Ultron seized control of Helen's laboratory with methodical precision.
He shattered the Mind Stone's protective shell, revealing the brilliant yellow gem pulsing within. Under the influence of vibranium—this virtually omnipotent material—a body gradually took shape inside the Regeneration Cradle.
The Mind Stone, freed from its confining shell, flickered several more times with ethereal light. Ultron gazed at this beautiful gem with cold appreciation and slowly placed it on the forehead of the forming body within the Regeneration Cradle.
As the gem settled into place, neural networks began spreading and covering the synthetic brain tissue. This time, the erratic flickering stopped and became a steady, ominous glow.
Wanda and Pietro arrived at the laboratory. Wanda could finally sense Ultron's thoughts with crystal clarity. She slowly approached the Regeneration Cradle with growing unease.
Her trembling hands touched its smooth surface. Images gradually emerged in her mind like fragments of a terrible vision.
A massive meteor falling toward Earth, threatening the entire planet. Humanity's complete extinction. The more Wanda witnessed, the more terrified she became. She had believed Ultron, like herself, was someone seeking righteous revenge against Stark.
But she was wrong. Terribly, catastrophically wrong.
She had to stop this madness.
Just as Wanda was about to withdraw from her psychic probe, behind the image of the destroyed blue planet, a pair of ancient eyes slowly opened.
Then, those eyes—as if they could perceive Wanda across dimensional barriers—fell upon her consciousness.
Across countless universes, they focused on her with malevolent intent.
In that instant, terror could no longer adequately describe what she experienced. It was something far worse than fear.
It was annihilation itself.
…
"Stop the car!"
The brakes slammed violently, leaving long black skid marks on the asphalt. Martha managed to stop dangerously close to the vehicle ahead. She turned to look at John with concern.
John was staring at his right hand with shock and uncertainty etched across his features.
"How is this possible?" he murmured to himself.
Martha wasn't entirely clear about the supernatural situation unfolding. But she knew from experience it was best to follow John's instructions without question.
The car remained motionless for a long time before John recovered his composure. His fingers trembled slightly with residual shock. His other hand pressed down firmly, stopping the involuntary trembling.
John took a deep, steadying breath. Shock and uncertainty still lingered in his piercing eyes. The afterimage of those cosmic eyes in his mind refused to fade completely.
If he could dream, this would be a nightmare. A nightmare that would horrify even the Wizard King himself.
His breathing gradually calmed. John closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had regained his characteristic composure.
"Martha."
"I'm here!" Martha startled like a sleepy student being called by a stern instructor.
John said with restored calm, "Keep driving."
"Go... where exactly?"
Martha's intelligence was sometimes sufficient, sometimes frustratingly inadequate.
"Follow your intuition," John said, then fell into contemplative silence.
He quietly took out his phone and began checking all the latest news reports.
The most recent headline caught his attention immediately.
The Avengers appeared in Seoul.
The cover image featured Captain America fighting robots on a city rooftop.While American 'peacekeeping' operatives showing up in Seoul was hardly surprising, seeing Captain America face off against an entire robot army was both unprecedented and deeply troubling.
John's expression shifted slightly with growing interest.
Seoul
Wanda broke free from that overwhelming deathly silence, terror still lingering in her wide eyes. She had almost been trapped in something far worse than death.
She looked at the Regeneration Cradle with newfound horror. What kind of monster was brewing inside that technological womb?
Was that truly Ultron's consciousness? Too many questions left her mind spinning in confusion.
But she understood one thing with absolute clarity: Stop all of this from happening.
She questioned Ultron about his true motivations while secretly releasing his psychic control over Helen.
After Helen was freed from mental domination, she immediately interrupted the continued transmission of Ultron's consciousness program.
This bold action made Ultron realize she had broken free from his influence.
Wanda also launched a desperate attack. Ultron raised his metallic hand and fired a concentrated energy beam directly at Helen.
An Iron Armor Charm materialized around Helen, deflecting the deadly attack. Helen struck the wall hard and fell unconscious from the impact.
But her dedicated laboratory staff was systematically killed by Ultron's merciless robots.
Ultron wanted to continue his assault, but detecting the approaching Avengers, he reluctantly seized the Regeneration Cradle and retreated strategically.
When Helen regained consciousness, all the laboratory robots had vanished.
"Helen..."
A thread-like voice reached her ears. Helen hurried to locate the source of the weak call.
There was still one person who hadn't died but wouldn't survive much longer either.
Jack Lee.
This devoted man, who had wanted to dedicate his entire life to his country—his middle-aged face already lined with deep wrinkles from years of struggle—smiled weakly when he saw Helen was alive.
"Jack!" Helen ran over, frantically using gauze to stop his severe bleeding.
