Chapter Summaries

After waking in a parallel world with crushing debt, Qin Xiao gained a transmigration system and entered the world of Iron Man. The system gave him a new identity as a Stark Industries intern in Baltimore, where he was visiting Isaiah, the first super soldier.

• Qin Xiao woke in a run-down rental with more than three million yuan in debt and realized he had transmigrated into the body of a betrayed young man.
• A system bound itself to Qin Xiao, explained that he could earn points by completing missions, and showed him an entrance to Iron Man's world.
• Qin Xiao agreed to transmigrate, and the system said time in his original world would stop until he chose to return.
• Qin Xiao arrived in a poor Baltimore neighborhood and received the memories of his new identity, a UCLA graduate and Stark Industries intern.
• Qin Xiao learned that he had come to visit Isaiah, who had supported him since his parents died in a fight involving Hydra when he was thirteen.

Qin Xiao visited Isaiah in 2008 and was shot by an assassin, but Isaiah used his own Super-Soldier Serum to save him. Qin Xiao woke with superhuman strength and learned from the system that the shooting and transformation had been its beginner's gift.

• Qin Xiao visited Isaiah and told him he had received an internship at Stark Industries.
• A bullet shot through Isaiah's window, missed Isaiah, and struck Qin Xiao in the chest.
• Qin Xiao lost consciousness as his body underwent severe pain and itching, then woke less than three hours later with his wound nearly healed.
• Isaiah explained that he had treated Qin Xiao with the serum and that Qin Xiao had survived its modifications.
• Qin Xiao flattened a metal bed railing with his strength and realized he had become a super soldier.
• The system called the transformation a beginner's gift, and Qin Xiao angrily demanded that it explain itself.

After gaining superhuman strength from Isaiah’s blood, Qin Xiao began an internship at Stark Industries and struggled to find a way to attract Tony Stark’s attention. At the end of his three-month internship, Pepper Potts summoned him to meet with Tony.

• Qin Xiao left Isaiah’s basement with new strength, and Isaiah warned him to keep his abilities secret.
• Qin Xiao received a mission to get close to Tony Stark and make him remember his name.
• Qin Xiao moved to Los Angeles and spent nearly three months working as a laboratory assistant at Stark Industries without seeing Tony.
• Dr. Rex told Qin Xiao that Tony would interview the interns as their internship ended, and Rex gave him an A rating.
• Qin Xiao was sent to the top floor for his interview, where Pepper Potts called his name and said Tony was waiting for him.

Qin Xiao impressed Tony Stark with a single punch that burst a punching bag, completing his mission and unlocking the system shop. Tony became curious about Qin Xiao’s fighting technique and took his doubts about learning it as a challenge.

• Tony Stark interviewed Qin Xiao about whether he wanted to work in the lab or legal department, and Qin Xiao said he had little preference and was not good at law.
• Qin Xiao claimed he could defeat around twelve men like Happy, prompting Happy to challenge him.
• Qin Xiao punched through a punching bag, startling Tony Stark and Pepper Potts and making Happy back down.
• The system announced that Qin Xiao had completed his mission, awarded him 500 points, and unlocked the system shop.
• Tony Stark asked whether he could learn Qin Xiao’s technique, and Qin Xiao doubted he could endure the years of practice.
• Tony Stark took Qin Xiao’s doubt personally and felt challenged.

Tony Stark appointed Qin Xiao as his personal combat instructor, while Qin Xiao used his system points to buy combat skills and a protective suit. After Tony left him waiting, Qin Xiao went to a bar and was approached by Black Widow, prompting him to wonder whether S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra had noticed him.

• Tony Stark told Pepper Potts to arrange Qin Xiao’s schedule and pay as his combat instructor, then left for his lab without asking Qin Xiao.
• Qin Xiao spent all five hundred of his system points on Basic Combat Skills and an E-rank combat suit.
• Pepper offered Qin Xiao a weekly salary of a hundred thousand dollars, but Tony did not contact him to arrange lessons.
• Qin Xiao spent his evenings at The Roger Room and decided to approach a young aspiring actress he had been watching.
• Black Widow approached Qin Xiao and invited him to stay for a drink, and he wondered whether his actions had drawn S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra’s attention.

Qin Xiao helped Black Widow subdue three men in an alley, then disarmed her when she pointed her gun at him and left her with a provocative parting gesture. Black Widow called S.H.I.E.L.D. for help, while Qin Xiao completed his mission and returned to the bar, where he found the woman he had been watching had already left.

