Recaps

Lin Xiao stormed Kingpin’s warehouse and overwhelmed his crew after learning Typhoid Mary had targeted Peter Parker. He broke Kingpin’s arms, threatened his family, and left in a stolen Hummer, while Kingpin told his men to wait before contacting the Brotherhood of Mutants.

• Typhoid Mary told Kingpin that Super Earthling was close to Peter Parker and urged him to let her use Peter as leverage.
• Lin Xiao burst into the warehouse, repelled Bullseye and Mary, and incapacitated Kingpin’s armed men with his attacks and electrical powers.
• Lin Xiao defeated Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, Echo, and Kingpin, then broke both of Kingpin’s arms and warned him against further trouble.
• Lin Xiao claimed he was a Level-six S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, threatened Kingpin’s family, and drove away in a modified Hummer.
• Kingpin’s henchmen treated his injuries and asked whether to contact the Brotherhood of Mutants, but Kingpin told them to wait.

After returning from his fight with Kingpin, Lin Xiao reunited with May, who privately worried that she could not keep up with him and wondered whether he needed another superhuman partner. Lin Xiao announced that they were moving to his renovated Manhattan building, and he and May set off together while Peter stayed behind for school.

• Lin Xiao returned to Forest Hills after taking Kingpin's ruby and Hummer, and May welcomed him with breakfast.
• Lin Xiao carried May to the bedroom, and after three hours she asked him to stop and brought up water.
• May worried about satisfying Lin Xiao and considered Gwen Stacy and his female instructor as possible partners, but decided she would not hurt anyone.
• Lin Xiao told May they were moving to his renovated seven-floor Manhattan building and planned to move Peter's belongings over the weekend.
• Lin Xiao and May loaded their suitcases and daisies into the Hummer and drove toward Manhattan.

Peter discovered that May and Lin Xiao had moved to Manhattan without telling him, then learned they expected him to join them. Meanwhile, Nick Fury arranged to send Lin Xiao to guard Betty Ross’s gamma research at Culver University.

• Peter noticed May and Lin Xiao were missing, searched the neighborhood with The Fool, and learned May had taken leave to move.
• Lin Xiao told Peter they had moved to Manhattan, and May apologized for failing to tell him before they sent him their new address.
• May and Lin Xiao planned to welcome Peter with dinner and prepare a room for him at their new home.
• Nick Fury learned that Betty Ross was researching an unusual superalloy and conducting biochemical work with Dr. Bruce Banner, while refusing military protection.
• Fury arranged for Lin Xiao to replace Carlos Mendes as Betty’s bodyguard, and ordered that Lin Xiao receive full reimbursement and a mission bonus.

Lin Xiao enjoyed his new home with May and Peter before Natasha summoned him to S.H.I.E.L.D. for a mission protecting Betty Ross. He accepted Fury’s assignment with suspiciously sincere obedience, leaving Fury and Hill unsure what he was planning.

• Lin Xiao teased Peter about his new room, shared breakfast with May, and received a call from Natasha summoning him to Fury’s office.
• Natasha told Lin Xiao that Fury had a mission for him, and May’s suspicious presence made Natasha sneeze repeatedly during the call.
• Lin Xiao overheard Hill objecting to assigning him a discreet protection mission for Betty Ross, while Fury defended his record.
• Lin Xiao entered Fury’s office, praised the director, and accepted the mission without bargaining, despite Hill’s doubts about his suitability.
• Fury offered Lin Xiao a thirty-percent pay increase, reimbursed expenses, and a commendation, then sent him outside when his unusual compliance unsettled him.
• Hill suggested they might have misunderstood Lin Xiao, but Fury remained convinced that something was wrong.

Lin Xiao signed a deliberately provocative confidentiality agreement, then traveled to Culver University to protect Betty Ross despite having no bodyguard training. He learned that Bruce Banner’s gamma-ray experiment was nearing completion and that Hulk’s birth was eighty days away, while Mendes worried the assignment would go badly.

• Lin Xiao filled out his confidentiality agreement with jokes, prompting Fury to have Hill prepare a replacement and describe Lin Xiao as “Honest and dependable.”
• At Richmond International Airport, Lin Xiao met Mendes in a flamboyant beach outfit and insisted that his casual appearance was part of his professionalism.
• During the drive, Mendes learned that Lin Xiao had no bodyguard experience or training, but Lin Xiao assured him that his fighting ability qualified him for the job.
• At Culver University, Lin Xiao used Doupao to locate Betty Ross and Bruce Banner in the biophysics laboratory and learned that Hulk’s birth was expected in eighty days.
• That evening, Mendes prayed at Richmond Airport that Lin Xiao would not ruin the assignment or the company’s reputation.

