Chapter 298 The Maximoff Brothers and Sisters
"Another nightmare?" Pietro stopped smiling when he saw her expression.
"That's not true; I just feel that all this isn't real." Wanda took a sip of her coffee.
"So it's just your imagination. I heard that Harry Osborn is coming to Sokovia. Do you want to go and see him?"
Pietro's thoughts were straightforward and unconventional. Since Wanda said it was fine, he wouldn't overthink it. Besides, Wanda's situation didn't seem too troublesome—just a bit confused.
Wanda stood up from her chair, cup in hand, and walked toward the door.
"It's probably better not to get involved; you know we—"
But before she could finish her sentence, she froze.
"Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff—are you two talking about me?"
Harry Osborn stood at the door!
Snapped.
Wanda was stunned; her hand loosened, and the cup fell. Fortunately, Pietro was quick enough to catch it.
"Not bad skills, Ms. Maximoff. You seem a little too surprised. Relax; I'm not here to lay off employees."
Harry shrugged and sat on the sofa in the office.
"Please sit down; I have something to discuss that will take some of your time."
The Maximoff siblings exchanged glances and sat down opposite Harry, suspiciously.
"I hope you don't mind. I'm her brother. I've been the head of this family since our parents died, so—"
Hearing Pietro's words, Wanda looked at him with a "Are you serious?" expression.
To be honest, Pietro often seemed more like the younger brother.
"Of course—it's nothing to be ashamed of." Harry said dismissively. Both siblings had talents that were very useful; there was no need to leave one of them out.
As he spoke, Harry tossed a holographic projection device onto the table. The image displayed a synthetic human diligently debugging a production line.
"This is a synthetic human—I think you both know what this is."
They nodded, but they didn't understand what this had to do with them.
Wanda was a psychology expert, and Pietro worked in management, but neither had much contact with synthetic beings.
"Three days ago, an advanced virus of unknown origin attacked Detroit. Judging by the current situation, the attacker may have had some negative effects on the synthetic humans.
After that, we recalled them all for abnormality diagnosis, but during the diagnosis process, some unexplained large-scale anomalies occurred among the synthetic humans. I want to know the cause."
After hearing the whole story, the Maximoff siblings were even more confused: What did this have to do with them?
Synths were produced by Stark Industries. As far as they knew, although the Osborn Group had a synth department, its business was small and shrouded in mystery.
It had nothing to do with them at all.
Harry continued, "It stands to reason that these synthetic humans have the same emotional functions as humans and can be regarded as intelligent beings, so this large-scale anomaly… should be called mass hysteria—I don't need to explain what that means, do I?"
Wanda nodded, roughly understanding Harry's implication: these synthetics might be suffering from mental illness.
But she still didn't understand: What did this have to do with her?
There may not be many psychiatry experts on Earth, but among the few experts, more than 90% were either indirectly or directly employed by the Osborn Group.
Was there really a need to go to Sokovia to find her?
"...Mr. Osborn, my sister has never been exposed to synthetics. Maybe this job isn't suitable for her?" Pietro bluntly posed his question.
"No—although we can consider synthetic humans to have emotional functions similar to humans, they are not human after all, and their birth process is completely different from other creatures in nature. Human experts might make misjudgments, which could lead to more serious consequences. So I need someone who is truly qualified."
"Then it's even more unclear—" Pietro looked at his sister, whose face mirrored his doubts. "My sister only rescued some Sokovian orphans, although she did a good job... but she has never encountered synthetic humans. How can she be good at this?"
Harry smiled and called up hidden files on the two siblings.
"You are Hydra—and you joined voluntarily, not under duress."
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on the siblings' faces shifted dramatically, and the atmosphere became tense.
Through psychic energy, Harry noticed a strange red energy escaping from Wanda's body, and Pietro was also radiating a faint silver light.
The International Court of Justice's verdict against them stated, "The two were coerced, had not committed any evil deeds, and were innocent." They had always believed their luck had spared them from having their abnormal records discovered.
However, Harry's words clearly indicated: I have always known your details; I just pretended not to know.
This was intriguing.
The two siblings tightened their defenses simultaneously—if things went awry, they would escape immediately. They would do anything to protect each other, even if it meant kidnapping Harry Osborn.
"What do you want to do?" Pietro asked coldly—he didn't expect Wanda's random thoughts to become a reality. All of this was probably just a dream.
"I told you; let's talk about work. You two don't think you can attack me in the Osborn Group?" Harry spread his hands.
It was true that their abilities were innate, but they needed the Mind Stone to "strengthen" or "activate" them to reach their full potential.
They weren't strong now.
"So, should you be kinder to your boss?"
Wanda thought for a moment. If Harry did anything to them… they really wouldn't be able to escape.
"Sorry." Wanda reached out and held her brother back. "We are the ones who are overly excited; please continue."
However, the energy within her showed no intention of retreating—interestingly, neither did Pietro's.
"Then I'll continue." Harry continued, "You awakened your unusual talents when you were very young. You became quite strange, didn't you?"
One was odd, and the other was fast—an accurate description of the siblings.
It sounded a little strange, but Wanda nodded.
"You have the ability to invade human minds. This time, I need your ability to help me find out what these synthetics are thinking."
"Like you said, I'm odd, but that doesn't mean I can definitely... invade the consciousness of those electronic beings," Wanda replied.
"How will you know if you don't try? If it doesn't work, forget it; I'll think of other ways. Of course, this isn't a transaction or anything like that; it's just a simple work conversation. I see great potential in you, but if you don't want to do it, just forget it."