• Black Widow flirted with Qin Xiao at the bar while keeping an eye on three burly men.
• After the men left, Black Widow followed them into an alley, and Qin Xiao went after her when the system assigned him a mission to help her.
• Qin Xiao quickly knocked down all three men before Black Widow could attack.
• Black Widow aimed her gun at Qin Xiao, but he dodged, took the pistol, dismantled it, and teased her before returning to the bar.
• Black Widow called S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle the men, and Qin Xiao left after discovering the woman he had been watching was gone.

Qin Xiao began training Tony Stark and Happy, using basic exercises and sparring to improve their fighting skills while growing closer to Tony. At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Nick Fury turned his attention to Qin Xiao and the Avengers Initiative.

• Pepper Potts called Qin Xiao, and Happy picked him up to bring him to Tony Stark’s mansion for combat lessons.
• Qin Xiao made Tony and Happy practice the horse stance, while Tony explained that he had previously studied Wing Chun.
• Over nearly a month of training, Tony and Happy improved their fighting, and Qin Xiao became friends with Tony through their shared attitudes and humor.
• Happy stopped sparring with them as Tony’s growing skill made him increasingly difficult to beat.
• Black Widow told Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. had eliminated the covert operatives in the United States, while the two surviving agents refused to talk.
• Nick Fury told Black Widow to give the surviving agents a peaceful exit, then examined Qin Xiao’s file beside a file on the Avengers Initiative.

Nick Fury investigated Qin Xiao and concluded that he was an unusually powerful super soldier, ordering Black Widow to get close to him and assess his personality. Meanwhile, Qin Xiao gained a segmented Tang saber, agreed to attend a reception with Tony Stark, and ended up at a casino where a familiar woman moved his roulette bet to number two.

• Nick Fury examined Black Widow’s report, traced Qin Xiao’s unusual history to Isaiah, and concluded that Qin Xiao had become a super soldier through an accident.
• Nick Fury ordered Black Widow to get close to Qin Xiao and provide a detailed psychological and personality assessment.
• Qin Xiao spent 500 mission points on E-rank Melee Weapon Mastery and a custom segmented Tang saber that could cut through ordinary metal.
• Tony Stark invited Qin Xiao to a reception before his trip to Afghanistan, and Qin Xiao agreed despite realizing that Tony’s trip would lead into the events that transformed him into Iron Man.
• Tony brought Qin Xiao and Happy to a hotel casino instead of the military award ceremony, and Qin Xiao put his chips on roulette number one.
• A familiar woman pushed Qin Xiao’s chips from number one to number two.

Qin Xiao met Natasha Romanoff, who revealed she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assessing whether he posed a threat. The next day, Happy informed Qin Xiao that Tony Stark had disappeared after a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, beginning the events that would lead to Iron Man.

• Natasha joined Qin Xiao and Tony at the casino, where Qin Xiao and Natasha won four million dollars before she declined her share.
• Natasha told Qin Xiao she was an agent and asked how he had obtained the Super-Soldier Serum, and he recounted what had happened with Isaiah.
• Natasha explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. was monitoring Qin Xiao because of his enhanced abilities, but said they would not arrest him unless he showed hostility toward humanity.
• Qin Xiao and Natasha chatted in a park until late at night, with Natasha observing him for her threat assessment report to Nick Fury.
• Happy called Qin Xiao the next day to tell him Tony Stark had gone missing after a terrorist attack in Afghanistan.
• Qin Xiao learned from the system that he had to help Tony become Iron Man and defeat Iron Monger before he could return to the real world.

On the fourteenth day of Tony Stark’s disappearance, Qin Xiao received a mission to rescue him and enlisted Black Widow to investigate Obadiah Stane. Black Widow arranged for S.H.I.E.L.D. to search Stark Industries’ records, leaving Qin Xiao worried that the agency’s insider might be connected to Hydra.

• Qin Xiao called Black Widow and asked her to look into Obadiah Stane, suspecting he had arranged Tony Stark’s kidnapping.
• Qin Xiao explained that Obadiah had the motive and access to benefit from Tony’s disappearance, and asked Black Widow to search his private communications for clues.
• Black Widow said Stark Industries’ secure internal network could only be breached from inside, then contacted Nick Fury to mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D.’s people within the company.
• Qin Xiao objected that Black Widow had told Nick Fury despite his warning, and worried the insider might be with Hydra.

