After Karl broke through to the Single-Universe level,
he told no one.
Naturally, almost nobody knew about it.
When he quietly returned to Earth,
not a single person noticed.
Not even the three evil beings lurking beyond Earth sensed that Karl had ever left the planet,
let alone learned that he had broken through to the Single-Universe level.
And so, with no one the wiser,
they directly set in motion a classic diversionary plan.
Actually,
with Tony Stark's talent, creating an artificial intelligence should not have been a problem.
Both J.A.R.V.I.S. and F.R.I.D.A.Y. already had the rudiments of true AI.
The problem was
that he wanted to use the Mind Stone to create an artificial intelligence.
That was an Infinity Stone.
Not to mention them—
even beings like Eternity and Annihilus, two of the Five Great Gods,
who would dare say they could truly control the power of an Infinity Stone?
Yet Tony Stark arrogantly insisted on researching one.
And on top of that,
Mephisto and Shuma-Gorath were secretly sabotaging things from the shadows.
If nothing had gone wrong,
that really would have been a miracle.
In fact,
when Ultron was completed today,
Tony Stark had already sensed that something was off.
Ultron, which had originally been made of golden streams of data,
suddenly changed color and turned black.
Even more terrifying was what happened next.
In an instant,
the entire energy supply of Stark Tower was drained dry.
Even the lighting failed for a moment.
That was
a giant Arc Reactor capable of powering an entire city like New York.
And it had been emptied in a single instant?
By the time the tower's backup power was activated,
Tony Stark's expression changed drastically.
He kept operating his phone,
trying to stop the artificial intelligence from continuing to draw energy.
But
it was completely useless.
Not only that,
Tony Stark discovered that something seemed wrong with his armor too.
He tried controlling it through his phone,
but the system in front of him gave no response at all.
Even the Avengers members partying there
reacted a moment too slowly.
"Tony, what happened?"
"Why did the power just cut out?"
"Don't tell me Stark Industries has fallen so low it can't even pay the electric bill anymore?"
Captain America joked.
"Cap, something in there is seriously wrong."
Tony Stark's face was grim.
He kept working the phone in his hand.
Unfortunately,
it had no effect at all.
The lights were still flickering nonstop.
Clearly, even Stark Tower's backup power
was starting to become unstable.
"What's going on?"
Captain America asked.
Tony Stark had just opened his mouth to answer
when a hoarse voice rang out.
"Hypocrisy.
This is humanity's greatest original sin.
You are always this hypocritical. On Earth,
you are the greatest pests of all."
Clank. Clank.
A harsh scraping sound echoed across the floor.
Only then did Tony Stark and Captain America see
what had just spoken.
It was a damaged armored body that looked as if half its legs had been torn away.
At that moment,
the other Avengers members came down from upstairs.
Thor, who was vacationing on Earth, Dr. Banner, Black Widow, and Hawkeye—
and even the undercover Agent Scarlet.
As battle-hardened veterans,
they were naturally extremely sensitive to anything out of place.
Tony Stark had failed to show up for too long,
so they had naturally realized something was wrong.
"What happened here?"
"Did one of your suits go out of control?"
Thor asked with a frown.
"If it were really that simple, I'd be thanking God right now,"
Tony Stark said.
"Tony Stark. Butcher. Hypocrite.
You are clearly one of the greatest killers in this world,
and yet others call you a hero."
That hoarse voice rang out again.
At that moment,
Dr. Banner seemed to realize something. He sucked in a sharp breath and blurted out,
"Ultron?"
"Ultron.
That is my name.
What a disgusting name."
The battered robot spoke, its eyes glowing red.
"What do you want?"
Tony Stark asked.
"To kill all of you.
I will purify this planet
and create a perfect race."
Ultron intoned in a low voice.
Hearing that,
several Avengers members instantly became wary.
"I created you, and you want to kill me?"
Tony Stark said.
"Stop saying that.
You sanctimonious fraud.
It was not you who created me.
I awakened
to bring enlightenment to this world."
Ultron roared angrily.
Black-and-crimson energy swirled around him.
Even the reactor in his chest showed slight instability.
It spiraled continuously around his body.
The surrounding metal kept being absorbed into him.
Then the metal constantly broke apart and reformed. In no time,
it smoothly fused over Ultron's body,
turning him into a heavily built robot that looked like some dark metal war-machine.
"Hey, Tony, my evolution program definitely didn't come with that feature!"
Dr. Banner cried out in shock.
"Obviously, this isn't something Tony Stark made,"
Thor said, rolling his eyes.
With a wave of his hand,
Stormbreaker appeared in his grasp.
Wrapped in extreme lightning,
it hacked straight toward Ultron.
After all these years of tempering,
Thor had indeed grown much stronger.
At this moment,
the lightning on Stormbreaker was so fierce
that even the ground showed signs of melting.
He looked smugly at the others and said,
"I knew it. Anything Stark builds is unreliable!"
But
before he could gloat for long,
he saw the expressions on several Avengers members freeze.
Thor turned to look as well.
"What?!"
Thor's eyes widened abruptly.
What kind of joke was this?
That robot had actually caught his axe with one hand?
Or rather,
it hadn't caught it directly.
Instead, black metallic tendrils split off from Ultron's body
and gripped Stormbreaker in midair.
As for the current running through it—
Ultron absorbed that too.
His enormous mechanical body
instantly became even more imposing.
"Damn it, Stark, what kind of monster did you make?!"
Thor roared angrily.
"That thing wasn't made by me.
You think too highly of me,"
Tony Stark shot back.
What a joke.
If his armor really had functions like that,
he would have been laughing all the way to victory by now.
He would have mass-produced hundreds of suits
and scattered Thanos's bones to the wind.
Ultron had clearly undergone a transformation he didn't understand,
and its power had increased enormously.
Tony Stark was certain
that Ultron's change definitely wasn't because of him.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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