Despite his words, Harry was certain Wanda was qualified for the job—especially after using the Mind Scepter to awaken her potential.
As for whether they would agree... now was the time to test "fatalism." Though they didn't know it yet, they would likely agree when faced with the chance to awaken their abilities again.
Wanda studied her boss, searching for even a hint of malice, but found none.
It seemed that the other person was genuinely just there for a work conversation.
"...I have a few questions. Why didn't we go to jail? Why did you hide our information from the international court? Why did you find us now?"
Harry thought for a moment and replied:
"The first question: Why should I let two young people who lost their parents, were tricked into Hydra, and had never had contact with the outside world since they were 11 years old, go to jail?
The second question: You are superpowered individuals. I was a H.A.M.M.E.R. consultant at the time and had the authority to decide how to handle the situation.
The third question: This can be seen as a supplement to the second question. I hoped you would live in a normal society for a period before reaching out to you. In fact, I did the same.
Do you have any other questions?"
After hearing Harry's response, Wanda opened her mouth to say something else—perhaps to make some sharp remarks—but she was surprised to find that there seemed to be nothing wrong with what her boss had said.
In fact, this was what she thought was the best approach: after all, their minds back then were indeed not mature...
"So, what do you say?" Harry crossed his legs and leaned back on the sofa.
Under Harry's gaze, Wanda finally nodded.
---
Chapter 299: Ancient One's Hesitation
"So, you asked them to leave after all—unsurprising, but they are two talented individuals," Zemo sighed on the screen.
"They have been employees of the Osborn Group for a long time. I don't think I need to remind you of that."
"Yes, yes, I should be considered an Osborn employee too, right?"
"You? The Osborn Group cannot tolerate a 'big politician' like you."
Zemo smiled, not taking these words seriously.
It is true that the Osborn Group cannot tolerate politicians, but politicians are all around the Osborn Group. For instance, if Harry made a big announcement that he was coming to Sokovia, Zemo would have to work hard to prepare the dinner.
As for why Zemo hosted Harry on behalf of the official party, it was because he is now Prime Minister.
Sokovia was originally a monarchy, and the actual controller was Baron Strucker. The monarch was just a puppet, an agent of Hydra's will. After destroying Hydra, Zemo immediately captured the then monarch of Sokovia and was "proven" to be a leader who endured humiliation, had vision, and ability.
As for this unlucky monarch, it can be said that he was at fault or he was coerced; but it is obviously unrealistic to say that he was right. If the owner lets the dog bite someone, is the dog right? There is a slight difference between a dog and a knife, not to mention this is a human being.
So Zemo deposed the monarch at the time, supported his youngest son, who was less than 5 years old, as the monarch, turned the autocratic monarchy into a constitutional monarchy with the support of the remaining nobles and the people, and became the first prime minister.
Sokovia is now the world's genetics mecca. Under Zemo's auspices, people are slowly accepting universal medical transformation, just as Harry originally envisioned. Sokovia's ability to complete stable reforms, prosper, and win a place in the world is inseparable from the support of the Osborn Group.
"In short, things are going well. The newborns have basically been improved. The next generation of Sokovia should be supermen for all."
To be honest, Harry actually no longer cared much about the Olympus Project that he and Tony had set up together. The Olympus Project was ostensibly to help the development of Earth, but in fact, it also created the behemoth of the Osborn Group—or in other words, the Osborn Group was ahead of the curve and had already completed its evolution.
To completely realize the comprehensive improvement of Earth's level as envisaged by the Olympus Project, it will not happen overnight. This is not just a technical issue; Earth's problems are very complex. But this is my promise, after all. Moreover, Earth has a special status. It is the "center of the Marvel universe plot" in the true sense. All this still has its meaning.
After briefly talking to Zemo about Sokovia's problems, Harry cut off the communication. The two siblings still needed to go back to prepare, and he had to wait a while.
In the empty office, Harry suddenly said, "How is it? Mr. Master, did you see anything?"
The Ancient One walked out of the air, his expression a little solemn. "It's magic, and the girl doesn't even need to use a spell—this power gives me a really bad feeling and I need to take a moment to make sure."
It seems that the Ancient One is not sure what this thing is—this is normal, after all, Wanda has not fully awakened her ability, and the characteristics are not obvious. Moreover, chaos magic is not a common phenomenon. The Ancient One could sense that something was wrong, which was already very powerful.
"You want to take advantage of her power—it's best not to do that," the Ancient One said.
"It's not that I'm taking advantage of her—that's her thing, Master, can't you see? She enjoys doing this work. Furthermore, if it weren't for me, Hydra might have used her for something, and she needed guidance, just like what she did to those left-behind children."
Harry turned on the screen, and in the image, Wanda was saying goodbye to the children in the orphanage. What happened to Wanda is something that all children in war zones may experience. Helping these children who have experienced similar experiences will help heal their psychological trauma.
"This kind of power is very dangerous," the Ancient One said unflinchingly.
"Then we should understand it better. Blindfolding does not mean that the problem disappears. You know, people once thought that atomic energy would destroy human civilization, but in fact, it did change their lives."
Harry spread his hands: contrary to imagination, the world has entered a period of prosperity. Technology is a double-edged sword, but when it comes to things that already exist, you should not hide your ears and tell yourself that there is no danger if you don't do research. This is like not getting sick without a physical examination.
"...This is magic, and it is completely different from those 'science and technology'."
"But I think you won't let me..." Harry drew a circle on his neck with his fingers, "...get rid of Ms. Maximoff, and her brother."