"It's useless, Helen." Jack Lee leaned against the wall and shook his head with resignation. "We both know this won't work."
"Jack, you can't die. I won't let you."
"No, Helen," Jack Lee looked with comfort at Helen's tear-filled eyes, "you're the one who can't die."
"The appearance of those robots convinced me that your existence is crucial to advancing this country, even this entire world."
"I'm glad." He managed a weak smile, "It's mediocre me who's dying, not you, Helen."
"No, no, no," Helen was still desperately trying to save him, but tears had already begun falling. She sobbed, "It shouldn't be like this, it can't end like this."
"You promised me, Jack. This place needs you."
"I'm tired." Jack smiled with weary acceptance, "I've wasted forty years in this country."
"From initial grand ambitions to later compromising with corrupt officials."
"I thought about giving up completely, but seeing a brilliant junior colleague like you gave me motivation again."
"I often thought: Helen is someone who will change the world. Those sloppy, dirty political games shouldn't stain her clean reputation."
Helen wept uncontrollably. Jack smiled peacefully, his voice gradually weakening.
"I accomplished what I set out to do. You must continue, Helen."
His life came to an end, blood staining Helen's white lab coat. That was his life's blood—the final gift of the most humble senior colleague. No, he was the very best senior colleague!
When Steve arrived, he witnessed this heartbreaking scene. He had no time to offer comfort, because Ultron had escaped with the Regeneration Cradle.
Once that extremist who wanted to rebuild the world obtained a physical body, it would create a terrible disaster.
Steve pursued without hesitation. Natasha and Hawkeye also joined the Regeneration Cradle recovery operation.
Steve fought Ultron directly on the speeding transport truck. Hawkeye controlled their aircraft to provide air support, drawing away the robots surrounding the Regeneration Cradle.
Natasha seized the opportunity to infiltrate the cargo hold. Sensing her intent, Ultron commanded his robots to lift the entire cargo compartment and fly away, preparing to retreat to his base.
Natasha cut the securing cables and sent the Regeneration Cradle tumbling out. At the crucial moment, Natasha was overwhelmed by the attacking robots.
The pink bear in the aircraft leaped out fearlessly, delivering a powerful punch with supernatural bear strength, sending the robot, Natasha, and itself tumbling through the air together.
Meanwhile, Steve received unexpected help from the Maximoff twins, allowing him to stop the runaway train and save the civilians aboard, though Ultron managed to escape.
Hearing Steve instruct Hawkeye to deliver the Regeneration Cradle to Tony, terror flashed in Wanda's eyes. "He'll mess everything up."
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Don't you realize who he learned that from?"
Steve fell into troubled silence.
Avengers Tower
Tony stared at the Regeneration Cradle before him, the nightmare from his vision flashing through his mind again.
He dismissed Hawkeye. As Banner pondered how to safely destroy the body developing in the Regeneration Cradle, he scratched his head nervously.
"About that..."
As soon as Tony spoke, Banner understood his dangerous thoughts. Banner swore he would never join him in another reckless experiment.
But when Tony revealed the identity of the person who had been preventing Ultron from accessing nuclear codes, Banner wavered.
JARVIS.
Someone everyone believed was dead but had actually escaped Ultron's digital assault. JARVIS made Ultron genuinely afraid.
Banner looked at the glowing gem embedded in the Regeneration Cradle. The energy readings increased dramatically, and the Mind Stone became even brighter.
In another room, Ariana was typing energetically at her keyboard. This incident had provided her with exceptional material.
Writing with divine inspiration, like a literary master reborn. Disclaimer: entirely self-perception.
The bear diligently serving her tea and refreshments seemed to sense something supernatural. It looked back and scratched its bottom thoughtfully.
MOSS, with its distinctive camera head, had its red indicator light blink once ominously.
Sokovia
"Why did we come to this place?" Blade looked around this war-torn country. His gaze swept over the devastated, dilapidated houses.
It was difficult to imagine that in today's supposedly civilized society, there was still such barbaric warfare.
"The future gave me specific instructions." The person walking ahead, carrying two heavy equipment cases, said without looking back.
"You didn't have to come with me, Blade." Stopping his determined steps, he said, "You don't need to participate in this battle that doesn't belong to you."
Blade glanced at Ciri and said flatly, "I don't like owing favors to anyone."
"Equivalent exchange." The man unconsciously repeated the familiar phrase.
Ciri looked at him meaningfully and said, "You really are like him."
"Including that particular saying."
The stoic man walked to a residential building from where he could see the central church clearly. He said with deep conviction, "Then he's exactly the same as me."
A sniper rifle more devastating than a Barrett was methodically set up. The scope aimed directly at the distant church.
"Same selfishness."