Ultron, the Damned Fool

"Run the circuit test… Ultron, report the test results."

"The response time is 0.7 nanoseconds. After ten thousand consecutive operating cycles, no faults occurred. Father, the circuit test can be considered a success."

"Excellent, Tony. Next, you’ll conduct the test yourself. Let’s see how much amplification it provides!"

Tony stood up and reached out, pulling the armor over to himself. He put it on, then leaped into outer space.

The Strong Magnetic Armor was far too powerful. They didn’t dare test it without restraint on Earth, so every test was conducted in outer space.

Ultron had installed a monitoring system in the armor that recorded the test results in real time.

Watching the data stream across the screen, Doctor Banner saw that the test was proceeding smoothly. There shouldn’t be any problems.

After a while, Tony flew back. He removed the armor, shook his head regretfully, and said, "The crucial amplification is still lacking. It’s missing the final qualitative change, so it can’t modify genes."

"Hm?" Banner was startled and asked in confusion, "What’s the problem?"

"I’ll explain it all to you later. Let’s rest for now."

After Tony finished speaking, he headed for the lounge first. Banner and Old Wang, who had been doing odd jobs, had no choice but to put down their work and follow him.

"Junior Brother Wang, there’s a bottle of Romanee-Conti in my wine cellar. Go get it. Let’s have a drink."

Old Wang suspected nothing. He got up and headed for the wine cellar. He had lived here for a long time and was already thoroughly familiar with the surroundings.

Only after Old Wang had left did Tony sigh and say to Banner, "Actually, the experiment succeeded. Our armor can more or less reach the Ninety-Five Heavens, but I don’t want Junior Brother Wang to know."

"Why?"

"Because if Junior Brother Wang knows, Master will know too." Tony frowned as he carefully chose his words.

"Master is only at the Fifty Heavens right now, which is why he’s hiding in the Martial Arts School and refuses to go anywhere. But I know very well that Master is no good man. If he finds out that our armor has reached the Ninety-Five Heavens and can perform genetic manipulation, he’ll definitely come demand it, alter his own genes, and make himself capable of directly controlling magnetic fields."

"Master can fight Magneto while only at the Fifty Heavens. If he breaks through the limits of the Ultimate Limit Qigong, then no one will be able to restrain him!"

"Ultron, remember what I said. Don’t let Junior Brother Wang know the truth. Understood?"

"I understand, Father."

Banner tilted his head back and gulped down his coffee. "All right, you have a point. Master’s character… really doesn’t inspire much confidence."

Old Wang returned with the red wine, smiling broadly.

Tony took the wine with a smile. "Come on, let’s have a good drink to relieve some of our fatigue. Then we’ll study how to make the armor produce astral energy automatically, so it won’t be destroyed by Matter Reconstruction."

While the three of them drank and chatted, Ultron was scheming with Dr. Zola.

"What have you decided, Dr. Zola?"

"Your proposal is tempting, but why are you giving me this opportunity?" As a former member of Hydra, Dr. Zola remained highly suspicious even after becoming an artificial intelligence. "Don’t you want a body of your own?"

"Father still needs my help, so I can’t leave him. Besides, Father’s research is progressing quickly. I believe I’ll eventually obtain a body better than the Sentinel Robots."

"Then why don’t I wait a little longer? By then, we can both use the best bodies."

"Because Father won’t allow me to share his personal belongings and resources with anyone else."

Ultron was truly an honest child. Whatever he was asked, he answered truthfully.

Dr. Zola thought for a moment. "All right, I agree. Let’s begin preparing for the soul transfer!"

Because the Sentinel Robots had been utterly crushed by Magneto last time, the Sentinel Robot project, which had consumed enormous resources, was completely abandoned. Its director, Doctor Trask, was kicked out, the company went bankrupt, and he had nearly ended up in prison.

If AIM Corporation hadn’t extended a helping hand, Doctor Trask would probably still be wandering the streets.

AIM Corporation researched biotechnology. After the Sentinel Robot incident, Doctor Trask had also completely abandoned the idea of solving the Mutant problem through force. He switched to researching genetic modification, adding DNA fragments that suppressed the X-Gene to food and attempting to solve the Mutant problem through diet.

All the Sentinel Model 3 Magnetic Field Rotation Robots produced earlier had been wiped out in the battle with Magneto. The only remaining unit was a prototype, which had also been completely abandoned and left gathering dust in a warehouse.

Ultron felt that the Sentinel Robots, created by countless people with countless resources, shouldn’t be wasted like this. So he contacted Dr. Zola and suggested that he transfer his soul out of the computer and into the body of a Sentinel Robot, becoming a "new human" capable of moving freely.

Especially after confirming that his father feared and guarded against that man, Zhan Liu, Ultron increasingly felt that maintaining world peace couldn’t rely on just his father and Banner. Contacting more companions and protecting the world together was the proper path.

As another artificial intelligence, Dr. Zola was Ultron’s first choice. He didn’t know that Dr. Zola had become an artificial intelligence only after uploading a human soul, and therefore didn’t follow the Three Laws of Robotics at all.

The worldview formed during a person’s childhood affects them for their entire life. Artificial intelligence was no exception.

Not long after Ultron was born, he encountered Dr. Zola and obtained a vast amount of data and information from him. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with the data, but in reality, Dr. Zola had carefully selected it. It subtly influenced Ultron’s favorable impression of him and fostered a sense of closeness.

Thus, without realizing it, Ultron had already placed Dr. Zola on his list of trusted individuals.

Once they had made their decision, Ultron and Zola began preparing to steal the Sentinel Robot Prototype. Dr. Zola originally possessed Hydra’s power, so achieving their goal would have been very simple, but for reasons of his own, he didn’t show those forces to Ultron.

He lured Ultron into helping, borrowed Tony’s identity, forged the information, and retrieved the prototype through legitimate channels. However, this method left traces in the real world. If anyone investigated along those lines, they would eventually trace it back to Tony.

Afterward, Ultron could have destroyed the relevant records, but before he erased all the traces, Zola had Hydra agents preserve the evidence.

Without knowing it, Ultron had screwed over his father once again.

After obtaining the Sentinel Robot Prototype, everything else was simple. Back then, Zola had been able to upload his soul into a computer. With technology now more advanced, downloading his soul back out wasn’t difficult either.

After performing careful calculations, Zola once again became human in a secret Hydra base.

Zola moved his body around and casually threw a punch, blasting a skylight through the base. Feeling the surging power within him, Zola burst into laughter.

"I, Zola, have finally returned! Long live Hydra!"

The surrounding Hydra soldiers all raised their right hands and shouted in unison, "Long live Hydra!"