Chapter Summaries

Qi Jun recognized Big Daddy and Hit-Girl and decided it was safer to follow capable people and collect the aftermath of their fights. He reflected that their survival might depend on New York’s heroes and surveillance, while his own plan favored avoiding combat.

• Qi Jun lost track of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl’s conversation as they walked away.
• Qi Jun recognized the pair from their engraved belts and recalled Big Daddy training Hit-Girl to kill.
• Qi Jun reasoned that the pair might survive if their capture and trial were livestreamed in New York.
• Qi Jun decided to avoid fighting and pick up scraps left behind by capable people.
• Qi Jun noted that many Marvel heroes refused to kill even after criminals repeatedly harmed them.

Qi Jun decided to follow ruthless street-level heroes so he could collect energy from their defeated enemies, and secretly implanted a tracking chip under Hit-Girl’s skin. After Big Daddy and Hit-Girl left, he rushed to collect the fallen gangsters and considered the limits of his body-collection ability.

• Qi Jun resolved to stay close to heroes who killed villains, hoping to collect energy from the bodies they left behind.
• Qi Jun used the [Mutated Stone] to implant an undetectable tracking chip beneath Hit-Girl’s skin.
• Qi Jun heard someone approaching and hurried toward the fallen gangsters to collect them.
• Qi Jun recalled that he could collect bodies within five meters and his line of sight without touching them.
• Qi Jun suspected he could expand his collection range by becoming stronger or improving his control over the [Mutated Stone].

Qi Jun escaped Hell's Kitchen after using the [Mutated Stone] to recycle the gold touched by Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, then returned safely to his inn in Chinatown. After confirming his room was clear of surveillance, he counted the energy points he had gained and considered how to use them, while noting that a few loose ends remained.

• Qi Jun mentally ordered the [Mutated Stone] to recycle the glittering gold touched by Big Daddy and Hit-Girl as he ran through Hell's Kitchen.
• Using the Infiltrator Sunglasses, Qi Jun slipped past arriving gangsters and left Hell's Kitchen.
• Qi Jun took a taxi to Chinatown and returned to his previous inn without being questioned by police.
• Qi Jun checked his room for surveillance equipment with his Huawei P30 and relaxed after finding none.
• Qi Jun counted 21.5 energy points from recycling corpses, in addition to the three points he had spent on Hit-Girl's Tracking Biological Chip, and considered how to use his gains.

Qi Jun used the [Mutated Stone] to create a legal identity and home in New York, spending most of his energy reserves in the process. After sleeping soundly, he woke the next morning and looked out over bustling Chinatown.

• Qi Jun changed his identity to an immigrant from the Eastern Ancient Country and used the [Mutated Stone] to acquire an apartment in Chinatown, compensating its former owner.
• Qi Jun altered the memories and records of police officers who had seen him, changing his tourist visa into a valid green card, and added fabricated memories for people at his listed address back home.
• Qi Jun spent 7.5 energy points in total, leaving him with 14, and watched his old passport and visa disappear as new identification and bank cards appeared.
• Qi Jun relaxed and fell asleep, dreaming of mastering the [Mutated Stone] and becoming a supreme figure across the Marvel universe and other worlds.
• Qi Jun woke to the noise outside, washed up, and watched the crowds moving through Chinatown.

Qi Jun settled into his new apartment in Chinatown and considered how to spend his remaining energy points. He tried to use the [Mutated Stone] to learn English, but canceled when it said the skill would cost 10 points, leaving him uncertain what to do with his 14 points.

• Qi Jun left the hotel, disliked the heavily modified American-style Chinese food, and ate tasteless whole wheat bread with Lao Qian Niang instead.
• Qi Jun found the apartment that had been transferred into his name and began planning how to use his remaining 14 energy points.
• Qi Jun decided that learning English quickly was essential before he followed Hit-Girl that night to pick up scraps.
• Qi Jun tried to use the [Mutated Stone] to grant himself English proficiency, but canceled when it reported a cost of 10 energy points.

Qi Jun tested how the [Mutated Stone]’s energy cost changed when he tried to materialize a Glock 19. After finding that scrap materials reduced the cost, he began a final experiment using firearm blueprints.

• Qi Jun searched his new home and gathered discarded plastic and scrap iron for experiments.
• Qi Jun found that materializing a Glock 19 from only its name and appearance would cost 1 energy point, so he abandoned the attempt.
• Qi Jun found that using the scrap materials reduced the cost to 0.7 energy points, but he still saved his energy.
• Qi Jun began his final experiment by memorizing a complete set of firearm manufacturing blueprints and preparing to use them with the scrap materials.

Qi Jun tested the [Mutated Stone] with gun blueprints and materials, discovering that they halved the energy cost of manifestation. The chapter leaves him considering what other hidden properties the stone might have.

