Chapter Summaries

The Japanese emperor faced Qin Xiao’s demands after Japan’s attack on the Avengers and the resulting threats from right-wing extremists. He ordered the attackers handed over, the extremists dispersed, and prepared to meet Qin Xiao in person.

• Qin Xiao’s public demands left Japan’s leaders divided over whether to comply or risk provoking him.
• Right-wing extremists gathered at the prime minister’s residence and the imperial palace, demanding war against the Avengers.
• The emperor blamed Hishiguchi Shunsuke for starting the crisis and acknowledged that Japan had attacked the Avengers first.
• The emperor ordered Hishiguchi Shunsuke and everyone involved handed over to the Avengers, and ordered police to disperse the extremists.
• The emperor prepared a motorcade so he could meet Qin Xiao in person.

Qin Xiao rejected Japan’s proposed gradual reforms and demanded that the country confront its wartime crimes. After the emperor committed seppuku and the government agreed to revise textbooks and acknowledge the massacres, Qin Xiao destroyed JG Shrine and left Japan to face the ensuing unrest.

• The emperor offered to meet Qin Xiao’s demands gradually, but Qin Xiao gave him two hours to act and refused to accept delays.
• The emperor sent Qin Xiao a video showing that the shrines honoring wartime criminals had been destroyed and that he had committed seppuku.
• Qin Xiao told Hill that the emperor’s death did not erase decades of honoring war criminals, and gave Japan one week to prepare for resistance to reforms.
• Qin Xiao walked away as JG Shrine exploded.
• Three days later, Japan announced the emperor had died of illness, and five days later the government acknowledged its World War II massacres, provoking widespread unrest.

Thor struggled to understand Earth’s complicated politics, while Tony proposed bringing entertainment businesses to Asgard. Qin Xiao led the Avengers on a tour of Asgard, but Thor arrived with grave news: Odin was missing.

• Thor complained that Earth’s politics were more complicated than those of the Nine Realms, and Tony teased him about browsing adult websites.
• Tony proposed starting an entertainment company in Asgard, and the group decided to visit after Thor offered to ask Odin for permission.
• Qin Xiao led Captain America, Peggy, Falcon, Natasha, Hawkeye, Banner, Tony, and Hill through a wormhole to the Bifrost.
• Qin Xiao introduced Heimdall to the visitors and teased him, while Banner tried to take a selfie and Heimdall threatened him.
• Qin Xiao showed the group the Bifrost and the Endless Sea, but Thor arrived and announced that Odin was missing.

Odin mysteriously vanished across the Nine Realms before Heimdall brought him back to Asgard, where he explained that the Convergence was approaching and could awaken Malekith and the Aether. The chapter ended with Odin admitting that Supreme The Ancient One had confirmed his suspicions.

• Thor and Frigga discovered that Odin had vanished from his sleeping chamber, and Heimdall used the Bifrost to search for him.
• Qin Xiao warned Thor not to interrupt Heimdall as Odin's location changed between realms.
• Heimdall brought Odin back from Muspelheim, and Thor destroyed a magma man that arrived with him.
• Odin reunited with Thor and welcomed Qin Xiao and the Avengers to Asgard.
• Odin explained that the Convergence would bring the Nine Realms' spaces together and might reveal the hidden Aether, awakening Malekith.
• Qin Xiao asked whether Supreme The Ancient One had confirmed Odin's suspicions, and Odin admitted that she had.

Qin Xiao and Thor arrived in London to investigate the Aether and joined Jane Foster and Daisy at a factory where the Convergence was disrupting gravity and space. They discovered several unstable spatial anomalies and planned to continue exploring before rescuing Dr. Selvig from the police station.

• Odin admitted he did not know where the Aether had been hidden, so Qin Xiao arranged to find Jane Foster in London.
• Jane, Daisy, and Ian investigated spatial fluctuations at an abandoned factory, where the Bifrost brought Thor and Qin Xiao.
• Daisy greeted Qin Xiao enthusiastically, while Ian nervously introduced himself and asked for a photo.
• Jane and the others watched a child lift and spin a truck inside an area where gravity had failed.
• Daisy explained that Dr. Selvig had been arrested after running naked during a gravity-meter test at Stonehenge, and Qin Xiao said they would bail him out after investigating.
• The group saw a Coke can vanish and fall endlessly through an unstable spatial loop in the factory atrium.

