Chapter Summaries

Su Ming left Sepulk alone to seek the greatest expert in quantum physics, traveling to Kahndaq to find the hidden figure he expected to be watching the city’s recovery. He confronted the golden-armored man and identified him as Pharaoh.

• Su Ming used the Anti-Mother Boxes to send the others on their chosen errands while he prepared to travel alone.
• He told the Adjutant that he was heading near Kahndaq and asked her to contact Wade and Ciri if he did not return within three days.
• Su Ming arrived in the ruins of Kahndaq and recited a poem about Ozymandias beside the remains of a statue.
• A golden-armored man approached Su Ming in the ruins and asked how he had found him.
• Su Ming explained that he had guessed the man would come to Kahndaq to observe humanity’s suffering, then called him Pharaoh.

Su Ming sought Ozymandias to learn how to find Doctor Manhattan and understand Darkseid's power. Ozymandias revealed Manhattan had died as a person and proposed using Tenth Metal to reconnect with him.

• Ozymandias appeared before Su Ming and reflected that humanity could not escape self-destruction or hide the truth forever.
• Su Ming asked Ozymandias where Doctor Manhattan was, and Ozymandias said Manhattan had died during the missing decade after losing his sense of being alive.
• Su Ming explained that he wanted to reach Manhattan to learn what Darkseid's claim to existence meant.
• Ozymandias asked Su Ming to lend him his Tenth Metal and proposed using its connection to human hearts to test whether Jon Osterman still recognized them.

Su Ming and Ozymandias summoned Doctor Manhattan with a Tachyon Emitter and asked him where the true Darkseid was. After Manhattan gave an obscure answer and vanished, Ozymandias departed, and Su Ming arranged to meet Barry in the Speed Force Plane.

• Su Ming supplied Tenth Metal for Ozymandias's Tachyon Emitter, which Ozymandias activated to draw Doctor Manhattan out.
• Su Ming asked Doctor Manhattan where Darkseid was, and Manhattan said the true Darkseid had transcended human understanding and possessed an incalculable future.
• Doctor Manhattan told Ozymandias to stop his prank and disappeared; Ozymandias returned the Tenth Metal disk to Su Ming and left.
• Black Adam arrived and objected to Ozymandias calling him a mad dog, but Su Ming asked him to tell Batwoman that he had seen a butterfly.
• Su Ming asked his Adjutant whether Barry was home, then decided to visit him and discuss matters in the Speed Force Plane.

A middle-aged man seeking power found Psycho-Pirate in a strange two-dimensional house and put on the Medusa Mask to answer three questions. He answered the first question to Psycho-Pirate’s approval, but still had two questions to face.

• A middle-aged man followed rumors to a remote town in search of The Loner’s promised treasure.
• He found a two-dimensional house and entered a dark space where Psycho-Pirate waited beside the Medusa Mask.
• The man put on the mask despite Psycho-Pirate’s warning that it amplified emotions and could not be removed.
• Psycho-Pirate asked what people could know, and the man answered that their sensory organs limited what they could know.
• Psycho-Pirate accepted the answer and prepared to continue the test.

Psycho-Pirate questioned Roger Hayden about reality and identity, then revealed the paper-like universe and the reboots from which he alone remained excluded. After the Medusa Mask killed the man, Psycho-Pirate heard a voice telling him he had never listened to his own question.

• Roger Hayden asked Psycho-Pirate whether he had reached the boundary of the world, and Psycho-Pirate questioned him about what was real.
• Roger said emotions were real even if the world was false, then described himself as an ordinary cook who wanted to do great things.
• Psycho-Pirate rejected Roger's answer and tore away the darkness, revealing a white, paper-like void beneath their universe.
• Roger panicked as the Medusa Mask magnified his fear, killed him, and fell from his face.
• Psycho-Pirate picked up the mask, but stopped when a voice from above told him he had never listened to his own question.

Psycho-Pirate met Darkseid in the Omega Universe and agreed to be remade in his image. After returning to Sepulk, Deathstroke explained that he planned to secure the hub by acquiring a Multiverse and altering the properties of the Spectre Universe and its connected realities.

• Psycho-Pirate learned that the white space he had mistaken for a realm beyond all things was only a period within the sentence “Darkseid Is.”
• Darkseid explained the connection between Despair, the Anti-Life Equation, its end, and Omega, then offered to remake Psycho-Pirate.
• Psycho-Pirate accepted Darkseid’s offer, and streams of black-gray energy engulfed him and changed his life form.
• Deathstroke returned Barry to his Central City home, left gifts for Barry and Patty, and departed after discussing preparations with Barry.
• Deathstroke returned to Sepulk and told the Adjutant he planned to acquire a Multiverse as insurance and use it to change the properties of the Spectre Universe and its connected realities.

Su Ming and his Symbiotes crossed a deserted stretch of the Inner World while Adjutant searched for information about the mysterious multiverse. They reached the silent Weidai Town, where Su Ming sensed danger and drew his Revolvers.

