Chapter Summaries

Su Ming explored the deserted city in the Fourth Trial and gathered gifts before approaching one of its few inhabitants. He suspected that the city’s strange energy and the larger structure of reality concealed deeper mysteries, but reserved judgment until he reached higher levels.

• Su Ming arrived in a city with complete infrastructure but almost no signs of life, and he sensed seven humanlike inhabitants.
• Su Ming reassured Bean Sprout that they would prepare by visiting a mall and bringing gifts to the inhabitants.
• Su Ming found his Concept Power working more freely, then flew to the mall and collected cosmetics, drinks, clothes, bags, and pastries.
• Strangle observed that the goods held Mystery’s power, while Cloak absorbed the abundant Deviants energy until it was nearly overwhelmed.
• Su Ming wondered whether the Omniverse might be a toy for alien beings, then flew toward one of the seven inhabitants.

Su Ming, as Deathstroke, explored the City of Action and met Norwell in its enormous library to ask about reaching a higher level. Norwell taught him that truth changes with understanding, and Deathstroke ended the chapter probing whether Mystery had an unchanging origin behind all change.

• Su Ming chose the library as his first stop in the City of Action, where his senses detected a lifeform.
• Deathstroke entered the library with a designer handbag as a gift and found a hooded woman named Norwell.
• Deathstroke asked Norwell for guidance on reaching a higher level, and she said the path lay in understanding Mystery.
• Norwell asked what truth was, then explained that truth changed along with people's understanding.
• After Norwell swallowed a soda bottle, Deathstroke asked whether Mystery had an unchanging point of origin that represented all change.

Deathstroke questioned Norwell about the universe’s hidden design and the nature of Mystery, but she offered only cryptic guidance before making the library vanish. Su Ming left with little confidence in her answers and planned to question the city’s other creatures to verify them.

• Deathstroke deliberately made a mistaken claim about Mystery to prompt Norwell to explain that its design could be everywhere and beyond human understanding.
• Norwell described humanity’s ideas of gods, the Absolute, and unknown forces as different attempts to understand the same design, then said the search for answers was a process given meaning by those who pursued it.
• The books in the library blazed with light as Norwell told Deathstroke to stop asking and leave, then disappeared among the shelves.
• Deathstroke escaped the trembling library, which vanished and left a park in its place.
• Su Ming judged Norwell’s answers vague and potentially unreliable, and Strangler Sprout suggested comparing what the city’s other creatures said.

Su Ming questioned a second informant, a woman in a hospital who spoke in riddles about Mystery, life, and choice. He left without a direct answer, still seeking a path through the fourth stage toward The World of Creation.

• Su Ming agreed with Strangle that they should question the remaining creatures for information while continuing to seek a way out of the stage.
• Su Ming traveled to the city's largest hospital, where the world seemed to help him reach his destination.
• Su Ming met a featureless woman at the reception desk who recognized him as Deathstroke and accepted his soda.
• The woman said every life was like a book and that Deathstroke had faced sixty-five turning points, each involving a choice.
• Su Ming asked whether change related to time and whether life and death were connected to Mystery, but the woman answered indirectly and urged him to explore and experience it.

Su Ming questioned the white-robed life form, learned that she pointed him toward Mystery or CAAT, and headed for the next target. Meanwhile, aboard the spaceship, Deadpool’s stench and crude remarks sparked an argument with Kitty and Squirrel Girl.

• Su Ming asked the white-robed life form for more information, but she asked whether he sought Mystery or CAAT before vanishing with the hospital.
• Su Ming guessed the white-robed figure might be Erivelle and set out to question the remaining survivors and find a way into The World of Creation.
• Su Ming speculated that the stage might end after its seven life forms and buildings disappeared, while the Symbiotes warned that an eighth life form might exist.
• On the spaceship, Dream of a Thousand Cats refused to play with Deadpool because he smelled terrible, and Deadpool insisted his odor was manly.
• Deadpool mocked Gwenpool and suggested the spaceship was a love nest, prompting Squirrel Girl to attack him with nuts and her tail.

