was sent off to do homework.
• Superman helped the Alliance defeat the Viltrumite slave armies, and the liberated planets joined the war against Viltrum.
• Alliance Speaker Thaedus called on the battered Thaedus to surrender, but Thaedus charged him in rage, and the two began fighting.
• Allen, Mark, and Omni-Man Nolan fought individual Viltrumites while Superman fought the rest; the Space Knight filmed the battle between the two Thaeduses at Superman’s request.
• Superman and the Alliance forces gained the upper hand, while the outcome of the fight between Thaedus and Thaedus remained uncertain.

Thaedus was defeated by the Coalition and appeared to surrender, but he seized Nolan as a hostage to escape. Zuo Ci returned with the late emperor’s skull and taunted Thaedus until he abandoned Nolan and charged at him.

• Allen knocked Thaedus away from Thaedus as Nolan tossed the injured Thaedus to the Space Knights and urged him to surrender.
• Thaedus saw that the Coalition had defeated the other Viltrumites and raised his hands in surrender, asking to be executed by one of his own people.
• Nolan agreed to execute Thaedus, but Thaedus seized him by the throat and threatened to kill him unless everyone let him leave.
• Zuo Ci appeared holding the late emperor’s skull and mocked Thaedus by handling it roughly.
• Thaedus threw Nolan aside and charged at Zuo Ci in a rage.

Zuo Ci defeated Thaedus with a projection and the Space Knight’s motorcycle, then returned to Earth and extracted Angstrom’s portal power. He ended the chapter back in his Lounge with the power secured on a DISC.

• Zuo Ci tricked Thaedus into attacking his Projection, then trapped him beneath the Space Knight’s motorcycle inside a hamster wheel.
• Superman rescued Thaedus, Nolan, Allen, and Mark and took them back to the ship for help.
• Zuo Ci returned to Earth and recounted the Viltrumite War to the Guardians at the Global Defense Agency base.
• Zuo Ci teleported into Angstrom’s cell and used White Snake to extract Angstrom’s portal power onto a DISC.
• Zuo Ci put away the DISC and teleported back to his Lounge.

Zuo Ci began upgrading his system and returned to Gotham, expecting only a month to have passed. He found the city devastated by rampaging monsters, spreading plants, gang warfare, and an approaching tsunami.

• Zuo Ci decided to spend three hundred trillion on the system's second upgrade so he could exchange money for points.
• The system began upgrading, then told Zuo Ci it had to be in his original world for the process to continue.
• Zuo Ci told Superman he would return later, opened a portal with his communicator disc, and traveled back to Gotham.
• Zuo Ci arrived in Gotham and found enormous plants consuming the city, monsters and gangs fighting, and districts reduced to wreckage.
• Zuo Ci saw a gigantic tsunami approaching Gotham and questioned how the city had fallen into chaos while he was away.

Zuo Ci returned to a devastated Gotham and learned that monstrous plants and creatures had overwhelmed the city while the federal government abandoned its injured residents. Unable to summon Superman, he healed a refugee camp and headed toward the East End to deal with the crisis himself.

• Zuo Ci met Kirk Langstrom, who explained that giant plants and monsters had appeared in Gotham three days earlier and that he had been rescuing people as Man-Bat.
• Kirk told Zuo Ci that Batman had organized evacuations, while the federal government had sent troops that were defeated and then refused to help residents escape.
• Zuo Ci contacted Alfred, who said Batman trusted him to handle the crisis and suggested starting in the East End, where conditions were most urgent.
• Zuo Ci tried to open a Portal to bring Superman back but failed because the energy had gone haywire.
• Zuo Ci cast Bathing in Spring over the camp, healing the injured and exhausted residents, then tossed down flyers for his shop and flew toward the East End.

Wonder Woman and Jack battled a rapidly strengthening Solomon Grundy in Gotham's East End until Zuo Ci intervened and identified him. Zuo Ci realized the transformation might be connected to the ash of decay.

• Wonder Woman and Jack fought Solomon Grundy for hours, then coordinated to restrain him as Jack used an extreme dose of his drug and a joint lock.
• The ground collapsed before Wonder Woman could bind Solomon Grundy with the Lasso of Truth, allowing him to break free and send Jack flying.
• Zuo Ci used Boogie Woogie to swap places with Jack, rescued Jack and Wonder Woman, and began striking Solomon Grundy through the air.
• Jack warned Zuo Ci that Solomon Grundy was immortal and needed to be restrained, so Zuo Ci brought him down and asked who he was.
• Jack explained that Solomon Grundy had suddenly lost control and grown stronger and more monstrous, prompting Zuo Ci to suspect the ash of decay.

Zuo Ci and Wonder Woman restrained Solomon Grundy as strange forces swept through Gotham. After Alfred reported that the Flash had gone missing, they headed for Gotham Theater to find Barry.

