Recaps

Qin Xiao prepared a Chinese-style hot pot feast at his new Los Angeles home and invited his acquaintances to celebrate his housewarming. Dr. Banner, Black Widow, Tony, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, and Agent Coulson arrived, but none brought the red packets Qin Xiao had jokingly requested.

• Qin Xiao settled back into his home, declared it his housewarming day, and invited his acquaintances to a feast while asking them to bring gifts and red packets.
• Qin Xiao bought hot pot ingredients in Chinatown and prepared the food and table at home.
• Dr. Banner arrived with red wine after Agent Romanoff invited him to meet Qin Xiao as part of the Avengers Initiative.
• Black Widow arrived and gave Qin Xiao a kiss on the cheek instead of a red packet.
• Tony, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, and Agent Coulson joined the gathering, and Hawkeye gave Qin Xiao an arrow.
• Qin Xiao complained that the guests had brought no red packets and added two packets of spicy soup base to the hot pot.

Qin Xiao hosted the Avengers for spicy hot pot, then learned Nick Fury planned to move the team’s base to New York. After the meal, the guests suffered the consequences of washing down the spicy food with cold beer, while Qin Xiao slept at home.

• Qin Xiao served the group an extravagant hot pot meal and secretly gave Black Widow herbal tea instead of beer.
• Nick Fury announced that the Avengers Initiative had begun and that the team would use a base in New York, prompting Qin Xiao to complain about relocating.
• Nick Fury took Black Widow away for a mission, while Tony stayed behind with Qin Xiao.
• Tony spent the night in Qin Xiao’s bathroom, Hawkeye stayed in an airplane bathroom, and Nick Fury, Coulson, and Dr. Banner were left at the ruined Los Angeles branch after suffering severe stomach trouble.
• Qin Xiao laughed in his sleep, unaware of the chaos caused by the hot pot.

Coulson led Qin Xiao, Tony, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Banner on a covert mission to attack a major Mexican drug trafficking organization and fund the Avengers. As Black Widow outlined their infiltration plan, Tony charged at the drug lord’s mansion and Qin Xiao raced after him.

• Coulson explained that the Avengers needed to seize drug traffickers’ wealth to pay for their secret operations and equipment.
• The team traveled by stealth submarine to Nicaragua to target Celesto, burn his drugs, and recover passwords to his hidden Zurich bank accounts.
• Black Widow and Hawkeye prepared to lead the infiltration while Banner stayed aboard the submarine as backup.
• Black Widow warned that the mansion’s heavy security made a quiet entry difficult and began explaining her plan.
• Tony rushed toward the mansion, and Qin Xiao sprinted after him as Black Widow tried to stop them.

Qin Xiao and Tony Stark stormed a drug lord’s estate, destroying its defenses as they searched for Celesto. Tony and Qin located a heavily reinforced escape tunnel, and Qin charged into it, where a hidden Gatling gun opened fire on him.

• Qin Xiao smashed through the estate’s wall while Tony Stark attacked from the air, destroying the drug dealers’ weapons and drugs.
• Black Widow and Hawkeye arrived and guarded the estate while Tony searched for Celesto and the underground passages.
• JARVIS identified a metal-lined tunnel as the drug lord’s likely escape route, and Tony blasted open its entrance.
• Qin Xiao cut through the steel covering with his Tang saber and ran into the tunnel.
• Qin rounded a bend and was caught in a Gatling-gun barrage, then saw a metal arm swing at him when the firing stopped.

Qin Xiao and the team raided Celesto’s hideout, where the Winter Soldier escaped after blinding Qin Xiao with a flashbang and Celesto was killed by a bomb. The operation uncovered a Zurich bank account holding five hundred million dollars, but the Winter Soldier’s appearance left the team suspecting a larger conspiracy.

• Bucky attacked Qin Xiao, but Qin Xiao blocked his metal-arm strike before Bucky set off a flashbang in front of him.
• Qin Xiao warned Tony and Black Widow about Bucky, and Tony pursued the escaping men while Qin Xiao temporarily lost his sight.
• Tony found that Celesto had exploded from a time bomb, while Hawkeye discovered that Bucky had escaped through one of several branching passages.
• Black Widow identified the attacker as the Winter Soldier and ended the pursuit, then shoved Qin Xiao away when he pretended to faint against her.
• Tony found Celesto’s Zurich bank login details on his computer and recovered access to an account containing five hundred million dollars.

