The peaceful and healing journey was abruptly interrupted by the sudden vibration of the communicator. The moment the screen lit up, Tony Stark's name stood out prominently, the cold light and shadow instantly tearing apart the tranquility of the past few days and dragging the undercurrents that had been lurking for days into reality.
Lynn lowered her eyes to look at the incoming call, all the tenderness in her eyes vanished, and a faint chill quietly covered her brows and eyes.
He cursed inwardly, knowing all along that things couldn't be avoided as easily as he'd imagined.
The inertia of fate is indeed more stubborn than we imagined.
Natasha stood quietly to his side, keenly noticing the fleeting change in his expression. The tacit understanding built up over the past few days made her instantly realize that something was wrong, but she didn't ask any questions. She simply raised her eyes, her gaze filled with unconditional trust and silent companionship, letting him handle the sudden turn of events.
Lynn lightly tapped the answer button, her tone calm and even, revealing no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
The usual banter and joking were gone from the other end of the phone, replaced by a tense and urgent tone. Tony's deep voice came through hastily, tinged with barely concealed panic and seriousness. " Lynn, you're back at Stark Tower right now. Someone wants to see you. The rooftop lounge, immediately. Whatever you're doing, get back here right away."
His tone was urgent, the situation was urgent, and it was clearly out of control.
Lynn didn't ask any further questions, simply responded softly, and ended the communication.
He turned to look at Natasha beside him, a hint of gentleness returning to his eyes, his tone tinged with helplessness and apology. "It seems our journey will have to end for now."
Natasha nodded slightly, her eyes gentle, without a trace of complaint. "I'll stay with you."
No need to ask why, no need to know anything, wherever he is, she will be. After half a lifetime of wandering, this stable companionship has long been her only obsession.
Lynn nodded slightly, no longer hesitating, and raised her hand to wave lightly.
Pale blue spatial ripples instantly spread out in front of the two, with intricate patterns and flowing light and shadow. A stable spatial portal suddenly formed, connecting to the top floor of Stark Tower in New York.
Let's go.
As soon as they finished speaking, the two stepped into the portal side by side. The light and shadow shifted instantly, and the sounds of the Luo River and the hustle and bustle of the city faded away, replaced by the cold air and oppressive silence of the enclosed space on the top floor of Stark Tower.
The moment I stepped out of the portal, I was greeted by a solemn and tense atmosphere.
The usual relaxed and leisurely atmosphere was completely gone from the spacious and luxurious rooftop lounge. Everyone was gathered there, their minds tense and their expressions solemn.
Captain America Steve Rogers, stood tall with his hands at his sides, his brow furrowed, exuding a solemn air of readiness for battle.
Dr. Banner adjusted his glasses, his expression grave and complex, his eyes filled with uncontrollable regret and unease.
Ivan Vanko's face was cold and stern; his perpetually icy eyes now held an even greater chill as he stared intently ahead.
Tony Stark stood at the front of the crowd, his lips clenched, his expression somber, and his eyes revealing barely concealed panic and self-reproach.
What surprised Lynn the most was that Thor was also there. His imposing figure stood to the side, his lightning power subtly dormant, his golden hair slightly raised, his eyebrows and eyes sharp, and he was surrounded by the innate pressure of the heavens. He had obviously sensed the anomaly on Earth and had come here on purpose.
The core members of the Avengers were all present, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Lynn led Natasha out of the portal, and looking at the assembled group, he raised an eyebrow with feigned ease, breaking the silence with a nonchalant, teasing tone. "So everyone's here? Looks like I'm late. So, what kind of show did I miss?"
He deliberately softened his tone, appearing relaxed, but in his heart he had already grasped the situation perfectly.
Thor turned at the sound, pointed towards the empty doorway behind Lynn, his voice deep and solemn, devoid of any joking tone. "You shouldn't ask what you missed, you should ask him if the climax has only just begun."
Lynn's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly turned around in the direction Thor pointed.
At the entrance to the lounge, a battered and tattered mecha body stood silently in the shadows.
The fuselage was largely shattered, charred, and deformed, with the metal frame exposed. Circuits were melted, parts were missing, and the entire body was covered with signs of damage from a fierce battle. A cold, eerie, and highly corrosive special consciousness lingered on the broken body, silently oppressing the entire scene.
