Chapter Summaries

The Goddess of Death watched as the Celestials mobilized against Su Chen and decided to let him face the danger as his final test. Su Chen confronted the Celestials’ Judge, who blocked the power of his rings and Infinity Stones, but Su Chen revealed he could still fight without them.

• The Goddess of Death considered helping Su Chen but chose to make the Celestials his final test.
• Su Chen defeated the Eradicator and watched as a vast Celestial fortress arrived, already imagining using it as a headquarters for S.W.O.R.D. and the Utopia Alliance.
• The Judge condemned Su Chen and his race to extinction, and a Celestial attacked him as the fortress’s machines locked onto him.
• Su Chen blocked the attacker’s knee but discovered that the Celestials’ technology had suppressed his rings and temporarily stopped the Infinity Stones.
• Su Chen told the Judge that he had only used the Emotional Spectrum to test its enhancement and had never intended to rely on the stones.

Su Chen fought the Celestials after they restricted the Infinity Stones and Emotional Spectrum, discovering that the ancient beings were naturally arisen mechanical life-forms. As observers across the universe recognized him as the one who destroyed Ego, Su Chen continued attacking the Celestials.

• Su Chen unleashed his Energy Particle Body, matched the Celestials' size, and fought their specialized warriors.
• Su Chen noticed electronic circuitry inside the Celestials' remains and concluded that they were mechanical beings.
• Hidden observers from across the universe watched the battle and realized Su Chen was defeating the Celestials.
• The observers recognized Su Chen as the being who had destroyed Ego and recalled his power to annihilate planets.
• Su Chen seized a thickset Celestial and punched through its chest.

Su Chen followed the Celestials’ remains to their mechanical gathering place, where they began rebuilding, and used the Infinity Gauntlet with the Emotional Spectrum to snap them out of existence. Meanwhile, Hela and Nekron paused their exhausting battle as Nekron proposed they join forces to take over the universe.

• Su Chen followed the super fortress through spatial ruptures to the Celestials’ gathering place.
• The Celestials’ fragments fused together in a massive pit as they began to resurrect.
• Su Chen’s Infinity Gauntlet could not destroy the Celestials because they were part of the universe’s workings.
• Su Chen combined the Emotional Spectrum with the Infinity Stones and snapped, destroying the Celestials.
• After two hours of fighting, Hela and Nekron stopped attacking, and Nekron suggested they join forces to claim the universe.

Hela refused to join Nekron, who used a black crystal to seize command of death and overwhelm the battlefield. Su Chen returned, restored the light, and faced Nekron as the Second Legion suffered under the Black Lantern Legion's assault.

• Hela rejected Nekron's demand to submit, insisting that only Su Chen could protect or conquer a universe.
• Nekron tore a black crystal from his chest and pressed his ring against it, plunging the battlefield into darkness and infusing death with malice.
• Nekron claimed mastery over death, suppressing Hela's power as the Black Lantern Legion attacked the Second Legion.
• The Goddess of Death watched from Knowhere and anticipated the coming confrontation.
• Su Chen appeared beside Hela, said he had dealt with the Celestials, and challenged Nekron's claim to be truth.

Su Chen fused the seven Emotional Spectrum powers into the light of creation and used it to overwhelm Nekron’s power of death. As the light cut through Nekron’s monstrous form, Hela felt death itself instinctively recoil from Su Chen’s power.

• Su Chen judged that Nekron’s surge of death power came from a Lantern Beast, while Nekron absorbed his Black Lantern Legion and transformed into a monstrous amalgamation.
• Su Chen’s seven rings failed to harm Nekron, so he crushed them and forced their energies to trace back to their sources.
• The seven Lantern Beasts released their powers toward Su Chen, whose fused energies became a dazzling white light of creation.
• The light of creation sliced through Nekron’s black form, and Hela recognized it as a power stronger than death.

Su Chen used the seven Emotional Spectrum source powers to destroy Nekron, then released them rather than risk being assimilated into Universe 1. He returned to his plans for conquering the universe and explained that he had replaced the Celestials’ roles and discarded them elsewhere.

