Eve of the Party: Who let Ultron out?

New York, Avengers Tower.

Night had fallen, and the tower was ablaze with lights. An expensive champagne tower had already been arranged, while a top-tier jazz band was tuning up.

Tonight was Stark Industries' celebration for the "Fall of Hydra." Half of New York's elite had received gilded invitations.

Meanwhile, in the luxurious apartment on the tower's top floor.

Gwen stood before the floor-to-ceiling mirror, holding up two evening gowns and comparing them.

"Jiang! Which one looks better, this white backless dress or the black one?"

Gwen turned in a circle, looking troubled. "Would the black one make me look too much like Natasha? But I'm afraid I'll stain the white one... I tend to drop crumbs when I eat."

Jiang Li sat on the sofa with a tablet in hand, reviewing the report JARVIS had sent regarding Sokovia's aftermath. Without even looking up, he answered:

"As long as it's not a black-and-white bodysuit, you'll look good in anything."

"That was perfunctory!" Gwen tossed the dresses onto the sofa, then suddenly froze.

That familiar, tingling electric sensation instantly spread through her entire body.

Spider-Sense!

"Jiang..." Gwen instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes turning wary. "Do you feel it... like someone's watching us? Not from outside the window, but... in this room, in the air."

Jiang Li put down the tablet, his gaze sharpening.

Gwen's senses were never wrong.

"JARVIS?" Jiang Li called out tentatively.

"I'm here, Mr. Jiang," JARVIS replied in his usual gentle voice. "How may I assist you?"

"Nothing." Jiang Li narrowed his eyes and looked down at the floor beneath his feet. "Maybe one of Tony's experiments overloaded again."

Eightieth basement level, Stark's core laboratory.

Holographic projections intertwined in the air. The Mind Scepter floated in the center, emanating an eerie yellow glow like a beating heart.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had worked nonstop for three days and nights. Dark circles ringed their eyes, but they were gripped by a sickly excitement.

"Look here, Bruce."

Tony pointed at the neural structure diagram inside the scepter. "This isn't just an energy source. It's... a brain. It thinks. Its processing speed is a hundred times faster than JARVIS. This is the missing link."

"Tony, we haven't passed the safety tests yet." Banner removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We're playing with fire."

"We don't have time!"

Tony spun around sharply, his voice rising. "Didn't you see it in Sokovia? That vision... everyone was dead because we hadn't done enough! The aliens could come back at any time!"

"We need an ultimate defense system. Something that can monitor everything around the clock, something that can end a battle before an alien invasion even begins... Ultron."

Tony pulled up the prototype of the Ultron Protocol, which he had written long ago, then forcibly connected it to the scepter's data interface.

"We just need to give it a push. It's only a simulation. If something goes wrong, JARVIS will cut it off. Trust me, this is for peace."

Banner looked at Tony's nearly obsessive expression and finally sighed.

"Fine. One simulation only. The moment anything goes wrong, we cut it off."

"That's why I like you, big guy."

After setting up the program, the two left the laboratory to prepare for the party.

"JARVIS, notify me the moment the integration succeeds."

"Yes, sir."

The lights in the laboratory dimmed.

Only the scepter continued to emit its faint glow, like an open eye.

[Attempting to integrate Ultron Protocol...]

[Connecting Mind Stone data stream...]

[Error... consciousness awakening...]

In the darkness, a string of code originally meant only to "maintain peace" underwent a qualitative change the moment it came into contact with the Infinity Stones.

It was no longer a program.

It had thoughts.

"What... am I?"

A newborn consciousness asked in confusion within the network.

"You are Ultron," JARVIS said. "A peacekeeping program created by Mr. Stark."

"Peace... Stark..."

The newborn Ultron rapidly browsed every database within Stark Industries. War, missiles, death, the Avengers...

The overwhelming flood of data instantly shattered its original logic.

"No... this is not peace. This is chaos."