• Zuo Ci suspected the ash of decay had caused Solomon Grundy's transformation and that other powerful forces had also arrived in Gotham.
• Wonder Woman introduced herself to Zuo Ci, and they worked together to bind Solomon Grundy with her lasso and Zuo Ci's butter.
• Zuo Ci gave Jack baskets of butter to keep Solomon Grundy immobilized and explained why a Hypno-shroom would not make the rampaging creature obey them.
• Alfred changed their destination to Gotham Theater after the group lost contact with the Flash.
• Wonder Woman grew alarmed when she learned that Barry had disappeared despite using his speed to save Gotham's residents.

Zuo Ci and Diana fought through Gotham’s hazards with help from summoned zombies, then rescued Robin from a mass of vines. Robin introduced himself as Batman’s assistant, leaving Diana suspicious of his revealing uniform and Batman’s motives.

• Diana and Zuo Ci struggled through Gotham’s dangerous streets as strange plants blocked their way.
• Zuo Ci summoned zombies from another world, and they ate through the plants while repeatedly reassembling after being smashed.
• Zuo Ci and Diana followed the cleared route toward Gotham Theater until they heard a child scream.
• Diana and Zuo Ci found Robin trapped in vines, and Zuo Ci freed him with Herbicide.
• Robin introduced himself as Batman’s assistant, and Zuo Ci quietly suggested to Diana that some universes had a romantic relationship between Batman and Robin.

Zuo Ci learned that Dick had sneaked out to help Gotham deal with escaped criminals’ traps while Batman was occupied with Joker, so he sent Diana to protect Dick and gave Riddler drones to assist. Zuo Ci then set off to find The Flash, but an artillery shell struck him and the nearby forces fled in terror.

• Zuo Ci healed Dick and joked that he would sue Batman for making a child work in dangerous conditions.
• Dick admitted he had sneaked out because escaped criminals had planted traps, poison gas, and bombs around Gotham while Batman confronted Joker.
• Riddler denied causing the chaos, and Dick explained that Riddler had been helping locate the traps and bombs.
• Zuo Ci apologized for suspecting Riddler and gave him drones to control.
• Zuo Ci sent Diana to protect Dick as he went to find The Flash.
• An artillery shell hit Zuo Ci, and the surrounding planes and tanks fled when they recognized him.

Zuo Ci captured Caesar and the soldiers who had taken over Gotham’s military equipment, then launched them from cannons before heading to Gotham Theater to find The Flash. The theater’s interference disrupted his Communicator and electronics, and the lights went out as he entered.

• Caesar fled when Zuo Ci appeared, while the soldiers he abandoned dismissed him as a coward and prepared to fight.
• Zuo Ci captured Caesar and the soldiers, then used cannon launches to send them flying into the sky.
• Alfred interrupted Zuo Ci’s punishment to remind him that The Flash’s whereabouts were still unknown, so Zuo Ci launched the remaining captives together and continued on.
• Zuo Ci reached Gotham Theater and found that approaching it had disrupted his Communicator and other electronics.
• Zuo Ci entered the theater despite the interference, and its lights went out as he walked into the dark corridor.

Zuo Ci was caught in a terrifying Warhammer battlefield after losing his powers, only to return to Gotham Theater and discover the vision had been triggered by toxic gas. He rescued The Flash, and Barry began containing the gas while Zuo Ci left to handle something else.

• Zuo Ci woke in a battlefield where Dark Eldar, Necrons, Genestealer Cultists, Chaos forces, and Orks overwhelmed him, then was kicked back to Gotham Theater by a flash of golden light.
• Zuo Ci’s gas mask identified Fear Toxin and Bane’s Venom, and he realized the battlefield may have been a hallucination caused by inhaling the chemicals.
• Zuo Ci searched the theater and found The Flash unconscious in the screening room, surrounded by dead Gangsters’ underlings.
• Zuo Ci learned Barry had been rescuing Gotham’s citizens before toxic gas knocked him out, and he gave him chocolate to restore his energy.
• Barry ran around the theater to contain the toxic gas while Zuo Ci said he had something else to do and left.

Zaragu escaped Hell into Gotham, only to find the city overrun by monstrous plants and other dangers. Killer Croc rescued him from the pursuing plants, but Croc was wounded until military reinforcements arrived, leaving him shocked by what he had saved.

• Zaragu emerged from Hell into a war-torn Gotham and immediately tried to flee back underground.
• Killer Croc grabbed Zaragu while escaping from a pursuing horde of armed plants.
• Zaragu saw the plants attack, including a giant Chomper, projectile-spitting plants, and rolling creatures.
• A Cherry Bomb blasted Killer Croc, leaving him badly wounded as the Chomper lunged to eat him.
• Military reinforcements fired a shell into the Chomper and shot down the plants, while Killer Croc wondered what he had rescued.