Deadpool decided to track CAAT through the reality layer to help Deathstroke, while the others questioned whether he could survive the attempt. Peter volunteered to join him, but Jessica knocked Peter unconscious before he could leave.

• After the girls finished roughing up Deadpool, he announced that he planned to investigate CAAT and become the universe’s top mercenary.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats warned Deadpool that CAAT was too dangerous and that he might reveal their universe’s location.
• Deadpool explained that he planned to follow CAAT through the reality layer and find its lair, betting that his popularity would keep him alive.
• Jessica agreed that Deadpool might survive through his Popularity Immortality Theory, and Spider-Man volunteered to accompany him.
• Jessica stopped Peter from joining Deadpool by knocking him unconscious with a cafeteria frying pan.

Deadpool went to Afterlife Nightclub to ask Lucifer for help locating where CAAT might attack next. Lucifer said he had only encountered CAAT a few times, leaving Deadpool uncertain whether he could help.

• Everyone agreed Peter should stay behind, and Deadpool set out to find Lucifer.
• Deadpool explained his three-step plan to trap CAAT and said he intended to let it swallow him so he could escape from inside.
• Deadpool entered the nightclub and told Lucifer he needed help predicting CAAT’s next appearance.
• Lucifer admitted he had encountered CAAT only a few times and asked whether Deadpool believed that was all he knew.

Deadpool persuaded Lucifer to take him along to investigate CAAT, while Justice Incarnate organized a multiverse-wide defense effort. The chapter ended with Batwoman enduring the brightly lit meeting as Black Superman rallied the heroes.

• Deadpool asked Lucifer to take him along to try their luck against CAAT, and Lucifer agreed after Elaine blessed them.
• Deadpool rejected Elaine's blessing, then left with Lucifer after making a crude joke.
• Batwoman attended a Justice Incarnate meeting at the Hall of Justice in the Bleed Layer as a witness and consultant.
• President Black Superman briefed the heroes on CAAT and called for stronger defenses and coordination across the universes.
• Batwoman stood beneath the chamber's bright lights while Black Superman delivered his closing speech.

President Superman rallied Justice Incarnate to protect the worlds and sent its heroes back to their duties, though he privately worried they could not stop CAAT. Meanwhile, Deathstroke arrived at an eerie amusement park in The World of Action, where the third life form he sought was watching him.

• President Superman delivered a speech that renewed the heroes’ hope and urged them to keep protecting their worlds.
• The assembled Justice Leagues and other hero teams left the Hall of Justice to return to their worlds.
• Earth-0’s Batwoman reassured President Superman that Justice Incarnate was a backup plan and that Deathstroke would try to resolve the threat of CAAT.
• Deathstroke, cut off from Adjutant, arrived at the deserted Amusement Park with the Symbiote and sensed that Batman might have been talking about him.
• Deathstroke and the Symbiote noticed the Mysterious Life Form watching them from inside the park.

Su Ming spoke with a red-robed Mysterious Life Form about happiness, then continued exploring The World of Action and tested whether its drinks could help Strangle evolve. He left with four Mysterious Life Forms still to meet and no clear answer to the stage’s Mystery.

• Su Ming met the red-robed Mysterious Life Form at the Amusement Park and offered her orange soda while asking about the hidden Mysteries.
• The Mysterious Life Form said happiness could help a story continue and that everyone’s happiness, like the current Mystery, was different.
• The Mysterious Life Form vanished, and the Amusement Park disappeared after Su Ming left; he noted that four Mysterious Life Forms remained.
• Su Ming reflected that the four stages corresponded to thought, consciousness, spirit, and manifestation, then stopped at a vending machine.
• Su Ming kicked the vending machine until it dispensed chocolate drink and gave it to Strangle, but Strangle felt something without experiencing a clear change.

Su Ming tried to awaken a new ability in Strangler Sprout by feeding it drinks infused with different Mystery powers, but the Symbiote remained just short of a breakthrough. Meanwhile, Deadpool explained his plan to let CAAT swallow him and revealed that Lucifer’s charm failed because Deadpool saw Lucifer as his own reflection.

