Recaps

Bruce went to visit Li Ge, and General Ross secretly followed him there, hoping to use him as a guide. At Li Ge’s research institute, Apocalypse noticed Ross’s pursuit and anticipated a confrontation.

• Bruce visited Nick Fury and asked where Li Ge lived, and Nick Fury gave him the address.
• General Ross ordered soldiers to follow Bruce, having deliberately used information about Li Ge to lead him there.
• Apocalypse invited Peter, two other trial participants, and Norman to compete for a King Fruit.
• Bruce arrived at the institute on his motorcycle while Ross followed in a car, and Apocalypse detected the pursuit.

Apocalypse hid Peter, Harry, Gwen Stacy, and Norman from Bruce Banner and General Ross with a psychic illusion, then received the two visitors at his base. Ross sought access to the Nine Heavens, while Apocalypse urged Bruce to train there and asked about Hulk, who was asleep while trying to master his anger.

• Apocalypse sensed two visitors approaching and concealed Peter, Harry, Gwen Stacy, and Norman from their view with a psychic illusion.
• Bruce Banner knocked at the gate, and Apocalypse revealed that General Ross had followed him and invited them both inside.
• General Ross admitted that spies among the mutants had supplied his information and explained his interest in the Nine Heavens.
• Apocalypse told Bruce that he needed to temper his power in the Nine Heavens and asked why Hulk was absent.
• Bruce said Hulk had returned to the depths of his consciousness and fallen asleep while trying to master the power of anger.

Apocalypse offered General Ross a chance to gain giant power if he agreed to test something, then left to collect it. In the Third Heaven, Li Ge and Apocalypse planned to turn the Samsara Realm into a collection of game-like instances, leaving General Ross unaware of what awaited him.

• Apocalypse recognized that Hulk had gone dormant and noticed General Ross's greed at the prospect of capturing Bruce.
• Apocalypse rejected General Ross's demand to open the Nine Heavens to the military, then offered him a chance to try giant power.
• General Ross quickly changed his tune and eagerly asked what Apocalypse wanted him to test.
• Apocalypse went to the Nine Heavens to collect a delivery while Bruce and General Ross waited at the research base.
• Li Ge met Apocalypse in the Third Heaven, where Apocalypse proposed dividing the Samsara Realm into game instances with copied human characters and supernatural powers.

Li Ge modified the Samsara Realm to include physical space for players’ bodies, and Apocalypse brought General Ross and the others into it. General Ross awoke alone on a moving train, where a message announced the start of an adventure and provided him with a Samsara Bracelet.

• Apocalypse raised the need for physical space in the Samsara Realm, and Li Ge began modifying it.
• After Apocalypse left the research base, General Ross rummaged through its chests until Bruce warned him to stop.
• Harry persuaded Norman, Peter, and Gwen Stacy to join the experience, and Apocalypse transported them into the Samsara Realm.
• General Ross woke in a luxurious train carriage and noticed that the passing scenery seemed unreal.
• A mechanical voice announced the train’s first stop, and General Ross put on the bracelet that appeared through the television.

General Ross, Bruce, Peter, Gwen Stacy, Harry, and Norman entered their first stops in the Samsara Realm and learned they had to survive a biohazard outbreak. After Li Ge corrected a flaw in the consciousness transfer, the group began arming themselves as the monsters stirred.

• General Ross entered his codename and transported himself to a quiet town, nearly suffering damage when the consciousness transfer malfunctioned.
• Apocalypse spotted the transfer problem in the feed, and Li Ge fixed it before Bruce and the others entered their stops.
• Bruce found a warehouse rack of weapons, while Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry appeared together in a changing room lined with weapons.
• Norman woke in an office and chose weapons from a rack as the group discovered the mission was to kill monsters during a ten-minute countdown.
• General Ross and Bruce prepared for the biohazard threat, while Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry continued choosing weapons and the monsters began to stir.

Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry began a trial with their abilities reduced to ordinary human levels and cautiously explored the dark building. In the restroom, they discovered a mangled corpse, leaving all three shaken and Gwen retching in the corridor.