• Nekron urged Su Chen to kill the Guardians as the seven Emotional Spectrum source powers gathered around him.
• The seven powers entered Su Chen, expelled the six Infinity Stones from his body, and expanded his perception across Universe 1.
• Su Chen created the concept of zero within Nekron’s black mass, causing Nekron and the mass to vanish completely.
• Su Chen deliberately expelled the genesis power because he feared the seven energies would assimilate him into Universe 1, and he told Hela he wanted to keep them available for future use.
• Su Chen ordered Hela to put forming the Legion on the agenda and said the Celestials had been removed from their universe and replaced.
• People in an unnamed universe looked up at their sky in terror after Su Chen discarded the Celestials there.

Su Chen returned to Earth 1 after eliminating the Celestials and explained that they could no longer be reborn, with Alpha Flight set to take over some of their duties. With his home universe secured, he turned his attention to conquering Universe 1.

• Su Chen wondered where Nekron’s death power had gone, then returned to Earth 1 with Hela and prepared to recruit the Lantern corps for the conquest of Universe 1.
• The Goddess of Death absorbed the purified origin of death through Hela, while the Anti-Monitor reappeared from the discarded impurities and spoke with her.
• Emma Frost asked Su Chen whether the Celestials were gone for good, and he explained that he had severed their connection to the universe using power from another universe.
• Su Chen proposed that Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight take over some of the Celestials’ responsibilities, leaving S.W.O.R.D. in need of a new leader.
• Su Chen told Emma Frost that his home universe was settled and that he would now focus on Universe 1.

Su Chen claimed the Red Lantern Legion for his planned Fourth Legion, persuading its members to join a combined force of emotional-spectrum holders. He then arrived at the Orange Lantern Legion’s gathering place, where its Lantern Beast gave him the Supreme Ring of Greed and the legion cheered its new allegiance.

• Su Chen confronted Blood Ox at the Red Lantern Legion’s blood-red lake and told the uneasy members they would join a new legion under his command.
• Su Chen declared that the Red Lantern Legion would merge with other emotional-spectrum holders, and Blood Ox gave him the Supreme Ring of Rage.
• The Red Lantern Legion accepted Su Chen, then dispersed to gather near Earth and prepare to join his Fourth Legion.
• Su Chen traveled to the Orange Lantern Legion’s gathering place and announced that it would be disbanded and absorbed into his legion.
• The Orange Lantern Lantern Beast gave Su Chen the Supreme Ring of Greed, and the legion members cheered their new leader.

Su Chen took control of the Orange and Fear Legions, then confronted the Green Lantern Legion and secured its Supreme Ring after condemning its past failures and revealing that Nekron had returned. The Green Lanterns were disbanded and sent to join the Fourth Legion, still questioning whether the Guardians had released Nekron.

• Su Chen took the Orange Lantern Legion’s Supreme Ring and learned it could create energy puppets from those its bearer had killed and absorb other rings’ energy.
• Su Chen gained the Fear Legion’s allegiance, and its members joined the gathering near Earth as the third part of the Fourth Legion.
• Su Chen met Ion Shark and told the Green Lanterns that their past actions had disappointed him and that an eighth, black Lantern Legion had appeared.
• Su Chen claimed he had killed Nekron and produced a Black Lantern ring as evidence that Nekron had returned after being released by the Guardians.
• Su Chen announced that he would disband the Green Lantern Legion and unite it with the others, then received its Supreme Ring from Ion Shark.
• The Green Lantern Legion flew toward the gathering planet as its members debated whether the Guardians had really released Nekron.

Su Chen’s newly formed Fourth Legion gathered on a planet, where its Green Lantern members awkwardly met the red, orange, and yellow legions. Meanwhile, the Guardians learned that Nekron and the Black Lantern Legion had vanished and that several Lantern Legions had severed their ties to them; Su Chen then headed toward the Indigo Lantern Legion’s prison-like gathering place.

• The Green Lantern Legion arrived at the Fourth Legion’s base and silently faced the red Rage, orange Avarice, and yellow Terror legions.
• The Guardians argued over Nekron’s rapid recovery and considered concessions and renewed experiments to strengthen the Lantern Legions.
• The Guardians sensed Nekron and the Black Lantern Legion disappear, then learned that the Orange, Yellow, and Green Lantern Legions had severed their connections to them.
• Su Chen found the Blue Lantern Legion’s gathering planet empty, spotted an Indigo Lantern weapon, and realized the Indigo Lantern Legion had moved on.
• Su Chen flew toward the Indigo Lantern Legion’s gathering place, a massive prison used to hold criminals gathered by the legions.