• Su Ming had Strangler Sprout drink several vending-machine beverages, but it gained no new ability despite absorbing unfamiliar Deviants energy.
• Su Ming concluded that more drinks would not be enough without a leap in Strangler Sprout’s level of existence, then set off for the courthouse as the next side-quest location.
• Deadpool told the Nonexistent Audience that he planned to let CAAT eat him and attack from inside, relying on his immortality to survive.
• Deadpool explained that Lucifer’s supernatural charm did not affect him because he saw Lucifer as himself in a mirror.

Lucifer and Deadpool waited in the void for CAAT, while Deadpool dismissed Lucifer’s offer of demonic power and tested whether his weapons could harm the Demon King. Lucifer showed that Deadpool’s guns and Carbonadium katana were useless, then promised to retrieve his soul for the Hell Maze if he died.

• Deadpool explained that his vanity made him see Lucifer as an identical version of himself and that he had no interest in making a deal with a demon.
• Lucifer questioned Deadpool’s claim that he was the most handsome human, and Deadpool insisted his appearance and thirty-two abs proved it.
• Lucifer said they would wait for CAAT and send Deadpool into the multiverse it attacked, while Deadpool realized he had left his weapons backpack in a taxi.
• Lucifer demonstrated that Deadpool’s guns could not hurt him, then tested the Carbonadium katana and said its material was too weak to harm demons.
• Deadpool joked that his charm was his strongest weapon, and Lucifer threatened to put his soul in their shared Hell Maze if he died.

Deadpool was thrown into CAAT as it consumed a multiverse, while Su Ming reflected on the fourth Mysterious Life Form and the strange laughter in his head. Su Ming and Strangle then considered what CAAT might be before deciding to continue their mission.

• Deadpool watched CAAT reach into the Megaverse and attack a multiverse, then Lucifer threw him into its black fog so he could search for a way to help Cousin.
• CAAT withdrew after consuming the multiverse, and Lucifer watched it vanish from sight and perception.
• Deathstroke and Strangle heard the strange laughter again as they left the courthouse, and Su Ming wondered who or what was laughing.
• Su Ming counted knowledge, life and death, happiness, and authority among the four Undetermined States they had encountered, leaving three unknown.
• Su Ming and Strangle discussed whether CAAT was a kind of Mystery Consciousness and considered its relation to TOAA and TOBA.
• Strangle urged Su Ming to stop speculating, finish smoking, and continue to the next stop.

Su Ming considered how Mystery might be influencing events as he continued the trials and went to meet the fifth lifeform. At the water treatment plant, the woman in blue transformed into a powerful creature that Su Ming suspected was a derivative of TOBA, leaving him facing an uncertain enemy.

• Su Ming concluded that Mystery might be an autonomous force influencing beings and that CAAT was likely being driven by it.
• Su Ming and Strangle continued toward the fifth lifeform at a city water treatment plant, where he planned to complete the trial without listening to riddles.
• A woman in a blue robe accepted Su Ming's soda, then split open as a grotesque, slime-covered creature emerged from her body.
• The creature attacked Su Ming, and he blocked its foreclaw with his Lightsaber as the shockwave flattened the water treatment plant.
• Su Ming retreated several kilometers and suspected the creature was a derivative of TOBA, though Strangle questioned whether its identity was certain.

Deathstroke recognized Anti-Everything as TOBA’s ancient enforcer, which had survived because the altered Timeline left it without the heroes who once defeated it. He prepared to face the creature while searching for a way to kill it without sacrificing himself, and Anti-Everything remained poised to counter any attempt to use time travel against it.

• Deathstroke identified Anti-Everything and recalled how Doctor Strange had once gathered the power of four Firmaments to help Lifebringer One defeat it.
• Deathstroke realized that his arrival as Sorcerer Supreme had changed history, leaving Anti-Everything alive to hunt him.
• Anti-Everything examined the wound Deathstroke’s sword had dealt it instead of pursuing him, while Deathstroke suspected TOBA had sent it to destroy everything.
• Deathstroke raised the Black Sun and considered Anti-Everything’s ability to counter physical, magical, conceptual, and Timeline-based attacks.
• Strangle suggested retrieving Lifebringer One, but Deathstroke rejected the idea and worried that a Timeline chase would leave CAAT free to act.