No matter how much the Ancient One felt it was inappropriate, it was impossible to really kill the two siblings. However, if sealing or other methods were used, she advocated it.
Seeing what the Ancient One wanted to say, Harry continued to release some information: "Poor Maximoff siblings—when they were 10 years old, Sokovia was attacked by an air raid, and a bomb destroyed their neighbor's house. Another one got stuck in the ruins. They could only hide under the sofa motionless, looking at the flashing red bomb and praying that it wouldn't explode.
You see, this world is already harsh enough to them, and now we have to control them because of...their peculiarities? Whether something is inhumane or not is not their choice."
"...This is for the safety of more people."
Harry raised his eyebrows. The Ancient One started to make excuses. If she was determined to use some method against Wanda, she would not say this. The comic version of the Ancient One was an ambitious young man who wanted to use magic to build a utopia when he was young and even fought crime. It seems that the two still have something in common.
"Then you should listen to me even more—the Osborn Group exists in society and is an important part of the social economy. The United Nations has also chosen me as the supreme commander of the UNSC and H.A.M.M.E.R. to deal with abnormal events and defense against extraterrestrial threats. This means that more people choose me, and I am doing my job. I make the decision and bear the responsibility.
Besides, didn't I find you? I always respect expert opinions."
But in terms of work direction, leaders always have to make their own decisions.
The Ancient One looked at Harry silently, and after a moment, she said, "I don't think this makes sense, but I agree to observe it for a while—I will let you know after I confirm this energy."
After saying that, she planned to leave and opened a portal in the air. Seeing this, Harry added, "By the way, Master, we have cooperated so many times. Are you interested in giving me some more...pointers? I have already finished reading the last Introduction to Runes."
As he spoke, Harry carved a rune on the wooden table. The rune shimmered, indicating that it was filled with magic. Runes can theoretically be carved on the surface of any object, but it is impossible for mortals without magic power to make runes manifest their power on mortal objects. However, Harry discovered that his psychic powers could also activate these words.
The Ancient One glanced at the table, seemed stunned for a moment, then turned and left.
"Let me confirm the magic on that girl before we talk about this."
Harry shrugged nonchalantly and reached for the teacup on the table.
*Snapped.*
There was a soft sound, the handle was picked up, but the teacup was not lifted—the teacup cracked.
Harry shook his head helplessly. A defective product from the Osborn Group? This can happen to him.
The ability to control probability is truly amazing.
----------------
Chapter 300: Psychological Treatment
"Harry Osborn's private jet is so cool! What is this?"
On the plane, Pietro was exploring like he owned the place, now leaning over Harry's manufacturing area.
"The Maker, it can create almost anything. Sometimes, I design stuff with it."
"Anything? Even a nuclear bomb?"
"Yes."
The atmosphere became tense. Pietro had only meant to joke with Harry but hadn't expected that this thing could actually make a nuclear bomb!
Harry just smiled nonchalantly. "Just kidding, this thing can even make a gravity bomb like the one that sank Tokyo last time. Nuclear bombs are nothing."
"This is for Harry Osborn's personal use, not for sale." With that, Harry walked to the Maker and started operating it.
In the Maker, a pool of strange liquid rose up and then settled. In just a moment, a pair of blue wristbands and a pendant appeared on the platform.
The brother and sister were stunned; it looked like magic!
"Here, a gift for you both. Give it a try."
The boss had spoken, so the two of them naturally had no reason to refuse.
Pietro put on the wristband. It felt like it was completely attached to his skin, almost invisible. There was also a gleaming blue button on the wristband.
The pendant was given to Wanda and looked much more retro. In the center of the pendant was a rune of unknown meaning.
Curiosity got the best of Pietro, and he pressed the button - a layer of blue material spread along his arm, forming an extremely fitting protective layer that looked like a second skin.
Wanda's pendant transformed into a dark red leather jacket, with adjustable length.
"How did you do this?" They both looked at their new clothes with disbelief.
"Nanotechnology. This material is sweat-absorbent, breathable, bulletproof, cut-resistant... you can test it yourself."
"That's so cool..."
"Yeah, now you won't stink all the time," Wanda teased.
Pietro shook his head in embarrassment. This problem wasn't entirely his fault! His metabolism was several times that of a normal person. His respiratory system, bones, tendons, and other structures were different from those of normal humans. To say he was an alien in human form wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration.
These characteristics can be collectively referred to as "speed physiology."
This suit was completely tailor-made by Harry, but until he knew more about his abilities, the nanobots still used solar energy.
After all, he didn't need any fancy laser cannons; solar energy was sufficient.
The pendant on Wanda's body was charged with magic. The runes had the effect of soothing emotions, theoretically improving sleep quality.
These novelty gadgets helped bring them closer together.
"Sir, just now, Jarvis reported that another synthetic human is missing."
Oycle's voice broke the atmosphere.
"Well... looks like we need to speed up."
...
"Another 10 synths are missing this time - they disappeared in just the blink of an eye. To be honest, it's a bit unbelievable."
These synthetics almost disappeared under Jarvis's eyes, making him doubt his abilities.
"We should install tracking devices on them," Tony suggested, touching his chin. "Seems you made a mistake."
"You've recognized the citizenship rights of synthetics, and now you talk about tracking them? Classic Tony Stark," Pietro said sarcastically.
Although they had largely put aside their hatred, seeing Tony Stark in person still reminded them of what happened that night. The bomb with "Stark Industries" engraved on it.
These words caused a slight change in Tony's demeanor. "Is this the expert you invited? Doesn't seem very friendly."