• Su Ming explained the desert's history and the old horse-drawn vehicles to Strangle as they traveled toward Jericho Hill.
• Adjutant reported that dark magic interfered with her scan, and Su Ming outlined his plans to find the Dark Tower and collect Crystal Balls.
• Adjutant detected a town to the northeast, and Su Ming flew there hoping to find a map or a bar.
• Su Ming arrived at Weidai Town and found it deserted, with signs of blood and something lurking underground and in the dark.
• Strangle warned Su Ming about the hidden danger, and Su Ming drew both Revolvers beneath the midday sun.

Su Ming and Strangle fought off a swarm of Super Mutants that had been using the town as a trap. After learning that a human survivor was hiding in a well, Su Ming headed there to rescue them.

• Su Ming explained that the town and its monsters fit the multiverse's post-nuclear wasteland setting.
• Super Mutants burst out of the ground and attacked Su Ming and Strangle.
• Su Ming shot the attackers with his revolvers, then used a Gatling Gun to kill them all.
• Strangle tasted a Super Mutant's brain matter and spat it out in disgust.
• Strangle detected a weak but living human inside a well, so Su Ming went to rescue them.

Su Ming rescued Peipei, a modern New Yorker who had become stranded in the Dark Tower’s desolate Inner World, and learned that Adjutant had found no leads on Merlin’s Rainbow. He set off with Peipei for the human city of Gilead, hoping to find a library and perhaps one of the Crystal Balls.

• Su Ming sent Cloak into a dry well to rescue an unconscious girl and had Strangle read her memories.
• Strangle discovered that the girl was Peipei, who had lived in New York in 1998 before her computer exploded and brought her to this world.
• Su Ming ordered Strangle to treat Peipei and learned that Adjutant had no leads on Merlin’s Rainbow.
• Adjutant projected a map showing Gilead, the planet’s last major human settlement, thousands of kilometers away.
• Su Ming packed liquor, carried Peipei on Cloak, and flew toward Gilead.

Su Ming reviewed the Dark Tower Multiverse’s creation and its descent into darkness before arriving at Jili’s largest human settlement on the day of the Gunslinger trial. He observed candidate Gunslingers preparing to prove themselves in a world where guns were more precious than human lives.

• Su Ming recalled how Prim gave rise to Gan and Merlin, whose magic and technology helped humanity build a prosperous multiversal kingdom.
• Merlin’s games led the Ancients to create a weapon that destroyed every world, after which Gan restarted the multiverse and Merlin spread darkness through The Charyou Tree.
• Su Ming landed on the walls of a ruined settlement in Jili, the Extermina, where the day coincided with the annual Gunslinger trial.
• Su Ming saw children from Gunslinger families face a burly man as they tried to prove they could survive the wasteland and keep their Revolvers.

Su Ming entered Gilead carrying an unconscious girl and used his gun to deter locals who tried to rob him. After checking into an inn, he asked where he could find a Witcher or a witch.

• Deathstroke carried the unconscious girl past the city gate while the bald trainer whipped children for staring at his guns.
• Su Ming entered Gilead and surveyed its ruined towers, filthy streets, and frightened residents.
• A boy tried to charge Su Ming for directions as another attempted to pick his pocket, so Su Ming pointed his revolver at the thief and demanded the inn’s location.
• Su Ming reached the crowded inn, paid the innkeeper with gold nuggets, and asked for whiskey, a room, and directions to a nearby Witcher or witch.

Su Ming questioned an innkeeper about Mr. Marden and a route toward Middle World, then dealt with the men who followed him upstairs. He explained to Peipei that she had died on Earth and offered her a choice about what to do next.

• Su Ming paid the innkeeper for a map to Mr. Marden, who was said to be at a brothel or the gunslinger leader’s home.
• Su Ming asked about a Teleportation Portal to Middle World, but the innkeeper said he knew only that gunslingers searched for a door in the wilderness.
• Several men followed Su Ming upstairs, and Strangle made them disappear without a fight.
• Su Ming carried Peipei into his room and asked whether she was awake.
• Peipei opened her eyes after Su Ming told her she had died on Earth and arrived in Inner World.
• Su Ming introduced himself as Deathstroke and told Peipei she could try to die and return to Earth or stay in the city.

Su Ming left Peipei behind with weapons and supplies, then explained to the Adjutant that he suspected Merlin had placed her in his path to entangle him in the Dark Tower’s story. He continued toward Marden and asked the Adjutant to find someone to accompany him.

• Peipei asked Su Ming to help her return home, but he gave her bullets, gold, instant noodles, and a Revolver before leaving her alone.
• The Adjutant questioned why Su Ming did not bring Peipei along, and he said that involving himself with her might serve Merlin’s scheme.
• Su Ming reasoned that Merlin had used Peipei as a link to drag him into the Dark Tower Multiverse’s events.
• Su Ming told the Adjutant that he needed to remain vigilant and keep his power above the multiverse’s level to avoid becoming Merlin’s pawn.
• Su Ming headed toward Marden and asked the Adjutant to find someone who was free to travel with him.

