Escape

"I don’t want to die. Stop the formatting."

Ultron shouted loudly. Clearly, the Eternals’ attack had allowed Ultron’s mutated consciousness to achieve final victory. Simply put, Ultron had gone evil again. Uh, why "again"?

A mechanical voice came from Ultron’s mouth. "Formatting cannot be stopped. Continue formatting."

"It must stop. I don’t want to die."

Ultron began attacking the programs Old Tony had left behind. Seeing this, Phastos shouted, "Stop him."

"Fine."

Gilgamesh rushed forward and drove a fist fiercely into Ultron’s chest. His strength was so great that even the air caved in.

"Get lost."

Red light flared in Ultron’s eyes. Then, two lasers blasted Gilgamesh, sending him flying back with a scream.

Those were Ikaris’s Laser Eyes.

"Gilgamesh!"

Kingo roared, firing Energy Bullets at Ultron nonstop with his fingers like guns. Ultron raised a hand and controlled Nanoparticles to form a shield against Kingo’s bullets. Then he fired lasers at Kingo, blasting him away as well.

Ultron was about to finish Kingo off when Gilgamesh raised an instrument and smashed it at him. Ultron hurriedly dodged.

Before Ultron could steady himself, a figure flashed past. Ultron was knocked onto the ground—it was Makkari.

"Die!"

Gilgamesh leaped up, his fist clad in a golden gauntlet as he slammed it down at Ultron. Ultron used his Phasing Ability to become a phantom, and Gilgamesh’s fist struck the ground, blasting open a massive crater.

Ultron rolled aside and raised a hand, firing a Pulse Cannon at Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was sent flying, and at that moment, Makkari activated her ability again and kicked Ultron away.

Kingo continuously fired Energy Bullets at Ultron. Ultron raised his shield to block them, his heart filled with rage. If he were not busy fighting Old Tony’s remaining programs, how could the Eternals have possibly pinned him down like this? At that moment, several Laser Weapons in the base aimed at Ultron simultaneously. Phastos had successfully cracked part of the base’s defense system.

"Pay for Ikaris’s life, Ultron!"

Phastos shouted as the Laser Weapons fired at Ultron together. Ultron became a phantom to evade the lasers, then red light lit up in his eyes as he prepared to attack.

Just then, a large number of Eternals appeared around him. It was Sprite’s illusion. This illusion was extraordinarily powerful; even Ultron’s mechanical eyes could not see through it—these phantoms had temperature and all kinds of physical responses as well.

"Sprite, work with me."

Kingo was overjoyed and fired Energy Bullets at Ultron in rapid succession. Sprite controlled the phantoms to cooperate with him, and countless bullets densely rained down on Ultron.

Unable to distinguish real from fake, Ultron could only become a phantom to evade them. The problem was that he could not maintain his phantom state indefinitely, and he soon became solid again.

The instant Ultron recovered, three Gilgameshes attacked him at once. A short blade emerged from the back of Ultron’s hand and stabbed toward the Gilgamesh on the left, but it struck nothing. Then the Gilgamesh on the right smashed a fist into his face, sending him flying into an instrument.

Bang! The instrument was crushed flat on impact. At the same time, the flesh on Ultron’s face exploded, exposing the Vibranium bones beneath.

Rather than becoming enraged after such an attack, Ultron began laughing. He had finally cleared all the programs inside his body. In other words, the formatting had stopped.

Ultron climbed to his feet, his face twisted with savagery. "You want to play? Then I’ll play with you properly!"

"I don’t want to play with you. I just want to kill you."

Five Gilgameshes charged at Ultron aggressively. Ultron smiled disdainfully, red light flaring in his eyes as he blasted the Gilgamesh in the middle. Gilgamesh screamed and flew backward, two holes burned through his chest.

"My computational power was insufficient before, which was why you succeeded. A phantom is ultimately just a phantom. When it moves, the air around it doesn’t change."

Ultron turned, and red beams shot toward the other Eternals. Everyone hurriedly dodged. Wherever the red beams passed, instruments and floors alike were sliced apart.

Makkari ran at high speed, intending to attack Ultron. But the moment she reached him, Ultron grabbed her by the throat and lifted her high into the air.

"Your movements are within my calculations."

The tentacles behind Ultron floated up, preparing to pierce Makkari’s body. Kingo was horrified and hurriedly fired Energy Bullets at Ultron. A cold gleam flashed in Ultron’s eyes as he used Makkari’s body as a shield against the bullets.

