Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and Zheng Xian rescued Da Vinci and Leo from the spinning platform, then pressed Da Vinci to account for the runaway Celestial and the danger his plan posed to Earth. As Newton’s forces attacked Da Vinci’s supporters, the Celestial continued destroying the Immortal City, leaving the Holy Shield’s leaders in crisis.

• Su Ming agreed to help rescue Da Vinci, and Zheng Xian persuaded Michelangelo to thank him.
• Su Ming stopped the rotating platform, where Da Vinci and Leo recovered from their dizziness and sickness.
• Da Vinci asked Zheng Xian for help, while Su Ming condemned the Holy Shield’s reckless plan and warned that the Celestial could endanger Earth and provoke the Kree and other Celestials.
• Zheng Xian and Su Ming emphasized the threat, while Michelangelo and Da Vinci’s other allies grew alarmed.
• Newton led his assembled forces against Da Vinci’s supporters as the Celestial continued wrecking the city and retaliating against attacks.

As Newton’s silver-armored forces overwhelmed Da Vinci’s troops, Su Ming helped the Holy Shield accept defeat and manipulated Leo into blaming the organization for the disaster. He then told Leo that Newton’s forbidden research, secret origins, and rise to power began with a journey to an isolated monster city.

• Newton’s silver-armored forces pushed back Da Vinci’s gold-armored soldiers, and Da Vinci admitted that the Holy Shield had no effective backup plan.
• Michelangelo returned with Nostradamus’s broken corpse, and Da Vinci recognized that the Holy Shield could no longer turn the battle around.
• Su Ming left negotiations with Zheng Xian and persuaded the distraught Leo that Da Vinci and the Holy Shield were responsible for what had happened.
• Su Ming told Leo that his biological father was Newton and began recounting Newton’s past as Galileo’s apprentice.
• Newton traveled to Deviant City to seek forbidden knowledge, impregnated a monstrous female to earn access to the city, and stole the Old Ones’ scriptures.
• Newton poisoned Deviant City, escaped with its knowledge, created the Elixir of Immortality, and later murdered Galileo to become Supreme Councilor.

Su Ming told Leo the story of his monster parents and used it to turn him against the Brotherhood of the Shield. He took Leo to the New York Sanctum, where he convinced him that Kamar-Taj, not the Brotherhood, secretly protected Earth.

• Deathstroke recounted how Newton's monster wife gave baby Leo to Michelangelo before the mob killed her, and how Michelangelo arranged for Tesla to raise him with a bird in New York.
• Su Ming suggested that Michelangelo could have saved Leo's biological mother, and Leo grew angry at Da Vinci and Michelangelo for treating him as a component of the Human Machine.
• Leo refused to keep cooperating with the Brotherhood, and Da Vinci let Su Ming take him away while he focused on negotiations with Zheng Xian.
• Su Ming carried Leo to New York, but brought him to the New York Sanctum instead of home; Leo shifted into Astral Form to recover from the flight.
• Su Ming told Leo altered stories about Kamar-Taj and the Brotherhood, and Leo came to believe that the Brotherhood stole credit for protecting Earth.

Su Ming persuaded Leo to join Kamar-Taj for protection and magical training, then returned to Rome to settle the spoils with Zheng Xian and the Brotherhood of the Shield. He and Zheng Xian set out to stop the Celestial Variant, planning to enter through its heel and destroy its core.

• Su Ming warned Leo that Holy Shield might kill him to protect its secrets and offered Kamar-Taj as an alternative to joining the Relevant Department.
• Leo accepted Su Ming's offer to join Kamar-Taj, and Su Ming arranged for him to study magic while continuing to live and work in New York.
• Su Ming brought Hamill to Rome, where Zheng Xian finalized the spoils with Da Vinci and Michelangelo, including a suit of magical armor in exchange for Su Ming's share of the money.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian prepared to fight the Celestial Variant, and Su Ming proposed destroying its internal energy source.
• Su Ming told Zheng Xian what he knew about the Celestials and directed him to enter the Variant through its heel.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian drilled into the Celestial Variant and emerged in a rainforest on a future Earth where humanity had gone extinct. They explored a ruined city and uncovered a statue bearing the words “Wakanda Forever,” revealing that they had reached Wakanda.

