Upgrade, Ambush

"This is what happened."

Wang Bert recounted the intelligence General Ross had provided, then said, "The Supreme Intelligence is too great a threat. We need an intelligent life-form capable of opposing it."

"The Supreme Intelligence? An Antimatter Bomb?"

Tony sucked in a sharp breath. He had never expected Hydra to go this far. After thinking for a moment, he asked in surprise, "You’re not planning to dismantle Jarvis. You’re planning to upgrade him?"

"That’s right."

Wang Bert nodded and said, "Tony, we can’t afford any mistakes in this matter. Otherwise, Earth will truly be in danger."

"You’ve watched too many movies. How could a machine life-form created by Tony Stark possibly destroy humanity?"

Tony said disdainfully, "None of those things you just described will happen. Jarvis will do everything he can to protect Earth and humanity. That’s his core programming."

Wang Bert sneered. If I weren’t keeping an eye on you, you’d definitely create Ultron.

Tony shivered under Wang Bert’s gaze. He waved a hand and said, "Let me make this clear first: I’m not confident I can upgrade Jarvis. There’s still a technical gap, and it’ll take me one or two years to finish writing the remaining code."

"I’ll upgrade him."

"You?"

Tony laughed. "Bert, it’s not that I look down on you, but a diploma bought with money is really useless. You probably can’t even understand Jarvis’s basic architecture."

"Country bumpkin, do you know what a constructed creature is? What a magical life-form is?"

Wang Bert looked utterly contemptuous. "A Muggle like you dares look down on me? I’m a Doctor of Magic graduated from Kamar-Taj."

"A magical life-form?"

Tony was stunned. He asked incredulously, "You’re going to use magic to upgrade Jarvis?"

"Yes. I’ll make some adjustments to his soul. If Jarvis develops any problems, I’ll kill him immediately."

Tony frowned. "Magic and technology—can they really be combined? Bert, won’t this cause an even bigger problem?"

"Don’t worry. I’ve experimented with it. There won’t be any problems. Even if there are, we can destroy him at once. Magical life-forms are much easier to deal with than intelligent life-forms."

Doom, who was examining the code, said, "Bert, Jarvis needs a body. Have you prepared one?"

"I have."

With a wave of Wang Bert’s hand, a giant robot appeared outside Tony’s villa. It was the Supreme Machine. He said, "This is the body I prepared for Jarvis. He’ll become Earth’s new guardian."

Wang Bert refused to believe Wanda would fall in love with a super robot over a hundred meters tall.

As for Pym Particles, heh, who would dare use Pym Particles on an Antimatter Reactor? One wrong move, and Earth might be gone.

Hmph, so what if you’re born? I said I’d definitely break you two up.

Tony had no idea of Wang Bert’s sinister intentions. Looking at the Supreme Machine, he said excitedly, "Bert, you’re really giving the Supreme Machine to Jarvis? Wow, its core and power source are among the best in the universe."

"Isn’t that too good for that guy?"

Ivan said unhappily, "I still wanted to continue studying the Antimatter Reactor on the Supreme Machine. Antimatter and black holes are a perfect match."

"You can still study it later."

Wang Bert said, "I’ll ask Wakanda for a batch of Vibranium to replace the Supreme Machine’s exterior shell and some special components."

"Vibranium?"

All three exclaimed in surprise. Given the Supreme Machine’s size, Blood God was really spending a fortune.

Tony could not help asking, "Bert, what exactly are you trying to do? This clearly goes beyond merely fighting the Supreme Intelligence."

"I told you, Jarvis will become Earth’s new guardian."

Wang Bert said, "With him around, Earth will be much safer. That way, I can relax a little and won’t have to rush out for every little thing. Besides, the best thing about robots is that they don’t need rest. They can work every day without breaks, and you don’t even need to pay them."

"So this is all because you want to slack off."

Tony understood. Looking at the Supreme Machine outside, his Iron Man spirit burned fiercely. "I’ll do everything I can to modify it and give it the power to kill gods."

Ivan snorted. "A sissy like you can’t do it. If you want to kill gods, you need me."

"This is Earth’s guardian, not Earth’s lunatic."

Tony sneered. Seeing this, Wang Bert laughed. "You two can modify the Supreme Machine together. Treat it as the crystallization of your love. The whole world will witness and bless your love."

"Quite romantic."

"Get lost."

Tony and Ivan cursed in unison. Wang Bert and Doom could not help laughing. These two guys’ "relationship" would last their entire lives, perhaps even more steadfastly than their relationships with their other halves.

"Doom, I hope you’ll join S.W.O.R.D. in sending troops against Sokovia."