Qin Xiao and Thor led Jane, Daisy, and Ian through a spatial anomaly to an ancient structure where they found the Aether. When Jane and Daisy touched it, the Aether surged toward Jane, but Qin Xiao grabbed it and the Space Stone caused it to enter his body, leaving him engulfed in flames and suspended in the air.

• Jane used her instrument to locate an intense spatial fluctuation, and the group chose to enter it together.
• Qin Xiao, Thor, Jane, Daisy, and Ian crossed into an ancient stone structure where the anomaly’s readings fell to their minimum.
• The group found a sinister hall with a red light sealed between two enormous stone blocks, which Qin Xiao and Thor recognized as the Aether.
• Jane and Daisy reached out to touch the Aether, and it stretched toward Jane while Qin Xiao pulled Daisy away.
• Qin Xiao grabbed the Aether and used the Space Stone to counter its force, causing it to surge into his body and set him aflame.

The Aether and Space Stone entered Qin Xiao’s body, triggering a dangerous surge of energy before the system helped stabilize him. In his mental space, the system explained how the Infinity Stones worked together, and Qin Xiao learned that he would have to wait before using the Reality Stone’s power.

• The Aether left Jane and entered Qin Xiao, causing his fire god power to surge and lift him into the air.
• The Space Stone left its setting and merged into Qin Xiao, calming the energy inside him as Thor held Daisy back from approaching.
• The system revealed that it had made the Space Stone merge with Qin Xiao and explained that the Infinity Stones formed a whole, with the Space Stone as its energy source and the Reality Stone as its foundation.
• Qin Xiao asked whether he could use the Reality Stone, and the system said its power would remain unavailable while it slowly constructed the whole.

After devouring the Reality Stone and Space Stone, Qin Xiao gained inexhaustible energy and the ability to open spatial wormholes, then prepared to face the Dark Elves. He arrived in Svartalfheim just as Malekith awakened, only for the Aether’s presence to vanish from Malekith’s senses.

• The Reality Stone fused into Qin Xiao’s body, and the Space Stone entered his heart, giving him inexhaustible energy and personal control over storage space and wormholes.
• Qin Xiao returned to London with Daisy and warned her, Jane, and the others to use Dr. Selvig’s devices to stabilize Earth during the Convergence.
• Qin Xiao took Thor to Asgard and told Odin that both Infinity Stones had fused with him, then arranged for Tony, Captain, and Thor to help Jane’s group in London.
• Qin Xiao decided to go alone to Svartalfheim, believing that the Dark Elves’ spatial weapons could not threaten him, and went to find Heimdall.
• Malekith and the Dark Elves awoke when the Aether was activated, but its presence suddenly vanished from Malekith’s senses as Qin Xiao arrived in Svartalfheim through the Bifrost.

Qin Xiao waited for the Dark Elves to find him and calmly ate hot pot as Malekith demanded the Aether. After Malekith's ships fired on him, Qin Xiao remained unharmed behind a blue shield, leaving Malekith shocked.

• Qin Xiao revealed a strand of the Aether, attracting Malekith and several Dark Elf ships to his location.
• Malekith demanded that Qin Xiao hand over the Aether, but Qin Xiao concealed it and continued eating hot pot.
• Malekith mistook Qin Xiao's control of the Aether for unfamiliar magic and ordered his ships to fire.
• The four ships struck Qin Xiao's position, but a blue shield protected him and his meal from the blast.
• Qin Xiao drank his liquor and belched while Malekith stared in disbelief.

Qin Xiao faced down Malekith and the Dark Elves, shrugging off their energy blasts until they attacked him with Singularity Grenades. The grenades’ collapsing space dragged him upward and began merging into larger black holes, leaving him struggling to resist their pull.

• Malekith ordered the Dark Elves to capture Qin Xiao and bring him back alive so he could turn him into Kurse.
• Dozens of Dark Elf soldiers surrounded Qin Xiao, who calmly packed away his belongings and challenged them to attack.
• The soldiers fired energy blasts at Qin Xiao, but his battle suit blocked them without harm.
• The Dark Elves threw Singularity Grenades around Qin Xiao, creating black holes that pulled him upward.
• Qin Xiao braced himself and fired high-density flames to resist, but the black holes merged and began pulling his arms apart.