• Su Ming and Zheng Xian hid in a gouge in the Celestial Variant’s heel, then drilled through its metal shell with the Nightfall Greatsword.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian emerged into a rainforest and found no visible route back through the Celestial’s body.
• Su Ming flew into space and discovered they were in Central Africa on a future Earth overrun by vegetation after humanity’s extinction.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian traveled to a nearby ruined city and searched its overgrown plaza for clues to its identity.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian uncovered a feline statue with the inscription “Wakanda Forever,” identifying the city as Wakanda.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian were transported through several radically different possible futures of Earth, from a nuclear wasteland to a dystopian planet-spanning city, before arriving in a rainforest-covered future Wakanda. Su Ming recognized the location and decided to loot it for the Heart-Shaped Herb, while the cause of their shifting destinations remained uncertain.

• Su Ming and Zheng Xian found themselves in a crimson wasteland, and Su Ming determined that they were on a possible future Timeline where nuclear war had wiped out humanity.
• Su Ming spotted city ruins and took Zheng Xian toward them, but they instead appeared in an alley in a future Earth transformed into a vast urban hive city.
• Su Ming identified the city as a dystopian future where humanity had spread into space, and police airships and wall-mounted weapons surrounded the pair.
• Su Ming later examined a buried Black Panther statue in a rainforest and realized they had arrived in a future Wakanda overrun by plants.
• Su Ming told Zheng Xian they should loot Wakanda and look for the Heart-Shaped Herb.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian explored a post-apocalyptic future Earth, where Su Ming discovered that he had become its Emperor and regained control of the planet. They gathered Heart-Shaped Herb in Wakanda and prepared to search for Vibranium before deciding what to do next.

• Su Ming and Zheng Xian identified the wasteland as a future New York and headed toward Su Ming’s company ruins to look for contingencies.
• Future police arrested Su Ming and Zheng Xian, but Su Ming verified his identity as Jim Raynor and reclaimed planetary control through the Adjutant.
• The Adjutant told Su Ming that he was currently the Emperor and that his companions’ original bodies were outside the Omniverse.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian found Heart-Shaped Herb growing across a Wakandan mountain, and Su Ming gathered and mashed some to seek the Leopard God’s help.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian returned to the Cloak with plans to search for Vibranium before choosing their next move.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian discovered that their passage through a Celestial Variant had split them into millions of possible Timelines, each showing a different fate for Earth. With the Adjutant’s help, they learned that Holy Terra could travel through time, leaving them able to seek a route back to their original Time Point.

• Su Ming and Zheng Xian found New York reduced to ruins and learned that Zheng Xian’s Sky Ring backup plan had been destroyed.
• The Ancient One appeared and explained that the collision of Cosmic Origins had split their time, while the gem had carried them into an End of Time.
• Su Ming and Zheng Xian encountered the Leopard God, which described a possible world where a Cosmic Virus had wiped out humanity.
• The Adjutant calculated that they had been divided among more than 2.4 million possibilities across Timelines.
• Su Ming explained that the Celestials’ three categories of possible futures were a countermeasure, while the Adjutant identified regression, stagnation, and disorder as other modes of time.
• The Adjutant offered to arrange time travel, and Zheng Xian asked Su Ming to sign them up for a tour group.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian learned from Ancient One and the Leopard God how the ruined Timeline could be prevented and how a signal might summon their counterparts across Timelines. The Leopard God agreed to lead them to the remains of a Celestial so Su Ming could recreate the resonance, after he paid for its help with food.

• Ancient One explained that Su Ming needed to prevent the missile launch during the Cold War and described how the fractured Timelines could reunite when a unique signal arrived.
• Ancient One told Su Ming that different versions of him would lead others back, send the gathering signal, and gain a clearer goal through the ruined Timeline.
• The Leopard God explained that Earth had entered a cycle after civilization’s collapse and advised Su Ming to send a signal to his counterparts.
• Su Ming realized that striking Celestial remains with Tenth Metal could recreate the resonance needed to reach across Timelines.
• The Leopard God agreed to take Su Ming and Zheng Xian to Watcher Zela’s remains in exchange for Su Ming’s food and drinks.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian prepared the Time-Space Teleporter to gather the millions of Su Ming copies scattered across different Timelines and return them. As Tenth Metal resonance connected the copies, Ancient One, Leopard God, and the Adjutant joined their powers to activate the machine, sending the converging Futures into motion.

