Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi and Shazam joined the heroes in Kahndaq, where Gregor used his death to summon Sabac. They discovered that Cyborg’s powers carried traces of element X, suggesting the Guardian was secretly refining it, and Ling Yi decided to gather the heroes into his bowl.

• Ling Yi questioned Shazam about his knowledge of the Greater Omniverse, and Shazam told him to visit the Sphere of the Gods’ ninth level before moving Blue Star.
• Ling Yi brought Shazam to Kahndaq, where Adam greeted his old master and pledged to make amends for his past actions.
• Intergang and the Justice Society arrived for the Crown of Sabac, and The Flash and Cyborg brought Gregor to the ruins.
• Gregor recited the Crown’s spell backward and attacked Adrianna, so Cyborg stabbed him; Gregor died and prepared to return as Sabac.
• Ling Yi and Shazam sensed traces of element X in Cyborg and concluded that the Guardian was refining it, prompting Ling Yi to decide to put the heroes into his bowl.

Ling Yi recruited powerful superheroes and planned an invasion of Hell, but Adam was caught by an Eternium Bomb while fighting Intergang. After sharing the Eye of Good and Evil, Ling Yi confronted the heroes over their negative values and their refusal to kill villains.

• Ling Yi used Mind Power to make Superman, Wonder Heroine, Catwoman, The Flash, Cyborg, Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone, Doctor Fate, Adam, and Shazam his loyal subordinates.
• Ling Yi left Adam to fight Intergang, and Adam was knocked unconscious when an extra-large Eternium Bomb exploded near him.
• A mysterious force pulverized Intergang's minor leader while Ling Yi and the others waited in his manifested dimensional world and Shazam explained Sabac's resurrection and their plan to invade Hell.
• Ling Yi shared the Probe skill, which became the Eye of Good and Evil, and the heroes discovered that nearly all of them had negative good and evil values.
• Ling Yi told the heroes that the Eye of Good and Evil was accurate and challenged them to examine how their refusal to kill villains enabled further evil.

Ling Yi and the Justice Society prepared for the Gate of Hell, but Amanda ambushed them with cloned soldiers carrying Eternium Bombs. After Adam's lightning strike triggered the bombs and Shazam dispelled their blasts, Amanda threatened them with three Gold of Eternity warheads in orbit, while someone behind her challenged her willingness to sacrifice Kahndaq.

• Doctor Fate lamented that heroism had become a shackle, and Shazam urged the group to prepare for the Gate of Hell opening within three days.
• Ling Yi told Shazam he could recruit Hell's evil spirits as allies and defended Ron and Cobblepot's attacks on countries hostile to Ancient Country as personal grudges.
• Ling Yi scolded Adam for using single-target attacks and told him to use his ultimate against enemies, warning that Gold of Eternity energy could kill him.
• Three days later, Ling Yi and the others left the pocket dimension and found fewer than three hundred cloned soldiers carrying Eternium Bombs, with Amanda demanding the Crown of Sabac and Ling Yi's submission.
• Adam unleashed lightning that killed the soldiers and triggered their bombs, but Shazam sent the explosions into spatial rifts.
• Amanda revealed three Gold of Eternity warheads in orbit that could destroy the group and nearby Kahndaq, and an unseen voice behind her questioned whether she cared about the city's millions of civilians.

Ling Yi used Amanda to redirect three Gold of Eternity weapons toward the Pentagon, then watched as Sabac emerged from beneath Kahndaq. He explained Sabac’s origins and had Adam fight him until the Gate of Hell stabilized, then prepared everyone to act.

• Ling Yi’s clone controlled Amanda and made her redirect the three weapons to the Pentagon before he left her unable to stop herself from drawing her pistol.
• Ling Yi and the others sensed an evil power beneath Kahndaq, and Sabac burst from the ground as the Gate of Hell began to form.
• Ling Yi explained that Sabac was Gregor, the last descendant of King Acton, wielding powers granted by Mephisto after the six Devil Kings withdrew Sabac’s original abilities.
• Ling Yi told Adam to take Sabac’s attacks without fighting back so Mephisto would not sense a threat and close the Gate of Hell.
• Adam struggled to defend himself, and Ling Yi finally announced that the Gate of Hell had stabilized and Adam could fight back.