Qin Xiao used the Space Stone to defeat Malekith’s forces and destroy their ships, then explained how the Space Stone and Reality Stone had connected inside him. Malekith accepted the defeat but warned Qin Xiao that he had made a fatal mistake.

• The Space Stone shielded Qin Xiao from the Singularity Grenades, and he used wormholes to behead one squad of Dark Elves and burn three more to ash.
• Qin Xiao tore apart four Dark Elf ships with wormholes, leaving Malekith’s ship intact so its king could descend to the ground.
• Malekith asked who Qin Xiao was, and Qin Xiao identified himself as an Earthling and challenged Malekith’s assumptions about Earth.
• Qin Xiao showed Malekith projections of the Space Stone and Reality Stone merging and explained that the stones had connected inside him.
• Malekith concluded that Qin Xiao must carry a mission bestowed by a great being, then warned him that he had made a fatal mistake as Qin Xiao sensed danger.

Qin Xiao was overwhelmed by Malekith’s Kurse warriors, who collapsed space around him and seemingly erased him in a massive black hole. As the Convergence threw London into chaos, Captain America, Tony, and Dr. Selvig prepared to deploy gravity devices, but the wormholes suddenly vanished in a sweep of blue energy.

• Kurse warriors emerged from underground, seized Qin Xiao, and unleashed singularity bombs that extinguished his flames and warped space around him.
• Malekith charged into the collapsing space and detonated himself, triggering a hundred-meter black hole that vanished with Qin Xiao inside.
• The Convergence caused London’s surroundings to shift unpredictably as Captain America, Tony, and Dr. Selvig searched for places to plant gravity devices.
• Tony and Captain America protected Dr. Selvig from the spatial distortions while Dr. Selvig identified suitable spots beside the River Thames.
• A wave of blue energy made the wormholes to the eight realms disappear before the group could secure the gravity devices, and Captain America asked Tony if the energy looked familiar.

After spatial turbulence sent Qin Xiao to an unknown world, he woke up stranded in a rocky wilderness, too dizzy to move. He discovered a lone Little Groot, who began reaching for his neck.

• Heimdall told the Avengers that Qin Xiao had vanished in the spatial turbulence, and Thor explained that Qin Xiao was alive because his Asgardian fire-god essence had not returned to Asgard.
• Natasha feared for Qin Xiao, but Captain reassured her that he could return once he overcame whatever trouble had trapped him.
• Qin Xiao woke in a barren wilderness after the turbulence and spent time lying still until his dizziness eased.
• Qin Xiao spotted a small tree person in his mirror and recognized him as Groot, though he wondered how Groot could be there alone and so small.
• Little Groot ignored Qin Xiao’s introduction, circled him, and sent branches toward his neck as Qin Xiao called out for him to stop and asked whether he knew Rocket.

Qin Xiao recovered enough to befriend a hungry Little Groot, who fed him and led him across a barren world in a pink convertible. The ride ended with Groot accidentally playing a song that shocked Qin Xiao.

• Little Groot tried to feed on Qin Xiao by stabbing his neck with his roots, but his attacks failed and he broke a branch.
• Qin Xiao gave Little Groot chocolate and juice, and a tiny clover-like sprout grew from Groot's head.
• Qin Xiao asked Groot to take him somewhere to rest, promising more food, and followed him across the rocky wasteland.
• Groot showed Qin Xiao his pink convertible and drove it at high speed using vines to control the wheel and pedals.
• Groot tapped a button to play music, and the song startled Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao and Groot fled Alioth across Knowhere and took shelter in an underground room. Qin Xiao learned that his system could return him to one of two worlds after fifteen days, making Knowhere a third world he could visit.

• Qin Xiao questioned Groot about their location as Groot accelerated their modified car and pointed out a pursuing cloud.
• Qin Xiao recognized the cloud as Alioth and realized they were in Knowhere, where the Time Variance Authority banished people and objects from the Sacred Timeline.
• Groot drove the car into a hidden shelter and led Qin Xiao down a floor hatch to safety.
• Qin Xiao found that Groot had only one spare energy cell and gave him one of Tony's Arc Reactors.
• Qin Xiao called on the system and learned he could return to either of his two worlds in fifteen days, after which Knowhere would be available as a third world.

