The ruins of Sokovia looked particularly eerie in the twilight. The broken steel bars pierced the sky like the ribs of a giant beast, and strange energy flashed from time to time among the charred building debris. Arclight. Tony·Stark's armor landed on the edge of the city, and his visor opened to reveal a solemn expression.
"The energy reading is abnormal," Banner's voice came from the communicator, "But it is completely different from the previous mode. The energy signature this time... is more like some kind of bio-mechanical hybrid."
Natasha jumped off a broken wall flexibly, and the tactical eyepiece scanned the surroundings. "I saw the energy source. At three o'clock, the half-collapsed church. There is a life signal."
Thor landed on the ground holding Mjolnir. Hammerhead was still flashing with thunder and lightning. "I sensed familiar energy fluctuations, but mixed with an unsettling aura."
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and dozens of Mechanical Entity broke out of the ground. Their design obviously borrowed from the style of Ultron, but the surface was covered with a strange material like biological tissue, and pulse energy flowed in the veins.
"Contact!" Steve raised his shield, and the first Mechanical Entity had already rushed over.
Clint hit Mechanical Entity's joint with an arrow. In the flames of the arrow explosion, Mechanical Entity staggered, but the damage was quickly repaired by biological tissue. "These guys are more difficult than the last time!"
Wanda bloomed Scarlet Energy with her hands, crushing the two Mechanical Entity into scrap metal, but her expression suddenly changed. "They are absorbing my energy! They are still... learning how energy works!"
Vision swooped down from the air, and the gem on his forehead shot out a golden beam. "They have some kind of energy absorption device in their core, and the effect of my attack is limited."
Tony flexibly dodged energy shots in the air, and the palm cannon bombarded them continuously. "Friday, analyze their defense mode!"
"Analyzing... Pattern recognition... They are imitating Avengers's fighting style, but adding adaptive changes in biological characteristics."
The battle became more intense. Mechanical Entity showed disturbing intelligence: they used Vibranium Alloy shields to block Steve's attacks, their shooting trajectories imitated Clint's archery, and even began to use simple tactical coordination. What's even more frightening is that they seemed to be able to predict every move of Avengers.
"This can't be Ultron," Tony murmured, "This is too advanced..."
The ground suddenly cracked, and a huge mechanical tentacle stretched out suddenly, reaching for Wanda. Pietro appeared in time, and took his sister to a safe location instantly.
"Thanks, brother." Wanda gasped, the energy in his hands became more intense, "I feel like they are... feeling my emotions."
Thor summoned thunder and lightning, and the hammer led down a huge lightning chain. "Let them taste the anger of Asgard!" Lightning struck several Mechanical Entity, but the biological tissues on their surfaces actually absorbed the power of lightning and converted it into their own energy.
"It's not good," Thor frowned, "They are adapting to my power."
The battle situation is getting more and more difficult. Mechanical Entity seems to be endless, and each destroyed one will be quickly repaired and evolved by biological nanobots. Avengers is forced to retreat gradually, and the defensive circle shrinks smaller and smaller.
"This is not the way to go!" Natasha shouted while shooting, "They are learning every move we make!"
Tony suddenly noticed a detail. "Wait... they are not learning randomly. Look at that--" He pointed to a Mechanical Entity, which was perfectly replicating Captain America's tactical command gesture.
"They are optimizing specifically for our fighting style," Vision analyzed, "It's like... someone familiar with us is guiding them."
An energy beam suddenly shot out from the direction of the church, directly hitting Thor. The God of Thunder was knocked back dozens of meters and slammed into a building.
"Thor!" Steve shouted.
In the smoke and dust, Thor struggled to stand up, with obvious damage on his armor. "I'm fine... but that attack... feels very familiar."
Suddenly, all Mechanical Entity stopped attacking at the same time and separated neatly to both sides to make way for a passage. From the shadow of the church, a figure walked out
--Baron Zemo was transformed by biomechanics. Half of his face has been replaced by machinery, and a strange red light is shining in his eyes.
"Welcome to the new era, Avengers." Zemo's voice was mechanically processed, with a cold texture, "Ultron's greatest legacy is not the mechanical army, but the biological data it collected. And now... I have perfected all of this."
"Zemo?" Tony is unbelievable, "How could you..."
