Chapter Summaries

Mercer investigated the bizarre deaths of Hawkeye and Hulk with Stark, Nick Fury, and Natasha, then went to Stark Tower to inspect the unfinished Ultron. Natasha suddenly collapsed, bleeding from her forehead, leaving the group facing another unexplained attack.

• Mercer established four divisions for the Celestials and assigned Liang Bing, Quentin, Galacta, and Thanos to lead them.
• Stark summoned Mercer to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Building, where Nick Fury showed him footage of Hawkeye dying and Hulk swelling until he exploded.
• Mercer learned that Stark was building Ultron with a small portion of the Mind Stone's energy and suspected the killer might be targeting the project.
• Mercer, Stark, Nick Fury, and Natasha went to Stark Tower to inspect Ultron's body.
• Natasha suddenly collapsed and began bleeding from her forehead.

Mercer exposed Hank Pym as the invisible attacker who had killed Natasha and injured Stark, then trapped him with spatial power. Pym tried to force Mercer to release him by taking Nick Fury hostage, but the people around him vanished, leaving him facing Mercer and the unharmed Fury, Natasha, and Stark.

• Natasha died with her brain destroyed, and Stark was struck by an unseen attacker after JARVIS sealed the exits.
• Mercer sensed a disturbance, struck the invisible attacker, and used spatial power to reveal and trap Hank Pym.
• Fury identified Pym, who blamed him for Hope's death and admitted he had come for revenge.
• Pym attacked Mercer in his shrunken form but could not hurt him, then took Fury hostage when he failed to escape.
• Pym stabbed at Fury's neck, but Fury, Natasha, and Stark dissolved from his grasp and reappeared behind Mercer.

Mercer borrowed the Time Stone from the Ancient One and used it to restore the dead Hawkeye and Hulk. Their bodies were revived, leaving Stark, Natasha, and Nick Fury waiting to see what happened next.

• Mercer revealed that Dr. Pym's attack had been an illusion, though Hawkeye and Hulk had really died.
• Mercer said he could use the Time Stone to bring them back and went to borrow it from the Ancient One.
• The Ancient One readily gave Mercer the Time Stone and told him to return it after dealing with the Celestials.
• Mercer met Nick Fury, Stark, and Natasha at a special morgue and used the Time Stone on Hawkeye's and Hulk's bodies.
• Hawkeye's color returned, Hulk's body reassembled in a minute, and Stark ran outside to vomit.

Mercer revived Banner and warned Nick Fury, Natasha, and Stark about the Celestial Seed buried in Earth's Core, then invited them to join his Celestials. Stark agreed, offering his family’s support as Mercer prepared to strengthen his allies for the coming threat.

• Mercer used the Mind Stone to calm Hulk, who reverted to Banner, and Banner fell asleep after Natasha reassured him.
• Mercer reminded Nick Fury to keep Pym away from the Quantum Realm and asked the group whether they had noticed any changes on Earth.
• Mercer revealed that a Celestial Seed lay in Earth's Core and would emerge in a few years, threatening to kill everyone.
• Mercer invited Nick Fury, Natasha, and Stark to join his Celestials, offering them greatly extended lifespans and a chance to become a new race.
• Stark agreed to join, saying his family could provide the Celestials with support in the mortal world.

Mercer formed the War God Army with Stark, Nick Fury, and Natasha as Earth prepared to confront the Celestials. As Mercer returned to Cloud Heaven to prepare for the battle, Pym’s death unleashed a deadly outbreak inside Iron Mountain Prison.

• Stark, Nick Fury, and Natasha agreed to join the Celestials, and Mercer established the War God Army as a separate division from the Celestial Army.
• Mercer warned that the Celestials might enslave inhabited planets within a century and agreed with Stark that they should strike first.
• Mercer returned to Cloud Heaven to prepare to enter Earth's core and deal with the Celestial Seed.
• While being transported to Iron Mountain Prison, Pym used a hidden device to kill himself and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escorting him.
• The dead agents rose in a frenzied state, and they attacked the officer who opened the vehicle, spreading terror inside Iron Mountain Prison.

Mercer discovered that the Celestial Seed beneath Cloud Heaven was far more powerful than Diablo and decided to absorb it along with Zombie Wanda and Zombie Sentry to prepare for the Celestials. After his companions left, he revealed the reward card he had earned: Superman: Silver Age.

• Liang Bing used Mercer's Search Program to locate a huge cocoon of light beyond a golden wall beneath Cloud Heaven.
• Mercer examined the Celestial Seed and realized its power was dozens of times greater than Diablo's, so he abandoned his plan to distribute its energy.
• Mercer summoned Zombie Wanda and Zombie Sentry and announced he would merge with them and the Celestial Seed.
• Galacta revealed that the Celestials belonged to the universe's most powerful one percent and supported Mercer's plan as their best chance.
• Mercer sent the others away to prepare, then looked at his achievement reward card, which read Superman: Silver Age.

Mercer used the Silver Age Superman Hero Card and devoured the Celestial Seed, then absorbed Zombie Wanda’s Chaos Magic and formed a magical source within himself. As he accelerated the Celestial Seed’s consumption, Zombie Wanda offered to work for him in exchange for her life, and Mercer asked about her magical contract.

• Mercer fused with Silver Age Superman’s powers, gaining a Kryptonian physique, flight, and X-ray vision.
• Mercer began devouring the Celestial Seed, while Zombie Wanda and Zombie Sentry watched from inside the invisible cage.
• Zombie Wanda tried to break out with Chaos Magic, but Mercer absorbed her energy and discovered he could create magic within himself.
• Mercer used Chaos Magic to speed up the Blacklight Virus’s consumption of the Celestial Seed.
• Zombie Wanda offered to enter a magical contract and become Mercer’s subordinate in exchange for her life, and Mercer asked her about the contract.