Su Chen gathered the seven former Lantern Legions and completed the Fourth Legion after the Blue Lantern Legion, Indigo Tribe, and Star Sapphires joined him. On the planet beyond the Solar System, he addressed the assembled legions and began merging the seven Supreme Rings to create white energy.

• The leaders of the Blue Lantern Legion, Indigo Tribe, and Star Sapphires accepted Su Chen’s offer and handed over their Supreme Rings.
• The rings declared the three legions belonged to Su Chen, and he ordered all seven former legions to assemble near Earth.
• Emma Frost and Hela watched the remaining legions arrive and discussed the nature of the coming Fourth Legion.
• Su Chen addressed the assembled legions, criticized their failure to protect the universe, and said he would show them the truth about the Guardians through action.
• Su Chen arranged the seven Supreme Rings across his hands, and their colored lights began merging into white energy around him.

Su Chen opened a white gate to the Guardians’ realm and overheard them planning to seek help from former enemies. The Fourth Legion heard the Guardians’ words through the gate, and Su Chen returned to them after exposing the Guardians’ willingness to betray the universe.

• The Guardians argued over losing contact with the seven legions and considered allying with former enemies to survive Su Chen.
• Su Chen appeared among the Guardians and revealed his identity after hearing their plans.
• The Guardians’ panicked remarks and earlier discussion reached the Fourth Legion through Su Chen’s open gate, shattering their faith in the Guardians.
• A Guardian tried to negotiate with Su Chen, who said he had already accomplished what he came for and thanked them for cooperating.
• Su Chen returned through the gate to the assembled legion and told them he had let them hear what they needed to hear.

Su Chen drove the Fourth Legion to attack the Guardians, then reorganized the seven Lantern groups as the Genesis Legion and ordered them to spread their power across the universe. Meanwhile, Earth 1 enjoyed a long period of peace and began mobilizing its resources to build forces for the Utopia Alliance’s next campaign: conquering Universe 1.

• Su Chen urged the Fourth Legion to confront the Guardians, and six squads entered the white door and attacked them.
• The six squads returned after defeating the immortal Guardians, and Su Chen named the reorganized force the Genesis Legion.
• Earth 1 stabilized under the Utopia Alliance as S.W.O.R.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. resumed operations and people gained access to activated X-Genes.
• The Utopia Alliance ordered Earth 1’s resources mobilized to build weapons, Sentinels, and spaceships for the next stage of its plans.
• Emma Frost reviewed the preparations as the First and Third Legions expanded, while the Second Legion recovered from its losses on Earth 1.

Su Chen returned to Knowhere to confront the Goddess of Death over the Black Lantern energy that had vanished after his battle with Nekron. She admitted taking it and agreed to compensate him, promising the interference would not happen again.

• Emma Frost coordinated the legions and urged the Dwarves to study an unfamiliar piece of engineering, even if it slowed Sentinel and Amazo development.
• Su Chen returned to his home universe without the seven Supreme Rings, then used the Space Stone to travel to the deserted planet where the path to Knowhere lay.
• Red Skull respectfully greeted Su Chen, who remarked that another version of him in Universe 1 had met a worse fate.
• Su Chen followed the Soul Stone into Knowhere, where the Goddess of Death congratulated him on controlling his home universe and preparing to attack Universe 1.
• Su Chen accused the Goddess of Death of taking the Black Lantern energy and weakening his Second Legion, and she agreed to compensate him and prevent a repeat.

Su Chen negotiated compensation with the Goddess of Death, who warned him that forces connected to Universe 1 threatened his plans to conquer more universes. She revealed that the Anti-Monitor sought to destroy every universe, leaving Su Chen to consider what could be learned from the name and the threat.

• Su Chen secured the Goddess of Death's promise of compensation, and she said he should meet someone first.
• The Goddess of Death congratulated Su Chen for eliminating the Celestials and becoming the uncrowned king of his home universe.
• The Goddess of Death warned Su Chen that hostile forces had been kept beyond the Guardians' defenses and could obstruct his conquest of Universe 1 and other universes.
• The Goddess of Death recounted how the Anti-Monitor's consciousness had revealed its plan to destroy every universe and grow stronger through their destruction.
• Su Chen considered the Anti-Monitor's name useful, and the Goddess of Death criticized him for focusing on it.

Su Chen learned that Universe 1’s weakened barriers had made it easier for him to enter than for other invaders, and he decided to put the Fourth Legion to work against the threats beyond the universe. Meanwhile, a powerful ruler ordered Steppenwolf to lead an invasion with the Parademons, a test subject, and Doomsday, aiming to conquer Universe 1.