In Knowhere, Qin Xiao and Groot found a dead Shiba Inu named Thor, whose body still held Asgardian power. Qin Xiao forced Groot to absorb that power, and as Groot began to evolve, Qin Xiao heard someone moving nearby.

• Qin Xiao and Groot searched another ruined city for food but found none until they spotted a Shiba Inu by the roadside.
• Groot pressed a button on the dog's collar, which announced, "I am Thor, for the glory of the gods of the North!"
• Qin Xiao sensed Asgardian power fading from the dead dog and urged Groot to put down roots in its body.
• When Groot hesitated, Qin Xiao used his Tang sword to force the roots into Thor's flesh.
• Groot glowed with golden light as lightning surrounded him, and Qin Xiao heard a clatter behind the ruins.

Qin Xiao rescued Old Loki from the ruins as Alioth advanced, then brought him to Little Groot’s shelter and heard how Loki had helped two other Lokis confront the creature. Old Loki believed their actions had changed the Time Variance Authority, and the chapter ended when Little Groot finished evolving and announced himself as Thor.

• Qin Xiao found a dying Old Loki in the ruins, gave him water, hot chocolate, and bread, then carried him away as Alioth approached.
• Qin Xiao brought Old Loki, Little Groot, and the Shiba Inu Thor’s corpse to Little Groot’s underground shelter.
• Qin Xiao told Old Loki about his experiences, and Old Loki thanked him for changing events involving Frigga and Malekith.
• Old Loki recounted how he had joined two Lokis in their attempt to control Alioth, summoned Asgard to distract it, and survived after the creature withdrew.
• Old Loki explained that the Time Variance Authority controlled its agents and that the Lokis had tried to free everyone from the Sacred Timeline; Qin Xiao praised his courage.
• Little Groot finished evolving and announced, “I am Thor, for the glory of the northern gods!”

After Little Groot buried Shiba Inu Thor and Old Loki died, Groot gained the ability to speak and agreed to help Qin Xiao investigate Alioth. Qin Xiao confronted the red cloud alone and discovered that his flames spread through it and made Alioth whimper.

• Little Groot absorbed Shiba Inu Thor's corpse, and Qin Xiao and Groot buried Thor's collar in the shelter.
• Old Loki died after telling Qin Xiao and Groot to escape and investigate the red cloud; Qin Xiao buried him under a gravestone marked Old Loki.
• Groot revealed that he could speak after absorbing Thor, and he agreed to help Qin Xiao enter the red cloud.
• Qin Xiao went alone to confront Alioth and sent flames at the approaching red cloud.
• Qin Xiao's flames spread rapidly through Alioth, whose thunderous roars turned into muffled whimpers.

Qin Xiao discovered that the Eternal Flame could burn Alioth, then returned with Groot to investigate the vast ruins of Knowhere. After finding Alioth and setting fire to its enormous body, Qin Xiao left Groot with an elderly man named Mandela while he continued attacking.

• Qin Xiao used the Eternal Flame to burn Alioth, forcing the cloud creature to flee and shed its burning parts.
• Qin Xiao returned to Knowhere the next day with Groot and flew across countless ruins in search of Alioth.
• Qin Xiao found Alioth attacking an elderly Black man and charged into the cloud, setting fire to its head.
• Qin Xiao set Groot down beside the man, introduced himself with a nod, and kept burning through Alioth's body.
• Groot told the man, who introduced himself as Mandela, that he was a tree person from an intelligent plant species.

Qin Xiao burned away most of Alioth with the Eternal Flame, revealing a castle and its mysterious owner, Kang the Conqueror. Inside, Kang introduced himself and claimed he knew where Mandela came from.

• Qin Xiao pursued Alioth with the Eternal Flame until Alioth stopped struggling, shrinking it to the size of a large building.
• A shock wave from inside the remaining clouds extinguished the Eternal Flame, and Qin Xiao met Mandela and asked about his origins.
• The red clouds revealed a castle, and its unseen owner invited Qin Xiao, Groot, and Mandela inside.
• Qin Xiao smashed Miss Minutes when she appeared, but she quickly reassembled before the castle's owner interrupted her.
• Kang appeared, explained that he had named himself the Conqueror, and told Mandela that he knew his biography from childhood.