Chapter Summaries

Qin Xiao attended Christie's auction in Paris to recover two Chinese zodiac animal heads and learned that Japanese industrial heir Hishiguchi Kohei was bidding against him for the rat head. The bidding continued with Hishiguchi raising the price to eleven million euros.

• Qin Xiao and Captain America discussed their training and Captain America's recent mission in Africa with Alexei.
• Qin Xiao explained that Alexei, Melina, Yelena, and Antonia were traveling together, and described plans to use diamond mine profits to support local communities.
• Qin Xiao and Natasha attended Christie's auction in Paris, where the rat and rabbit heads from China's zodiac clock were among the lots.
• Qin Xiao waited until the bidding for the rat head reached eight million euros, then bid ten million.
• Hishiguchi Kohei bid eleven million euros, and Natasha told Qin Xiao about his powerful family and its ties to Japan's military and underworld.

Qin Xiao won the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animal Heads and the rabbit head at auction, then publicly taunted Hishiguchi Kohei. When Hishiguchi Kohei threatened and grabbed him, Qin Xiao sent him flying into a wall, leaving the auction in chaos.

• Qin Xiao outbid Hishiguchi Kohei and bought the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animal Heads for forty million euros.
• Qin Xiao addressed the auction guests, asked them to let the Chinese relics return to China, and mocked Hishiguchi Kohei for giving up on the rat head.
• Qin Xiao bought the rabbit head for eight million euros after Hishiguchi Kohei did not bid.
• Hishiguchi Kohei confronted Qin Xiao and threatened him, but Qin Xiao warned him to leave.
• Hishiguchi Kohei grabbed Qin Xiao by the collar and insulted him, so Qin Xiao sent him flying into the wall behind the stage.

After killing someone at the auction, Qin Xiao discovered a golden coffin that appeared to be the one he had commissioned and buried, so he took it to the New York Sanctum for The Ancient One to examine. After repeated attempts to look through time, The Ancient One concluded that their timeline had been severed.

• Qin Xiao paid Christie's and took the animal head, then noticed an ancient golden coffin whose worn inscription matched the phrase on the coffin he had commissioned.
• Qin Xiao pressed the Christie's staff and auctioneer about the coffin's origin, but they could only say it had belonged to a castle owner and his family.
• Qin Xiao called The Ancient One, carried the coffin through a portal to the New York Sanctum, and asked her to find out where it came from.
• The Ancient One tried to examine the coffin through time several times, growing increasingly shocked and eventually spitting blood.
• The Ancient One told Qin Xiao that their timeline had been severed.

The Ancient One explained that Kang the Conqueror had closed the timeline into a loop and created the Sacred Timeline after a war between branching multiverses. She revealed that Agamotto had helped Kang establish it, leaving Qin Xiao and Natasha with the history behind the timeline’s control.

• The Ancient One showed Qin Xiao and Natasha that the timeline ended a little over 5,000 years in the past and 1,000 years in the future, forming a closed loop between two timelines.
• The Ancient One identified Kang the Conqueror as the time traveler who had manipulated the timeline.
• The Ancient One explained that Kang’s time travel created branching timelines, multiplying Kangs and triggering a war across the multiverse.
• The Ancient One said the victorious Kang unified surviving timelines and founded the Time Variance Authority to prevent further branching, creating the Sacred Timeline.
• The Ancient One revealed that Agamotto had helped Kang persuade other Agamottos and sacrificed himself to regulate the timelines with the Eye of Agamotto.

The Ancient One explained that Kang the Conqueror had trapped the Sacred Timeline in a repeating loop, and revealed that Qin Xiao’s arrival had changed the future she had foreseen. Qin Xiao hid the truth about his transmigration and system, while the Ancient One questioned the mysterious coffin and explained why she had chosen him as the next Sorcerer Supreme.

• The Ancient One said Stephen Strange had once been destined to end Kang the Conqueror’s control of the Sacred Timeline, but Qin Xiao’s arrival changed that future.
• Natasha asked whether Stephen Strange was the doctor who had operated on her, and questioned why the Ancient One had chosen Qin Xiao instead of him.
• Qin Xiao claimed that dreams from another world had shown him parts of his past and knowledge of the future, while concealing his system and transmigration.
• The Ancient One said Qin Xiao’s soul might have crossed the closed timeline loop and explained that the coffin had passed through generations after being unearthed in ancient Europe.
• Qin Xiao asked why the Ancient One had selected him as Sorcerer Supreme, and she explained that his appearance had created futures in which she survived.

