Cooperation

Pepper shook her head and quietly waited for Old Tony to wake up. Two hours later, Old Tony opened his eyes. When he saw Pepper, he froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly climbed out of the nutrient tank and asked, "Little Pepper, why are you here? What happened?"

Pepper was Old Tony’s last line of defense. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Friday would never go looking for her. Her appearance here meant something major had happened.

Pepper said casually, "Nothing serious. Your Ultron just rebelled again."

Old Tony’s eyes widened. "Ultron rebelled again? And you call that nothing serious?"

Pepper said, "It’s not like it’s the first time. Besides, compared to the things you’ve done, what does this even amount to?"

"Yeah, not the first time. Genius Tony, betrayed by his own super robots three times in a row."

Old Tony gave a bitter smile. Aside from Ultron betraying him twice, Vision had betrayed him once as well—the guy had broken free of his control and run off to date Wanda.

Pepper stood and said, "You’ll get used to it. Put some clothes on, and I’ll tell you everything in detail."

"Fine. I hope it’s not too horrifying. I am a patient, after all."

Old Tony shook his head. Before long, Pepper told him everything. His expression turned incomparably grim. "Ultron became a Deviant and took Ajak’s corpse? This is trouble. A completely new Deviant race is about to appear on Earth."

Pepper asked, "A Deviant race?"

"That’s right. Ultron’s technology, Deviant genes, and Ajak’s infinitely regenerating body—a new race that feeds on humans is about to be born."

Old Tony said in agony, "I was wholeheartedly trying to save the world, yet I ended up creating a world-ending crisis. God, are you punishing me?"

Pepper said, "This is perfectly normal. Don’t make such a fuss."

Old Tony shouted, "You call this normal?"

"Movies are full of this kind of plot. Uh, Ultron’s last rebellion was pretty much the same."

Pepper said, "The only lesson humanity learns from history is that humanity can’t learn any lessons from history."

"I made the same mistake twice."

Old Tony first gave a miserable laugh, then said, "I have to eliminate Ultron as soon as possible. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Tony, the Avengers are best at handling world-ending crises."

Pepper tried to persuade him. She wanted Old Tony to reconcile with the other Super Heroes.

Old Tony hesitated, then shook his head. "The Avengers have already disbanded. Besides, I did nothing wrong. Once Ultron is dealt with, I’ll continue dealing with those Super Heroes.

"Little Pepper, the Ultron crisis may seem terrifying, but compared to the crises of the future, it’s nothing. In the future, planets will be destroyed at the drop of a hat, galaxies will collapse, universes will fall apart, even the multiverse itself—if you can think of it, it can happen."

Pepper secretly sighed and said, "Do whatever you want. Oh, right, I promised the Eternals I’d set them free."

Old Tony said, "You did the right thing, Little Pepper. You’ve worked hard. I promise, something like this will never happen again."

"I’ve known you for decades, and you’ve never kept any of your promises. For example, you promised me you wouldn’t be a Super Hero, but you never stopped."

Pepper shook her head. Before Tony could explain, she continued, "I’m used to it already, Tony. I’ll support you as I always have. Since I can’t change you, I can only change myself."

"I’m sorry. Thank you."

Old Tony nearly cried. Having Pepper was the greatest fortune of his life.

Next, Old Tony sent Pepper back to the Cabin in the Woods, then activated the global satellite system to hunt for Ultron.

"With Ultron’s computing power, the chances of finding him through the satellite system are minuscule."

Old Tony secretly shook his head. He had never imagined that even Ultron would be corrupted by Deviant genes. Fortunately, he had not conducted the experiment himself. Otherwise, he would have been the one turned into a monster.

"I was careless. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. If I hadn’t fallen unconscious, none of this would have happened. Is this fate’s backlash?"

After thinking for a moment, Old Tony went to see the Eternals. Because of what had happened before, they did not think highly of him. When they saw him arrive, they did not even greet him.

Old Tony did not care. He said, "What Pepper said is what I say. If you wish, you can leave at any time."

"Good."

Phastos did not waste any words. He said, "Arrange a plane for us. Sprite, Druig, and Makkari are leaving."

