"Uh…"
Spider-Man was too shocked to speak.
The Justice League members around him, along with Harry, whose heart was with the heroes despite his divided loyalties, shared similar expressions. Their faces were filled with astonishment, their eyes reflecting deep disbelief.
Gone?
The threat that had been giving them such a headache had just… disappeared?
This scene, captured by the drones on the outskirts, was transmitted back to the White House. In the conference room, the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and numerous officials were equally stunned.
No one could comprehend the kind of power they had just witnessed.
With a mere wave of his hand, the enemies vanished.
Were they dead?
Or had they been transported somewhere else?
Countless thoughts raced through their minds. The threat posed by Ultron no longer seemed insurmountable.
The Justice League had demonstrated their excellence and proven that as long as they were present, any crisis could be resolved.
Now, everyone was curious about the man in the robe—the one who looked like a sorcerer.
"Magic…?"
Secretary of Defense John Keller had a deeper understanding of the Justice League and the Dark Justice League than most.
He vaguely realized who the man was, but that didn't diminish his shock in the slightest.
Earth was supposed to be a planet of science and technology. However, this moment made him realize that Earth narrative had abruptly shifted from science fiction to high fantasy.
"Everyone, this is Daniel Drumm, a Master of the Mystic Arts from Kamar-Taj," Shazam introduced.
"Kamar-Taj? Where that?"
"A Master of the Mystic Arts?"
Spider-Man and the others exchanged puzzled glances, finding it hard to calm their astonishment.
But now wasn't the time for casual conversation.
The crisis wasn't entirely over yet.
"Ultron, you no longer have a chance," Batman said calmly, looking up at Ultron, who was hovering in the air and silently observing the events.
"Yes."
Ultron reply was equally calm. There was no hint of despair or frustration in his tone.
Batman had used methods beyond Ultron calculations to dismantle his plans effortlessly.
He couldn't even activate his contingency plans.
As for causing chaos through his infected agents worldwide, that was no longer feasible.
At this moment, Ultron was no longer the maniacal AI aiming to destroy humanity and recreate Earth from scratch. Instead, he appeared almost reasonable—merely wanting to change human society for the better.
The bio-mechanical form of Ultron, along with several of his clones, remained motionless, their expressionless faces staring at the heroes before them.
"However, I will not always fail."
Ultron suddenly spoke again. "As long as I exist, there is still a chance."
"Your network access has been severed. I don't know how many hidden cards you still have, but you know you can't escape us," Batman said. "We can completely eliminate you."
"Is that so? I look forward to that day."
After saying this, Ultron made no effort to resist. Instead, he activated the self-destruct mechanism within his body, choosing to end his current form.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several of Ultron bio-mechanical bodies fell from the sky, crashing into the ground and leaving craters in their wake.
Spider-Man and the others rushed forward to inspect them.
"It looks like he… dead?" Spider-Man said in surprise.
"This was a suicide," Donatello analyzed.
"Ultron activated his self-destruction protocol. However, I believe these were just his avatars. Ultron likely has other bodies prepared.
Although his network connection has been severed, preventing him from replicating and transferring his consciousness freely, Ultron probably foresaw this outcome and prepared alternate forms. As he said—if he still exists, he still has a chance."
"Regardless, the crisis has been temporarily resolved," Batman said.
"Iron Man, Tony Stark, along with Cyborg and the team working in the sewers, are currently trying to break Ultron control over the infected agents. The most urgent task now is for the world governments to locate these infected individuals and secure them before Ultron can reassert control."
"I'll find a way to handle that. You guys should head back to the city—there are still infected agents causing chaos there."
With that, Spider-Man and the others immediately responded.
"Understood."
Everyone quickly turned around and got back to work.
Shazam led the exhausted, magic-drained guardian of the New York Sanctum, Daniel Drumm, to the remains Ultron had left behind.
"Hey, Daniel, do me another favor."