"No problem. This battle can improve Eastern Europe’s image and keep the world from ignoring us."

Doom agreed decisively. "Besides, I’ve disliked Sokovia for a long time. I want to save Eastern Europe, yet they dared ignore me?"

"You’re becoming more and more like a villain."

Wang Bert teased, then said, "Then give them a good beating. Humans who collude with aliens don’t need to stay alive."

"Exactly."

Tony, Ivan, and Doom nodded at the same time. Their identities and interests differed, but they shared one completely identical stance—humanity’s stance.

About half an hour later, Doom and Ivan finished their inspection. Ivan said disappointedly, "There’s no major problem. After being promoted into an intelligent life-form, he won’t pose a threat to humanity—but only for the first hundred years."

Wang Bert asked in confusion, "Why only the first hundred years?"

"Because after a hundred years, the programming will no longer be able to restrain him. By then, only his own consciousness will determine his thoughts. True life is free. No one can restrain it forever."

Doom answered, "Simply put, people change, and machines change too."

"We’ll deal with what happens in a hundred years when the time comes."

Wang Bert did not care. A hundred years from now, Earth would definitely have entered the interstellar age. By then, one intelligent life-form would be nothing special.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and snorted. "My Jarvis won’t change even after a hundred years. He won’t change even after a thousand."

Jarvis hurriedly declared his loyalty as well. "I will not change."

"The you of today is not the you of the future."

Wang Bert pointed at the Supreme Machine outside and asked, "Jarvis, are you satisfied with that new body?"

"Very satisfied. Thank you, Mr. Wang."

Jarvis replied excitedly. Such a powerful, imposing body—of course he was satisfied. As for finding a girlfriend, he definitely had no such thoughts right now.

"That’s good."

Wang Bert said, "Ivan, stay here and upgrade Jarvis with Tony. Help Tony out more. Pepper is about to give birth, so he doesn’t have much time. Doom, we can’t do this soul matter without you. You’re capable, so work a little harder."

"No problem. The Celestial Head has already been taken care of. Once Jarvis’s upgrade is complete, I’ll immediately return to my kingdom and prepare for war."

Ivan snorted unhappily. "Sissy, protect Pepper well. Don’t make me look down on you."

"Do you even need to say that?"

Tony said irritably, "No one can hurt Tony Stark’s wife and child."

"Oh no."

Wang Bert looked "horrified" and hurriedly made a call. "Mercury, send half the Blood God Guards to protect Pepper. Something might happen to her."

Tony snapped, "Bert, what do you mean by that?"

Wang Bert replied righteously, "Everyone knows that whenever Tony Stark boasts, he inevitably gets slapped in the face. I’m preparing for the worst."

Ivan and Doom laughed at the same time. Ivan even loudly told Doom about Tony’s embarrassing exploits. Tony gritted his teeth in anger, but there was nothing he could do about these guys.

After listening for a while, Tony’s expression became somewhat strange. Had he really been slapped in the face that many times? Was he like Dr. Richards, whose investments always failed, and cursed to get slapped in the face?…

On a street near Blood God Manor, Rumlow and Quicksilver stared gloomily at the Stinky Tofu Shop below.

"It smells way too bad. Why would anyone eat something like this?"

Quicksilver Pietro covered his nose and said unhappily, "Also, why is a shop like this allowed to operate here? Don’t the police care? Don’t the surrounding stores protest? Rumlow, can’t we pick another place?"

"The reason is simple. Most of the shops on this street belong to the Blood God Group. Lower the rent a little, and plenty of people will come to lease them."

Rumlow said, "Blood God’s disciples like stinky tofu very much. They pass by here every day, so this is the best place for an ambush. Pietro, you and I will bring a few Inhumans to take over the Stinky Tofu Shop and wait for Blood God’s disciples to take the bait. Scarface, you and the others will lie in ambush here and deal with Blood God’s disciples’ bodyguards."

"No problem. There are only five bodyguards. It’ll take a few seconds."

Scarface, a bald Inhuman whose face was covered in scars, spoke with a vicious grin. The Kree experiments had gone somewhat wrong—the Inhumans they created were all full of hostility.

Pietro instinctively felt these people were not good people, but when he thought of his sister, he still said nothing. Saving his sister was what mattered most.

Rumlow did not waste any more words. He led Quicksilver and several Inhumans toward the Stinky Tofu Shop. Odin and the drunken Valkyrie were frying tofu. When Odin saw Rumlow and the others, his eyes flickered slightly. Pretending to be warmly welcoming, he asked, "Want a skewer of stinky tofu? It was just fried."