Mercer bound Zombie Wanda to himself with a Mother-Child Magic Array, transferred her magic, and sent her to Iron Mountain Prison to eliminate the undead and retrieve the remaining Power Stone. After spending a month absorbing the Celestial Seed, Mercer’s mission continued as Zombie Wanda defeated Wasp and concealed her zombified face.

• Mercer transferred Zombie Wanda’s magic to himself through the Mother-Child Magic Array and freed her from the invisible cage.
• Mercer rejected Zombie Sentry’s request for the same arrangement and ordered Zombie Wanda to clear Iron Mountain Prison of undead while allowing her to eat the living prisoners.
• Mercer gave Zombie Wanda coordinates to obtain the remaining Power Stone, opened a spatial doorway, and continued absorbing the Celestial Seed for a month.
• At Iron Mountain Prison, Zombie Wanda confronted Wasp, who tried to recruit her into turning the world into a zombie world.
• Zombie Wanda dissolved Wasp with magic and concealed the zombified half of her face with a spell.

Wanda arrived at Cloud Heaven and learned that visitors from Great Xia had come to ask about the Celestial Seed in the Earth's Core. Yang Jian and Sun Wukong revealed that Mercer was the Celestial Seed's soul, leaving Liang Bing and the others stunned.

• Wanda finished destroying the suspected infected and their remains, then traveled to Cloud Heaven.
• Wanda joined Liang Bing's group as they spoke with Yang Jian and Sun Wukong, visitors from Great Xia seeking access to the Earth's Core.
• Galacta told the visitors that the Celestials planned to conquer the universe, and Sun Wukong and Yang Jian learned that she was Galactus's daughter.
• Sun Wukong and Yang Jian recognized Alex Mercer by his blue-green eyes and explained that he was the soul of the Celestial Seed, born into a family after wandering as a spirit.
• Liang Bing realized that the Celestial Seed in the Earth's Core was the body Mercer had been meant to have.

Mysterio confronted the enormous planetary life-form Ego near the edge of the Milky Way and discovered that Ego knew about the missing Celestial Seed. After Ego overwhelmed him and severed his arm, Mysterio faced a deadly laser attack while Galacta rushed to his aid.

• Mysterio calmed Yang Jian and Sun Wukong, and they joined him and the others for a meal on Cloud Heaven.
• The Great Xia Celestials joined the faction Mercer had founded after he began absorbing the Celestial Seed.
• Liang Bing sent Mysterio to investigate unusual activity near the edge of the Milky Way, where he encountered the planetary life-form Ego.
• Ego identified himself and revealed that he knew the Celestial Seed had disappeared from Earth, then attacked Mysterio.
• Mysterio lost an arm while surviving Ego's attacks, and Liang Bing sent Galacta to help him.
• Ego fired another laser at Mysterio, who believed he was about to die.

Galacta and her allies fought Ego with spatially redirected attacks and the Power Stone, but the arrival of numerous Celestials forced them to send Mysterio to fetch Mercer. Liang Bing opened a portal for Mysterio as the others prepared to hold the Celestials off.

• Galacta stopped Ego's laser attack and took over the fight while Mysterio repaired his severed limbs.
• Galacta brought Wanda, Thanos, and the First to Third Division Army into the battle against Ego.
• Liang Bing's Suicide Squad used spatial ripples to redirect their explosive attacks and Ego's shock waves back at him.
• Galacta absorbed Ego's energy blast with the Power Stone and returned it with enough force to destroy a quarter of his body.
• More Celestials appeared, and Galacta gave the Power Stone to Mysterio and told him to bring it back to Mercer.
• Liang Bing opened a portal, and Mysterio left through it as the others prepared to hold off the Celestials.

Mercer merged with the Celestial Seed and gathered all six Infinity Stones before defeating Arishem and the Celestials. Earth’s crisis ended, and Mercer set out to seek Infinity Stones across the Multiverse; an author’s note afterward explained that the story was ending abruptly.

• Mysterio brought Mercer the Power Stone, and Mercer emerged from the cocoon after absorbing it and drawing the Soul Stone from Vormir.
• Mercer and Mysterio appeared at Ego, where Mercer attacked the Celestials and learned that Arishem had sentenced Earth and the Milky Way to destruction.
• Arishem and the Celestials attacked Mercer and Liang Bing, but Mercer used all six Infinity Stones to turn them to ash.
• Mysterio and the others watched the Celestials disappear, ending Earth’s crisis.
• One month later, Mercer set out across the stars to collect Infinity Stones from other universes.
• The author apologized in a note for ending the story abruptly.

After waking in his old apartment, Mercer discovered that the Infinite Hero Card System had granted him the Blacklight Virus when Abomination attacked Peggy Carter’s apartment. He fought back and began absorbing Abomination as Carter and the soldiers watched in horror.

• Mercer woke in his old apartment, confronted his landlord, and received rent help and a spare key from Peggy Carter.
• Mercer ate stew in Carter’s apartment while waiting for Abomination to crash through the wall.
• The system activated when Abomination lunged at Mercer and gave him the Blacklight Virus Hero Card.
• Carter and Rumlow prepared to contain Abomination outside the building, and Carter realized Mercer might be inside her apartment.
• Mercer drove Abomination out of the building, stomped him, and pummeled and absorbed him as Carter and the soldiers watched.