• Su Ming learned that the Time-Space Teleporter required the Star Beacon and the sacrifice of one hundred thousand psychic Synthezoids to gather his Timeline copies.
• The Adjutant explained that Tenth Metal resonance would let the Su Ming copies coordinate across time and space, and Su Ming and Zheng Xian entered the teleporter.
• The Adjutant reported that the Star Beacon was burning, and Su Ming waited for the resonance to connect the other versions of himself.
• Su Ming felt the Tenth Metal resonance spread across the Timelines and ordered the Adjutant to activate the machine.
• Ancient One, Leopard God, and the Adjutant channeled their powers into Su Ming as they activated the teleporter and the Futures converged.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian returned to Immortal City and found that causality had already killed the Celestial, leaving Su Ming to claim credit and rally the survivors. After rebuking Da Vinci and Michelangelo for failing to catch Newton, Su Ming left with Zheng Xian while Michelangelo went to pursue him.

• Su Ming explained that he and Zheng Xian had returned to a Time Point where the Celestial was already dead, and said the Timeline might have changed in minor ways.
• Su Ming announced the Celestial's death to the soldiers and urged them to celebrate, turning the battlefield into a jubilant gathering before they dispersed.
• Da Vinci and Michelangelo arrived, and Su Ming confronted them for letting Newton escape while he and Zheng Xian fought the Celestial.
• Michelangelo apologized and teleported away to capture Newton, while Su Ming asked Da Vinci to arrange payment with Hamill and left with Zheng Xian.

Su Ming and Zheng Xian returned to China after their dealings with Da Vinci and Newton, while Howard, Tesla, and Nathaniel finally escaped their Alternate Dimension. The three geniuses arrived in Immortal City expecting to rejoin the battle, but found an empty battlefield and discovered they had landed in a different Timeline.

• Su Ming and Zheng Xian rode the Cloak of Levitation across the sea and discussed Newton, the Brotherhood of the Shield, and their future gains.
• Zheng Xian brought Su Ming to the Imperial Capital for dinner, opera, and a bath after they returned to China.
• Howard, Tesla, and Nathaniel used their inventions to return from the Alternate Dimension and landed in a crater in Immortal City.
• Howard and Nathaniel prepared for battle, but the three found only the remains of a battlefield and no one else there.
• Tesla checked their equipment and concluded that their coordinates were correct but they had arrived in a different Timeline.
• Nathaniel regretted leaving his alien wife and child behind, while the three wondered what their sacrifice had been for.

Tesla, Howard, and Nathaniel learned that Deathstroke had already killed the Celestial, making their centuries-long plan unnecessary. Howard and Nathaniel decided to prepare to leave the Brotherhood of the Shield, while Tesla set out to find his son.

• Drunken soldiers told Howard that Earth was safe because Deathstroke had killed the Celestial in just a few sword strikes.
• Howard returned to Tesla and Nathaniel, and the three realized their plan had become pointless.
• Tesla explained that the ruined Time Machine could not help them change the Timeline and that they could not oppose the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Nathaniel decided to leave the Brotherhood and retire, and Howard agreed to leave with him after they prepared.
• Tesla said goodbye to Howard and Nathaniel and left to find his son, while Howard warned him never to provoke Deathstroke in New York.

Su Ming and Gin inspected a strange enchanted suit of armor and arranged for specialists to examine it. In Wakanda, Azzuri investigated the theft of Heart-Shaped Herbs and Vibranium, but the culprit remained unknown.

• Su Ming warned Gin not to wear the armor until Hamill, Monark, and several Hell Lords had assessed its danger.
• The Watcher and the Recorder finished discussing Earth, and the Recorder left to report to Eternity.
• Azzuri questioned the guards after discovering that most of Wakanda's Heart-Shaped Herbs had been stolen, and he rejected the suggestion that a Wakandan was responsible.
• A blind girl told Azzuri she had heard someone breathing and laughing near her on the night of the theft.
• T'Chaka reported that about two tons of Vibranium had also been stolen directly from the mine, leaving Azzuri baffled by how one intruder could have taken so much.

After years of peaceful retirement, Su Ming decided to leave Earth and settle old debts in the DC Universe, while Steve and Peggy set off to travel. The chapter then shifted to another Su Ming, a struggling Daily Planet reporter in Metropolis, who envied Lois and Clark’s effortless scoops and suffered under his editor’s hostility.