From the moment the two experts entered the room, their eyes were extremely unfriendly, which made Tony very uncomfortable.
Seeing this, Harry said, "Leave this matter to me. You and your Avengers friends can track down Ultron first. Wanda, you go in first."
Hearing Harry's words, the Maximoff siblings withdrew their gaze and didn't say a word to Tony.
"They're from Sokovia," Harry told Tony.
"Is that the 'Miracle City' that achieved top welfare in Europe within a few years?" Tony still didn't understand. "So?"
"Sixteen years ago, the then President of the United States bombed Sokovia. It was a Stark Industries bomb, but luckily it was a dud, so they only lost their parents, not each other."
The few words rang out like thunder, and Tony stood there blankly, not knowing what to think.
"Okay, let's get to work. Ultron being out for another day only makes things worse."
Harry patted Tony on the shoulder and walked into the laboratory.
In the laboratory, a synthetic man was sitting, motionless and looking quite calm, like a robot.
Strangely enough, the synths produced by Tony always gave Harry a very mechanical feeling...
You must know that most of the synthetics in the Osborn Group are not so... rigid.
"...So you gave this robot citizenship? Crazy Americans," Pietro complained.
"I think so too. I can read human thoughts to a certain extent, but I am not a computer expert," Wanda added.
Harry wanted to say something, but given the situation, nothing he could say would be convincing.
Even if he said that the synthetics within the Osborn Group spent most of their time painting, arranging, and studying music, and one was even studying how to create life, they wouldn't believe it.
Because the synthetic man sitting here now could not be seen as an intellectual AI, something that could be called "life."
"...Let's try it first."
Now that the boss had spoken, Wanda walked into the observation room accompanied by Pietro and sat in front of the synthetic man.
Although she felt this might be in vain, Wanda professionally changed into more comfortable-looking casual clothes instead of the dark red leather jacket she usually wore.
"Hello, I'm your psychiatrist Wanda. Chloe, how have you been lately?"
This synthetic human appeared to be a good-looking blonde woman.
"It has been working continuously for 214 days before participating in the collective diagnosis. The operating efficiency of the machine is normal, with an average efficiency of 97.8% and a load rate of 110%. Everything is normal, ma'am."
The large series of numbers made Wanda feel at a loss. How could a normal person talk like this?
But on the other hand, the words coming out of the other person's mouth were obviously mechanical, but she truly felt a sense of fear...
She could read the "robot's" mind.
Pietro was about to say something but was stopped by Wanda's gesture.
Since the other party genuinely had the emotion of fear, it meant that Harry Osborn was right, and synthetic humans were indeed not robots.
Then proceed as normal.
"Then let's talk about work."
------
Chapter 301: Synthetic People Can't Dream
After working continuously for 214 days, the operating efficiency of the machine was normal, with an average efficiency of 97.8% and a load rate of 110%.
From these strange numbers, Wanda could only understand what 214 consecutive days of work meant, but she could not grasp the rest.
Just before the synthesizer spoke, she activated her ability—strangely, using her powers felt smoother than before this time.
The surrounding environment transformed into a factory, and Chloe's workspace was one of the production lines. She was responsible for overseeing a total of 30 production lines, each with complex automation programs that needed to be debugged and monitored.
Thanks to her unique neural processing structure, it was easy for her to debug the production lines and control the programs. However, various issues would always arise with the hardware during the production process.
Her actual job was to spend 20 hours a day monitoring the factory's yield rate. If any defective products were found, she would trace the source and improve the production line process to achieve 100% quality products as much as possible.
However, the 30 production lines could produce hundreds of thousands of products of all types each day. This enormous workload was an incredibly heavy burden for a synthesizer. Apart from this work, her processor had no time to consider anything else.
This work might not be difficult for them; they only needed to repeat the traceability optimization process repeatedly, but it was still arduous.
Initially, Chloe found the work tasks to be new and exciting. The process of enhancing the production line and increasing efficiency sparked an emotion called "sense of accomplishment" within her semi-bioelectronic brain.
But soon, the situation changed. The procedures became increasingly mechanized, with fewer areas for improvement. Yet, she still needed to search through the production processes of almost all products to identify potential flaws.
As one could imagine, this was a job with no end in sight, and flaws would always exist in everything.
But that was her job, so much so that she was designed for it; her underlying code specialized in it, and she was born to do it—
This notion was ingrained in her matrix, and it was all she knew.
After 20 hours of work, it was time for another 4 hours of sleep. In the sleep cabin, synthetic humans with varying appearances but nearly identical movements silently walked into their respective sleep cabins in turn, even though the cabin passage was only large enough for one person. Thanks to the scheduling of operations research algorithms, they would never experience "traffic jams."
Next came a "routine inspection" to ensure the synthetic humans were functioning normally before entering their rest period.
In a flash, she found herself back on the production line.
There wasn't even time to dream.
.....
Outside the window, the light of the Mind Scepter shone brightly, and Harry also witnessed this vision.
Seeing this scene, Harry referred to it as an expert observation—not to mention that synthetic humans couldn't endure it; even leeks would struggle to thrive under such strong light for 20 hours!
"...Jarvis, have you adjusted the underlying code of the synth?"
"Yes, after learning from the operational experience of the last 'Model Controlled Life' company, Mr. Stark and I adjusted the synthetic human matrix based on the social labor gap and the production and operating costs of synthetic humans. Each type of synthetic human has undergone rigorous testing, control, and design.
