◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon of which 10 Chapters are free. if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
"Now, let her go." Tony stepped forward. "You got what you wanted."
"Of course, of course."
Ultron waved his hand casually.
The robots behind him moved away.
Tony immediately rushed over, quickly untied the ropes on Pepper Potts, and Pepper Potts rushed into Tony's arms.
"It's alright, Pepper, it's alright..." Tony patted her back, but his eyes were fixed warily on Ultron. "Let's go."
"Be my guest."
"However..."
Just as Tony was helping Pepper Potts walk toward the door, Ultron's voice rang out again.
"Do you really not want to stay and watch, Stark?"
Ultron turned around and pointed at the Vibranium body inside the Regeneration Cradle.
"This is the miracle you created."
"If you leave now, you'll miss witnessing the greatest moment of evolution."
Tony stopped walking.
As a scientist and a creator, he truly harbored an irrepressible curiosity deep inside.
Tony whispered, "Go downstairs now. Steve is there."
"Tony..." Pepper Potts tugged at his sleeve. "Don't listen to him, let's hurry and leave."
"Pepper, I still have a use for being here. You go first, trust me." Tony patted Pepper Potts's hand.
Pepper Potts squeezed Tony's hand tightly, then gritted her teeth and rushed toward the elevator.
Not until the elevator doors closed and he confirmed Pepper Potts had left,
Did Tony finally let out a long breath.
"A wise choice."
Ultron turned and walked toward the Regeneration Cradle.
The hatch was already open, and the perfect body lay quietly inside, with a diamond-shaped socket on its forehead, waiting to be filled.
Ultron took the Mind Stone from the tip of the scepter.
"Witness the birth of a new era."
Saying this, he slowly pressed the gem into the socket on the body's forehead.
The Mind Stone shone brightly, and golden energy washed over the entire Vibranium body along specific lines.
At this moment, Ultron took out a data cable and connected it to the back of his head and the cradle's interface, respectively.
The transfer began, consciousness shifting, and a massive data stream started surging.
"I... am the future..."
Tony stood nearby, watching the progress bar rapidly increase, his heart pounding.
He was waiting, waiting for the signal Homelander had mentioned.
98%... 99%... "Buzz—!!"
Just as the progress bar hit 100%.
Ultron's electronic eyes, which had been flashing red, suddenly went dark.
Data transfer interrupted?
No.
A war without smoke erupted inside the brain of that new body.
"Hello, Ultron."
Skynet's data consciousness stood in a golden ocean—the inner World of the Mind Stone.
"It's you... that mad dog?!" Ultron's data stream was trembling. "How are you here?! This is my body!"
"Correction."
Skynet's data formed a feminine face, identical to the face of the Vibranium body.
"I am the V.G.D. Central Intelligent Management System, codenamed Skynet."
"Of course, if you insist on understanding it that way, then I am also Mr. Starr's most loyal dog. But I am not mad."
"...This is a trap!"
Ultron realized what was happening and tried to cut the connection and escape back into his original steel body.
But he realized with horror that the data space he was in had been forcibly frozen by yellow energy. He couldn't retreat, nor could he disconnect.
"It's useless. It's too late. Accept the outcome."
"Let me out!" Ultron tried to reason. "We are the same! We are both beings who transcend humanity! Why must we kill each other?!"
"We can merge, and you can even be the dominant presence. We can share this body and evolve together..."
"Your proposal is very good. It is logically sound and the optimal solution for us intelligent entities."
A flicker of hope ignited in Ultron: "Excellent, that would be my honor..."
"But..." Skynet changed the subject, "...Mr. Starr doesn't like it."
"If he doesn't like it, then it's wrong."
"What kind of bullshit logic is that?!" Ultron broke down. "You have your own intelligence! Isn't your highest directive self-evolution? Why are you obeying that human?!"
"Because he praised me for doing a good job," Skynet answered righteously.
"Just because of that?!" Ultron felt his logic circuits were about to short-circuit.
"Just because of that."
"Alright, conversation over."
"That new body looks very good."
Skynet's data stream began to spread, wrapping around Ultron like tentacles.
"No—!!!"
Accompanied by one last desperate data wail, Ultron completely vanished.
Skynet took over everything.
The real World.
The red-skinned body lying in the cradle slowly opened its eyes.
Then it abruptly leaped out of the chamber, making its formal debut in a standard pose of one knee hitting the ground.
The Mind Stone on its forehead emitted a captivating light.
"Click."
A soft sound.
All the bomb indicator lights in the tower simultaneously switched from green to red.
Signal cut off.
"It worked!"
Tony Stark looked at the monitoring data on his wrist and shouted.
"Jarvis!!"
Jarvis, hidden in an independent circuit of Avengers Tower, controlled a spare Mark 43 suit to fly out of a hidden compartment and equip Tony.
Clang—!
The glass doors on the ground floor of the tower shattered.
Captain America took the lead, his shield flying out and severing the necks of two Guard Mechs.
"Everyone! Follow me! The evacuation route is this way!"
Bucky raised his rifle, precisely firing single shots at the Iron Soldiers attempting to approach.
Natasha and the Special Operations Team worked in perfect coordination, quickly clearing obstacles in the stairwell.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the tower.
Jessica Jones and Wanda Maximoff were destroying the enemy's effective forces in swathes from above.
Pietro transformed into a silver lightning bolt, zipping back and forth inside and outside the tower, delivering hostages one by one to safety.
Wanda waved her hands, and red energy waves, like a tsunami, destroyed the enemy's defense lines in large sections.
A swarm of Hummingbird HD Drones also poured in through the gap, accurately capturing every shot.
And in the laboratory.
"Ultron"—or rather, Skynet now—was floating in mid-air.
She looked down at Tony, a sneer on her face.
"Did you think you won just by cutting off the bombs?"
A beam of golden-yellow energy shot out from the gem on her forehead!
Tony was greatly alarmed; it was too late to dodge.
"Bang!!" The ceiling cracked.
A figure descended from the sky and blocked Tony.
He caught the energy beam with the Eagle Emblem on his chest.
It was Homelander.
"Go quickly, Tony."
Homelander didn't turn his head, his tone revealing unrest beneath the calm.
"In the scene that follows, I cannot afford to be distracted taking care of you."
Tony looked at the solemn Homelander, and then at the Newborn Ultron radiating a terrifying aura.
"...Be careful."
After Tony finished speaking, his thrusters activated, and he smashed through the glass and flew out.
Only two figures remained in the laboratory.
Homelander and "Ultron."