Alexander Pierce learned that Bucky had encountered Tony Stark and Qin Xiao, while Hydra continued advancing Project Insight. Nick Fury grew worried about Hydra and then discovered that files on two Mexican drug dealers were missing and Qin Xiao could not be reached.

• Bucky reported to Alexander Pierce that Qin Xiao had defeated him during the mission to collect payment from Celesto.
• Alexander Pierce learned that Tony Stark and Qin Xiao’s activities suggested Nick Fury’s Avengers Initiative was underway, but ordered Hydra to focus on Project Insight and support another Mexican drug dealer.
• Nick Fury worried that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and might be using kidnapped scientists to build weapons.
• Coulson told Nick Fury that files on two Mexican drug dealers were missing and that he could not contact Qin Xiao.
• Nick Fury ordered Coulson to contact the Drug Enforcement Administration, investigate the drug lords, and erase any traces if Qin Xiao’s identity had been exposed.

Qin Xiao attacked Carlos’s estate in Reynosa, seized the drug lord’s money, and set off the armory as he made his exit. He tried not to look back at the explosions, but a flying rocket launcher struck him in the face.

• Coulson received a video of Qin Xiao attacking armed men in Mexico while wearing a mask and shouting bizarre slogans.
• The Mexican government mobilized its army after Qin Xiao raided drug lords and transferred their assets to his own account.
• Qin Xiao entered Carlos’s armory, threatened two armed men with a grenade, and sent them fleeing.
• Qin Xiao tossed the grenade into the armory and walked away as its weapons and explosives triggered a chain of blasts.
• Qin Xiao turned to look at the explosion and was hit across the eyes and nose by a rocket launcher thrown by the blast.

Qin Xiao escaped Mexico with Black Widow and handed Nick Fury a billion dollars for their team’s funding. When Qin Xiao swore that heaven could strike him if he acted on his own again, lightning struck him beside a mysterious hammer.

• Black Widow picked Qin Xiao up after the Mexican government sent in troops in response to his attacks on three drug lords and the money he stole.
• Black Widow drove Qin Xiao across the border to New Mexico, where Nick Fury and Coulson waited at a restaurant.
• Qin Xiao ate Nick Fury’s breakfast, gave him an account number containing a billion dollars for the team, and promised not to act on his own again.
• Nick Fury left in a Quinjet after warning Coulson and Black Widow to keep an eye on Qin Xiao.
• Qin Xiao swore that heaven could strike him if he caused trouble again, and a lightning bolt hit him, leaving him beside a lightning-wreathed hammer in a crater.

Qin Xiao recognized the fallen hammer as Mjolnir and told Coulson that Thor had been banished to Earth, wagering against Coulson’s hair when Coulson refused to believe him. S.H.I.E.L.D. secured the crater and monitored the hammer, but the chapter ended when a long-haired man broke into the tent and fought his way toward it.

• After the hammer struck Qin Xiao, he tried to lift it, but it would not budge even when S.H.I.E.L.D. used a Quinjet to pull it.
• Nick Fury left Coulson in charge, and Qin Xiao asked Black Widow to stay while he waited for Thor to appear.
• Qin Xiao told Coulson that the hammer was Mjolnir and that Thor had been stripped of his powers and banished to Earth.
• Coulson bet his hair that Qin Xiao was wrong, while Qin Xiao wagered the money he had brought back from Mexico.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, fenced off the crater, and began studying Mjolnir under Coulson’s supervision.
• An alarm announced an intruder, and Coulson saw a long-haired man beating guards as he headed for the hammer.

Qin Xiao met Thor at the site of Mjolnir, where Thor failed to lift the hammer and was knocked unconscious after attacking Qin Xiao. Qin Xiao accepted a system mission to help Thor regain Mjolnir’s recognition, leaving Odin’s attention as a possible risk.

• Qin Xiao, Coulson, and Black Widow approached Thor as he found Mjolnir, and Qin Xiao teased him about the hammer being his boyfriend.
• Thor threatened Qin Xiao, then failed to move Mjolnir and broke down in despair.
• Thor charged at Qin Xiao, who dodged and knocked him unconscious.
• Qin Xiao told Coulson that an astrophysicist would come looking for Thor and advised him to follow their research.
• Qin Xiao learned that his Thor mission remained incomplete because Thor did not know his name, then accepted a new mission to help Thor regain Mjolnir’s recognition.