Ling Yi defeated Sabac and led the heroes into Mephisto’s Hell before the Gate of Hell could close. He unleashed a vast army of clones and self-aware Marvel characters to fight alongside the DC heroes, leaving the battle raging across Hell.

• Adam unleashed golden lightning and killed Sabac, leaving behind the Crown of Sabac, which Ling Yi gave to Shazam.
• Shazam warned that the Gate of Hell would close within two days unless Mephisto came to stabilize it, so Ling Yi led the heroes through the entrance.
• Ling Yi sent up to one hundred thousand clones into Hell and manifested enhanced, self-aware Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Captain Marvel, The Ancient One, Odin, and Thanos.
• The DC heroes, Marvel characters, and Ling Yi’s clones took up separate positions as countless lava monsters surged out of Hell’s rivers.
• The heroes fought the evil spirits in a sprawling battle, with Hulk tearing through demons, Shazam casting powerful area spells, and Iron Man unleashing an almost endless barrage of missiles.

Ling Yi’s attributes passed a hundred million, triggering a third transformation that let him perceive the rules underlying the world. He sent Shazam and the others to Satan’s Hell to gather strength while he stayed in Mephisto’s Hell and called for Mephisto, who did not answer.

• Ling Yi considered how to move Blue Star out of danger, concluding that brute force or ordinary travel would not work and wondering whether he could carry the planet inside a personal small world.
• After the hell wraiths stopped appearing, Ling Yi’s attributes passed a hundred million and he experienced his third transformation, allowing him to perceive the world’s underlying rules.
• Ling Yi told Shazam he needed Mephisto’s power, believing he might be able to copy it and control Mephisto’s Hell.
• Ling Yi explained to Clark and the others that the vanished fighters were characters he had manifested from a comic, and Selene wondered whether they too came from one.
• Shazam agreed to take the others to Satan’s Hell in the Sphere of the Gods to help Ling Yi grow stronger, while Ling Yi remained behind with his clones.
• Ling Yi called for Mephisto, but received no response and warned that Mephisto had refused his offer of courtesy.

Ling Yi’s Reckless Man trait erupted as he confronted Mephisto in Hell, and repeated attacks helped him adapt to Hell’s rules until he could overpower the Devil King. After beating Mephisto and watching him flee, Ling Yi saw his Reckless Man trait reach 60%.

• Ling Yi’s Reckless Man Personality erupted, and he found Mephisto’s hidden residence and destroyed its palace.
• Mephisto revealed himself when Ling Yi began tearing apart the surrounding space, and Ling Yi demanded that he release Hell’s evil spirits.
• Mephisto used Hell’s rules to suppress Ling Yi and repeatedly punched him away, but Ling Yi kept charging back.
• Ling Yi’s strength increased as he adapted to Hell’s rules, eventually resisting their suppression and using part of them himself.
• Ling Yi punched Mephisto, who recovered with Hell’s rules and tried to flee, but Ling Yi chased him and landed several more punches.
• Ling Yi stopped fighting and saw that his Reckless Man trait had risen to 60%.

Ling Yi learned that Mephisto’s Hell held roughly two trillion evil spirits and made Mephisto swear absolute loyalty in exchange for power. Mephisto began erasing every evil spirit in Hell while Ling Yi waited, and the spirits’ cries reached Superman and the others outside the Gate of Hell.

• Ling Yi asked Mephisto about the fixed rules of Hell and the Sphere of the Gods, then heard that a being in the Sphere’s ninth dimensional layer might know its origins.
• Mephisto estimated that Hell contained roughly two trillion evil spirits, and Ling Yi realized their deaths could grant him enormous attribute gains.
• Ling Yi demanded Mephisto’s absolute loyalty and promised him greater power; Mephisto raised his loyalty to 100, and Ling Yi locked it.
• Ling Yi explained that Mephisto would gain one-tenth of his power as Ling Yi grew stronger, then ordered him to clear Hell’s evil spirits.
• Mephisto invoked his authority to erase every evil spirit in Hell, whose roars reached Superman, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Diana, Shazam, and Clark outside the Gate of Hell.
• Shazam explained that Mephisto used the spirits’ resentment to grow stronger and that death would free them from Hell’s endless torment.