Su Ming faced Anti-Everything, a black-mist dragon that opposed its enemies’ actions and fed on the energy of The World of Action. He descended to confront it, still searching for a way to overcome its taunts and countering nature.

• Su Ming considered how to fight Anti-Everything and reasoned that its power countered actions more than thoughts.
• Anti-Everything emerged as a small, shifting black-mist dragon and began consuming energy from The World of Action.
• Anti-Everything taunted Deathstroke with shrieks and playful movements, refusing to attack or behave as expected.
• Su Ming descended toward Anti-Everything and wondered how to handle the enemy’s unusual defenses.

Deathstroke tried to exploit Anti-Everything’s curiosity by staging a Daoist ritual and claiming it would let them compare their darkness. He finished by unleashing a theatrically named attack at the Black Sun, leaving Anti-Everything baffled.

• Deathstroke left Anti-Everything behind to search for environmental factors he could use against it, while the black dragon followed at a distance.
• Deathstroke challenged Anti-Everything to compare their Dark Concepts, and the dragon silently accepted by watching him begin.
• Deathstroke used black smoke to create a starry night and, with Strangle’s help, dressed as a Daoist while assembling an elaborate altar.
• Deathstroke performed a series of ritual gestures and chants, including the nonsensical words “Makabala, Makka Pakka.”
• Deathstroke pointed his sword at the Black Sun and shouted, “Invincible Thunderbolt, Myriad Gods and Buddhas Shake Their Heads in Fear, Positron City-Breaking Cannon!”

Deathstroke escaped Anti-Everything by blinding it and hiding in the sewers of The World of Action, then headed toward the sixth of the Seven Fairies while considering how to defeat it permanently. Meanwhile, Deadpool learned of Deathstroke’s predicament through the Livestream and tried to figure out where he was so he could help.

• Deathstroke blinded Anti-Everything with the Black Sun’s eruption and escaped from the altar into the sewers.
• Anti-Everything realized it had been tricked, took to the air, and began searching the city for Deathstroke.
• Deathstroke discussed ways to eliminate Anti-Everything with the Symbiotes as he traveled toward the sixth of the Seven Fairies.
• Deathstroke considered using the Timeline to lure Anti-Everything into countering itself but noted that returning to the Omniverse would require backtracking.
• Deadpool learned through the Livestream that Deathstroke was cornered and planned to rescue him, but first tried to identify his location by describing what he could feel.

Deadpool explored a pitch-black passage after finding himself inside CAAT, while joking with his unseen livestream audience and trying to figure out where he was. He discovered clusters of hard crystals throughout the passage and began licking the ground to identify them.

• Deadpool reasoned that he was inside CAAT and used the echoes from his laughter to determine that he was in a twisting, narrow tunnel or cave.
• Deadpool pitched his old underwear to the livestream audience and promised to hold orders until buyers could reach a world under Slade's control.
• Deadpool felt himself over and joked that his body had not changed, then began feeling along the tunnel walls and ceiling.
• Deadpool found crystal clusters on the walls, floor, and overhead, but failed to break one off and injured his nose instead.
• Deadpool ignored the audience's objections and lay down to lick the ground beneath his feet.

Deadpool explored a light-absorbing crystal cave, joked with his Livestream audience, and used his lighter to investigate a buzzing sound. As the wingbeats drew near, he saw an enormous brownish-yellow creature resembling a block of shit with fly wings.

• Deadpool tasted the crystals and concluded they were probably an energy aggregate, while sensing that the cave was connected to something ruined and Death-like.
• Deadpool entertained his growing Livestream audience with crude jokes and lit a cigar, revealing the foul condition of his tongue.
• Deadpool heard a buzzing sound approaching through the darkness and drew his Katana while keeping the audience informed.
• A huge brownish-yellow creature with fly wings came into view, shocking Deadpool.