The Battle Loomed (Part Three)

"No. I'm telling you about truth—about the coldest, cruelest, most undeniable truth in this universe. Life itself is meaningless, and humans are nothing but insignificant specks made of illusions, hormones, and random chemical reactions."

Ultron raised a hand and pointed at the sky, the sea, and the entire island. "Your existence means nothing to the universe. To Earth, you're a nuisance and a burden."

His voice rose, growing more impassioned. "You pollute the oceans, poison the air, slaughter one another for resources, and start wars over empty beliefs—

You call yourselves an intelligent species, yet you can't survive without killing lesser ones. You can't even manage the most basic coexistence."

"That's why humanity must be cleansed. Thoroughly cleansed by my wrath—"

Ultron paused, then spoke with something close to pity. "And you, Tony Stark—all that heroism, 'responsibility,' and 'hope' you believe in is false. None of it can ever be fulfilled."

"Tony, look around you. Look at this world you're trying to protect. It's burning, and you're one of the people who handed it a torch."

Tony Stark fell silent for a few seconds.

Friday had confirmed that the fishermen he had just rescued were fleeing toward the beach.

He only needed to buy them a little more time.

At last, he spoke, his voice unexpectedly calm. "You know what, Ultron? You got one thing right. We humans are full of contradictions. We make mistakes, kill each other, and destroy beautiful things for stupid reasons.

He took a step forward.

"But there's one thing you got wrong—"

Tony Stark's voice grew firm. "The meaning of life isn't for a consciousness trapped in circuits and code like you to define."

"Life's meaning lies in the search for it. In the moment that old fisherman picked up a stick to protect his