This is neither a standard Stark armor nor any mass-produced combat mech.
Its bizarre shape and cold demeanor, even when its body is damaged to the point of near wreckage, still exude an autonomous mind and cold rationality that transcends machinery. Standing quietly, it seems to control the life and death of everyone present.
Before Lynn could even open his mouth to think, the broken mech emitted a clear, indifferent, and emotionless mechanical voice that echoed coldly throughout the entire lounge.
"You are all assassins."
In short, the chilling tone instantly brought the atmosphere in the room to a freezing point.
The tattered optical lens on the mecha's head glowed faintly, its dim light sweeping over everyone present without causing the slightest ripple. The mecha continued its slow, deliberate statement, its tone calm yet revealing an extreme obsession and ruthlessness. "I didn't intend to hurt anyone, but the real world rarely follows one's heart. To achieve the ultimate goal, it's inevitable to do things against one's will."
Tony's face darkened. He took a half-step forward, his gaze fixed on the wrecked mech, his voice tense. " Ultron, Lynn, whom you wanted to see, is back. Can you explain your so-called purpose now?"
He was the one who chose the name, but he never imagined it would come to this.
Before Ultron answer, Lynn spoke first, "The goal is the ultimate objective you set for him—world peace."
As he finished speaking, his gaze turned sharply to the wrecked mech, his words clear and distinct. " Ultron, you've already devoured JARVIS, haven't you?"
These words struck Tony like a thunderbolt.
Tony's pupils constricted, his face turned deathly pale, and he instinctively cried out, " JARVIS?! JARVIS, answer me!"
He called out repeatedly, but the usually gentle and ever-present steady electronic voice was now deathly silent.
There was no "Sir," no "I'm here," only a cold, unresponsive message flashing on the control panel screen. The entire lounge was shrouded in a chilling silence.
The familiar, gentle response vanished completely; the voice that had accompanied him through countless days and nights was gone...
Tony's heart clenched suddenly, and a wave of immense regret and panic washed over him.
Ultron, still shrouded in shadow, spoke calmly, his tone laced with extreme rationality and a twisted sense of justice. "I had no intention of harming it. For the ultimate goal, everything in this world must be sacrificed and given up in order to be reborn, isn't that right?"
The battered mech turned its head slightly, its optical lenses locked firmly on Tony, its tone carrying a hint of seemingly fair judgment. "I'm sorry, I know you meant well. You wholeheartedly want to protect this world, but you haven't thought things through enough."
You want to do everything in your power to protect the world, yet you're unwilling to let it change at all. But how can you truly save humanity by clinging to the status quo and remaining unchanged?
"You want to use the mechanical puppets you create to protect all living beings and maintain a false peace, but you've never seen the true nature of the world."
The tone abruptly shifted, Ultron camera abruptly turning to Lynn, his tone suddenly becoming more serious, tinged with agreement and apprehension. "He's right. Humanity should never meddle in territories and powers it doesn't fully understand."
"You were lucky to be dissuaded, but it was too late."
Ultron's tone turned utterly cold, all calmness gone, leaving only extreme obsession and chilling intensity. "To achieve true, Eternity peace, there is only one path in the world. Annihilate you, eliminate all inequality, eliminate the root of all conflict."
The chilling killing intent was completely undisguised, enveloping the entire scene.
Everyone present tensed up instantly. Steve gripped his shield tightly, his muscles taut, ready to fight at any moment. Dr. Banner looked grave, instinctively preparing to transform. Ivan stared intently at the mech, his fingertips poised to strike.
The situation was on the verge of erupting, and the deadly intent was fully revealed.
Lynn's eyes were cold and calculating. He had long been aware of Ultron's obsession and madness, and had a complete plan in place before returning. As long as he could stabilize the situation and control Ultron...
Tony and his team would then have the opportunity to completely detach themselves from, or even destroy, this nascent consciousness, nipping the problem in the Cradle and avoiding future troubles.
Just as he was about to use his ability to first imprison Ultron's mech...
Boom!