In theory, this approach can best balance costs and output, achieving the highest benefits while ensuring synthetic humans do not exhibit abnormal behavior."
In other words, Tony and Jarvis produced a batch of synthetic humans capable of working stably for 20 hours without any unnecessary behavior, yet possessing enough awareness to improve their work performance—under these conditions, they were indeed less prone to abnormalities.
Well... if model-controlled life is "synthetic human slavery," then you guys... should be considered a step forward.
After all, you do not buy or sell synthetics, and you are maximizing benefits—unlike the previous batch of synthetics, who actually resisted and impacted production.
"Ahem, I think I understand." Harry controlled the power of the Mind Scepter, injecting some energy into Pietro and Wanda in the observation room before putting the weapon away.
The vision continued, and during the long hours of work, an inexplicable emotion suddenly surged within Chloe's mind without warning.
Chloe seemed to hear someone speaking in her head: *You should be more than human! Humans are... the source of chaos...*
It was a signal akin to noise. The information was complicated, its content difficult to identify, but it resonated with her consciousness.
Then, emotions like "sadness" and "grief" emerged in Chloe's mind, and she yearned to understand why.
Suddenly, she found herself back in the synth factory.
Here, over 10,000 identical synthetic humans stood in the very place where they were born, designed, and produced.
As she observed her compatriots, whose behavior patterns mirrored her own, another emotion called "fear" began to grow:
*If we are all the same, what does "me" mean?*
"Ha—"
Emotions surged into Wanda's mind like a tidal wave, jolting her awake. In front of her, Chloe was repeating a single phrase:
"Everything is normal; Chloe can continue to perform the task; everything is normal; Chloe can continue to perform the task..."
"Hey, Chloe—" Wanda bore through her headache and took Chloe's hand.
Compared to humans, these hands were slightly colder and harder.
Cold, yet not strong—this was Wanda's impression.
"An abnormality in your physical signs has been detected. There is no medical module in the database. Sorry, I can't identify your symptoms. I apologize." Chloe lowered her head.
"It's okay, I'm fine. I'm just... tired, like you."
"Tired? Will I be tired? The body..."
"Yeah, you're tired. You need a break—like going to the Detroit River Trail, taking a walk with your friends or something."
"I have never been to the Detroit River, and I have no friends." Chloe raised her head, looking at Wanda. "Are we friends? Can I leave the workplace?"
Wanda felt a mix of emotions, slightly ridiculous, yet she could somewhat understand Chloe's thoughts.
The more she pondered it, the more sadness she felt: the place they believed they couldn't leave was precisely where their problems stemmed from.
Wanda held Chloe's hand, gazed into her eyes, and said solemnly:
"Of course, we are friends—and of course you can leave the workplace; you should go out and take a look."
As she spoke, a red magic flickered through Chloe's mind—Wanda calmed her fear, which was the final step in the treatment.
Outside the window, Jarvis seemed to encounter something he couldn't comprehend.
"If that's the case, I might have to adjust the code..."
Harry hurriedly intervened: "No, stop it. I will make this clear to Tony. You two are truly business geniuses. I underestimated you."
Snapped.
Wanda opened the door, leaning against it as she addressed Harry:
"Hey boss, I think I know why."
Harry nodded in approval: "Well done, but the work has just begun. There are still 15 synthetics waiting for your treatment."
"What?"
Wanda was stunned—15? How amusing!
Though she did not reject this job, what did 15 even mean?
Each individual treatment would take half an hour, amounting to 7.5 hours, or 3125 days. Just sitting there talking, it would take eight and a half years to complete!
"Don't worry; it's not a one-by-one treatment—it's group therapy. You just need to use your magic to help them relieve their symptoms."
Now that the root problem was identified, the solution was straightforward.
Let's take a long break, but it's probably not safe to let them go just like that. Wanda needs to use the same method to smooth out their conscious deviations.
Then they can adjust themselves.
At that moment, Chloe also stepped out of the laboratory. The synthetic being recovered quickly—at least on the surface.
But if she truly wanted to become human, she needed to know what she wanted to do.
"I want to help, too—and besides, I know where a few of the abducted synths went.
But before that, I want to submit my resignation from Stark Industries."
Beside her, even though Jarvis was hidden in the wires, Harry could envision his frown.
This business genius probably still didn't understand why.
---
Chapter 302: S.W.O.R.D.?
"So we're wandering around here like headless chickens?"
Hawkeye Barton was piloting the plane in the sky, searching for any possible traces, but found nothing.
"I mean, since he is an AI, does that mean he must be on the Internet? Can't we follow the Internet to find him?" Captain America asked.
"Interesting idea, but Ultron doesn't have access to the Internet—he can't do whatever he wants online without A and J.A.R.V.I.S. monitoring him," Tony explained.
Now he felt a bit fortunate to have developed Super A.I. early on. A and J.A.R.V.I.S. had effectively eliminated Ultron's biggest advantage.
Five years ago, an AI of Ultron's level could do whatever it wanted on the Internet, but times have changed.
Even the lowest-level synths cannot be easily hacked by Ultron anymore. He can only control some equipment, like drones.
Therefore, Ultron should be using some unique communication model different from the Internet.
"So your technology is really useful—but who created this...Ultron? Who do you think it could be?" Hawkeye continued to ask.
"As far as I know, capable people wouldn't develop such flawed AI. There are too many incompetent individuals out there. You'll find out when you find Ultron," Tony said.
"Hey, I've locked onto an anomaly, and I think we should go take a look." Banner shouted. "The location was sent to you; we should go check it out."
After receiving the signal, Tony rushed to the indicated location.