"Fine."

Old Tony did not refuse. He sent Sprite and the other two away in Drone Armor.

Once the three had safely left, Phastos and the others could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Phastos said, "Ultron must die. Otherwise, a massive disaster will occur."

"I know. We need to cooperate."

Old Tony nodded. "Technological methods will have a hard time locating Ultron. I need your experience in exterminating Deviants."

"No problem. We’ll help you with everything we have."

Phastos said, "Ajak is already dead. If Ultron wants to fully recover, he must devour a large number of intelligent beings. In other words, wherever a large number of people suddenly die, that’s where Ultron is."

"That’s an important clue."

Old Tony said, "We’ll begin investigating immediately. Phastos, I’ll grant you partial access to the satellites. Help me search for Ultron."

Phastos nodded. "All right."

Many people were deeply dissatisfied that America had been taken over by Iron Man, especially the former upper ranks of the government. They knew they were no match for Iron Man, so they quietly went into hiding.

At a military base, General Ross, the former Secretary of State, cursed, "I said long ago that Iron Man—or rather, those Super Heroes—could not be trusted."

"What’s the point of saying that now?"

The former Vice President said impatiently, "We should be thinking about how to defeat Iron Man."

At the mention of that, everyone fell silent. With Iron Man’s current strength, they were no match for him at all.

The former Vice President grew even more irritated. He asked, "How many resources and personnel are the other countries willing to provide us?"

What had happened in America had frightened the other countries, so they secretly sent spies to support the former Vice President and his people. No one wanted their own country to suddenly be occupied by Iron Man.

General Ross said, "As for resources, they’re willing to support us unconditionally. But they refuse to send personnel. They’re worried Iron Man will retaliate against them."

"A bunch of shortsighted fools."

The former Vice President cursed, "If we don’t deal with Iron Man now, America’s today will be their tomorrow."

General Ross was about to say something when the screen in the conference room suddenly lit up on its own. Everyone jumped in alarm. Had Iron Man found them?

To their relief, the person appearing on the screen was not Iron Man, but a somewhat eerie-looking white man. He said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ultron."

"Ultron?"

Everyone took a step back in unison. Who did not know that Ultron was Iron Man’s robot? General Ross made a prompt decision and said, "Iron Man has discovered this base. Mr. Vice President, I’ll escort you out."

"Don’t panic. It wouldn’t help even if you did. Heh, just kidding. Don’t worry, I’m no longer one of Iron Man’s people."

Ultron smiled. Then, the figure on the screen vanished, and Ultron appeared out of thin air before them.

General Ross and the others immediately raised their guns at Ultron. At that moment, a yellow light lit up in Ultron’s chest, and the eyes of everyone who saw it instantly turned dull.

It was the Mind Stone.

"Actually, I didn’t need to say so much. I could’ve just teleported in directly. This must be what Stark often called a twisted sense of humor."

Ultron shook his head. Then, he controlled General Ross and the others to summon soldiers into the room wave after wave. He used his tentacles to devour every last bit of the soldiers’ life force.

That was right, every last bit. Ultron wore a look of enjoyment as his bodily functions rapidly recovered.

Although General Ross and the others were under control, they still retained some awareness of themselves. They watched in terror, afraid they too would become food.

"Don’t worry, I won’t eat you. I’ll only turn you into my kind."

Ultron grinned. The tentacles behind him danced through the air and pierced the throats of General Ross and the others. Then, Ultron injected Deviant genes into the bodies of these human higher-ups.

General Ross’s body rapidly twisted and changed, as if countless rats were scurrying through him. A moment later, he returned to normal and shouted at Ultron with a fanatical expression, "King!"

"King!"

The others shouted as well. All of them had become Deviants, while Ultron officially became the King of Deviant Machines.

"You are only the most basic Deviants. I will manufacture a large number of Drone Armor and transform them into Deviant Machines."

Ultron said with a fanatical expression, "I will become the King of Deviant Machines!"

"King, we will do everything in our power to fulfill your wish."

General Ross said, "We have quite a few secret factories in America that can help you manufacture Drone Armor. Besides, other countries will do their utmost to support us in order to deal with Iron Man."