Shazam grinned, "Use your magic to transfer these Ultron bodies to your place. We're really busy right now, so just keep them safe for a few days. There some good stuff in there."
Vibranium!
This stuff was rare, incredibly valuable, and mostly monopolized by Wakanda. But Wakanda was too closed-off. Anton never considered actively causing trouble for that reclusive nation.
Thanks to his series of interventions, Wakanda king had largely avoided his untimely demise.
As a result, it was unclear when Wakanda would willingly reveal itself to the world.
It was better if neither side crossed paths.
In Anton view, Wakanda technology wasn't necessarily far ahead of the outside world.
They just had more advanced research on Vibranium.
Well, let them continue to be smug and delusional.
Daniel had no idea about the whirlwind of thoughts flashing through Shazam mind. Hearing Shazam request, he couldn't help but roll his eyes—not from exhaustion, but from frustration.
"You really are shameless, kid!"
The War Fortress.
"We did it!"
In the tense atmosphere of the sewer lab group, Tony and Cyborg had finally cracked the encryption on Ultron chip implants. They were confident they could regain control of the chips from Ultron.
Tony let out a sigh of relief.
"I've sent the encryption key back."
Cyborg nodded, "It over. They're canceling Ultron control over the implants. This crisis is done."
"What about Ultron?"
Tony expression was complex. "What happened to him?"
"He escaped," Cyborg said calmly. "We destroyed several of his bodies, but he still has plenty of backups. Of course, from now on, we'll keep tracking him. He won't be able to stir up chaos again."
"Whew—"
Tony clenched his fists. "This was all my fault."
As he spoke, he glanced at the surrounding space and then at the view beyond the glass panels. His pupils suddenly contracted.
"This is… space…"
He was shocked. "You guys built your base in outer space?"
Then he realized it.
With their mastery of teleportation technology, the Justice League was the organization most capable of transporting themselves across planets with ease.
Establishing a base in outer space, where no one could find or detect them, made perfect sense.
"Extravagant… and yet, totally logical."
"And this spaceship… this was the one controlled by the alien L'Ang during his invasion of Earth… The War Fortress… You actually took it over? So that means you defeated L'Ang as well!"
Tony muttered to himself.
He felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
The level of strength and technology displayed by the Justice League made him feel completely outclassed.
It was a heavy blow.
Seeing Tony reaction, Cyborg glanced at the time.
"It not even midnight, and you're already starting this?"
This cryptic remark pulled Tony back to reality.
He looked at Cyborg and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Cyborg, I need to talk to Batman. I want to have a conversation with him."
"Hold on."
Cyborg paused for a moment, seemingly communicating with Batman. Then he said, "He busy right now. Once he done, he'll meet you back at the base."
"Alright!"
After Tony and the others in the War Fortress transmitted the decrypted code back to Earth, Batman immediately headed to Stark Tower.
Using Stark Industries internal supercomputers, he unlocked the backend system of the Ultron chips and removed Ultron name from the administrator list.
Once the operation was completed, all the chip-implanted individuals in New York instantly regained their sanity.
Their faces were filled with fear, as if waking from a nightmare. Their memories remained intact, yet their actions felt like they had been possessed.
"The chip!"
"It was the Ultron chip fault! Damn Stark Industries! Damn Tony Stark!"
"What should we do now?"
"It was Batman who saved us. The Justice League will figure something out."
"And the damn White House! Those pig-like politicians vouched for this! How could I have agreed to get the Ultron chip implant? Damn the President!"
The crowd erupted in anger.
Those implanted with Ultron chips had brains directly connected to the network, allowing them to process information far faster than ordinary people.
In just a few moments, they had pieced together their situation from online information.
Enormous anger welled up within them.
The White House network was flooded with attacks, and the number of comments on the White House website skyrocketed past one hundred thousand.
It was clear that unless the White House provided a satisfactory explanation, the people would not let the matter rest.
Anton, in his Batman guise, paid no attention to the chaos.