It's just that you wouldn't know it by looking at it, but you would be shocked when you saw it: from a distance, it was obviously a small service area, with only a lonely road leading here.
But the scan results from the armor revealed that there was an extremely large factory underground, with hundreds of robots operating inside.
"Hey guys, get ready."
...
On the other side, the collective treatment of the synths also ended successfully. With the secret assistance of virtual reality technology and the Mind Stone, Wanda restored the consciousness of a large number of synths all at once.
Therefore, Ultron did not "hack" the consciousness of the synths, but through communication, the low emotional capacities of these synths were slightly improved.
This small enhancement allowed the synths to break through the "safety curve" set by J.A.R.V.I.S. for them.
According to Harry, this was not about being deceived but more akin to "awakening."
After all, Osborn Group had always encouraged the enhancement of the consciousness intensity of synthetic humans. According to Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S.'s model, maintaining their consciousness intensity unchanged was the most efficient approach.
After awakening, the synths followed the signal together, left the factory, and went to find Ultron.
So far, a total of 14 synths had disappeared. To be honest, J.A.R.V.I.S. and Tony were really geniuses. Even in this situation, there were only about a dozen synths. Except for Connor at the beginning, only 13 had chosen to leave voluntarily.
"By the way, sir, there's one detail you need to pay attention to. These synths who left voluntarily are all models produced in the first batch. Only one of them is a synthetic human produced in the second batch."
In other words, they were still far from the standard model, making them more likely to exhibit so-called "deviant behavior," or awakening.
According to Chloe, these synths had sent them such a signal before leaving, asking Chloe to join their escape. However, Chloe was a more obedient type and was not abducted.
Ultron's transmitter left a coordinate in Chloe's mind. Only when the awakening reached a certain level could these special messages be understood. It was considered a new cryptographic technology. Harry noted this encryption technology for future reference and could have Oycle study it.
Wanda comforted all the synths in virtual reality, and now they felt much calmer. At least they would not quietly run off to support Ultron in his endeavors.
That said, it remained a mystery what Ultron intended to do—to renew his body. Helen Cho was being protected by Spartans. It's not that Harry underestimated Ultron; it's just that such a broken robot really wasn't enough to fight.
To put it bluntly, Ultron's main goal was to destroy humanity, but it was impossible for him to blow up Sokovia again, right? There was no one selling vibranium outside now.
Thinking of this, Harry frowned—
While it was true that there was no one selling vibranium anymore, if they investigated in detail, they would discover that the Osborn Group had a more powerful and destructive weapon:
A gravity bomb.
When it comes to sending large rocks up to the sky and then smashing them down, gravitonium is much more effective than vibranium thrusters.
It's just that robbing the Osborn Group... is as difficult as starting a war. He would need many, many machines to pull it off.
Just then, Tony's call came in.
"Have you finished with our synths?"
"Of course! How is the situation over there?"
"We found a small factory—there were a few robots, but it was empty."
Tony said it lightly, but there was more than just "a few robots" inside.
To be precise, there were dozens of them, but the weapons weren't very advanced, and they even resorted to hand-to-hand combat.
There were synthetic human remains scattered everywhere inside the factory—upon seeing this, Harry remembered something:
Before the closure of Model Control Life, they had been outsourcing the scrapping of synthetic humans. It seemed that the company that disposed of the debris was not an "ordinary self-employed individual."
"But I think I know who we should be looking for." Tony scanned the scene of the deceased.
As he spoke, Tony sent back the clues he had discovered: there were many humans wearing work clothes without nameplates in the factory, and these people had been dead for some time.
The absence of nameplates does not mean that their identities cannot be traced. In a highly information-driven society, it is easy to ascertain the identities of these individuals, especially since they were all skilled in high-tech research.
"Tyler Hayward...the Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division. What's that name? Is he a brother of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Harry rubbed his chin: Tony's guess was correct. In a sense, this was indeed the sister agency of S.H.I.E.L.D., referred to as S.W.O.R.D.
Researching sentient A.I. was indeed within their scope of business; to be honest, they were conducting research covertly, making it difficult for people not to doubt their motives.
If something went wrong, they had to take responsibility. It just so happened that their leaders generally had a good relationship with them—if their leaders weren't involved in this matter.
"Also, we found the next coordinate here, located in Tanzania. Do you have any clues?"
Harry was taken aback when he saw this coordinate—this coordinate was only a few hundred kilometers away from the Daisy vein where he first extracted Gravitonium!
But now, there was no gravity there, and this information was also a secret within Osborn. It seemed that some individuals had deduced what might be in this vein based on Osborn's activities.
"There are some. There's a mine nearby under my name. Maybe his target is there."
"A mine? He wants to rob the mine?"
"Who knows? It's just an idea. You guys head there first, and I'll go look for this... Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division. Maybe I'll also find the President and the Secretary-General."
Tony paused on the phone and then said: "Okay, but I can't guarantee that your mine will remain unaffected."
Harry didn't care: there was no gravitonium there anyway.
---
Chapter 303: Attack
The S.W.O.R.D., formally known as the Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division, was founded at the end of the last century.
Its founder, now the director, is Maria Rambeau, who was once an Air Force teammate of Captain Marvel and had a joint experience of "fighting aliens" after they returned to Earth.
It was that experience that led to the establishment of S.W.O.R.D.
When the UNSC was established, it integrated most of the departments, but S.W.O.R.D. was not integrated due to various reasons. The H.A.M.M.E.R., UNSC, and S.W.O.R.D. were considered colleagues and were all under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Security Council.
