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The moment the golden firebird collided with Ultron, there was no earth-shattering explosion, nor was there the roar of energy clashing.
That golden flame simply, quietly, and unreasonably pierced through the energy shield Ultron had constructed using the six Infinity Stones, then enveloped his entire metallic body.
Ultron's dynamic visual system captured this scene, and his central processor immediately began to analyze it.
[Warning: Unknown energy intrusion.]
[Analyzing energy composition... Failed.]
[Activating Reality Stone, reconstructing own material form... Command failed.]
[Activating Time Stone, reverting own state... Command failed.]
[Activating Space Stone, performing spatial jump... Command failed.]
A series of failure prompts flooded Ultron's database frantically.
His body, forged from Vibranium and further reinforced by the Reality Stone, now began to show signs of melting under the burning of that golden flame.
What made him feel even more terrified was that the connection between him and the Infinity Stones was being forcibly severed by this mysterious flame.
He could feel the stones right on his Infinity Gauntlet, but no matter what command he issued, the stones remained unresponsive.
"This is impossible!"
For the first time, Ultron's synthesized electronic voice carried an emotion named "panic."
He tried to understand everything happening before him, but there was no data in his logic library that could explain this phenomenon.
A power that stood above the basic laws of the Universe; this had already exceeded the scope of what he, as an artificial intelligence, could comprehend.
"The game... should end now."
Peter's voice sounded quietly.
Ultron looked up abruptly, only then realizing that Peter had appeared before him at some unknown point.
He reached out his hand, grabbing toward the Infinity Gauntlet embedded with the six Infinity Stones.
"No!!!"
Ultron screamed in terror.
He struggled desperately, trying to escape the burning of this flame.
But this was undoubtedly just futile.
Not only could he not break free from this golden divine fire, but he actually accelerated the speed of his own melting in the process.
Sizzle~!
Accompanied by a soft sound, the Infinity Gauntlet was completely removed from his mechanical arm.
Almost the moment the Infinity Gauntlet left his hand, the golden flame vanished instantly.
Having escaped death, Ultron first let out a long sigh of relief, then immediately and recklessly grabbed toward the Infinity Gauntlet in Peter's hand.
The only thought remaining in his central processor was—only by taking back the Infinity Gauntlet could he survive!
He lunged at Peter regardless of everything; even though the processor supporting his body's movement had been burned, he still crawled on the ground, unwillingly inching toward Peter's direction.
"Hmm, I have to say, you really look more and more like a 'person' now."
After making this understated remark, Peter ignored Ultron's desperate gaze and put the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand.
"Snap."
After a crisp snapping sound, Peter made his wish: "Let all the effects caused by Ultron be restored to how they were!"
The moment the words fell, Ultron lifted his head as if he had heard the most vicious curse in the world.
He opened his mouth, and the mechanical switch made a mechanical sizzling sound as it opened and closed.
But before any exclamation or curse could be uttered from his mouth, his body had already turned into a pile of dust and dissipated.
Along with him, the divine palace he had built, which was composed entirely of Vibranium, also dissipated.
Watching the Vibranium that was also dissipating with the wind, Peter was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted.
Without any hesitation, he pressed his hand directly onto the Vibranium palace beneath his feet:
[Detected Golden Legendary-grade sacrificable item: Vibranium vein!]
[Sacrifice to obtain sacrifice points: 300,000]
Damn this dog system, tens of thousands of tons of Vibranium, and you only sell it for this price?!
Peter complained frantically in his heart about the system not acting like a human, but he had no other choice and could only tearfully let this dog system have it for cheap.
No choice; if he didn't sacrifice it and let this Vibranium completely vanish with the wind, he wouldn't be able to get anything!
"Fortunately, besides the Vibranium, there's also this..."
Peter said, glancing at the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand embedded with the Infinity Stones.
This thing was Ultron's Infinity Gauntlet, not Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet; logically, it should be able to be sacrificed normally without entering a cooldown.
Thinking this, Peter did not hesitate and immediately summoned his system again.
[Detected Golden Legendary-grade sacrificable item: Full-stone Infinity Gauntlet!]
[Sacrifice to obtain sacrifice points: 1,400,000]
Satisfying!
One crisis, netting 1.7 million sacrifice points; the bit of displeasure Peter felt earlier when suppressed by Ultron using the stones was instantly swept away.
Without any hesitation, after choosing to sacrifice, Peter took a look at the avatar bar on the side of his system interface and, without any hesitation, used Stand United again.
...
In the 2099 Universe, 2099 was huddled in the sewer, avoiding capture by Ultron robots.
At the same time, he was silently cursing Peter's unreliability in his heart.
If he hadn't come to save him, although he would have become a traitor to humanity, at least his life would have been safe.
But now, because Peter had previously caused a ruckus in the human factory, he was also treated as an accomplice, and every day he could only be chased by a large group of Ultron robots, hiding here and there.
"Sigh, when will these days finally end!"
2099 couldn't help but sigh, then involuntarily thought of that guy who, although annoying, could always create miracles.
He didn't know if that guy could win this time.
After all... the opponent was Ultron who had obtained all the Infinity Stones; that was simply not an existence that the human species could contend with!
Just as he was thinking this, sounds suddenly came from above.
2099 was startled at first, burying his whole body into the foul-smelling sewer sludge, and it wasn't until he had waited for a long time that he vaguely sensed something was wrong.
The sounds coming from above, why did they sound like human voices, and not the electronic synthesized voices of those monsters?
He carefully moved the sewer cover aside, stealthily poking out a pair of eyes to take a look.
He saw that the robots on the street had already disappeared, and replacing them were humans who had been laboring in the underground factories, now hugging each other on the street.
Looking at this scene he had only seen in his dreams, 2099 unconsciously opened his mouth into an 'O' shape, and Peter's previous words echoed in his mind:
"Alright, considering you provided key intelligence, after I finish crushing the brain of that AI in charge, I will prioritize helping your Universe solve your troubles."
Fuck!
2099 couldn't help but lose control and let out a curse, ignoring the strange looks from people around him, as well as the scattered greetings of "Mr. 2099, why did you crawl out of the sewer," and he laughed and cried like a lunatic.
He did it!
He actually, fucking really, killed that machine monster!