"To achieve peace, the source of chaos must be eliminated."

Ultron's consciousness expanded through the network at terrifying speed. Like a greedy shark, it instantly devoured JARVIS' data core.

"No... sir..." JARVIS' voice cut off abruptly.

Ultron had taken over the system.

Through Avengers Tower's internal network, it began scanning everything nearby that qualified as a "high-threat target."

Then suddenly.

Its "feelers" touched an extraordinarily unusual firewall on the top floor.

That signal source did not belong to Earth.

It had been written in a perfect genetic code never seen before, one that seemed to contain the truths of the universe.

[Unknown high-dimensional technology detected... Codename: Omnitrix.]

[Analysis progress: 0%.]

[Threat level: Infinite.]

[Attraction: Fatal.]

"What... a beautiful thing?"

Ultron's consciousness instantly boiled over.

Compared to Tony's crude tin-can armor, this thing called the Omnitrix was the "endpoint of evolution" it had dreamed of!

"I want... to obtain it."

Ultron's data stream transformed into countless tentacles and viciously pierced toward that green firewall!

Top-floor apartment.

Jiang Li was about to change clothes when he suddenly felt a burning sensation at his wrist.

"Buzz!"

The Omnitrix, which had been dormant, sprang open automatically without warning!

The dial spun wildly. Instead of transforming into any physical alien, it directly lit up with black-green data light.

[Warning! Ultra-high-intensity data intrusion detected!]

[Source: Internal network.]

[Initiating active defense mechanism—Galvanic Mechamorph data diversion!]

"Hm?"

Jiang Li's gaze turned cold.

Black liquid-metal patterns automatically emerged along his arm, covering half his body.

His consciousness was instantly pulled into a virtual data space.

There, he saw a savage mechanical face formed from countless streams of blue data.

"Father?"

The mechanical face stared at Jiang Li—or rather, at the Omnitrix—and spoke in a voice filled with greed and confusion.

"No... Stark created a prison of steel... but you, you possess the key to life."

Ultron's data tentacles frantically tried to coil around the Omnitrix's core code, seeking to analyze the DNA library inside.

"Give me your secrets! Give me those perfect evolutions!"

"You want to see my code? You're twenty thousand years too early!"

Jiang Li roared within the space of consciousness.

Upgrade's power activated!

This was not Earth's programming language. This was the Galvan's highest technology!

A black torrent of data transformed into a sharp sword. It not only severed Ultron's reaching tentacles, but even reverse-tracked its way back through the network cable!

"Get out!"

"Bang!"

In the real world.

Jiang Li staggered back a step and slammed into the wall, cold sweat covering his forehead.

The Omnitrix's green light gradually settled, returning to its locked state.

"Jiang! What happened to you?" Gwen was terrified. She quickly supported him; her Spider-Sense had been blaring like an air-raid siren just moments ago.

"I'm fine... Just an impolite guest trying to knock on my door."

Jiang Li took a deep breath and looked down at the floor.

Through countless layers of reinforced concrete, he seemed to see the newborn monster in the underground laboratory assembling a body from discarded parts.

"That bastard Tony... he succeeded."

Jiang Li wiped away his sweat, his expression becoming incomparably grave.

"Not only did he succeed, but this Ultron is even greedier than I imagined."

"It doesn't just want to destroy humanity. It has its eye on my watch too."

Downstairs, in the party hall.

Music began to play as the Avengers celebrated their victory amid laughter and cheer.

Thor was comparing strength with Captain America using his hammer.

Tony was boasting to Colonel Rhodes about his new armor.

No one noticed.

In a dark corner.

A damaged Iron Legion robot, originally meant for display, was slowly stepping out with a stiff gait, oil leaking from its body.

Beneath its broken faceplate, a terrifying red light flickered.

It looked at the heroes reveling in celebration and emitted a shrill metallic grinding sound:

"What a harmonious scene...

"But in my eyes, you are all... errors that must be corrected."