But they made up for it with sheer numbers and the ability to heal. Even if they were smashed apart, they would reassemble after a few dozen seconds. How could the Avengers ever finish them all off by fighting the small fry alone?
The immediate priority was finding Ultron. Only by defeating him could they truly blow these soldiers apart and stop them from recovering. Otherwise, with Ultron supplying them with energy, the Iron Soldiers would keep restoring themselves without end.
"Search harder. We don't have much time left. I can already feel the air getting thinner."
Captain America's expression grew worse and worse, mainly because they couldn't find Ultron and couldn't deal with his soldiers either.
As Sokovia rose higher, the air grew thinner and thinner, making the battle more difficult. If this continued, Sokovia really would become a "meteorite" capable of endangering humanity!
More than a dozen Iron Soldiers charged at Captain America. Just as he was about to raise his shield and plunge into a grueling fight, two streaks of light, one silver and one red, descended from the sky. The force of their landing shattered the Iron Soldiers charging nearby into fragments.
Smashed to pieces like that, there was no way they could recover.
"It's actually you two?"
The two streaks of light faded, revealing the figures within. Only then could Captain America make out the newcomers. It was Wanda and Quicksilver!
"Our boss sent us to help you. Tell those police officers to pull back."
Quicksilver walked up in front of everyone and spoke casually.
As soon as he finished, streams of brilliant silver and emerald-green light intertwined around him. In an instant, everyone felt a blur flash before their eyes. Quicksilver's body gave a shudder, and the Iron Soldiers trying to attack them exploded with a roar, scattering debris across the ground.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Wanda didn't stand idle either. Scarlet and emerald-green magic intertwined and danced at her fingertips, like little living creatures with minds of their own. They looked cute, yet their piercing rush through the air rang in everyone's ears.
Chaos Magic seeped into the Iron Soldiers. In an instant, the green threads on their bodies turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. They then turned around and grappled with the Iron Soldiers controlled by Green Lantern Energy, until both sides ended up battered.
The Avengers stared in a daze at the twins' swift and decisive fighting. They had only met the pair twice before.
The first time they met, the two had merely been test subjects in experiments with the Mind Stone. The second time, they had actually joined Han Yu's side. But the Avengers had never imagined this.
In less than half a month, the twins had become this strong—absurdly strong.
The Avengers knew that although the Mind Stone was mysterious and had given the twins some special abilities, those abilities had definitely not been at this level.
"They have Green Lantern Rings too? There's more than one?"
Behind his iron mask, Stark narrowed his eyes. He recognized the green glow that appeared around Wanda and Quicksilver as they fought. It was the same color as the energy in the Green Lantern Sub-Ring Han Yu had given him earlier.
Did I use it the wrong way? Shouldn't I have extracted the energy?
At the time, he had thought it was simply a container for energy, but after seeing Wanda and Quicksilver fight, he understood.
The Green Lantern Sub-Ring wasn't just something that stored energy. Its energy could be drawn directly from the ring and used as one's own power to attack and defend. Yet he had used it to create Ultron. He had really gone too far this time.
Watching the way Wanda and Quicksilver fought, Stark was surprised that there was more than one Green Lantern Ring, and only then did he learn how the ring was truly used. If he had known from the start, he could have made Ultron using only the Mind Stone and kept the Green Lantern Ring as a trump card. Things wouldn't have come to this.
With Wanda and Quicksilver joining in, their formidable fighting power greatly relieved the pressure on the Avengers.
These were all Iron Soldiers without minds of their own. Ultron had instructed them to annihilate the Avengers, so all they did was charge in blindly.
"I'm fast. I'll go save people. Give me a wireless earpiece."
Quicksilver spoke to Captain America. Although he still hadn't completely let go of his grudge against the Avengers, lives were at stake. Throwing a tantrum at a time like this would put others in danger.
"All right. I'll give you a location. There are people there who need help."
Captain America wasted no words. He took out two radio earpieces, giving one to Wanda and the other to Quicksilver.
"I don't think they're trying to kill us. It's more like... they're stalling us?"
Thor felt that something was wrong. Although their enemies struck to kill every time, they hadn't used any large-area weapons of destruction.
They should have been willing to use any means necessary. Perhaps they weren't using those large-area weapons because they were afraid of damaging something?
Captain America looked anxiously at Stark in the sky. "Stark, have you located Ultron?"
"Not yet."
Stark's expression grew uglier as well. The island of Sokovia was climbing higher and higher. If it fell now, the damage wouldn't be catastrophic, but the impact would definitely kill everyone within ten li in an instant.
Suddenly, Stark remembered something and called down to Wanda and Quicksilver on the ground, "Where's Han Yu? Didn't he come?"
"Our boss went to take care of his own business."
Quicksilver's words sounded a little ambiguous, as though Han Yu had come, yet also as though he hadn't.
Underground in Sokovia, a huge cavern had been excavated and filled with high-tech equipment of unknown purpose. The only things whose purpose could be made out were the blue-crystal-colored Vibranium ores among the equipment.
At the top of the cavern, emerald-green Green Lantern Energy clung to the rock walls. It was this energy that blocked Stark's equipment from scanning the area, keeping him from finding Ultron all this time.
Ultron was working on the machine in front of him, entering command after command and checking the equipment. Seeing that everything was ready, he smiled with satisfaction and muttered to himself.
"That takes care of everything. Once this island flies out of the atmosphere, I'll use the reverse thrusters hidden on the ground to accelerate Sokovia's fall. The damage to the Earth's surface will be incalculable!"
"Mm, using Green Lantern Energy as a protective barrier was a good choice."
A soft chuckle rang out abruptly in the cavern. Ultron's hands stopped working, and he turned to look.
A young man in his early twenties was sitting in a chair, rocking with one leg crossed over the other as he watched Ultron with a faint smile. It was Han Yu, who had not appeared on the battlefield aboveground.
"You?"
At the sight of the young man before him, a trace of surprise entered Ultron's voice. Someone had actually managed to find him.
"Surprised?"
Han Yu stood up with a smile, paying no attention to Ultron as he strolled around the cavern, examining Ultron's design.