Qin Xiao and Black Widow shared a quiet, intimate night talking beneath the stars, strengthening their trust and affection. The next day, as Qin Xiao waited for Erik Selvig to come for Thor, Tony called to show him a change to his Arc Reactor.

• Black Widow joined Qin Xiao on a hillside and told him about her painful upbringing in the Red Room and why she trusted him.
• Qin Xiao joked with Black Widow as she rested her head on his shoulder, and they spent half the night together.
• Qin Xiao waited for Erik Selvig to come take Thor away, but nobody arrived by noon.
• Tony video-called Qin Xiao, asked about the hammer, and showed that his Arc Reactor had changed to a blue triangle.

Qin Xiao asked Tony for advice about securing the three billion dollars he had taken from drug lords, then helped Dr. Erik Selvig retrieve Thor from SHIELD's camp. Thor left with Selvig, while Coulson secretly had an agent follow them.

• Qin Xiao asked Tony which Swiss bank was safest for his three billion dollars, and Tony recommended UBS while mocking the amount.
• Qin Xiao recognized Erik Selvig and learned that Selvig had come looking for his friend, whom Qin Xiao identified as Thor.
• Qin Xiao sent a guard to tell Coulson that Thor's friend had arrived.
• Coulson brought Thor out to meet Selvig, and Thor agreed to leave with him after hearing Jane was waiting.
• Coulson let Thor and Selvig go without checking Selvig's identification, then secretly sent an agent after them.

Qin Xiao met Thor and Jane Foster at a restaurant, where he tried to calm their suspicions and challenge Thor's dependence on Mjolnir. He left them intrigued by claiming he knew how Thor could regain his hammer and powers.

• Qin Xiao found Jane Foster and Thor eating together and sat down beside them.
• Thor and Jane accused Qin Xiao of being a threat, but Qin Xiao said he had come alone and meant them no harm.
• Qin Xiao explained that he was only a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant and told Thor that he had been banished for relying on his hammer and disrespecting humans.
• Jane asked whether Qin Xiao believed Thor was truly the God of Thunder from Asgard.
• Qin Xiao said he knew why Thor had been banished and how he could reclaim Mjolnir and his power.

Qin Xiao gained Thor’s trust by revealing Loki’s lies, but his meddling in Thor and Jane’s relationship ended with Jane throwing water in his face and leaving him to pay their bill. The next afternoon, Tony invited Qin Xiao to the Stark Expo, but Coulson brought him a mysterious business card bearing a Bleecker Street address, delivered through a portal above Mjolnir.

• Qin Xiao told Thor about Loki’s childhood trick and exposed Loki’s claim that Odin was dead, restoring Thor’s hope of returning home.
• Qin Xiao revealed Thor’s arranged engagement to Sif, prompting Jane to throw water in Qin Xiao’s face and storm away while Thor went after her.
• Qin Xiao received 500 system points, then paid the restaurant bill after Thor and Jane left without settling it.
• Tony invited Qin Xiao to the Stark Expo opening ceremony in New York, scheduled for three days later.
• Coulson showed Qin Xiao a business card with his name and the address 177A Bleecker Street, which had appeared through a portal above Mjolnir.

Qin Xiao visited the Ancient One at the Sanctum after she summoned him, expecting their meeting to concern Thor or Asgard. The Ancient One revealed that she was curious why Qin Xiao had appeared where he was not supposed to and why the Time Variance Authority had not taken him.

• Qin Xiao decided to visit the Ancient One at 177A Bleecker Street after learning S.H.I.E.L.D. had found nothing unusual there.
• Qin Xiao left Thor with Jane in New Mexico and traveled to the Sanctum in New York.
• The Ancient One brought Qin Xiao inside through a portal and silently read while he tried to provoke her by blowing cigar smoke her way.
• The Ancient One diverted the smoke through a portal to a snowy mountain, then spoke with Qin Xiao about why she had summoned him.
• The Ancient One said she had kept watch over Odin's exiled son and asked why Qin Xiao had appeared somewhere he should not have been and had not been taken by the Time Variance Authority.