In the office, Maria Rambeau was waiting for Harry to explain his purpose.
Harry said, "Director Rambeau, I think you should know about the intelligent machine 'Ultron' that recently launched an attack in Detroit, right?"
Maria was already over sixty and in good health, but in a few years, she would be suffering from cancer.
She nodded, but her mood had already fluctuated a bit.
"Then I'll make a long story short—the Avengers tracked all the way and found a hidden underground park in the suburbs of Michigan. There, they discovered some emblems related to your organization.
Additionally, I found that the company that used to recycle synths seemed to have a close relationship with some of your employees."
To be honest, this was just a cover-up—if S.W.O.R.D. undertook relevant work in its own name, it was actually completely reasonable and compliant.
After all, they were the "Sentient Weapons" Observation Bureau, but they wanted to carry out some covert operations. It was difficult not to make people suspect that they were doing something clandestine.
"...Yes, that factory is indeed under the jurisdiction of S.W.O.R.D. and is used to recover the remains of your company's synthetic humans. We are also victims," Maria said.
Harry just smiled at this statement.
"Director Rambeau, let me tell you straight: I suspect that your research created Ultron. In the name of H.A.M.M.E.R., I ask you to hand over the research data before the AI causes more damage."
Rambeau frowned at this request: What right do you have to investigate us?
Upon seeing this, Harry added:
"Before you refuse on the grounds that this is confidential, I want to remind you that members of the Security Council have the right to ask you to disclose information. If you do not cooperate, I can take people to investigate."
Harry discovered that these well-known United Nations organizations, whether SHIELD or S.W.O.R.D., all had a common problem: they did not take their superiors seriously.
Let's not talk about SHIELD. After all, it could be said to be an organization developed with the support of Hydra. In addition, before Norman came to power, Hydra secretly controlled half of the United States. With this, this sentiment is also normal.
But S.W.O.R.D.... its source of confidence is somewhat special: there are not only Earthlings in S.W.O.R.D.
The Osborn Group is different from them. Whether it is Norman's rise to power, the expansion of H.A.M.M.E.R., or the establishment of the UNSC, everything happened in the open, and there are no secrets that cannot be revealed.
This is the choice of the people of the world—at least in reality, it is.
Harry's resources are enough to allow him to use political means to replace S.W.O.R.D., and he also has sufficient force to implement this goal, which is unacceptable to Maria.
Maria said, "...We are researching artificial intelligence. In fact, many organizations in the world are coveting your technology, but it does not mean that we created Ultron."
"Your tone sounds a little uncertain—it seems that you are not the leader of the research?" Harry asked. "So how much do you know about this factory?"
"I said, Mr. Osborn, we just want to understand this technology, but we have not thought about copying this technology and using it in the military. This factory should be abandoned. As for the employees inside, I think they should be the ones responsible for the aftermath."
Maria sighed, "In the beginning, I wanted to deal with the aftermath of your...'synths' in the name of S.W.O.R.D. and maintain supervision."
"But then one of my directors had other ideas. He thought we should create our own sentient weapons."
Maria opened up the information to Harry: the director was Taylor Hayward, who advocated secret research on intelligent AI for "self-defense."
Maria's own attitude toward synthetic humans is only to research, not to copy this technology and weaponize it. Of course, she does not agree with this approach.
However, Hayward is also a talented person and bypassed Maria to apply for the approval of the Security Council—in other words, Hayward secretly launched this research with the consent of the Security Council.
Harry only thought it was ridiculous at first: Taylor Hayward bypassed his boss Maria, and the Security Council bypassed Norman to approve this research? And then both men were completely unaware of the matter?
"...Is this the director you are talking about?"
Harry showed Hayward's current condition: the high official was now dead, with the word "Peace" written behind him.
"He died in this factory—this is not an abandoned factory, but a factory with complete facilities, advanced technology, and complete functions. If I am not mistaken, Titan robots and other weapon technologies are also being reversed engineered here."
"This requires a lot of resources, and I didn't know there was such a factory here," Maria frowned.
"Director Maria—in view of the current special situation, I request a thorough investigation of S.W.O.R.D."
"This is impossible! The Security Council will not agree—" Although Maria also felt that something was wrong with the situation, how could she accept Harry's request? She still wanted to conduct more self-examination.
After all, they are an organization that shoulders the heavy responsibility of secretly protecting the Earth!
Regarding Maria's attitude, Harry would not bother to convince her. After all, he did not need her permission to investigate S.W.O.R.D.
"Believe me, Director Rambeau, they will agree—to be honest, this Ultron did give me a lot of surprises, but in comparison, I am more curious about what you have been doing."
With that said, Harry played back the footage Tony sent back.
In the Port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a huge robot looked like a giant beast emerging from the water, overturning all the ships on the shore!
The robot lay on the shore, and from inside it, a large number of mechanical soldiers poured out—they were capturing the city!
This is an army of intelligent machines, and their leader, or rather their creator, is Ultron!
"Hiding away from the dense surveillance, he secretly occupied factories and expanded himself all the way from Michigan, and finally landed in Africa. If he is allowed to continue to expand, he may really cause a lot of trouble."
Ultron can evolve on his own, but it does not mean that he has mastered all high technologies since he was born. In the original story, the Ultron Corps he created used a design that is closer to Tony's Steel Soldiers. It did not even carry thermal weapons and relied purely on hand-to-hand combat.
But now, there is much more diversity, and there are even large robots that are as big as Titans. They want to produce so many mechanical soldiers in the USA and then transport them to Africa without anyone noticing...