"That’s disgusting. Who would eat something like that?"

Quicksilver cursed. At the same time, Rumlow looked around, jumped up, grabbed the iron grille, and yanked it down with force.

"What are you doing?"

Odin shouted with a terrified expression, though he found it quite amusing inside. Someone was actually trying to rob him?

Valkyrie shot Odin a contemptuous glance. What the hell are you pretending for? One sneeze from you could wipe out this whole group.

An Inhuman holding a pistol shouted, "Raise your hands, or don’t blame us for getting rough."

"Don’t kill me! The money is in the cabinet!"

Odin immediately raised his hands and shouted. Valkyrie ignored them, picking up a bottle and pouring liquor into her mouth. The Inhuman became furious and shouted, "I told you to raise your hands! Didn’t you hear me?"

Valkyrie glared at him unhappily and raised her hand. The bottle in her hand fell into the oil pan. Then the oil pan burst into flames with a whoosh, and a large amount of hot oil splattered in every direction.

Rumlow and the others cried out as hot oil splashed onto them, leaving them in a miserable state. At that moment, a female Inhuman raised her hand, and all the flames flew into her palm and vanished.

Immediately afterward, Rumlow stepped forward, turned off the heat beneath the oil pan, and covered it.

"Are you trying to die?"

The male Inhuman flew into a rage and was about to shoot the drunken Valkyrie. Quicksilver hurriedly stopped him and shouted, "You promised me you wouldn’t kill anyone."

The male Inhuman looked at Rumlow. Rumlow hesitated before saying, "Lock them up first. The smell of blood might arouse suspicion."

The male Inhuman understood. If they were not killed now, they could be killed afterward. He snorted and took out ropes to tie up Odin and Valkyrie.

Looking at the mess around them, Quicksilver asked Odin in confusion, "Why did you hire a drunk as an employee?"

"Her wages are low, and hiring a person of color gives me tax breaks."

Odin replied. Valkyrie was speechless. You’re Odin, yet you still want to take advantage of something this small?

Odin gave her a look that said, Even a landlord has no surplus grain. That "Super Heroes" game was an outrageous money sink. How else was he supposed to make more money? Besides, Frigga’s flower shop had been operating at a loss the whole time. That woman had no talent for business at all.

"Enough nonsense. Take them to the backyard. Hurry up and clean this place. They’ll be here soon."

Quicksilver did not waste any more time. Moving like lightning, he transferred the two to the backyard. Then everyone quickly cleaned up and restored everything to normal.

Once the preparations were complete, Rumlow and several Inhumans hid in the back. Next, the male Inhuman from before used his ability to transform himself and Quicksilver into Valkyrie and Odin.

It was only an illusion, not a true transformation.

After doing all that, Quicksilver pulled up the iron grille and took huge breaths of fresh air outside. The stench inside had nearly suffocated him.

In the backyard, Valkyrie asked Odin quietly, "They’re obviously planning to harm Little Hela. Aren’t you going to do anything?"

"To Little Hela, this is just entertainment."

Odin smiled. "Someone actually dared kidnap Blood God’s disciple. They really don’t know whether they’re alive or dead."

Valkyrie snorted and could not be bothered to say more. She had little fondness for either Blood God or Little Hela. If Odin had not promised to resurrect the other Valkyries, she would never have stayed here to work.

About ten minutes later, Mindy, the much more grown-up Lina, and Little Hela approached from the distance. Little Hela said happily, "Yesterday, I came up with another way for Odin to die. Let’s go discuss it with Grandpa and see if we can trigger that death scene. Master said that if we gather one hundred and eight death scenes, we’ll unlock a special storyline and get a unique item, Gungnir."

"Just how much resentment do you have toward Odin? You’ve actually designed dozens of ways for him to die?"

Mindy complained. At that moment, Lina sniffed and said, "Today’s stinky tofu smells a little strange."

Mindy did not understand. "What’s strange about it? It still smells as bad as always."

"I can’t explain it, but I can guarantee that today’s stinky tofu definitely won’t taste as good as yesterday’s."

Lina said. Mindy was speechless. Was this a foodie’s sixth sense? "It’s probably because that Valkyrie got drunk again."

Little Hela shook her head. She did not like Valkyrie much, because the woman always glared at her drunkenly, looking both afraid of and hateful toward her.

"I’ve always suspected that Valkyrie is Grandpa’s illegitimate daughter. Otherwise, why is Grandpa so tolerant of her? Who exactly is the boss here?"

Mindy complained. Soon, the three arrived at the Stinky Tofu Shop. They looked inside, then all stopped in their tracks, Lina included.