Qin Xiao joined S.H.I.E.L.D. so he could accompany Black Widow on a mission to rescue Tony Stark. They crossed into Pakistan by SUV, where S.H.I.E.L.D. had tracked the Ten Rings terrorists who had taken Tony.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Black Widow evidence that Obadiah had sold weapons to terrorists and a video showing Tony Stark captive.
• Qin Xiao insisted on joining the rescue, and Nick Fury agreed on the condition that Qin Xiao join S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Qin Xiao accepted the system’s mission to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and Black Widow took him to Afghanistan for his first mission.
• Black Widow and Qin Xiao rode a civilian SUV out of a Quinjet and drove into Pakistan, avoiding a direct aircraft entry into its airspace.
• Black Widow explained that the Ten Rings had moved Tony into Pakistan to evade the American search, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had traced them from the video and location.

Qin Xiao and Black Widow tracked masked terrorists to a hidden desert base where Tony Stark might be held. After three days of surveillance, Natasha opened up about her past, and Qin Xiao comforted her before they prepared to move that night.

• Black Widow used facial recognition and a telescope to identify suspected terrorists leaving a town, and Qin Xiao followed their vehicle across the desert.
• Qin Xiao and Black Widow discovered the terrorists’ concealed base and spent three days watching its activity.
• Black Widow estimated that the base held seventy to eighty people and found signs that hostages, possibly Tony Stark, were being held inside a cave where weapons might be manufactured.
• Qin Xiao asked Black Widow whether she wanted a normal life, and Natasha said she viewed her current work as atonement for her past.
• Qin Xiao told Natasha that she had been a weapon rather than the person responsible for her actions, and she thanked him.
• Natasha said they needed to move that night, went to rest, and left Qin Xiao on watch while they waited for support.

Qin Xiao met Hawkeye and Black Widow before joining them in an operation to rescue Tony from the Ten Rings' camp. After Hawkeye and Black Widow eliminated the sentries, Qin Xiao entered the cave and killed two guards at the door.

• Hawkeye arrived and Qin Xiao accidentally crushed his hand during a handshake after mistaking it for a strength test.
• Qin Xiao took position near the Ten Rings' camp while Hawkeye and Black Widow prepared to cover him.
• Hawkeye and Black Widow killed the camp's seven or eight sentries with arrows and a suppressed rifle.
• Hawkeye assigned Qin Xiao to approach the cave where Tony was being held, and Qin Xiao moved in with practiced combat skill.
• Qin Xiao found two sleeping guards inside the cave and shot them with his suppressed pistol.

Qin Xiao, Hawkeye, and Black Widow rescued Tony Stark and Doctor Yinsen from a terrorist cave. After Tony detonated explosives that destroyed the weapons stockpile, the group escaped, unaware that the bald leader had survived and was calling for help.

• Qin Xiao entered the cave, reunited with Tony Stark, and silenced the awakened Doctor Yinsen before leading them out.
• Black Widow planted bombs around the weapons stockpile while Qin Xiao, Tony, and Doctor Yinsen regrouped with her and Hawkeye.
• Tony revealed that the Arc Reactor in his chest held shrapnel away from his heart and insisted on destroying the Stark Industries weapons himself.
• Tony detonated the explosives, setting off the stockpile and devastating the camp.
• Hawkeye drove the group away as the wounded bald leader crawled from the cave and pulled out a satellite phone.

Hawkeye, Black Widow, Qin Xiao, Tony, and Yinsen came under attack from pursuing terrorists as they drove toward Afghanistan. After Hawkeye and Qin Xiao fought back, a much larger force appeared, leaving the group under heavy fire and Qin Xiao proposing a plan.

• A rocket exploded beside the SUV, and Hawkeye swerved as Black Widow spotted a large group of armed pursuers.
• Black Widow took the wheel while Hawkeye used explosive arrows to destroy three vehicles, and Qin Xiao fired a rifle to disrupt the attackers.
• Hawkeye used regular arrows to kill a gunner and a driver, then destroyed another SUV as the group joked about his skills.
• A bullet struck Hawkeye's vest, and nearly twenty more SUVs appeared ahead and to the left, trapping the group in a barrage of gunfire.
• Hawkeye tried to lead the SUV through the dunes while they waited for military help, and Qin Xiao said he had a plan involving two items in the vehicle.