After absorbing Hell’s accumulated resentment, Mephisto returned to Blue Star stronger and told Ling Yi about the parasitic Starro race, prompting plans to hunt its source and investigate other threats. Ling Yi sent Mephisto into the universe to seek information and potentially take control of Apocalypse Star, while remaining on Blue Star until he could confront the Guardian.

• Ling Yi brought Mephisto back from Hell after four days, and Mephisto proposed hunting evil alien civilizations instead of joining Shazam’s group.
• Mephisto described the Starro race and revealed that one of its bodies was approaching Blue Star; Ling Yi recognized its resemblance to Patrick Star.
• Mephisto explained that killing Starro’s supreme mother organism would destroy its offspring, and said his strength had grown to planet grade.
• Ling Yi considered how his Reckless Man and Madness traits multiplied his attributes but could make him lose control, and concluded he needed greater strength before confronting the Guardian.
• Ling Yi told Mephisto to investigate other evil civilizations and, if possible, take control of Apocalypse Star rather than destroy it.
• Mephisto left Blue Star through his Gate of Hell on Pluto to enter the wider universe.

Ling Yi spent six months reviewing his powers and learned that Mephisto’s campaign against the Patrick Stars had earned him 45 trillion attributes. Shazam and the others traveled into space aboard Sanctuary II, where the Green Lantern Corps attacked them, and Diana captured four Lanterns as Ling Yi asked whether Harold Jordan was among them.

• Ling Yi vacationed in the Ancient Country, refined his abilities, and expanded his manifested world while his progress mastering the rules remained slow.
• Mephisto’s campaign against the Patrick Stars brought Ling Yi’s attributes to 45 trillion, while Shazam and the others decided to travel into space and target Apocalypse Star.
• Ling Yi manifested Sanctuary II for Shazam and the others, who met Mephisto’s group at Planet D26 before the Green Lantern Corps pursued them.
• Clark, Diana, and Selene went to defend the ship, and Shazam concluded that the Guardian had sent the Green Lantern Corps because of their strength.
• Diana defeated the four attacking Green Lanterns and captured them, and Ling Yi asked whether one was named Harold Jordan.

Diana’s group learned that the Green Lantern Corps had been ordered to invade Blue Star, while Shazam concluded that cosmic laws prevented the Guardian from watching or directly attacking the planet. Ling Yi ordered the captured Green Lanterns recruited as Mephisto warned that a spatial black hole was about to open.

• Diana questioned Harold Jordan with the Lasso of Truth, and he revealed that the Green Lantern Corps had orders to kill Blue Star’s Transcendents.
• Harold chose Blue Star over the Green Lantern Corps, while his companions realized the Council of Elders had misled them about the planet’s strength.
• Shazam reasoned that the Guardian could neither spy on Blue Star nor personally attack its people because of the cosmic laws’ restrictions.
• Diana contacted Ling Yi, who told the group to recruit the four captured Green Lanterns.
• Mephisto announced that the spatial black hole was about to open and told everyone to prepare for battle.

Mephisto brought Shazam and the others to fight the Starro-controlled Desolate Star Race, and their battle killed hundreds of millions of puppets while earning Ling Yi billions of attribute points. Afterward, Mephisto proposed heading straight to Starro’s homeworld, where killing the supreme mother would also eliminate her offspring.

• Mephisto arrived with an endless horde of Starro Puppets from the Desolate Star Race, and Shazam’s group prepared for battle.
• Cyborg fired Sanctuary II’s planet-destroying cannon, killing thousands of puppets, before Adam, Barry, Wonder Heroine, and the others charged into the army.
• Shazam learned that Starro’s parasitism bound its puppets’ bodies, souls, and consciousness, and that killing Starro would kill the hosts as well.
• The battle lasted three days, with the group annihilating hundreds of millions of puppets and gaining Ling Yi billions of attribute points.
• Mephisto said they should go directly to Starro’s homeworld, explaining that killing the supreme mother would kill all her offspring; Green Lantern Harold confirmed this was one of Starro’s weaknesses.