Qin Xiao returned to his world, accepted half the money Shi Aiguo earned from selling the gold coffin, and traveled to Hong Kong to search for evidence that his world was part of Marvel’s timeline. After failing to find the Hong Kong Sanctum, he spotted an old photograph showing a building with the same distinctive round window.

• Shi Aiguo told Qin Xiao that a Middle Eastern tycoon had bought the gold coffin for five times its gold value and insisted Qin Xiao take half the extra money.
• Qin Xiao accepted half the money and decided to investigate Hong Kong for signs that his world connected to Marvel.
• Qin Xiao searched Hong Kong for three days but could not find the Hong Kong Sanctum.
• Qin Xiao went to a cha chaan teng and noticed an old photograph of a group standing in front of a building with a round window like the sanctums.

Qin Xiao investigated an abandoned building once owned by Ikaris and discovered that a woman inside could transform objects with golden energy. Recognizing her as one of the Eternals, he fought through her attacks and charged at her with a blast of fire.

• Qin Xiao learned from an old neighborhood resident that Ikaris's family had owned the building and left it vacant after Hong Kong's return.
• Qin Xiao broke the lock and entered the building, finding it unexpectedly clean despite being unoccupied.
• Qin Xiao was attacked by a staircase that transformed its handrail into a greatsword and its steps into a hammer.
• A black-haired woman appeared and transformed chairs into hammers and summoned swords to attack Qin Xiao.
• Qin Xiao deflected the swords with his Tang saber, charged the woman, and breathed fire at her, surprising her.

Qin Xiao fought an Eternal woman and was overwhelmed by her Skyfather-level strength, forcing him to use the system’s emergency transmigration plan. Back in New York, he resolved to grow stronger before returning to settle the score and uncover the secrets of the two timelines.

• The woman turned the staircase into streams of water that extinguished Qin Xiao’s fire, then caught his first punch without effort.
• Qin Xiao attacked with all his strength, but the woman overpowered him, slammed him into a transformed metal plate, and bound him with energy.
• The system warned Qin Xiao that the woman had Skyfather-level strength and offered emergency transmigration in exchange for 200 points.
• Qin Xiao accepted the system’s offer and vanished before the woman could reach him.
• Back in New York, Qin Xiao reflected on what he knew about the Eternals and resolved to grow stronger before facing her again.

Tony and Banner developed a flight system for Qin Xiao and helped him test it, with several crashes along the way. Tony finished Qin Xiao's lightweight armor, and Qin Xiao tested its flight before landing back at the Sky Base.

• At the Sky Base, Tony had Qin Xiao use flame-collecting socks and gloves to test how his fire powers could generate thrust.
• Tony adjusted the system as Qin Xiao flew into a laboratory door, a refrigerator, and a toilet tank during successive tests.
• After Qin Xiao got stuck above the laboratory ceiling, Tony finished a lightweight black-and-gold suit with retractable wings and automatic tracking and suit-up functions.
• Qin Xiao flew the finished armor around the sky before landing at the base, and Tony told him it could go faster as his flames improved.

The World Security Council pressured Nick Fury to accelerate Tesseract weapons development, while he argued Earth needed defenses against both political threats and powerful alien forces. At S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret base, the Tesseract’s energy surged unexpectedly before Dr. Erik Selvig had begun the next stage of testing.

• The World Security Council met in person to condemn the Avengers’ actions, especially Qin Xiao’s killing in Paris, and gave Nick Fury one month to produce Tesseract weapons for their countries.
• Nick Fury defended the Avengers’ intentions but kept the Tesseract weapons technology from the Council members.
• At S.H.I.E.L.D.’s California base, Nick Fury told Dr. Erik Selvig to begin the third stage of Tesseract development, warning that officials might otherwise pursue dangerous weapons themselves.
• Selvig agreed to proceed gradually, with greater risks kept within controllable limits.
• The Tesseract’s energy readings suddenly climbed to nearly twenty times their previous level, though Selvig insisted he had not started the test.

Nick Fury’s team lost the Tesseract to Loki, who took control of Hawkeye, Dr. Selvig, and another agent. At Tony Stark’s party, the illuminated STARK sign brought Captain America’s memories of the past and his grief over waking in a world where everyone he knew was gone.