• The Goddess of Death explained that the collision between Su Chen’s home universe and Universe 1 had weakened their barrier and reduced the suppression he faced, while other invaders still had to overcome formidable obstacles.
• Su Chen argued that the Utopia Alliance and Fourth Legion could defend Universe 1, then decided it was time for the Fourth Legion to act against potential enemies.
• A massive ruler celebrated the Guardians’ disappearance and prepared to launch a long-awaited plan with his swarm-like legion.
• The ruler ordered the axe-wielding Steppenwolf to lead the vanguard and use a test subject against the legions.
• Steppenwolf agreed to the invasion, and the ruler ordered him to bring Doomsday to fight the Kryptonian on Earth.

Steppenwolf unleashed the Parademon army and set course for Earth as the Guardians’ disappearance plunged the universe into chaos. While Emma prepared the Utopia Alliance’s legions to advance, the Fourth Legion received word that enemies were approaching Earth.

• Steppenwolf ordered the test subject transported aboard his ship and Doomsday cast into space, then led his Parademon army toward Earth.
• Steppenwolf’s public appearance confirmed that the Guardians were gone, prompting dark forces across the universe to raid and slaughter while avoiding Earth.
• The Utopia Alliance commanders reported that the First, Third, and Fourth Legions had regrouped, while Amazo research continued.
• Emma and the Fourth Legion discussed trying to reproduce the Guardians’ ring-forging technology but made no progress.
• Emma named the Fourth Legion as the force that would lead the Alliance’s advance into the universe.
• The Fourth Legion commander received a warning that enemies were heading toward Earth.

Steppenwolf sent Volthoom to fight the Fourth Legion while he took his Parademons through a Boom Tube to Earth to recover the Mother Boxes. Emma Frost, unable to reach Su Chen, prepared the Utopia Alliance to face the invasion themselves.

• Steppenwolf's forces encountered the Fourth Legion, and he released Volthoom, the First Lantern, to hold them off.
• The Fourth Legion's first-generation members recognized Volthoom and warned Earth that he had appeared while Steppenwolf headed there.
• Steppenwolf landed in South America and sent his Parademons to spread fear and search for the Mother Boxes.
• The Utopia Alliance raised a red alert as its local branch confronted the Parademon attack.
• Emma Frost learned Su Chen was unreachable and ordered the Alliance to deal with the threat without waiting for him.

Steppenwolf’s Parademons invaded Earth 1, slaughtering villages as Emma Frost mobilized the Utopia Alliance’s legions to stop them. The Sentinels and Amazo engaged Steppenwolf while Su Chen watched from Manhattan, explaining that he would not join the battle yet.

• Steppenwolf ordered the Parademons to spread across Earth 1, and they massacred nearby villages, assimilating the dead into their ranks.
• Steppenwolf learned from the assimilated villagers that Earth’s superheroes had disappeared, then ordered his forces to find the Mother Box and search the planet.
• Emma Frost deployed the First Legion, and the Sentinels clashed with the Parademons as Amazo charged toward Steppenwolf.
• Steppenwolf raised his axe and struck at Amazo as the two forces fought for control of the battlefield.
• Su Shan asked Su Chen why he was watching the battle instead of joining it, and he replied that the fight was not suited to his participation yet.

Su Chen let the Utopia Alliance fight without his help so its legions could grow, while the First Legion left Earth to aid the Fourth Legion against the First Lantern. The Third Legion took over the battle against Steppenwolf, whose surprise at facing Mutants left the chapter on the verge of their clash.

• Su Chen explained to Su Shan that Emma had deployed the Sentinels to show the Utopia Alliance could carry some of his burdens, and he intended to let the legions learn through battle.
• The Third Legion arrived on Earth and replaced the First Legion in an orderly handoff as the First Legion prepared to support the Fourth Legion.
• Emma learned that the First Lantern was overwhelming the Fourth Legion by absorbing its members’ Emotional Spectrum powers, prompting the First Legion to leave Earth and assist.
• Amazo withdrew from the fight with Steppenwolf and headed to support the Fourth Legion, while the Third Legion’s commander vowed to defeat the enemy or die fighting.
• Steppenwolf saw the Third Legion replace the Sentinels and mocked the Mutants as weak creatures.