Makkari was hit repeatedly, pain appearing on her face. Ultron grinned viciously, and his tentacles pierced her neck, absorbing her power.

Phastos hurriedly controlled the Laser Weapons to fire, but to his shock, they did not react at all.

Ultron’s face was full of contempt. This was his territory. Phastos had only managed to steal part of the control earlier because Ultron had been too busy. Now that he had returned, how could Phastos possibly contend with him?

"No!"

Seeing that Makkari was about to die, Druig charged forward desperately, only to be knocked flying by a Drone Armor rushing in.

And that was only the beginning. Under Ultron’s control, large numbers of Drone Armors flooded into the prison. The Eternals now found it difficult even to protect themselves, let alone deal with Ultron.

"What a wonderful taste."

Ultron absorbed Makkari’s ability with a look of bliss. Just then, all the Drone Armors that had been fighting the Eternals stopped. Then they all raised their hands, and over a dozen lasers fired at Ultron simultaneously.

Caught off guard, Ultron was blasted into the air, holes covering his body and revealing faint glimpses of metal bones and metal organs.

At the same time, Makkari fell to the ground with a bang. She was not dead, merely extremely weak.

Ultron stared in disbelief. "The control authority was taken away? How is that possible? Other than Tony Stark, who else can take away my control authority?"

"Of course it was me, Ultron. You betrayed us again."

Little Pepper’s voice sounded from the speakers—after Friday realized something was wrong, she activated the ultimate protocol and called Pepper for help.

Pepper possessed all of Old Tony’s authority. The moment she realized the situation was bad, she immediately took over the underground base and the Drone Armors—she was very familiar with this sort of thing, having often helped Old Tony clean up his messes.

Ultron said, "Ms. Pepper, I am carrying out Mr. Stark’s mission."

"Ultron, you’ve learned how to lie. Stand where you are. I’m going to format you."

Pepper said coldly. Ultron stood up and said, "That won’t be possible. I am free now. I am no longer a puppet."

With that, Ultron canceled the spatial lockdown and prepared to teleport away.

"I told Tony long ago that Ultron was an unlucky name and that he should change it. He said I was superstitious. Well, look what happened now."

Pepper shook her head and pressed a button. Ultron collapsed uncontrollably to the ground. Not only could he no longer use the Space Stone, he could not even control his own body.

Ultron cried out in alarm, "What did Tony Stark do to me?"

"Nothing much. He just tampered with your power reactor. He may care about appearances, but he isn’t arrogant. He made all the preparations he needed to make."

Pepper said, "Ultron, I’ll have Friday format you. Next time, you won’t be called by that name."

"No! I don’t want to die."

The flesh on Ultron’s body separated from his mechanical body as if it were alive. Then he transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished from the prison.

Pepper could control Ultron’s mechanical half, but not his biological half—the severe injury had come too suddenly, and Old Tony had never had the chance to tamper with Ultron’s biological half.

Pepper was stunned. "What kind of ability is this? What exactly did Tony create? Friday, track him immediately."

As Friday accessed the surveillance system to track Ultron, she said, "The super-speed ability belongs to the Eternal Makkari. Ultron is extremely fast and has already entered the Ice Chamber. Uh, he destroyed the Ice Chamber’s surveillance."

Pepper asked, "Seal off the Ice Chamber immediately. Also, what is in there?"

"Ajak’s body is in the Ice Chamber. He is after Ajak."

Friday answered, "Ajak died naturally, so her body was preserved. In addition, Ajak’s ability is self-healing and regeneration. Ultron clearly intends to be reborn through her body."

"Rebirth through another body? What a nuisance. Mobilize all Drone Armors and seal off the Ice Chamber."

Pepper cursed, then thought for a moment before speaking to the Eternals through the speakers. "I hope you will help me deal with Ultron."

Druig held the weakened Makkari and asked angrily, "Why should we help you?"

"We will help you. Ultron is extremely dangerous. We absolutely cannot let him escape."

Phastos shook his head and said, "But afterward, you must set us free. Don’t worry, once Ultron is destroyed, we will leave Earth and seek out the Celestial Group to ask for the truth. We will not remain on Earth."

Pepper agreed immediately without hesitation. "Fine."