Lin Xiao arrived at Culver University as Betty Ross’s new bodyguard, drawing a crowd before Betty rejected him for disrupting the laboratory. After he waited for her and demonstrated his strength, Betty let him accompany her to a military laboratory, where he stayed until she finished and offered to drive her home.

• Lin Xiao caused a commotion in the laboratory lobby, where he bumped into Bruce Banner and met Betty Ross as she cleared the crowd.
• Lin Xiao introduced himself as Betty’s new bodyguard, but Betty rejected him and went back into the laboratory.
• Lin Xiao waited until evening and offered Betty an iced Americano, after which she invited him to accompany her to the military laboratory.
• Lin Xiao rode with Betty to the military facility and crushed a piece of steel to demonstrate his strength, prompting Betty to make that night his first shift.
• Lin Xiao waited in the car until nearly three in the morning, caught Betty when she stumbled, and offered to drive her home.

Lin Xiao waited outside Betty's school, where she promised him dinner after asking him to stay off campus. After a pickpocket stole his wallet, Lin Xiao chased the thief and encountered a silver-haired old man whose strange reaction suggested a connection to him.

• Betty told Lin Xiao to wait outside the school because his presence distracted the students, then offered to buy him dinner; Lin Xiao jokingly requested an extravagant feast before settling on king crab.
• Lin Xiao surveyed the area around campus and saw a boy steal a wallet from an older man, but discovered that the boy had also stolen Lin Xiao's own wallet.
• Lin Xiao pursued the thief and noticed a silver-haired old man watching him with a faint blue sheen on his skin; he asked Doupao to mark the man and continued the chase.
• A hot dog vendor mistook the silver-haired old man for someone romantically interested in Lin Xiao and encouraged him to pursue Lin Xiao.
• The old man hurried away, his ears reddening as another blue sheen spread across his skin.

Lin Xiao tried to stage a robbery so he could impress Betty, but she revealed her combat training and defeated the hired thugs herself. After the two shared a more honest moment, Mystique watched from a rooftop and discovered Lin Xiao had noticed her.

• Lin Xiao waited for Betty at the school gates, then persuaded her to take a quiet walk before dinner.
• Five thugs confronted Lin Xiao and Betty, and Lin Xiao tried to play the hero while Betty prepared to fight.
• Betty revealed her father had taught her military boxing and close-combat skills, then quickly defeated all five thugs.
• The thugs demanded extra pay as they fled, and Betty realized Lin Xiao had hired them to stage a robbery; she laughed and listened as he explained his plan.
• Betty shared that she had learned to rely on herself, and Lin Xiao accepted her confidence without asking for an explanation.
• Mystique watched the encounter from a rooftop, then found Lin Xiao's note inviting her to meet him at a nearby hotel.

Lin Xiao infiltrated the military compound to recover a needle containing a dangerous cell-destroying factor, then escaped after fighting off soldiers as the Lightning Hedgehog. He returned to the hotel and confessed to Betty why he had used her to create an alibi, leaving her to face him as dawn broke.

• Lin Xiao got Betty drunk, carried her to the hotel, and left her a note before flying to the military compound.
• Lin Xiao used Doupao’s security scans to enter the laboratory and retrieve the needle, learning it contained an active cell phagocytic factor.
• Lin Xiao planted a flag and signed the scene as Phantom Thief L, then drew soldiers’ attention by attacking the compound’s power and communications systems with lightning.
• Lin Xiao escaped to a hillside using the Blink Dagger and returned to the hotel an hour later.
• Betty confronted Lin Xiao, who gave her the needle and admitted he had used her to recover it and prevent the military from turning it into a weapon.

Lin Xiao spent the morning with Betty, who told General Ross that the two of them had been together all night, before she returned to Culver University. Lin Xiao went back to the hotel and found Mystique waiting; after she attacked him, he told her he had been looking for her and missed her.

• Betty woke up beside Lin Xiao, and he answered her father General Ross's call while teasing him about her having spent the night with him.
• Betty confirmed to General Ross that she and Lin Xiao had stayed together all night and had not gone to the military base.
• Lin Xiao drove Betty to Culver University, where she told him to leave her alone, but he asked when she would finish work and what they should have for dinner.
• Lin Xiao returned to the hotel and found Mystique waiting in the dark; she lunged at him with two short blades, but he dodged her attacks.
• Mystique asked why Lin Xiao had come from New York, and he said he had been looking for her and missed her.