"The boundary between life and death has long been blurred, Stark." Zemo raised the robotic arm to reveal the biological tissue inside, "I collected the biological data from the Ultron wreckage and combined it with my own understanding of you to create these perfect warriors."
As he waved his hand, Mechanical Entity began to change, gradually showing the combat characteristics of each Avengers, but also adding disturbing biological modifications.
"Friday, full scan!" Tony ordered.
"Scanning completed... The target is a hybrid composed of biological nanorobots. The core energy source is bioelectric energy... Weakness analysis is in progress..."
The battle broke out again, but this time it was more difficult. Avengers faced an enemy that combined its own fighting style and biological characteristics. Every move was predicted and every strategy was deciphered.
"This won't work!" Steve blocked Mechanical Entity's attack, "They are stronger than us!"
Tony's armor was damaged in many places. "Friday, we need a new plan!"
"Analysis... suggesting irrational tactics that exploit their inability to predict biological emotional responses..."
Wanda suddenly opened his eyes wide. "I feel... pain. These creatures Mechanical Entity are suffering tremendous pain! They are calling for help!"
Just when the battle situation reached a stalemate, Zemo suddenly looked up to the east, and the data stream in his mechanical eyes flashed rapidly. "The main target refuses to participate. Change strategy and activate Plan B."
All Mechanical Entity suddenly changed tactics and no longer attacked Avengers, but began to merge into a huge biomechanical structure.
"He is summoning something!" Clint shouted, "He must be stopped!"
But it was too late. A space crack opened in the center of the structure, and heart-stopping energy fluctuations came from it. At this moment, a circle composed of golden sparks spread out in the air, and Doctor Strange walked out of the portal.
"I'm late." Strange formed seals with his hands and the magic circle rotated in front of him, "This space crack is connected to a dangerous dimension."
At the same time, at Malibu Beach, Xiao Han was being disturbed by the energy fluctuations that continued to come. He turned over irritably, and Super Hearing captured the abnormal energy fluctuations and space tearing sounds in the direction of Sokovia.
"It's endless."
Above Sokovia, Xiao Han was suspended there, looking at the chaotic scene below. "So this is a circus performance?" There was obvious impatience in his voice.
Zemo's mechanical eyes suddenly turned to Xiao Han: "Sun's Son! You finally... wait, you didn't come here because of my plan?"
Xiao Han raised his eyebrows. "Your plan? No, I just heard that it is very noisy here." His eyes fell on the space crack, "And the frequency emitted by that thing gives me a headache."
Strange maintains the circle. "This rift must be closed, otherwise the fabric of reality in the entire area will be damaged."
"Then turn it off." Xiao Han said simply.
"It takes time..." Before Strange finished speaking, Xiao Han had already flown to the crack.
He took a deep breath, and then blew out an extremely cold breath of ice. The edges of the crack began to freeze, and the expansion slowed down significantly.
"Incredible," Strange said in surprise, "He is freezing the structure of space with his breathing at absolute zero!"
But more energy suddenly surged out from the depths of the crack, and the ice began to crack. Heat Vision exploded in Xiao Han's eyes, colliding with the energy pouring out of the crack.
"This won't work!" Tony shouted, "It will only intensify the energy explosion!"
Xiao Han seemed to hear it. He suddenly changed his strategy and flew around the crack at super high speed, creating a powerful air vortex. A vacuum zone was formed in the center of the vortex, temporarily suppressing the outflow of energy.
"Now!" he shouted to Strange.
Doctor Strange cast a spell immediately, and the golden circle covered the entire crack and began to slowly close.
Just when the crack was about to be completely closed, Zemo suddenly laughed, "It's too late! The data has been transmitted! You can't stop it!"
The crack finally closed, but Zemo and most of Mechanical Entity had disappeared. All that was left was a mess and more questions.
Xiao Han looked at the calm sky and yawned. "It's finally quiet." It turned into golden light and disappeared.
Avengers looked at each other, Strange looked at the direction where Xiao Han disappeared with enlightenment. "He obviously has the ability to end all this early, but he would rather wait until the end..."
Tony smiled bitterly, "Because he doesn't care about this at all. The world crisis in our eyes is just annoying noise in his eyes."
In an interstellar laboratory outside the earth, Zemo's figure walked out of the portal. He looked at the collected data and smiled with satisfaction.
"The energy signature of Sun's Son... is finally obtained. The next stage can begin.