Qin Xiao was confronted by the Ancient One, who sensed his mental communication with the system and examined his soul. After recognizing the Time Stone, she offered to teach him magic and revealed the stone as her reason.

• Qin Xiao failed to answer the Ancient One’s questions, and the system rewarded him for meeting her before starting a 48-hour upgrade.
• The Ancient One sensed Qin Xiao communicating with someone and restrained him to examine his soul and mental fluctuations.
• Qin Xiao challenged the Ancient One, who responded by conjuring a golden energy whip and activating the Time Stone.
• Qin Xiao recognized the Time Stone and claimed he could foresee the future through the Zhouyi and other Chinese divination methods.
• The Ancient One offered to teach Qin Xiao magic, then revealed the Time Stone and asked whether it was reason enough.

Qin Xiao left the Ancient One with unanswered questions about the Time Stone and the future, then met Tony Stark outside Stark Industries. The Ancient One secretly used the Time Stone, suffered a violent backlash, and reacted with disbelief and joy.

• Qin Xiao grew frustrated over the Ancient One's warnings, kicked a dumpster into the air, and took fifty dollars from a would-be robber, injuring his shoulder.
• The Ancient One used the Time Stone to investigate what had happened, then spat blood and laughed wildly.
• Qin Xiao took a cab to Stark Industries' New York branch after sending his driver away.
• Tony Stark offered to take Qin Xiao somewhere and promised him his dark-red Acura NSX if he agreed to help with something.
• Qin Xiao praised the car's color by claiming it reminded him of the yangmei from his hometown.

Qin Xiao was tricked by Tony into buying a luxury apartment and then discovered that the system upgrade had unlocked the Level 2 Shop. He bought an Intermediate Super-Soldier Serum that granted an Asgardian divine body, while his questions about the Ancient One and the Time Variance Authority went unanswered.

• Tony persuaded Qin Xiao to buy two top-floor duplex apartments, then revealed that one was actually in Tony’s name and that the building belonged to Stark Industries.
• Qin Xiao stayed in Tony’s presidential hotel suite while waiting for the system upgrade to finish.
• The upgrade unlocked the Level 2 Shop, and Qin Xiao spent 3,000 points on the Intermediate Super-Soldier Serum, leaving him with 500 points.
• The system explained that the serum had been upgraded to grant Qin Xiao an Asgardian divine body because he already possessed 30% of the Hulk’s strength.
• Qin Xiao asked the system about the Ancient One and the Time Variance Authority, but it said it could not answer; he suspected the divine body was connected to the Thor mission and a future reward from Odin.

After drinking the Intermediate Super-Soldier Serum, Qin Xiao felt tougher but only slightly stronger, then agreed to help Thor find work so he could learn to live as an ordinary person. Qin Xiao brought Thor money and documents instead, calling him his personal bodyguard and preparing to take him out into the world.

• Qin Xiao drank the Intermediate Super-Soldier Serum and felt his body become more resilient, with only a small increase in strength and speed.
• Thor called Qin Xiao and asked for help finding a job so he could support himself and take Jane out.
• Qin Xiao decided to go to New Mexico himself, concerned that Thor working while Loki sent the Destroyer could endanger innocent people.
• Qin Xiao warned Coulson not to pursue the organization at 177A Bleecker Street, saying its strength rivaled Odin's and that it had protected Earth for ages.
• Qin Xiao gave Thor Earth identification, a passport, and a bank card loaded with a hundred thousand dollars, then named him his personal bodyguard.

Qin Xiao invited Jane, Daisy, and Thor to Monaco for the F1 race, while Erik Selvig stayed behind to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. After Qin Xiao and Daisy began a fling aboard his private plane, the group arrived in Nice, where Qin Xiao unexpectedly encountered someone he knew.

• Qin Xiao invited Jane, Daisy, Thor, and Erik Selvig to Monaco, but Erik said he had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as a consultant and would stay for a research project.
• Qin Xiao chartered a private plane, and Daisy teased him about rumors linking him to Tony Stark before making clear she was interested in a fling.
• Qin Xiao and Daisy spent the flight together in a bedroom while Thor took Jane into another, and the group did not emerge for more than ten hours.
• Qin Xiao and the others landed in Nice because Monaco had no airport, and Qin Xiao ran into someone he knew.