Lin Xiao learned that Mystique was searching for Shang-Chi, son of Wenwu, and imagined claiming Wenwu’s powerful Ten Rings before deciding to ask Doupao for information. As Lin Xiao grew closer to Betty, the Ancient One foresaw him arriving at Kamar-Taj and calling him her son.

• Mystique told Lin Xiao she had come to find Shang-Chi, and Doupao identified him as Wenwu’s son and the current leader of the Ten Rings.
• Lin Xiao asked Doupao to create a one-star mission to find Shang-Chi, then examined Wenwu’s combat rating and saw an A.
• Lin Xiao waited for Betty outside Culver University, gave her tanghulu, and kissed her when she began investigating an unfamiliar scent.
• The Ancient One sensed interference while tracking Kaecilius and foresaw Lin Xiao arriving at Kamar-Taj, where she greeted him as her son.

Lin Xiao faced General Ross’s suspicion over the attack on the base, while Betty defended him and declared they were together. After Ross ordered surveillance and barred Lin Xiao from the base, Lin Xiao confessed that he had stopped pretending, and he and Betty kissed.

• Lin Xiao picked Betty up and took her to the military base, where General Ross questioned him about the Phantom Thief L attack and the stolen sample.
• Betty stood between Ross and Lin Xiao, claimed Lin Xiao had been with her all night, and declared that they were together.
• Ross called Fury, demanded an investigation, and ordered Lin Xiao to stay three kilometers from the base while being watched around the clock.
• Lin Xiao accepted Ross’s restrictions but told him that nobody could stop Betty from seeing him, then left with her.
• Ross ordered his men to keep watching Lin Xiao and pressed his investigation team to locate the missing needle.
• In the corridor, Lin Xiao admitted he had been acting before, and Betty said she had chosen not to push him away before they kissed.

Banner was struck by gamma rays after a calibration mistake and transformed into Hulk, who emerged from the laboratory in a rage. Lin Xiao protected Betty and faced Hulk despite the System warning that he had no chance of winning.

• Banner noticed Betty's growing attention to her appearance and watched her leave the laboratory to meet Lin Xiao.
• Banner accidentally shifted the gamma-ray emitter's calibration knob, and the beam struck him when he began the shutdown procedure.
• Betty and Lin Xiao heard the laboratory shake as Hulk burst through its walls, and Lin Xiao confirmed that the monster was Banner.
• Lin Xiao chose not to use the syringe in his System Space, then shoved Betty clear of a chunk of concrete and was struck by the rubble.
• Hulk charged Lin Xiao, who ignored the System's warnings and prepared to match strength with him.

Lin Xiao endured Hulk’s beating, then used candy and contests to calm him and establish a bond. After Hulk changed back, Banner decided to leave, and Lin Xiao gave him money before they parted.

• Hulk smashed Lin Xiao through the school grounds, but Lin Xiao recovered and led him away from the students.
• Lin Xiao tried a tranquilizer dart, then taunted Hulk into chasing him through empty streets and lots.
• At a river, Lin Xiao distracted Hulk with candy and challenged him to contests, winning the stone-throwing match with a lightning-charged pebble.
• Lin Xiao shared candy with Hulk and called himself Hulk’s uncle, asking him to watch his back in exchange for more candy.
• Hulk shrank back into Banner, who said he would leave to keep Hulk from hurting anyone again.
• Lin Xiao gave Banner three stacks of money, and Banner watched him leave as Hulk complained that the money was his candy money.

After surviving his fight with Hulk, Lin Xiao staged a press conference to portray himself as a heroic protector and protect himself from General Ross’s retaliation. Tony Stark used footage of the fight to promote a jetpack with Lin Xiao’s name, while Banner listened to Lin Xiao’s story and accepted Hulk’s demand for more candy.

• Lin Xiao realized the destruction at Culver University could bring military scrutiny, so he called Betty and asked her to gather reporters and students.
• At a press conference, Lin Xiao described protecting the university from the monster and claimed he had driven it off with three punches after riding on its back.
• Tony Stark showed footage of Lin Xiao fighting Hulk and advertised Stark Industries’ personal flight device, announcing it would be called the Lin-model jetpack.
• Banner listened to Lin Xiao’s televised account, and Hulk demanded candy before Banner agreed to buy more.