Qin Xiao held off a much larger Ten Rings convoy in a desert basin so Black Widow, Hawkeye, Yinsen, and the unconscious Tony could escape and seek reinforcements. The enemy remained pinned down, while Qin Xiao stayed alone to face them.

• Qin Xiao stopped the group behind a dune and opened fire with a Gatling gun when most of the pursuing vehicles entered the basin.
• Qin Xiao and the others pinned the Ten Rings convoy in place with heavy gunfire and Hawkeye's arrows, then Qin Xiao proposed staying behind while the others fled.
• Qin Xiao tried to knock Tony unconscious but only struck him awkwardly, so Hawkeye delivered the blow that made Tony collapse.
• Yinsen agreed to leave with Black Widow and Hawkeye, who carried Tony away as Qin Xiao stayed behind to hold off the attackers.
• The bearded Ten Rings leader tried to break out and circle around, but Qin Xiao's Gatling fire and Hawkeye's arrows forced his men back.

Qin Xiao held off the Ten Rings as their bearded leader escalated the pursuit after learning Tony Stark was involved. After hiding in the sand and killing six men who approached, Qin Xiao learned the remaining attackers had gone northwest.

• Qin Xiao shot the driver of an off-road vehicle and destroyed another pursuing vehicle with the Gatling guns.
• The bearded man learned from the bald man that the target was Tony Stark and ordered his men to surround Qin Xiao’s position.
• Qin Xiao fought off the attacking vehicles, ran low on ammunition, and buried himself in the sand to hide.
• Qin Xiao ambushed six Ten Rings men who stopped near the abandoned weapons, killing them before they could fire.
• The bearded man received the men’s radio report and led the remaining attackers northwest in pursuit.

Qin Xiao completed the mission to rescue Tony Stark and turned back to avoid the Ten Rings, while the bearded man realized he had been tricked and began hunting him. Qin Xiao picked up a stranded traveler in the desert, only to recognize him and react with shock.

• The bearded man ordered his forces to retreat after learning Tony Stark had been picked up by the US military, and Qin Xiao received rewards for completing the rescue mission and improving his relationships with Tony, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.
• Qin Xiao turned back to avoid the Ten Rings, while the bearded man noticed the missing vehicles and concluded that someone had stayed behind to cover the others' escape.
• Qin Xiao headed south toward Pakistan, unaware that the Ten Rings still had forces in the area, and counted the points he had earned toward unlocking the level-two shop.
• Qin Xiao spotted a traveler in the desert and stopped to give him a ride to the nearest town.
• The traveler removed his scarf, and Qin Xiao recognized him and exclaimed in surprise.

Tony woke at a U.S. military base and learned that Qin Xiao had stayed behind, while his friends arranged a delayed rescue. Meanwhile, Qin Xiao encountered Bruce Banner in the desert and offered him a ride, accepting a system mission to earn Banner’s trust and help him evade the military.

• Tony woke beside Rhodey and demanded that the military rescue Qin Xiao, but Rhodey said he had submitted a request and could not cross the border without approval.
• Hawkeye criticized the delay, and Black Widow said a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet was on its way to the base.
• Qin Xiao recognized Bruce Banner, gave him water, and realized Banner seemed to be traveling after his failed suicide attempt and before the events of The Avengers.
• The system assigned Qin Xiao a mission to gain Banner’s trust, befriend him, and help him escape the military’s pursuit, and Qin Xiao accepted it.
• Qin Xiao explained how he had acquired the armed vehicle and offered Banner a ride; Banner hesitated because he feared transforming and causing casualties.

Qin Xiao and Dr. Banner were surrounded by armed men in the desert, who accused them of killing their comrades and helping Tony Stark escape. Qin Xiao pretended to be an innocent Chinese student and blamed Banner, leaving the aggrieved doctor repeatedly silenced and close to losing control.

• Qin Xiao and Dr. Banner drove through the desert in silence after Banner explained that he brought misfortune to others.
• Armed vehicles surrounded them, and Qin Xiao stopped the car after the pursuers threatened to open fire.
• Qin Xiao told the attackers that Banner had forced him to drive, while Banner protested that he was the traveler who had hitched a ride.
• The bearded leader accused them of killing his men and letting Tony Stark escape, and Qin Xiao again claimed Banner had taken him hostage.
• The leader repeatedly silenced Banner with rifle blows, and Banner struggled to control his anger and keep Hulk from emerging.