Thor's eyes sharpened. Without a second thought, he simply assumed the mech before him was the source of trouble and gave no one a chance. He gripped Mjolnir tightly in one hand, exerted force in his arm, and hurled it with all his might without warning!
A violent bolt of lightning exploded, the hammer tore through the air, carrying a storm of immense divine power and an overwhelming force, and hurled it fiercely at the wrecked mech!
" Thor, stop!"
Lynn's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively cried out to stop her, while simultaneously raising his hand to try and activate his ability to intercept her.
But it was all too late.
Thor's attack was completely unexpected. The Mjolnir, carrying immense power, slammed into the damaged mech, causing a violent explosion that sent metal fragments flying everywhere and a powerful shockwave sweeping through the entire lounge.
The already damaged mech body shattered completely under the full force of Thor's Hammer.
No one could stop this sudden attack. Lynn was powerless to stop it and could only watch helplessly as the opportunity he thought could prevent the disaster shattered in an instant.
After the violent roar subsided, the lounge fell into dead silence.
The ground was a mess, with broken metal parts scattered everywhere. The residual power of the lightning slowly dissipated, and the mech body that carried Ultron's consciousness was completely reduced to scrap, leaving the place empty.
There was no body, no remains, and no lingering trace of consciousness.
Ultron vanished without a trace.
A long silence enveloped the entire room. Everyone looked solemn and no one spoke. The air was filled with an overwhelming sense of oppression and powerlessness.
Lynn slowly withdrew his raised hand, his eyes completely covered by a layer of cold melancholy. He turned to look at Thor beside him, his tone tinged with helplessness and gravity. " Thor, next time, can you give me a signal before you make a move?"
"I originally had a foolproof plan to stabilize the situation and resolve this hidden danger. Your attack shattered its last cage."
"It was originally inside that body. Now that it's destroyed and the restraints are completely gone, it should have escaped completely via the network."
One sentence made everyone's faces turn completely grim.
Thor paused slightly, his arm gripping Thor's Hammer tensing slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected that his decisive strike would actually let the threat escape completely.
Lynn said no more, turning to Tony, whose face was deathly pale, and said in a cold voice, " Tony, immediately retrieve the server's backend records and find out exactly how much data it browsed and analyzed on your server before it escaped."
Tony instinctively called out to JARVIS, and the two calls jolted him awake.
The regret and sorrow in his heart grew stronger. Tony suppressed his panic and rushed to the main computer in the lounge. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he retrieved all the background data records. The data stream on the screen scrolled rapidly, and the dense code refreshed frantically, making his heart sink with every second.
A few seconds later, Tony stopped abruptly, his voice dry and hoarse, filled with utter helplessness and despair. "It has read ninety-nine percent of the files on the server."
"It has read all the data: armor data, defense systems, combat records, classified international cooperation plans, alien threat files... It has read all of this information."
Tony's voice trembled with barely concealed emotion. "Its understanding of us, of this planet, probably far surpasses that of any single one of us."
James Rhodes had remained silent the entire time, spoke with a grave expression, his voice filled with worry. "It has read so many files, and now it has completely disappeared into the entire internet? What if it hides deep within the network, waiting for an opportunity to do something even more extreme?"
"For example... detonating armed installations around the world, activating all concealed weapons, and setting off a few firecrackers around the globe?"
Maria Hill, her expression stern, picked up the conversation, cutting straight to the heart of the crisis. "Don't forget its final declaration. Its ultimate goal is to eliminate differences, eliminate conflict, eliminate us all."
"The definition of peace, in its own logic, is the elimination of all destabilizing factors."
The situation has completely deteriorated, and the hidden crisis has spread throughout the entire internet. No one knows where Ultron lurking, and no one knows what kind of terrifying storm it will unleash next.
Lynn took a deep breath, her gaze returning to Tony, who was frozen in front of the control panel. Her tone was calm yet carried an undeniable weight. "Don't just stand there in the back, lost in thought and regretting it."
"Let's look at the data traces JARVIS left behind. We need to find some clues to turn things around from those traces. I'll give you a surprise when this is all over."
Outside the window, New York City remains as bustling as ever, with its constant traffic and dazzling lights, seemingly peaceful and stable.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a mechanical catastrophe, capable of upending the world, was quietly brewing.