• Peter tested his strength and realized that the trial had reduced him to an ordinary person's level, while Harry guessed that the restriction was part of the rules.
• When the countdown ended, Gwen Stacy opened the locker room door, and the three armed themselves before cautiously entering the corridor.
• Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry heard a wet slapping sound near the restroom and entered to investigate.
• The trio found a school-uniformed corpse draped over the sink, with bloodied, twisted limbs and a shattered mirror.
• Harry illuminated the scene with his flashlight, and Gwen Stacy ran into the corridor to retch while Peter and Harry followed, pale and trembling.

Li Ge watched General Ross and the others face monsters in a transitional scenario, while Ross hunted a zombie resembling Red Skull. After Ross killed the monster, the real Red Skull wondered whether someone was thinking about him.

• Li Ge explained to Apocalypse that he had prepared a lethal scenario to teach the newcomers how to fight and face death.
• General Ross hid beside a road and chose to ambush a lone monster rather than risk drawing a crowd.
• General Ross recognized the monster’s exposed face as Red Skull’s and shot it, but it rose and charged at him.
• General Ross fired three more shots, killing the monster with a bullet under its chin, then considered its weaknesses.
• Apocalypse joked that Red Skull would become a name for disposable monsters, and Li Ge said the association would give Red Skull free publicity.
• On a ruined planet, Red Skull lowered his hood and wondered whether someone was thinking about him.

Norman fought a Red Skull monster with a blade to test his strength and learn to survive combat. He finally severed its head, but more monsters closed in around him.

• Norman chose a long blade to conserve ammunition, test his strength, and practice fighting for his life.
• A Red Skull monster spotted Norman and pounced on him, and he slashed its neck.
• The wounded monster kept attacking, so Norman hacked at its body while several nearby monsters converged on him.
• Norman repeatedly struck the monster's head until he severed it, then saw the other monsters only a few meters away.

Bruce recognized the machine shop as a virtual world and methodically shot monsters while searching it. Elsewhere, Gwen saved Harry from a monster, but the noise alerted others, forcing Peter, Harry, and Gwen to flee into a classroom.

• Bruce realized the setting was virtual and used his gun to kill monsters with shots to their vulnerable facial openings.
• Bruce searched the machine shop and tested the monsters’ weaknesses, finding that their heads were hard and their bodies had no easy weak points.
• A monster tackled Harry in the corridor and snapped at his neck while Peter hesitated and Gwen fired repeatedly at its head.
• Harry escaped and furiously hacked at the wounded monster until Peter warned him that it was dead.
• The commotion drew roars from nearby monsters, so Gwen led Peter and Harry into an open classroom to seek shelter.

General Ross, Norman, and Bruce each fought the monsters using different tactics, while Li Ge considered collecting mental power in the Samsara Realm to strengthen his soul. In the classroom, Peter, Harry, and Gwen Stacy prepared to break out through the doorway and fight the monsters.

• General Ross fortified himself in a sealed room stocked with weapons and prepared to face the approaching monsters alone.
• Norman planned to reach the roof and use its narrow entrance to lure and kill the monsters.
• Bruce precisely targeted monsters' weak points and used the machine shop's layout to evade and defeat them.
• Li Ge proposed adding a rule to the Samsara Realm to collect dissipating mental power and use it to strengthen his soul, and Apocalypse approved.
• Peter, Harry, and Gwen Stacy agreed to use the classroom doorway to fight their way out, and Peter volunteered to lead.
• Peter opened the classroom door as Harry and Gwen Stacy watched him.

Loki secretly left Asgard on a staged journey to infiltrate Thanos’s ranks, while studying Li Ge’s booklet about the block world and longing for its power. When Thanos finally contacted him and offered help obtaining Midgard, Loki agreed to board his ship while asking about his goal.

• Loki and Odin staged Loki’s apparent death after Loki confronted Odin with a clone, and Loki secretly left Asgard aboard an old spacecraft.
• Loki followed an obvious route through populated regions of space, hoping to attract Thanos while news spread that he was presumed dead.
• Loki studied Li Ge’s booklet about the block world and grew increasingly frustrated that Thanos had not come looking for him.
• An unknown spacecraft locked onto Loki’s ship, and Loki recognized its imposing design as a sign that he had misjudged Thanos’s power.
• Thanos contacted Loki and offered help acquiring Midgard; Loki accepted the offer and asked what Thanos wanted in return.