Justin Hammer invited Qin Xiao to help promote his armor at the Stark Expo by staging a public defeat, hoping to make it look stronger than Iron Man. Qin Xiao agreed in exchange for an exorbitant endorsement fee.

• Justin Hammer enthusiastically greeted Qin Xiao and invited him and his friends to ride in his helicopter to the race.
• Thor and Daisy voiced their dislike of Justin Hammer, but Qin Xiao accepted the ride.
• Aboard the helicopter, Justin Hammer told Qin Xiao that his company was developing combat armor with the Department of Defense.
• Justin Hammer asked Qin Xiao to stage a fight at the Stark Expo and lose to the armor so the public would see it as stronger than Iron Man.
• Qin Xiao agreed to the staged defeat and negotiated the most exorbitant endorsement fee in history.

At the Monaco Grand Prix, Tony Stark decided to race in place of his team's driver after joking with Qin Xiao about Justin Hammer's offer to have him endorse Hammer's armor. Ivan Vanko watched Tony take to the track and prepared to attack him.

• At the Hôtel de Paris, Justin Hammer greeted Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, and Tony left Hammer to speak with Qin Xiao.
• Tony told Qin Xiao that Hammer had offered him $350 million to lose publicly to Hammer's armor, and they discussed how he might turn the deal against Hammer.
• Tony announced he would replace his team's driver in the Monaco race and told Qin Xiao not to tell Pepper Potts until he had done it.
• Qin Xiao went to the hotel roof to watch while Thor, Daisy, and Jane remained at the bar.
• Ivan Vanko saw Tony enter the race on television and laughed as the glow of his Arc Reactor showed beneath his shirt.

Ivan Vanko attacked Tony Stark at the F1 track with energy-powered whips, while Justin Hammer recognized the potential of Vanko’s Arc Reactor. Qin Xiao stopped Vanko with a fast-moving object, leaving him unconscious beside the track.

• Ivan Vanko entered the F1 track with an Arc Reactor powering his whips and drew the attention of Justin Hammer, who saw a chance to acquire the technology.
• Vanko split a speeding car in half with his whip, and Happy took Pepper toward the track with Tony Stark’s Mark 5 Suitcase Armor.
• Thor left Jane to go help Tony Stark, whom he believed Vanko was targeting.
• Vanko cut the front off Tony Stark’s car, sending Tony crashing onto the track, then approached him through the chaos of colliding cars and explosions.
• As Vanko prepared to strike Tony, a dark blur hit him in the face and knocked him unconscious; Qin Xiao celebrated from the hotel rooftop.

Qin Xiao rescued Tony during the attack at the race, but Thor knocked Ivan Vanko unconscious just as Tony suited up to fight him. After the police arrived, Tony destroyed Vanko’s arc reactor, and reporters tried to photograph Tony and Qin Xiao together.

• Qin Xiao jumped down beside Tony and helped him up after the race car wreck.
• Ivan Vanko got back to his feet and cut Happy’s car in half with his whip, frightening Pepper Potts.
• Tony put on the Mark 5 while Qin Xiao protected Happy and Pepper, but Thor leaped over the fence and knocked Vanko out with a brick.
• Tony crushed the arc reactor on Vanko’s chest after the police arrived.
• A reporter asked Tony and Qin Xiao to pose together, and they answered her countdown with middle fingers and a shared curse.

After the Monaco race, Tony confided in Qin Xiao about his feelings for Pepper, then visited the awakened Ivan Vanko with him. Ivan revealed that Tony was suffering from palladium poisoning, but Qin Xiao already knew and only pretended to be shocked.

• After the race, Tony complained to Qin Xiao about being surrounded by affectionate couples and admitted he was afraid to confess his feelings to Pepper.
• Ivan Vanko stayed unconscious for three days before Qin Xiao and Tony visited him in the hospital.
• Tony and Ivan argued over whether their fathers had stolen the arc reactor design, then Ivan laughed and declared that Tony had already lost.
• Ivan told Qin Xiao that Tony was dying from palladium poisoning caused by the reactor in his body.
• Qin Xiao exaggeratedly pretended to be horrified, and Tony shoved him aside and criticized his acting.