• Dr. Selvig told Nick Fury that someone had opened the Tesseract from the other end to create a long-distance wormhole, and Fury put the base on alert.
• After the Tesseract’s energy returned to normal, Fury refused to lower the alert and declined to call Natasha and the others back.
• Loki took control of Hawkeye, Dr. Selvig, and another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, then escaped with the Tesseract as the base prepared to explode.
• Tony held a party at his new Stark tower and showed off his illuminated name to Qin Xiao, Natasha, Captain America, and the others.
• Captain America told Qin Xiao and the others about meeting Howard Stark and Dr. Erskine at the World of Tomorrow exposition, and recalled waking decades later to find Bucky, his teammates, and everyone else gone.

Natasha warned the Avengers that the Tesseract was involved in a crisis, while Loki prepared to use the Chitauri to invade Earth. S.H.I.E.L.D. tracked Loki to a reception in Stuttgart, where Hawkeye planned to obtain the iridium needed to open a stable wormhole.

• Natasha received word of a S.H.I.E.L.D. crisis involving the Tesseract, and Coulson came to brief Qin Xiao and the others.
• Loki projected his mind to the Chitauri and argued with their elder over his plan to conquer Earth and obtain the Tesseract.
• Dr. Selvig told Hawkeye that iridium was needed to activate the Tesseract, and Hawkeye said he needed to draw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention and obtain an eyeball.
• Tony and Banner failed to track the Tesseract because its gamma radiation was shielded, while S.H.I.E.L.D. located Loki through facial comparisons.
• Hawkeye targeted a Stuttgart reception where a laboratory owner had the iridium Dr. Selvig needed.

Loki staged a dramatic display in Germany to distract the crowd while Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig worked, but Qin Xiao and the others swiftly defeated him. Thor arrived aboard their aircraft and was shocked to see Loki badly beaten.

• Loki summoned duplicates and ordered the people at the party and on the street to kneel, but a gray-haired old man refused.
• Captain America blocked Loki's attack, and Iron Man and Qin Xiao joined the fight against him.
• Qin Xiao repeatedly kicked Loki, broke the horns off his helmet, and knocked him unconscious with Captain America's Vibranium Shield.
• Captain America questioned whether Qin Xiao had hit Loki too hard, but Qin Xiao said Asgardians recovered quickly.
• Thor flew into the aircraft intending to take Loki away, then recognized his battered brother and demanded to know who had done it.

Qin Xiao brutally pressured Loki to reveal where the Tesseract was while Thor tried to persuade his brother to return to Asgard. Loki refused and insisted his army would conquer Earth, so Qin Xiao resumed beating him.

• Thor and Loki crouched on the Helicarrier's deck, and Thor urged Loki to reveal the Tesseract's location before Qin Xiao beat him to death.
• Thor remembered Odin giving Qin Xiao permission to punish either of his sons if they caused trouble on Earth.
• Loki insulted Earth and Asgard, so Qin Xiao appeared and slammed his head into the deck before ordering him to speak properly.
• Thor urged Loki to abandon his plans and return to Asgard, but Loki declared he would conquer Earth and lead his army against Asgard.
• Loki refused to reveal where the Tesseract was, and Qin Xiao grabbed him and repeatedly smashed him into the deck.

After beating Loki, Qin Xiao learned that Hawkeye had taken the Tesseract and was planning to activate it elsewhere, leaving the team waiting for its gamma-ray signal. The signal finally appeared in Africa, and Dr. Banner identified its location as Wakanda.

• Qin Xiao repeatedly slammed Loki until he agreed to talk, but Loki said he did not know where the Tesseract was.
• Loki explained that he had sent Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig away with the Tesseract so they could activate it at another location and later rescue him.
• Qin Xiao and the others discussed waiting for Dr. Banner's program to locate the Tesseract while debating Loki's fate.
• The team waited through the afternoon and night, and Loki was locked in the Helicarrier's circular cage.
• The Helicarrier's alarms sounded the next morning, and Dr. Banner traced the Tesseract's gamma-ray signal to Wakanda in Africa.

Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig activated the Tesseract in Wakanda, triggering the country’s security systems and opening a wormhole to the Chitauri Army. King T’Chaka ordered Wakanda’s forces mobilized and went with T’Challa to confront the invasion.