Harold and Veer explained Starro’s reproductive threat, Darkseid’s Omega Effect, and the secrets surrounding Apokolips Mother Boxes and X Element as Sanctuary II traveled to the Starro Galaxy. When the ship reached Starro’s home system, a purple beam attacked, and Superman met it with Heat Vision while the others prepared to fight.

• Harold explained that killing Starro’s supreme mother would end the parasite’s expanding lineage, but the Green Lantern Corps had waited until Starro had spread across much of the universe.
• Cyborg copied Harold’s star map and learned that Starro’s Galaxy lay near Apocalypse Star, prompting Adam to suggest they fight Darkseid after dealing with Starro.
• Hal Veer described Darkseid’s Omega Effect and the Apokolips Mother Boxes; Cyborg revealed that a Mother Box explosion had transformed him, and Shazam speculated that the Guardian sought X Element.
• Shazam and Adam agreed to kill Starro’s supreme mother first, then travel to Apocalypse Star, and Cyborg piloted Sanctuary II through spatial black holes toward the Starro Galaxy.
• After three days, Sanctuary II arrived in the Starro Galaxy, where Veer identified the largest planet as the supreme mother’s homeworld.
• A purple beam struck Sanctuary II, and Superman blocked it with Heat Vision while studying the energy; Diana repaired the hull, and Shazam ordered everyone to prepare for battle.

Shazam and Mephisto speculated that the Guardian might use the Mother Boxes and X Element to break free of the world's rules as Superman and the others attacked Starro Planet. On Blue Star, Ling Yi discussed Gotham and the Guardian with Bruce Wayne while showing him the fight against Starro's Supreme Mother, before Harley Quinn and Firefox Fox arrived.

• Adam charged toward Starro Planet, where powerful Starro puppets flew out to meet him and the others.
• Shazam warned Mephisto that the Guardian might eventually act personally, and they suspected the Mother Boxes on Apocalypse Star were tied to its efforts to gather X Element.
• Superman, Adam, The Flash, Wonder Heroine, and the others fought their way onto Starro Planet, killing Starro mothers and rapidly increasing their strength.
• Ling Yi drank baijiu with Bruce Wayne and discussed Gotham City, the Ancient Country, and whether the rest of Amai Chou could become as safe as Gotham.
• Ling Yi showed Bruce a screen of Superman and the others attacking Patrick Star, explained Starro's nature, and then Harley Quinn and Firefox Fox entered the room.

After Patrick Star’s death sent Ling Yi’s attributes soaring and transformed his body into an Innate Rule Body, Shazam urged him to move Blue Star to the universe’s center. Ling Yi refused, saying he needed three more months to become invincible, while Cobblepot prepared to exploit Tehaden’s plans for his own purposes.

• Fox told Ling Yi that the Green Lantern Corps had arrived on Blue Star and joined forces with President Tehaden’s government, but Ling Yi left their fate to Cobblepot.
• Cobblepot revealed that Tehaden had secretly formed the Justice League under Luthor Lex, who had cloned a thousand enhanced Supermen, and that Cobblepot’s mental puppets were monitoring the operation.
• Cobblepot planned to let Luthor escape after the coming conflict so his cloning technology could provide Ling Yi with more attributes.
• After Superman and the others killed Patrick Star, Ling Yi’s attributes rose to two quadrillion, his rule progress reached 60%, and his body began transforming into an Innate Rule Body.
• Shazam asked Ling Yi to move Blue Star to the universe’s center, but Ling Yi asked everyone to wait three months and claimed he would then be able to destroy the Guardian with a casual gesture.

Ling Yi delayed the expedition to Apocalypse Star until he had grown stronger, while his allies prepared for a confrontation with the Guardian. After watching Cobblepot effortlessly destroy an invading force in a replica of Gotham, Bruce decided he needed power, even if it meant giving up being Batman.

• Ling Yi refused to approach the ninth level of the Sphere of the Gods or travel to Apocalypse Star until his rule progress had advanced, and Shazam and Mephisto agreed to wait three months before facing the Guardian.
• Adam asked Veer about nearby alien civilizations because he could not bear to wait on Starro's planet.
• A Justice League force of twenty thousand Green Lanterns and one thousand Superman clones attacked a replica of Gotham that Ling Yi had created as a small world.
• Cobblepot defeated the attackers with his physical strength while Harley challenged Bruce's distrust of Ling Yi and argued that strength could save Amai Chou.
• Bruce told Ling Yi he needed power because Batman could not save Amai Chou, and Ling Yi maxed out Bruce's loyalty with Mind Power.

