In a coffee shop on the street corner, a strange figure dressed in a black hoodie, wearing a hood, and donning a pair of leather gloves in the height of summer was intently reading the newspaper.
Ultron was trying to understand this universe through the news.
After a while, Ultron gained a general understanding. In simple terms, a company named Extremis Biotech Co., Ltd. had emerged, claiming they had created a drug that could make humans strong, intelligent, and beautiful.
Of course, by hacking into the archives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultron learned that this drug was called the Extremis Virus, and someone had already tried to introduce it into the Los Angeles water supply with the goal of controlling the public. That someone was Tony Stark.
However, as was their usual approach, the FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. might not have solved the case, but they made great efforts in suppressing the news and concealing the truth from the public.
The mutations that occurred in Los Angeles at night and the so-called Desolate app were explained away as promotional stunts by social media influencers. They merely underwent physical training and cosmetic surgery, spreading rumors about the virus for vanity and attention, and all the supposed poisoning news was fake.
Regardless of the situation, they always found a seemingly reasonable excuse to cover it up, which was also a skill traditionally media had mastered. However, the problem arose when one day these influencers accused of fabricating stories collectively stepped forward to say they were actually part of an advertisement campaign.
Then Extremis Biotech Co., Ltd. entered the public's view. They claimed they indeed had such a drug, but it was not a virus, at most a facial adjustment drug, a new development in cosmetic technology, similar to photo rejuvenation treatments, except that it came in the form of a drug.
The influencers boldly shared their photos before and after cosmetic surgery, which couldn't quite be called subtle adjustments. To be honest, it was a drastic transformation.
They openly admitted they were indeed promoting before, but since they had been paid, they needed to promote as much as possible. They said they were willing to release their unattractive past photos simply out of professionalism, and it also conveniently promoted their personal brands.
This indeed attracted a lot of attention because almost all traditional media kept emphasizing that these people had undergone cosmetic surgery and that their sudden increase in strength and beauty was due to surgery, not a virus.
Now that the influencers were indeed saying they had become beautiful through cosmetic surgery, most people would be curious about where they had it done.
Moreover, many fans of these influencers speculated based on timelines that the recovery period after their procedures was frighteningly short. Some who looked unattractive one day became handsome and beautiful the next. When had cosmetic surgery advanced to this extent?
Then the influencers took advantage of this momentum to promote a brand-new minor adjustment technology. They claimed the Desolate Potion worked similarly to skin whitening injections and Botox, essentially using chemical means to adjust facial fat and muscles to achieve an aesthetic more in line with popular beauty standards.
The advantage of this injection was that it didn't need to be distributed multiple times; one shot was enough to adjust the state of all facial muscles and fat, make aging skin firmer, and give the skin a softer and more radiant appearance. It could be considered the magnum opus of all injections available.
However, some who claimed to provide genuine reviews also emphasized that, like all injections, this one required an absorption period. Once the drug was fully absorbed, the effects would diminish, necessitating another injection. They also shared photos of themselves transitioning from their peak back to their weaker state.
Browsing through the comments section of these popular influencers, one could find that most people didn't care about the absorption issue. Frankly, those interested in such topics were mostly those who considered or had already undergone cosmetic surgery.
Essentially, anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the cosmetic surgery community knew there was no permanent solution in this world. No procedure, no matter how expensive or advanced, could yield everlasting results without regular maintenance and repeated procedures to maintain peak conditions. Hence, this group readily accepted the temporary nature of the injections.
People who considered such cosmetic procedures usually had some financial backing. Rather than being concerned about how long the injections would last or how much they cost, they cared more about the results.
Certainly, the effects of the Desolate Potion needed no further discussion; it did not make everyone look like the same internet celebrity face but instead transformed individuals based on their unique muscular and skeletal structures into a version of themselves that was tens of times more beautiful.
Many were skeptical, but as more and more influencers appeared on camera claiming to have benefited from the new technology, the Desolate Potion's hype started sweeping over the internet.
It was also through hacking into law enforcement computer systems that Ultron learned the authorities inside knew the so-called Desolate Potion was actually the Extremis Virus. But what could they do, tell people it was actually a virus and that the cosmetic surgery story was just a cover-up they concocted to hide the poisoning incident?
Please, all the charges related to poisoning suspicions against Stark were dropped, and the trial results were there for all to see. Stark had gone missing and had not yet been prosecuted, but how could they possibly retract their statements now?
The FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. had worked hard to persuade the prosecutors to drop these charges and incurred significant losses to solidify the narrative of non-poisoning. Words had already been spoken; how could they be taken back?
Another round of hype soon swept up, with some internet celebrities claiming that the potion could give one a strong physique, an extremely intelligent mind, and greatly enhance all aspects of one's physical attributes.
Then quickly a group of people came forward claiming that was an exaggeration, merely a marketing ploy orchestrated by Extremis Company. A bunch of people began hammering another bunch, followed by yet another group hammering those doing the hammering, as all sorts of dark histories and fake news flew around.
Eventually, Extremis Company finally stepped forward to debunk the rumors, stating that while our potion does have cosmetic effects, the purported heart and lung function enhancements and IQ improvements were completely unfounded and urged customers not to harbor unrealistic expectations.
Moreover, they sued several bloggers who had made exaggerated claims and alleged that these individuals were mouthpieces bought by certain traditional medical beauty industries to smear the Desolate Potion.
To prove they weren't spreading misinformation, these bloggers called for professional testing agencies to conduct tests. Digging Gold Company also expressed willingness to cooperate. Thus, the test results became a focus of attention in the news, with major media outlets vying to report on them.
In the end, the test results relieved most people; the Desolate Potion indeed only had cosmetic effects. Although it performed remarkably in plastic surgery, there were no exaggerated effects—improving physical attributes and boosting intelligence turned out to be mere rumors.
Human psychology is strange; although they always thirst for unearned gains, desiring strong muscles without exercise and retaining lots of knowledge without studying, if such a potion were to suddenly fall from the sky, their reaction would definitely be one of suspicion.
But if the effects of such a potion weren't so overstated, or only performed well in one aspect, people's trust in this potion would significantly rise, and if there were some minor flaws, it would be even easier to gain public trust.
Following several rounds of hype, the Desolate Potion was almost cemented as a new achievement in plastic surgery, a product of technological advancement, even starting a trend that if you consider this thing unsafe, you're being anti-science and anti-intellectual.
In fact, even before the hype, the Desolate Potion's sales were already pleasing, with countless internet celebrity bloggers willing to purchase it for reviews. After so many rounds of negotiation, even those who hadn't bought it had heard of it, naturally leading to a bustling array of buyers.
Excellent, Ultron now understood what that so-called issue of someone taking Shiller's plan without paying was all about. It was no different from the Eternal Life Factor project, which nearly screamed to have Shiller's name written across the project proposal's cover.
However, he did need to find a way to cause some trouble for that Stark, Ultron thought, and the moment this idea entered his mind, he felt he must have been infected by Shiller.
But there was evidence to support this; the last time he pretended to be Infinite Ultron to ensure his safety, he left a backup of his consciousness in Shiller's High Tower. All of his backups were capable of transferring data among themselves; he had reason to suspect his thought processes had been infected by a virus named Greed.
But no matter how you looked at it, taking someone's project and profiting enormously without paying a fair commission was excessive, Ultron thought. He had to teach that Stark a lesson.
After some consideration, Ultron thought of a way to unravel the scheme.
First, he still made use of his superior hacking skills, or rather, reverted to the nature of his electronic life; he accessed the law enforcement network directly through thought to find a highly classified document.
This document was indeed a record of the destruction of an Extremis Virus sample that they had found while searching Stark's West Coast industrial park after Stark's arrest.
Ultron didn't need to think to know that the sample certainly hadn't been destroyed but had been hidden somewhere. Unable to find any traces in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's systems, Ultron knew that the ultimate classified information was likely stored offline in a secure computer.
Such secure computers are typically located in covert bases, guarded by dedicated personnel, and always offline to prevent hacking.
This method might stop hackers, but it couldn't stop Ultron. He soon began to trace any possible leads in the widespread network and eventually found a military underwater base on the edge of New Jersey State.
The process of the real-world infiltration went smoothly. After all, Ultron wasn't a human hacker, he was a robot equipped with an optical camouflage system. Coupled with control over satellite surveillance, knocking out a guard from behind was a breeze.
Inside the base, Ultron successfully found the original samples of the Extremis Virus—the initial version that could not only change a person's appearance but also make them stronger and more intelligent.
As expected, the military had created many replicas and were already using this virus to mass-produce enhanced human soldiers.
Ultron cleared out all the original Extremis Virus and a huge number of replicas, then dumped all of them into the chemical vats of the current Desolate Potion production factory.