General Ross, Norman, Bruce, and Peter’s group fought through the Red Skulls in the Samsara Realm, each using different tactics to survive. After the battles, their consciousnesses left their bodies, while Peter, Harry, and Gwen Stacy remained alive in the changing room.

• General Ross defended a house entrance against waves of Red Skulls, but they overwhelmed him and devoured him before his consciousness drifted away.
• Norman drew the Red Skulls to a rooftop and killed them with the help of the narrow stairs, then lost consciousness as his consciousness left his body.
• Bruce evaded the Red Skulls through a machine shop and shot them down until he had eliminated a hundred.
• Harry identified the Red Skulls’ weakness and fought alongside Peter, while Gwen Stacy supported them with gunfire.
• Peter, Harry, and Gwen Stacy retreated through a narrow corridor and held off successive waves of Red Skulls by taking turns defending the changing-room doorway.

General Ross and the others returned from the realistic virtual battle, while Li Ge and Apocalypse planned to reward Ross with flawed Titan powers. Apocalypse offered Ross stronger tiers in the Second Heaven if he entered the Nine Heavens, leaving Ross tempted and asking what Apocalypse wanted in return.

• General Ross woke unharmed in his train carriage and realized the battle had taken place in a realistic virtual world.
• Li Ge decided to give Ross a hundred Pure Titan ability cards, with the Titans' instinct to eat humans removed, and then departed to rest.
• Apocalypse welcomed everyone back, and Gwen Stacy, Peter, and Harry scolded him for failing to explain the virtual battle beforehand.
• Apocalypse told General Ross that he had earned recognition but had not met the requirement, so he would receive flawed Titan powers, with stronger tiers available in the Second Heaven.
• Apocalypse urged Ross to enter the Nine Heavens, and Ross, visibly tempted, asked what Apocalypse wanted from him while Bruce listened in silence.

Apocalypse welcomed Bruce onto his team, then Li Ge left the Xavier Transcendent Institute to use a teleportation sphere and create a portal from the Troop Gathering Pool to the Mutants Nation. The chapter ended as the sphere beneath Xavier Mansion transformed into a portal.

• Apocalypse invited Bruce to join him again, and Bruce eagerly accepted.
• Apocalypse remembered that he still needed his Shadow Ring, the Tesseract, and Nick Fury's 084 collection, and recalled the mission he had given Loki.
• Li Ge explored the Xavier Transcendent Institute with Logan and observed how mutants had developed many paths to transcendence.
• After Apocalypse's thoughts interrupted him, Li Ge left Logan and returned to the Troop Gathering Pool with a black teleportation sphere.
• Li Ge checked Skynet, instructed it not to connect casually to outside networks, and opened a portal using the sphere.
• The teleportation sphere in the underground base beneath Xavier Mansion transformed into a black-framed portal with a multicolored membrane.

Li Ge visited Tony and discovered the mechanical golden body dharma idol Tony had built, which impressed him with its abilities and potential for replication. Li Ge then revealed Loki’s plans and the looming crisis in their world, prompting Tony to prepare to return with him.

• Scott told Li Ge how the Mutants from the two worlds were getting along while Tony waited to show off his invention.
• Tony brought Li Ge and Scott to his research base, where they saw his enormous red-and-gold mechanical golden body dharma idol.
• Li Ge assessed the idol’s abilities, praised its potential, and compared its strength to his own golden body dharma idol.
• Li Ge told Tony about S.H.I.E.L.D., Loki, and the coming crisis in their world.
• Tony agreed to return with Li Ge, who asked Scott to inform the Professor and the others that they would leave without waiting.

General Ross began turning his soldiers into super soldiers using cards from Apocalypse, but the first transformation revealed that Pure Titans were powerful and dim-witted. As the new titan rampaged through the warehouse, Ross realized why Apocalypse had given him so many cards.