After being pressured by General Ross and Natasha Romanoff to accompany the military for treatment and questioning, Lin Xiao left campus with Betty’s tearful farewell. During the journey, he planned to turn Ross’s public promises into compensation and received mission rewards, including powerful abilities and Emperor Green Scar’s Blessing, which raised his combat rating to B+.

• General Ross publicly praised Lin Xiao, then arranged for him to travel with the military for treatment and questioning about Hulk.
• Natasha Romanoff said S.H.I.E.L.D. would cooperate, and Lin Xiao agreed to go despite realizing that Ross and Natasha had cornered him.
• Betty tearfully said goodbye to Lin Xiao, who boarded the military command vehicle with Natasha and Ross.
• Lin Xiao planned to seek major compensation from the military and use publicity to strengthen his heroic image.
• Doupao awarded Lin Xiao twenty free points, S-rank Super Sunglasses, the Normal Punch skill, and the Family Claiming Specialist title.
• Lin Xiao completed the hidden mission Hulk's family and received Emperor Green Scar's Blessing, raising his combat rating to B+.

Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker terrorized New York criminals by teaching them moral lessons and collecting education fees for charity and equipment. Tony Stark discovered their identities, recognized Lin Xiao’s influence, and left after their brief fight, while Gwen and Peter planned to continue patrolling the next night.

• Two robbers reported that Ghost-Spider and the black-robed wizard had robbed and lectured them, prompting George Stacy to tell police to stay out of the old warehouse district.
• Tony Stark reviewed reports of Ghost-Spider and Super Fool’s activities and flew to the old warehouse district to investigate.
• Peter and Gwen subdued three armed robbers, lectured them, collected education fees, and prepared to deliver them to the police.
• Gwen and Peter attacked Tony when he arrived, using webs and sand to damage and hinder his armor.
• Tony recognized Peter as Lin Xiao’s protégé and identified Gwen, then offered to help improve their equipment at Stark Industries.
• Gwen and Peter agreed to continue their patrols the next night, choosing a different area and planning to print more handouts.

Lin Xiao feigned serious injuries to enjoy his stay in the LCU and avoid questioning, while Maria Hill arrived to confront him about his misconduct. Alexander Pierce then visited Lin Xiao and discreetly offered him a way to contact him, leaving Lin Xiao aware that Pierce was laying the groundwork for a future alliance.

• Lin Xiao discovered that the Lizard Serum had healed his injuries and decided to pretend he was still sick to delay interrogation.
• Lin Xiao fooled his doctor, demanded lavish meals, and exasperated the military liaisons with his antics in the LCU.
• Maria Hill confronted Lin Xiao with a list of his mission violations, but he distracted her by asking about her freckles.
• Alexander Pierce visited Lin Xiao, praised his performance, and gave him a business card as a potential point of contact.
• Lin Xiao accepted Pierce's card without committing himself and realized that Pierce had mainly come to establish a connection for the future.

Lin Xiao left the hospital after discovering Tony Stark had used his image to sell jetpacks, reunited with May, and learned Peter and Ned had been working with Gwen. He decided to establish a superhero team and planned to make Tony fund and legally represent it.

• Lin Xiao learned Tony Stark had sold over thirty thousand jetpacks using his image, discharged himself, and left the hospital after giving his nurse his number.
• Lin Xiao encountered Maria Hill in the hospital corridor, then found May waiting outside with homemade congee and carried her to a parked van.
• May told Lin Xiao that Peter had been staying at Tony Stark's and that Peter and Ned were going out at night to make criminals recite the Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces.
• Lin Xiao concluded that Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Ned were ready to make their superhero team official and proposed that Tony handle funding and legal affairs while May managed the finances.
• Lin Xiao began planning his Homelander persona and imagined the team's debut.

Lin Xiao confronted Tony about using his likeness and involving Peter, then persuaded him to fund a superhero squad and recruit Rhodey as its legal representative. When Lin Xiao learned Coulson had been critically injured in an attack, he left for the Triskelion in a fury.

• Lin Xiao demanded compensation for the jetpack advertisements and accused Tony of poaching Peter, but accepted Tony’s explanation and nanosuits for Peter and Gwen.
• Lin Xiao presented Tony with a proposal for a superhero squad, asking Stark Industries to cover its expenses and Tony to serve as legal representative.
• Tony refused to take legal responsibility and called Rhodey, planning to recruit him for the role instead.
• Lin Xiao received a call saying Coulson had been attacked and was critically injured and unconscious.
• Lin Xiao crushed his phone, left the squad in Tony’s hands, and drove toward the Triskelion.