• Qi Jun supplied detailed Glock blueprints and manufacturing materials to the [Mutated Stone].
• The [Mutated Stone] reported a cost of 0.5 energy points, half the cost without blueprints or materials.
• Qi Jun noted that he had found the Glock blueprints online in the United States and reflected on the barriers to entering the arms industry.
• Qi Jun concluded that the [Mutated Stone] had hidden properties he still needed to uncover.

After discovering he could manifest objects with the Reality Stone, Qi Jun imagined creating advanced technology but realized his 14 energy points would not be enough. He planned to make an English Mastery Skill Book cheaply so he could build a foundation and protect himself.

• Qi Jun fantasized about manifesting nuclear weapons, a fusion reactor, artificial intelligence, and Iron Man Armor.
• He saw that he had only 14 energy points and resolved to find a way to obtain the Infinity Stones while first gaining the power to protect himself.
• Qi Jun decided to master English and chose a battered book as the material for a Skill Book.
• He planned to copy English-related memories from someone proficient and use the [Mutated Stone] to turn the book into an absorbable English Mastery Skill Book.

Qi Jun used the Reality Stone to turn a battered book into an English Proficiency Skill Book. He activated it with a gentle pat, and the book shot into his mind.

• Qi Jun considered several people before choosing an old man as the target for materializing an English skill book.
• Qi Jun used the [Mutated Stone] to create an English Proficiency Skill Book for 5 energy points.
• The book changed into a small, lightweight gray volume labeled "English Proficiency Skill Book."
• Qi Jun patted the skill book, which transformed into a streak of light and entered his mind.

Qi Jun experienced the old man's lifetime of learning and using English after copying those memories, then marveled at how completely he had mastered the language. He realized that copying all of someone’s memories might erase his sense of self and planned to create Skill Books from Big Daddy’s or Hit-Girl’s combat abilities.

• Qi Jun watched the old man's English-learning memories unfold from childhood through old age.
• Qi Jun recovered from the unsettling feeling of experiencing what seemed like a lifetime and worried that copying all of someone's memories could change who he was.
• Qi Jun found that he had mastered fluent American English, including regional accents and slang.
• Qi Jun decided to use energy points that night to materialize Big Daddy’s or Hit-Girl’s firearm and hand-to-hand combat abilities as Skill Books.

Qi Jun realized that his ability could turn other people's powers into Skill Books, giving him a way to gain strength despite having no foundation. He imagined using the [Mutated Stone] to enhance those books, but the chapter ended with him facing his mere 9 energy points.

• Qi Jun celebrated using a Skill Book and considered how it could help him develop combat strength.
• Qi Jun realized that turning abilities into Skill Books amounted to copying them.
• Qi Jun speculated that the [Mutated Stone] could enhance Skill Books and imagined defeating Sunset Thanos with a vastly upgraded ability.
• Qi Jun returned to reality, looked at his 9 energy points, and sighed.

Qi Jun considered ways to obtain energy and decided that First-Generation Arc Reactors could sustain his early development while he pursued the Infinity Stones. He left the chapter secretly scheming to exploit resources and powerful artifacts across the Marvel world.

• Qi Jun realized that scavenging corpses could not provide enough energy and concluded that he needed the Infinity Stones.
• Qi Jun decided to disrupt the events of Iron Man 2 and use First-Generation Arc Reactors as an interim energy source.
• Qi Jun considered kidnapping Ivan Vanko and brainwashing him to produce Arc Reactors, while wondering whether Krypton reactors could draw on the Space Stone.
• Qi Jun weighed infiltrating Hydra and absorbing energy from Wakanda’s vibranium, the Inhumans’ Terrigen Crystals, and Mjolnir.
• Qi Jun wondered whether Odin’s consciousness remained inside Mjolnir and whether absorbing the hammer could affect the God of Hammers.

Qi Jun used his laptop to investigate the world he had crossed into, finding clues about Oscorp and Harry Osborn’s age. He wondered which versions of Marvel characters existed and decided to deal with Ivan Vanko before pursuing Spider-Man’s abilities.

• Qi Jun realized he had not yet researched the world and opened his laptop to search for information.
• Qi Jun found references to the Captain America museum and Oscorp Industries, and learned Harry Osborn was twelve.
• Qi Jun speculated that the world combined different Spider-Man versions and considered meeting Peter Parker and copying his Spider-Sense.
• Qi Jun decided to handle Ivan Vanko first because copying Spider-Man’s abilities would likely cost too much energy.
• Qi Jun searched for information about mutants and tried to recall the name of Xavier’s school.

Qi Jun searched for signs of mutants and the X-Men, found none, and concluded he was probably in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He felt reassured that he would not face the dangers of the Marvel Comics Universe.