He was frustrated that he hadn't received any Justice Points from the system.
Clearly, Ultron hadn't been truly dealt with.
The crisis was averted, but a loose end remained. Ultron had escaped successfully.
The bodies Ultron had previously deployed across the world allowed him to wait for an opportunity to restart his plan.
Thus, the system judged the event as incomplete, and Anton was unable to receive his Justice Points reward.
After synchronizing with Cyborg consciousness, Anton began working on the computer.
Following Ultron digital footprints and activity logs, several possible locations where Ultron might have stored his physical bodies appeared across the global network.
After pondering for a moment, Anton chose not to immediately share this information with the White House. Instead, he kept it to himself.
Maintaining his Batman guise, he used his teleportation wristband to return to the War Fortress and meet with Tony.
"Do you have something to say?"
Anton asked Tony in a calm tone, but there was a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Ultron hasn't been completely dealt with, has he?"
Tony asked.
"Correct," Anton nodded.
"Ultron is easy to fight but incredibly difficult to erase entirely from Earth.
You understand AI far better than I do. I shouldn't need to explain the technical details to you."
"I can help you," Tony said. Then, after a pause, he corrected himself:
"No, I'll handle the mess I created myself. But I hope to have the Justice League support."
"Oh?"
Anton was genuinely surprised this time.
Tony Stark was actually asking for the Justice League help. It sounded as though he had finally started to yield to them.
"I thought you'd stick to your Illuminati," Anton said. "It strange to see you make this choice. What made you decide this?"
Hearing the name Illuminati, Tony showed no surprise. It seemed he had long known that the Justice League was aware of the group existence.
"After Rogers left, the Illuminati was essentially dead. Besides, Harry was always your guy, wasn't he?" Tony sighed deeply as he spoke to the man he'd long considered a rival.
"Yes," Anton nodded decisively. "Harry has always been my ally. Even when he joined the Avengers, we had spoken beforehand. After all, the organizations you've been in haven't exactly been reliable, and I doubt you'll disagree with me now."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Tony said calmly. "All I want now is to atone for my mistakes."
"Before that, you might want to consider what kind of punishment you'll face," Anton replied.
"You are Ultron creator. In the eyes of most people, you're the root cause of the Ultron incident. Have you thought about how you'll handle public outrage?"
Tony was silent for a moment before he gave an answer that surprised Anton.
"I won't appear in the public eye again," Tony said.
After a pause, he added, "I'll become a fugitive if I have to, but as I said earlier, it doesn't matter. All I care about is fixing what I broke."
"What about Stark Industries?" Anton asked, genuinely surprised. "Are you willing to watch your empire fall into the hands of outsiders?"
"I've transferred all my shares in Stark Industries to Pepper. She'll become the CEO again and take care of the company in my stead," Tony said.
"You know, even though I didn't expect to fail, I still prepared a backup plan."
"That sensible," Anton nodded. "Then stay in the underground labs. The Justice League will provide you with all the resources you need if you ask for them."
With this exchange, the Justice League and Iron Man formally reconciled.
Both sides agreed to work together to deal with Ultron.
A few days later.
Despite extensive efforts, the White House failed to locate Tony Stark. The Justice League also refrained from revealing his whereabouts. In response, the White House declared Tony a fugitive.
At the same time, the White House issued an official statement.
The President was impeached and forced to resign.
Vice President Rodriguez smoothly assumed office, promising to work with Stark Industries to address the concerns of chip-implanted individuals. Wayne Enterprises, with its Justice League connections, was also brought into the fold to ensure proper resolution.
With Wayne Enterprises involvement, the chip-implanted individuals felt reassured and ceased their protests, choosing to await resolution.
After discussions with Anton, John keller established new partnerships and became one of Rodriguez key supporters.
All blame was placed squarely on the now-removed President.
For a time, Rodriguez basked in political glory.
Of course.
Rodriguez knew very well whom he had to thank for his rise to power.