• General Ross assembled a hundred vetted soldiers and researchers in a warehouse, promising the soldiers a chance to gain superhuman power through the cards.
• General Ross drew a Pure Titan card and explained its promise of an undying body, while privately doubting that Li Ge had given him the power without a catch.
• A soldier volunteered to go first, cut his finger, and activated the card with his blood.
• Golden lightning transformed the soldier into a Pure Titan over three meters tall.
• The Pure Titan spoke sluggishly, hopped around, smashed instruments, and chased researchers, leaving General Ross furious at Apocalypse.

Li Ge assigned Apocalypse to administer the Samsara Realm, where Apocalypse redesigned the user panel and added a shop and points system. Li Ge restricted the shop to ordinary goods, then met Nick Fury and confirmed he was considering revealing the Nine Heavens before saying he had come to collect a debt.

• Li Ge told Tony to send Logan and the others home on their own, then left Tony in the laboratory.
• Li Ge brought Apocalypse into the Samsara Realm and tasked him with designing its instances.
• Apocalypse explored the realm, revised its panel to include points, a shop, and contacts, and applied the new rules to the Samsara Bracelets.
• Li Ge restricted the shop to ordinary goods and decided Apocalypse might need to be erased after finishing the task.
• Li Ge met Nick Fury, confirmed he was considering revealing the Nine Heavens, and said he had come to collect a debt.

Li Ge collected the Shadow Ring from Nick Fury and demanded the Tesseract and his promised choice of 084 items. After revealing that the ring could turn Hydra agents into Shadow Ninjas, Li Ge made Nick Fury and Coulson ride in carried lounge chairs and cloaked the group in invisibility and intangibility as they set off to the Tesseract research site.

• Li Ge reclaimed the Shadow Ring from Nick Fury and demanded the Tesseract and his promised 084 items.
• Nick Fury explained that the Tesseract was being researched separately by Erik Selvig and offered to take Li Ge there.
• Li Ge summoned a Shadow Ninja from his shadow, and Coulson drew his gun before Nick Fury explained what it was.
• Li Ge created more Shadow Ninjas, had them carry lounge chairs for himself, Nick Fury, and Coulson, and concealed the procession with invisibility and intangibility.

Li Ge waited at S.H.I.E.L.D. for Loki, planning to use the coming alien invasion to reveal the Nine Heavens. Meanwhile, Loki accepted Thanos's offer of an army and a scepter in exchange for bringing him the Tesseract, as Li Ge and Nick Fury continued toward it unseen.

• Li Ge explained that he was waiting for Loki and intended to let the invasion drive people toward the Nine Heavens without intervening.
• Loki met Thanos aboard the flagship, where Thanos offered him an army and power to conquer Midgard in return for the Tesseract.
• Loki accepted the deal and took the scepter Ebony Maw presented, while the Black Order reacted with concealed alarm.
• Nick Fury led Li Ge and Coulson through S.H.I.E.L.D. using the Shadow Ninjas' phasing ability, and Li Ge dismissed it as a minor use of spatial laws.

As Nick Fury led Li Ge and Coulson toward the remote site where the Tesseract was being studied, the Ancient One stopped time and confronted Li Ge about the powerful spacetime phenomenon within him. After Li Ge explained the Samsara Realm and showed it to her, she invited him to visit Kamar-Taj and departed.

• Nick Fury, Coulson, and Li Ge traveled toward the Tesseract research site on lounge chairs carried by Shadow Ninjas, and their journey grew awkward after they passed through a room where two security staff were undressing.
• Li Ge greeted the Ancient One, who had frozen everyone else in place and appeared before him.
• The Ancient One asked Li Ge about the immense cycling spacetime she had sensed within him, and Li Ge explained that it was the Samsara Realm and said he controlled it.
• The Ancient One praised Li Ge for creating the Samsara Realm by intercepting a discarded timeline and admitted that she had never thought to use the Time Stone that way.
• Li Ge showed the Samsara Realm to the Ancient One, who inspected its Solar System, Apocalypse, and scattered instances before asking Li Ge to visit Kamar-Taj and leaving.