• Qi Jun tried to recall Professor X’s address in Westchester County but could not remember it.
• Qi Jun searched for mutant figures, the Sentinel Program, William Stryker, and Trask Industries, but found no trace of them.
• Qi Jun concluded that the world was probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe rather than the Marvel Comics Universe.
• Qi Jun felt relieved that he would not have to fear dying from a passing thought or the Snap.

Qi Jun considered the dangers of the Marvel universe, then tried to relax before sensing that something was wrong. He began wondering whether the Mutated Stone had given him an ability to detect surveillance, and the thought of someone coming from the future startled him.

• Qi Jun decided the Marvel Cinematic Universe was safer than the comics and trusted the Mutated Reality Stone to protect him from being erased by a snap.
• Qi Jun stopped looking through information, stretched on the sofa, and enjoyed the sunlight before reminding himself that laziness was dangerous in the Marvel Universe.
• Qi Jun stood up to get water and suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
• Qi Jun considered whether someone was watching him or whether the Mutated Stone had given him a new ability, then dismissed the idea of surveillance.
• Qi Jun wondered if someone could have traveled from the future and exclaimed in shock.

Qi Jun searched his rooms for a possible observer but found no one and tried to dismiss his suspicions. While standing in the sunlight, he realized it gave off no warmth, leaving him alarmed by the abnormal discovery.

• Qi Jun searched every room and checked the windows for anyone watching him, but found nothing.
• Qi Jun wondered whether he was overthinking things or whether an observer had already left.
• Qi Jun leaned by a window and watched the crowds below while reconsidering his suspicions.
• Qi Jun noticed that the sunlight shining into the room gave him no warmth, even when he held out his hands.

Qi Jun tested the temperature changes in his room and discovered that his body stayed at a constant temperature regardless of the surroundings or exercise. He also sensed an invisible force restoring his energy and slightly compacting his muscles.

• Qi Jun recalled the [Mutated Stone]'s functions and began experimenting to understand his body's changes.
• Qi Jun cooled the room and found that he felt no temperature change, though he could still feel cold objects through touch.
• Qi Jun heated the room and found that his body still felt comfortable, while touched objects felt warm or hot.
• Qi Jun ran and jumped until exhausted, then noticed his body temperature quickly returned to normal and his energy came back.
• Qi Jun sensed an invisible force coursing through his body and found that his muscles had become slightly more compact.

Qi Jun realized that the [Mutated Stone] absorbed sunlight and harmful energy to keep his body at a constant temperature, and he worried that its protection might deprive him of what he needed. He remained unaware that it absorbed nearly every detection signal around him and could potentially grant him powerful abilities.

• Qi Jun discovered that running and jumping could train his body without tiring him, thanks to the [Mutated Stone].
• Qi Jun understood that the [Mutated Stone] absorbed sunlight and energy his body produced while maintaining his body's normal functions.
• Qi Jun wondered whether the [Mutated Stone]'s protection prevented him from getting the sunlight he needed and wished it could explain what counted as harmful.
• The [Mutated Stone] absorbed energy signals reaching Qi Jun, potentially making him undetectable and allowing him to control forces such as gravity, but Qi Jun did not know how to use these abilities.
• Qi Jun stopped dwelling on why the [Mutated Stone] absorbed sunlight.

Qi Jun discovered that actively using the [Mutated Stone] to absorb sunlight gave him a net energy gain despite its high cost. He imagined scaling up the process and left excited by the possibility of becoming like Superman.

• Qi Jun found that controlling the [Mutated Stone] to absorb sunlight consumed his energy and made his skin feel hot.
• Qi Jun calculated that absorbing sunlight for ten minutes cost 0.5 energy points but gave him 1 point, raising his reserve to 9.5.
• Qi Jun imagined using desert sunlight, mirrors, and a high-altitude convex lens to increase his energy gains.
• Qi Jun pictured himself absorbing sunlight and cosmic radiation in space while Earth’s observers watched in fear.

Qi Jun discovered that actively absorbing sunlight with the [Mutated Stone] caused painful damage because its passive protection weakened, but the energy still increased his reserves. After his body recovered, he found his grip had grown stronger and decided the damage-and-repair process could help him grow stronger and survive.

• Qi Jun raised his energy points to 12 by actively absorbing sunlight, but his skin began to burn and sting.
• Qi Jun realized the [Mutated Stone]'s passive protection weakened while he controlled it to absorb sunlight.
• Qi Jun concluded that its passive effect repaired the damage from absorption and could temper his body.
• After the pain faded, Qi Jun tested his grip and found it was stronger than before.
• Qi Jun accepted the process as a way to build strength and improve his chances of survival.