After Pyro left Coulson hospitalized, Lin Xiao rejected S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders and set out to confront him. Lin Xiao located Pyro at a Brotherhood of Mutants base and, after Mystique said she knew nothing of the attack, drove off with Natasha to find him.

• Hill briefed Fury that Kingpin was recruiting mutants and Pyro had injured Coulson in an explosion in Brooklyn.
• Lin Xiao gave Fury a Life Restoration Potion for Coulson and declared he was no longer a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
• Lin Xiao left the Triskelion, and Natasha joined him in his car.
• Lin Xiao used Doupao to locate Pyro at a nearby Brotherhood of Mutants base.
• Lin Xiao called Mystique, who denied knowing about Pyro's attack and urged him not to act rashly.
• Lin Xiao ended the call and drove toward Pyro with Natasha.

Lin Xiao and Natasha raided the warehouse where Pyro was hiding, and Lin Xiao brutally defeated him despite Storm’s attempt to intervene. Lin Xiao let Storm take Pyro back to the X-Men, though Pyro might be left severely injured.

• Four thugs discussed the masked man who had attacked their boss and warned that he would return, then Natasha and Lin Xiao arrived at their warehouse.
• Natasha incapacitated two thugs, while Lin Xiao knocked out the other two and confronted Pyro.
• Pyro attacked Lin Xiao with fire, but Lin Xiao broke his arm and sent him crashing through a wall with a punch.
• Storm arrived and demanded that Lin Xiao hand Pyro over, then used wind and lightning to try to stop him.
• Lin Xiao unleashed purple lightning that overcame Storm’s tornadoes and knocked Pyro unconscious.
• Lin Xiao allowed Storm to take Pyro back to the X-Men and warned that Pyro might be left a vegetable.

Lin Xiao returned from confronting Pyro while Fury used Lin Xiao’s healing medicine to revive Coulson at the hospital. The next morning, Lin Xiao visited Coulson with Natasha, while Kingpin arranged to exploit Pyro’s condition and reach out to the Brotherhood of Mutants.

• Storm took the defeated Pyro away after warning Lin Xiao that his dangerous methods could make them enemies.
• Natasha told Lin Xiao she had accompanied him because she was responsible for his safety, and Lin Xiao thanked her.
• Fury gave Coulson Lin Xiao’s healing medicine, and Coulson awakened and learned that Lin Xiao and Natasha had gone after Pyro.
• Lin Xiao visited Coulson with milk, roses, and fruit, and Natasha joined them as they shared food and wine.
• Kingpin ordered Bullseye to tell the Brotherhood of Mutants about Pyro’s condition and convey his apologies.

Lin Xiao upgraded his Lightning Summoning Spell into the powerful Five Thunder Spell and heard how Tony tricked Rhodey into signing as the superhero team's legal representative. The chapter ended with Ned pocketing Lin Xiao's damaged Sling Ring, which flashed with white light.

• Lin Xiao received a skill advancement book and a broken Sling Ring as rewards for completing Pyro's disaster mission.
• Lin Xiao used the book to upgrade his Lightning Summoning Spell into the A-rank Five Thunder Spell and tested its five-colored lightning.
• Tony told Lin Xiao that Rhodey had signed as the superhero team's legal representative after Tony used carbon paper to copy his signature while they drank.
• Lin Xiao celebrated the team's formation and welcomed Peter and Ned home.
• Ned found Lin Xiao's damaged Sling Ring, pocketed it when Peter called him, and failed to notice it flash with white light.

After Sabretooth set out to avenge Pyro and assert the Brotherhood’s reputation, Lin Xiao learned he was approaching Manhattan and arranged for the X-Men to meet him. Wolverine also received Storm’s warning and headed toward the confrontation, while Lin Xiao prepared to film the fight.

• Sabretooth rejected the Brotherhood members’ warnings, declared he would confront Lin Xiao, and left the hideout.
• Lin Xiao detected Sabretooth heading toward Manhattan and asked Doupao to find Storm’s number.
• Lin Xiao told Storm that Sabretooth was coming for him, persuaded her to send help, and gave her a meeting location.
• Storm informed Wolverine that Sabretooth was targeting the agent who had defeated Pyro, and Wolverine left the bar to stop him.
• Lin Xiao grabbed a camcorder and melon seeds and headed out to watch the confrontation.