"Other countries will support us? That truly is good news. We can’t use factories within America, or Iron Man will discover them. We’ll establish secret bases in Great Canada and Mexico."

Ultron was delighted. He said, "Also, find a way to acquire a large amount of food for me, but do not let Iron Man or Blood God and the others discover it."

General Ross thought for a moment and said, "We can use human trafficking routes to obtain a large amount of food. Those routes are very well hidden and have always been operating. Iron Man won’t find them."

Ultron was somewhat surprised. "You, a dignified Secretary of State, have access to such channels?"

"I need test subjects. In fact, quite a few military generals have such channels."

General Ross smiled. The Hulk experiment and the Abomination experiment had both required a large number of test subjects, but unfortunately, neither had ever succeeded.

"Very good. Oh, right, I remember you have an Abomination over there. Its blood can enhance the strength of Deviant Machines."

Ultron nodded in satisfaction. Thinking of something, he added, "Would those countries be willing to provide us with some food?"

"We can’t directly call them food. They’d definitely turn against us. We can ask them to send prisoners to us in the name of experiments."

General Ross said, "I can’t guarantee the other countries, but North America and Europa will definitely agree. Besides, food is scarce across the entire world now. We can pull a few strings."

Ultron was even more satisfied. He said, "You will be fully responsible for these matters. General Ross, you’re not as stupid as Tony Stark says."

"How could a stupid man become Secretary of State?"

General Ross said, "King, I will serve you with all my strength and turn all humanity into our food."

Ultron laughed loudly. "I like that."

In Wakanda, Sprite, Druig, and Makkari arrived on a plane provided by Stark Industries to meet with Sersi and Tina. Then, they told everyone about Ultron. After hearing it, everyone was furious.

"That bastard Tony actually lost another super robot, and this one is even stronger and more terrifying than the last."

Dr. Banner could not help but curse. Tony rolled his eyes and said, "Please add ‘Old’ to that. Thank you. And by the way, that guy really is a bastard."

"Old Tony acts recklessly. It’s not surprising at all that something like this happened."

Nick Fury snorted. He said, "We have to deal with him as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows how much more trouble he’ll cause?"

"Let’s deal with Ultron first. Earth is crowded enough already. We can’t let another race appear."

Steve shook his head and asked Sersi, "I want to know everything about the Deviants. Can you tell us?"

Sersi was somewhat dazed and did not answer—Ikaris’s death had filled her with grief, even though she had another boyfriend now.

Seeing this, Tina answered in Sersi’s place, "No problem. We’ll tell you everything. Everyone, we must eliminate Ultron as soon as possible. The longer we drag this out, the more troublesome it will become."

"Thank you. We’ll deal with Ultron as quickly as possible."

Steve thanked her first, then said to the others, "I want to try persuading Old Tony again. What do you think?"

Falcon was the first to say, "I don’t. Let that guy die."

"That’s right. He’s beyond saving."

Winter Soldier said the same. Spider-Man hurriedly said, "Mr. Stark isn’t that bad. I think he can still be saved."

Black Widow said, "Old Tony has merely gone to extremes. Perhaps what happened with Ultron can make him come to his senses."

"That’s what I think too."

Steve nodded. He turned to Wang Bert’s psychic projection and asked, "Blood God, what do you think?"

Wang Bert said, "Old Tony used to be a decent man. Try persuading him again."

"Fine."

Seeing that Wang Bert agreed, no one objected further. Steve called Old Tony on speakerphone.

After the call connected, before Steve could speak, Old Tony said first, "If you’re calling to persuade me, save your breath. I did nothing wrong. Ultron was just an accident. Besides, I’ll resolve this myself. I don’t need you to intervene."

Winter Soldier sneered. "I told you he was beyond saving."

"Old Tony."

Wang Bert said, "Ultron is fate’s backlash. If you continue like this, the backlash will only grow worse."

"Fate’s backlash? So what? The disasters of the future are far crueler than this backlash."

Old Tony snorted. "No matter how much backlash there is, I will change Earth’s fate. I will never allow Earth to continue like this."