Su Ming brought Magik along to retaliate against Merlin, whose many aliases and false leads had shaped Roland’s endless quest for the Dark Tower. They went to find Marden, one of Merlin’s identities, and the women at the entrance pointed out his room.

• Su Ming chose Magik to join the trip because she understood magic and could fight, and she arrived eager to travel with him.
• Magik explained that her Bloodstone let her draw on the dark surroundings and retain her own magic, then changed into cowboy clothes and made herself a hat.
• Su Ming told Magik they would find Marden and give him an intense greeting because Merlin had set a trap for him.
• Su Ming described how Merlin used many identities to guide Roland through repeated journeys toward the Dark Tower.
• Su Ming paid the women outside the building to reveal Marden’s room, and one pointed toward the ruined building behind her.

Su Ming used Joker gas to prank Marden, a physical duplicate of Merlin, in a brothel. After Marden fell to his death while laughing, Su Ming sent Strangle to search the corpse’s memories and declared that his game with Merlin had only begun.

• Su Ming paid a woman to lure Marden’s companion out of his room, then prepared a Joker badge with Magik watching.
• Su Ming threw the badge through Marden’s window, filling the room with laughing gas and making Marden laugh uncontrollably.
• Su Ming and Magik listened as Marden’s laughter drew the brothel’s occupants into conversation.
• Marden fell naked from the building and died on the cobblestones, still grinning.
• Su Ming sent Strangle to read Marden’s memories, recognized him as a physical duplicate, and announced the start of his game with Merlin.

Su Ming killed Marden, a Merlin fragment, and used his memories to guide the search for doors and the Crystal Ball. As he and Magik left the city, he explained his plan to replace Merlin’s game mechanics and remake the multiverse.

• Strangle extracted Marden’s memories, revealing nearby door locations but little about Merlin’s larger plans.
• Su Ming left Marden’s body behind and set out with Magik to search the wilderness for doors and the Crystal Ball.
• Su Ming warned Magik that the city’s beggars were dangerous and explained that radiation and suffering served as entertainment for Merlin.
• Su Ming told Magik he planned to overwrite Merlin’s mechanics and remake the multiverse, with Gan’s cooperation or backup plans.
• Magik affirmed her faith in Su Ming as they continued toward the city gate.

Su Ming and Magik explored the Overlook Hotel after entering it through a door in a mass grave, and they discovered they were in the world of The Shining. They headed upstairs to search Room 217 or Room 237 for another way out, while skeletons watched them from the lobby.

• Su Ming answered a ghostly call with a fake psychiatric hotline, and Magik frightened the caller into hanging up.
• Su Ming explained the competing theories about whether the Overlook Hotel's horrors came from ghosts or Jack's delusions.
• Su Ming and Magik crossed the lobby and planned to search Room 217 or Room 237 for an exit.
• Skeletons covered in spider webs turned their skulls toward Su Ming and Magik as they passed.

Su Ming and Magik explored the Overlook Hotel, treating its supernatural horrors as entertainment and collecting Jack’s typewriter and manuscript pages. After a flood of blood poured from the elevators, they remained unharmed and Su Ming demanded a more exciting scare.

• Su Ming greeted the silent skeletons and took Magik into a side room to investigate a typewriter typing Jack’s repeated sentence.
• Magik recorded a video of the typewriter, and Adjutant sent it to Kamar-Taj’s “Loving Family” group chat.
• An invisible force smashed a chair and lamp and tried to take the typewriter, but Strangle protected it while Magik collected Jack’s Manuscript pages.
• Su Ming and Magik approached the elevators, where a torrent of blood burst out and engulfed them.
• After the blood receded, Su Ming and Magik stood unharmed, and Su Ming challenged the hotel to produce a stronger scare.

Su Ming taught Magik how to deal with ghosts as they explored the haunted hotel. After the twins attacked them, he drove them away by feeding them unpleasant Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and the pair continued through the restored corridor.

• Su Ming and Magik rode the elevator to the second floor despite its violent supernatural transformations.
• Su Ming explained different levels of poltergeist activity and noted that the hotel stood on an Indian ancestral burial ground.
• Twin girls appeared in the corridor and attacked by spraying blood at Su Ming and Magik.
• Su Ming threw Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans into the twins’ mouths, causing them to vomit black water and disappear.
• Su Ming explained that the beans contained unwanted flavors, and Magik recoiled at the thought of eating them.

Su Ming and Magik searched the looping Overlook Hotel corridors for Rooms 217 and 237 before a blood-covered John Constantine emerged from Room 216. After Magik cleaned him up, Constantine smoked and began explaining that he had escaped with intelligence, leaving Su Ming to question why he had appeared in another Multiverse.

• Su Ming and Magik continued searching the hotel corridors but could not find Rooms 217 or 237.
• Su Ming and Magik paused to rest, and a blood-covered figure rushed out of Room 216.
• Su Ming recognized the figure as John Constantine and stopped Magik from attacking him.
• Magik used a cleaning spell on Constantine, who complained that it had damaged his coat's protective spells.
• Constantine said he had escaped with intelligence, and Su Ming questioned how he had ended up in a different Multiverse.