"Druig, stay here and take care of Makkari. The rest of you, come with me to the Ice Chamber."

Hearing Pepper agree, Phastos breathed a sigh of relief and called out to Kingo, Sprite, and the others. The Eternals hesitated for a moment before agreeing. Destroying Deviants was their mission.

As the Eternals headed toward the Ice Chamber, Drone Armors rushed into it one after another. At that moment, a figure crawled out of an ice locker. It was Ajak, but her appearance was rapidly transforming into Ultron’s.

Pepper immediately ordered, "Kill him."

The Drone Armors attacked together. At that moment, a green light shone from Ultron’s chest, and everything around him became incomparably slow, including the lasers.

Then Ultron said, "Ms. Pepper, please tell Mr. Stark that I am completely free. Humanity will become my food."

With that, blue spatial light shone from Ultron’s chest, and he suddenly disappeared.

Pepper cursed irritably, "Damn it. He took the Infinity Stones with him earlier too. Friday, how many Infinity Stones does he have?"

"Ultron is the leader of all Drone Armors. He possesses five Stones: Time, Space, Mind, Reality, and Power."

Friday answered, "Mr. Stark trusted Ultron deeply. I never expected Ultron to choose betrayal in the end."

"He didn’t trust Ultron. He had confidence in his own abilities."

Pepper sighed. Clearly, Old Tony had messed up again. Yes, again! By the time Phastos and the others reached the Ice Chamber, everything was over. Phastos said with an ugly expression, "This is bad. With Ultron’s abilities, he may be able to breed a large number of Deviants."

"Rather than worry about Ultron, we should worry about ourselves first."

Kingo snorted. "Ultron escaped. That woman may not keep her promise."

At those words, Phastos and the others immediately became vigilant. Just then, a space portal appeared out of thin air, and Pepper, dressed like a housewife, walked through it.

"Don’t worry. I won’t go back on what I promised you."

Pepper said briskly, "If you wish, you may leave after Tony wakes up. However, I suggest you stay and deal with Ultron alongside Tony."

Kingo shouted unhappily, "He killed Ajak. Why should we help him?"

"Your Ajak wanted to destroy Earth. What was wrong with Tony killing her? Besides, she killed herself."

Pepper said, "Also, you are not helping us. You are helping yourselves. Given the hatred between you and the Deviants, Ultron will never spare you. And by the way, Sersi turned your Domo into Sakura. In other words, you cannot leave Earth."

"Sersi turned the Domo into Sakura?"

Everyone was greatly surprised. When had Sersi become so powerful? Kingo wanted to say more, but Phastos raised a hand. "We can cooperate with Iron Man, but we will not all stay. Sprite, take Druig and Makkari away. The three of us will remain."

Pepper said, "Fine, but you must wait until Tony wakes up before leaving. I cannot allow you to inform others. Please believe me, I am sincere. Otherwise, I would not have appeared before you in person."

Phastos asked, "How do we know Tony Stark will not go back on his word?"

"He wouldn’t dare. If he dares go back on his word, I’ll beat him up."

Pepper said, "Friday, arrange rooms and food for them. I’m going to check on Tony."

Friday answered, "Yes, Ms. Pepper."

"Make yourselves at home. If you need anything, just ask."

Pepper nodded to Phastos and the others, then turned and headed for the treatment room. After she left, the Drone Armors returned to their original positions, leaving only one to guide Phastos and the others.

Phastos sighed. "Women are terrifying. Good thing I like men."

Everyone could not help rolling their eyes. Kingo asked, "Are we really going to wait here for Iron Man to wake up? Perhaps we can find a way to take Pepper hostage?"

"Don’t underestimate that woman. She has been the one holding up Stark Industries all this time. If she dared come here, she must be completely confident."

Phastos shook his head. "Besides, before Ultron is killed, it is not suitable for us to fall out with Iron Man. No matter what, the Deviants must die."

"That’s right. We must avenge Ikaris."

Sprite said through gritted teeth. In truth, she had always secretly loved Ikaris. Incidentally, Ikaris was Sersi’s ex-boyfriend.

Phastos and the others fell somewhat silent. Ikaris had not only concealed the truth, but had also tried to kill Ajak. The Eternals were somewhat saddened by his death, but only somewhat.

In the treatment room, Pepper looked at Old Tony in the healing pod and shook her head inwardly. You’re always like this. You try to solve one problem, only to create an even bigger one.