• Su Ming secretly gave Peggy an Elixir of Immortality after years passed without Fury finding the Infinity Formula.
• Steve retired from the military over the Vietnam conflict, and he and Peggy quit SSR and told Su Ming they planned to travel to Antarctica.
• Su Ming offered Steve a job and supplies, then hosted a farewell meal for him and Peggy.
• Su Ming told Gin that he planned to leave that night to deal with old debts in the DC Universe, but refused to take her or Ciri along.
• After Gin agreed to wait until she fell asleep, the story shifted to Slade Wilson, also known as Su Ming, a poorly paid Daily Planet reporter who struggled to compete with Lois and Clark’s lucky scoops.

Su Ming’s old car caught fire after breaking down, but Clark and Lois rescued him and his camera equipment. As Lois drove him home, her question about insurance left him silently facing another financial setback.

• Su Ming left the newspaper office after publishing his photos of someone eating a banana and drove home in his failing Ford.
• The car filled with smoke and caught fire, and the nightclub crowd filmed Su Ming struggling instead of helping him.
• Clark put out the fire and helped Su Ming recover his camera and lenses from the car.
• Lois told Su Ming she planned to report on the bystanders who had watched without helping, and Clark and Lois drove him home.
• Lois asked whether Su Ming had insurance for the burned car, prompting him to silently nickname her and Clark the Heart-Stabbing Siblings.

Su Ming rode with Clark and Lois while they discussed Clark’s unrequited feelings and a wilderness reality show, then Lois argued that Iceberg Enterprises might rig the contest to favor Gianna Hudson. The three arrived at Su Ming’s home after Su Ming and Clark voted for Gianna.

• Su Ming asked whether Clark and Lois were dating, and Lois called Clark her bestie while Clark quietly took the rejection hard.
• Su Ming and Clark discussed the survival show contestants, including Arthur Curry and Malcolm Merlyn, and considered betting on the winner for a free dinner at the Iceberg Lounge.
• Lois suggested that Iceberg Enterprises might manipulate the show so the unpopular Gianna Hudson could win and generate publicity.
• Su Ming and Clark voted for Gianna, and Lois pulled over at Su Ming’s home and sent Clark to help unhook the tow truck.

Su Ming returned home to Diana after his car was wrecked, spent the evening caring for her, and promised to take her to a doctor before considering her wish to have a child. The next morning, police arrested him for murdering Daily Planet editor-in-chief Fisher and his family.

• Su Ming returned to his apartment and repaired the broken sofa while Diana prepared their dinner.
• Su Ming and Diana ate together and discussed a strange painting she had made from a dream.
• Diana asked Su Ming for a child, but he refused because her health was too fragile and promised to take her to the hospital for an examination.
• Su Ming left for work the next morning and encountered heavily armed police officers in the stairwell.
• The officers arrested Su Ming, identifying him as Slade Wilson and accusing him of murdering Fisher and Fisher's family of seven.

Su Ming was arrested and accused of murdering Editor-in-Chief Fischer and his family, but he insisted he was innocent. After Kara Danvers took over the interrogation, Su Ming explained that his apparent death threat against Fischer had been a joke between coworkers.

• Su Ming was shackled in a Metropolis interrogation room and questioned by two detectives who accused him of killing Fischer's family.
• The detectives showed Su Ming photographs of the mutilated victims, then beat him when he denied the murders.
• Inspector Kara Danvers stopped the detectives, took over the interrogation, and questioned Su Ming about his relationship with Fischer.
• Kara cited witnesses who heard Su Ming threaten to kill Fischer's family, and Su Ming said the remark had been part of their joking exchange at work.

Kara interrogated Su Ming over the murder of the Fisher family, using evidence that appeared to place him at the scene and expose his fighting skills. Su Ming continued to insist he had been framed as Kara revealed that numerous witnesses could identify him.

• Kara told Su Ming that his newspaper-office alibi was unsupported by the destroyed security footage and computer records.
• Kara presented forensic evidence linking Su Ming to the crime scene, including bloody footprints and fingerprints, while Su Ming denied the charges.
• Kara showed traffic-surveillance photographs of Su Ming driving toward the Fishers' neighborhood and parking near their home with a dagger.
• Kara played convenience-store footage showing Su Ming defeating a group of delinquents, but Su Ming insisted he did not know martial arts.
• Kara said The Cleaner, the Fishers' neighbors, taxi drivers, and other witnesses could place Su Ming near the murder scene.