Bruce gained immense power and joined Ling Yi’s fighters, helping defeat the Green Lantern Corps and cloned Supermen in the Manifestation Small World. Luthor escaped, received power from the Guardian, then rejected the Guardian’s attempt to use him and went to Ling Yi’s home.

• Ling Yi opened a doorway to the Manifestation Small World, where Bruce joined Cobblepot and the others in fighting the Green Lantern soldiers and cloned Supermen.
• Bruce fought with his new strength and agreed with Cobblepot that they should kill some invaders and keep some.
• Luthor escaped from the presidential office, while Tehaden detonated the Gold of Eternity nanobombs and destroyed the Octagon.
• Luthor took control of the Green Lantern command ship after killing its commanders, then met the Guardian, who sent him away and gave him new power.
• Luthor realized the Guardian wanted him to target Ling Yi, refused to be used, and went to Ling Yi’s home to ring the doorbell.

Luthor came to Ling Yi seeking answers after the Guardian ordered him to deal with Ling Yi. Their conversation revealed the Guardian’s theft of X Element and opposition to saving the universe, while Ling Yi prepared to face him in two and a half months.

• Luthor’s arrival triggered the X Element inside Ling Yi, which surged and began rapidly increasing his attributes and rules progress.
• Ling Yi used the system to suppress the X Element and turn it into an Element X Seed, learning that he could cultivate more X Element with Attribute Points or by devouring other X Element.
• Ling Yi realized that the X Element in Luthor’s counterfeit Origin Armor had triggered the seed’s hunger, and suspected the mysterious existence on the ninth level of the Sphere of the Gods had arranged it.
• Ling Yi explained to Luthor that the Guardian had stolen the universe’s World Origin and was trying to stop them from saving the world.
• Luthor reasoned that the Guardian had sent him because a restriction prevented the Guardian from attacking Ling Yi directly, and asked whether Ling Yi could defeat him.
• Ling Yi said he would face the Guardian in two and a half months, noting that his rules progress had reached 70% and that forging Origin Armor could help him avoid defeat.

Ling Yi learned that the Guardian had sent Wasteland Wolf to pressure Luthor, but both Wasteland Wolf and Luthor became Ling Yi’s subordinates. After months of building his power and nearing full rule progress, Ling Yi prepared to move Blue Star to Apocalypse Star, despite the risk of releasing the Guardian from its protections.

• Luthor returned to Luthor Island to develop cloning technology, while Cobblepot formed the Gotham City Justice League with Green Lanterns and cloned Supermen.
• Ling Yi learned from an elder Green Lantern that Wasteland Wolf was Darkseid’s estranged maternal uncle and had arrived on Blue Star as Tehaden’s new ally.
• Ling Yi sent Luthor to deal with Wasteland Wolf, who later joined Ling Yi’s forces and warned him that Barbatos could devour universes.
• Over two months, Ling Yi increased his attribute gain to the world’s limit and invested his excess X Element in his Primordial World Journey to the West World.
• Three months later, with his rule progress at 99%, Ling Yi told Shazam to prepare to migrate Blue Star to Apocalypse Star in three days.

Diana packed Apocalypse Star into a manifested small world while Adam destroyed its neighboring planets, and Shazam’s group waited for Ling Yi. As Ling Yi began moving Blue Star into his Primordial World, the Non-Rule Zone around it shattered, and the Guardian confronted him, calling him an outsider.

• Diana manifested a black hole and packed Apocalypse Star away after Darkseid struck it with a powerful attack.
• Adam destroyed the system’s other planets, and Shazam worried about the danger of their strength without Ling Yi to restrain them.
• Ling Yi discovered that Blue Star’s bound Sphere of the Gods and Mephisto’s Hell also had to be packed away, so he began moving the planet into his Primordial World.
• The Non-Rule Zone surrounding Blue Star shattered as the planet moved, removing its protection from the Guardian.
• The Guardian appeared before Ling Yi, said he was certain Ling Yi was an outsider, and Ling Yi asked what he planned to do about it.