Li Ge honored his promise to give Natasha a custom ability after she taught Sif how to attract Thor, then arrived with Nick Fury and Coulson at the secret base where the Tesseract was being studied. He gave Natasha a card granting her the ability to create and control threads.

• Coulson asked Li Ge about the ability he had promised Natasha, and Li Ge learned that Sif had already begun pursuing Thor, leaving him caught between Sif and Jane Foster.
• Li Ge asked Nick Fury to bring Natasha over so he could give her the promised ability directly.
• The group reached the underground base, where Dr. Selvig and his assistants were studying the Tesseract; Li Ge agreed to let their research continue and asked to stay at the base.
• Natasha arrived at the training ground, where Li Ge handed her a card labeled "Create and control threads."

Li Ge demonstrated his thread ability, and Natasha used a card to gain the same power before testing it on a metal target. As Natasha trained at the Tesseract research base, Barton decided to keep exploring the Nine Heavens for a chance to gain an ability, while Nick Fury stayed close to Li Ge to learn what he was planning.

• Li Ge showed Natasha, Coulson, Nick Fury, and Barton how his threads sliced an alloy target into pieces.
• Natasha drew blood onto her card and gained the thread ability, then cut halfway through another metal target with her first attempt.
• Nick Fury reassured the envious Barton that he still had a chance, and Barton resolved to explore the Nine Heavens.
• Li Ge learned that Coulson's Tyrant ability had reached its third form and said it would come in handy later.
• Li Ge moved into the Tesseract research base, where Natasha trained with Coulson and Nick Fury watched Li Ge study with Dr. Selvig.
• Barton stayed on a beam in the room where the Tesseract was being studied.

Li Ge enjoyed a quiet spell in the Second Heaven before falling asleep on his floating island. In a dreamlike space, Death and Galactus confronted him about taking the universe’s energy and influencing souls, and Li Ge calmly agreed to talk.

• Li Ge watched Grant at his villa, then rested on his floating island while thinking about the Mutants Nation, Loki, and Asgard.
• Li Ge grew drowsy as he ate a King Fruit and rocked in his reclining chair.
• Death and Galactus appeared beside Li Ge and discussed his potential and his connection to Franklin.
• Li Ge awoke as a mass of consciousness and recognized Death and Galactus, then prepared to defend himself.
• Galactus questioned Li Ge about taking the universe’s energy, while Death asked whether he had influenced many souls through his contracts.
• Li Ge realized why they had summoned him, conjured a reclining chair, and invited them to talk.

Li Ge learned that Death and Galactus had summoned him because his Nine Heavens could spread powers related to creation gods on a massive scale. They explained that those who mastered the abilities would benefit Li Ge and deepen the gods’ laws, so they wanted his Nine Heavens to grow stronger rather than take it.

• Death revealed her skull beneath her melting flesh, and Li Ge caught some of the law-rich liquid and sealed it in a card.
• Death and Galactus challenged Li Ge over taking the liquid, but Li Ge redirected the conversation by asking why they had summoned him.
• Galactus told Li Ge that he should have informed them after learning about them, and Death asked whether Nine Heavens contained abilities related to the gods.
• Li Ge confirmed that Nine Heavens included such abilities and explained that he had collected them for the Path to Godhood he created.
• Death and Galactus explained that Nine Heavens could spread their related powers widely, benefiting Li Ge and strengthening the laws of creation gods.

Li Ge realized the Nine Heavens also strengthened creator gods by spreading their rules, then negotiated compensation from Death and Galactus for the benefits they gained. Death accepted his request to use Scan and Record on her information, and Galactus agreed as well, warning Li Ge not to disappoint him.

• Li Ge understood that people who gained power from the Nine Heavens carried knowledge of rules back to the real world, strengthening creator gods such as Death and Galactus.
• Li Ge asked Death and Galactus to invest treasures or power in the Nine Heavens so its evolution would yield greater benefits.
• Li Ge proposed using Scan and Record on their information to help him create a realm of gods and demons.
• Galactus reacted angrily to Li Ge's demand, while Death considered it and accepted.
• Galactus agreed to let Li Ge use his information and warned him that it would not come easily.