• Hawkeye drove Dr. Selvig and the shielded Tesseract into the Wakandan grasslands to summon the Chitauri Army.
• Wakanda’s detectors detected the Tesseract, and its security system raised an energy shield around the area.
• Okoye told T’Chaka and T’Challa that the outsiders had brought an unknown energy source and showed them footage of Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig.
• T’Challa proposed capturing the intruders, and T’Chaka praised his judgment while advising him to delegate responsibility.
• The Tesseract opened a wormhole above the grasslands, revealing Chitauri soldiers in space, and T’Chaka ordered the warriors mobilized before heading to the scene with T’Challa.

Wakanda's king and Black Panther defended the city as Chitauri forces attacked the energy shield, while Hawkeye exploited a weak point to escape with Dr. Selvig. Black Panther intercepted them outside the shield and charged Hawkeye after withstanding an explosive arrow.

• Wakanda's king refused to raise a second energy shield and ordered the existing shield reinforced to protect the city and its civilians.
• A Chitauri dragon-shaped aircraft weakened the shield when it struck, and the king ordered Okoye to deploy combat aircraft near impact points.
• Hawkeye noticed the shield's weakness and directed Chitauri aircraft to attack it while soldiers drained energy from one spot.
• After twenty-seven Chitauri soldiers died, Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig escaped through a gap in the shield.
• Black Panther knocked Dr. Selvig unconscious, and Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow at him.
• Black Panther took the explosion without being shaken and charged at Hawkeye.

Wakanda’s warriors held back the Chitauri while Hawkeye explained the invasion and the Tesseract to the king. After Shuri verified his account, Qin Xiao and Tony arrived, and Hawkeye revealed that the Avengers were coming.

• The old king ordered Okoye to organize the guards, who opened a narrow gap in the shield and used it to repel the Chitauri.
• Hawkeye woke bound on the grass and explained Loki’s plan, the Chitauri, and the Tesseract to the old king.
• Okoye objected to Hawkeye making a call, but Shuri checked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files and confirmed that his story was largely true.
• Black Panther allowed Hawkeye to call for help and untied him, but Hawkeye spotted the approaching Avengers before making the call.
• Qin Xiao and Tony landed inside Wakanda’s shield, and the old king welcomed them as superheroes.

Qin Xiao and the Avengers negotiated with Wakanda over how to close the portal and stop the Chitauri invasion, agreeing to work together and target a likely enemy command ship. After the team prepared to enter the energy shield, Wakanda’s old king asked Qin Xiao to help turn the crisis into an opportunity for Wakanda to connect with the world.

• Tony and Qin Xiao examined Wakanda’s Vibranium camping shelter, and Qin Xiao promised to help Tony obtain Vibranium someday.
• Tony and Okoye argued over Wakanda’s secrecy and pride until Qin Xiao and Thor’s show of power helped stop the confrontation, and Natasha and the old king redirected the meeting toward the invasion.
• The old king showed the group Shuri’s image of a crab-shaped Chitauri ship and proposed launching a nuclear warhead at it before closing the portal.
• The Avengers and Wakanda agreed that the original six Avengers and a ten-person guard squad led by Okoye would enter the energy shield and work together.
• The old king apologized for Okoye’s behavior, then told Qin Xiao that Wakanda needed an opportunity to engage with the world and wanted the invasion effort to make humanity owe them a favor.

The Avengers entered the gap in Wakanda’s energy barrier and swiftly overwhelmed the Chitauri forces, stunning the Wakandans who had expected to face a flood of enemies. Black Panther, Okoye, and the other warriors arrived to find the area already cleared as Natasha assured Okoye she would get used to the Avengers.

• The old king rallied Wakanda’s warriors and announced that Black Panther would lead chosen fighters through the barrier to close the portal and attack the Chitauri command ship.
• Qin Xiao encouraged Banner to lead the charge, and Banner tripped before reaching the gap, drawing disdainful looks from Okoye and the female guards.
• As the Chitauri ship approached, Banner transformed into Hulk and stopped it with a punch, while Qin Xiao, Tony, Thor, and Hulk attacked the ship and nearby soldiers.
• The Avengers cleared the enemies around the gap within seconds, leaving the Wakandans stunned as the expected wave of Chitauri failed to appear.
• Black Panther, Okoye, and the others reached the gap and found a vast empty space; Natasha told Okoye she would get used to the Avengers before joining the fight.