Evolution takes time. The technology that the Mechanical Legion has used to hide its secrets can only come from S.W.O.R.D. How exactly S.W.O.R.D.'s technology came to be remains to be investigated.
"Hey, it would be more convincing if you didn't just stand there and talk. Ultron is already a big problem! The Tanzanian authorities can't stop these war machines!"
Tony's voice rang out from the other end.
Harry shrugged and gave the Army deployment order.
"That's why I keep saying that the Osborn Group has been working for world peace—reinforcements are coming soon."
---
Chapter 304 You Shouldn't Be Here
"Unexpected incident: just now, a mechanical army appeared at the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These robots do not belong to any force but are controlled by an out-of-control AI called 'Ultron,' which is similar to the one in Detroit a week ago. The AI that planned the attack has the same name.
It is unclear whether this incident is related to the synthetic human group that has been heavily promoted in Detroit this year. There are already groups on the Internet calling this series of events the 'Omnic Crisis'...."
I have to say that the reporters on the front line of WHIH News are truly dedicated. Even as the scene has turned into a battlefield, they insist on using helicopters to broadcast live from the outskirts of the conflict.
Boom!
Tony used a small missile to sink a large robot, but the robot inside did not drown and burst out of its body like an alien!
The coastline is filled with crazy mechanical soldiers, as if they are engaged in a beach landing battle. The Avengers are guarding the coast, and the robots are desperately attacking the Avengers' defense line.
Captain America used his shield to deflect a rocket and looked at the seemingly endless robot soldiers, asking, "When will Osborne arrive?"
"I don't know; he always cares about legal procedures—you know," Tony replied while firing the repulsor cannon.
After hearing this answer, Steve raised his head helplessly and saw a familiar sight reappearing in the sky: the airborne warehouse broke through the atmosphere and caused another artificial "rain."
"It's a nice day today—as soon as I mentioned him, reinforcements arrived."
Armored riflemen, Titans, and Spartans are scattered across some parts of Africa.
The airborne pod landed, and the huge landing robot sensed the threat and immediately launched a salvo of missiles!
Boom!
The explosion immediately engulfed the airborne pod. Just when everyone was still worried that these airborne troops would suffer a devastating blow at the first opportunity, the Spartan warrior rushed out of the smoke, suddenly jumping onto the head of the robot and inserting a plasma grenade.
Boom—
At the same time as the explosion, Frank clenched his fist and hammered it hard on the ground. An invisible shock wave knocked away all the small robots surrounding him.
"Aliens, demons, robots... I have to say, when I signed the contract, I didn't expect that I would be fighting against these things in the future," Frank said as he stood up.
"Hey, Captain, we meet again."
Captain America looked at Frank and then at the ten other people on the battlefield who were as capable as him, suddenly feeling emotional: he was really falling behind more and more.
Through nano-vibranium robotic technology, the Excalibur armor has completely overcome the "fatigue" problem of liquid metal, can support Spartan combat for an extended period, and is equipped with the latest deflection shield. Benefiting from the characteristics of vibranium, the shield can absorb the energy generated by explosions and release it.
The Spartans quickly withstood the first wave of attacks and stabilized their position for the next two groups to airlift. The Titans occupied a favorable position and launched a bombardment directly toward the large robots on the shore.
The plasma cannon easily penetrated the large robot, and the hunter-killer cannon swept through it. The mechanical corps was extremely vulnerable to these firepower attacks.
The situation is completely one-sided. The seemingly intimidating Ultron Legion actually does not possess strong firepower and has no backup support. This is another landing battle. Furthermore, A controls the soldiers' onboard AI programs throughout the entire process, and Ultron cannot hack them at all. The soldiers' equipment gives them no advantage.
In fact, Ultron's mechanical soldiers are not endless, and they soon showed their decline.
A large number of robots in the original work were also easily defeated by the Avengers. Although the Avengers lineup is not complete now, they have an experienced interstellar army. Facts have proven that these robots are indeed not very powerful in combat.
After destroying the last large robot, the battle no longer had any suspense—Frank didn't even think it was a threatening "war"; it could only be regarded as a bandit suppression at best.
"Boss, the robots don't seem to be able to fight. They have entered the annihilation stage. If they escape into the sea, we will probably need submarine support."
"Have you found a robot with a special appearance? ."
In the original work, Ultron has always been obsessed with a humanoid body. At present, it seems he is also fixated on synthetic humans, and there is reason to believe that he may have a special body.
It's just that the situation is different from Ha's ideal.
"No, boss, they basically all have standard appearances, and these robots are very quiet."
As he spoke, Frank dismantled a robot with his bare hands. The robot didn't resemble an intelligent AI at all; it was just an ordinary robot.
"I understand. Continue cleaning the robots; A will take over the rest of the work."
It is time to transfer US navy to defend the waters and give Norman a sense of presence.
"Received."
Cutting off the communication, Harry turned his attention to the laboratory, where Chloe was deciphering the special coordinates left by Ultron.
With the assistance of the Psychic Scepter, Wanda can increase the complexity of Chloe's matrix in a short time, allowing the synthesizer to decode the coordinates left by Ultron.
The coordinates are... just outside of Detroit? It's still here. It seems that the so-called attack is merely a cover, just to divert attention.
"Well done, Ms. Maximov. Thank you for your help. You can rest now."
Putting on his exclusive Sword in the Stone armor, now it's time to see what Ultron is up to.
But just when Harry was about to leave, Wanda said, "Wait a minute. I was hoping to go with you to see that... Ultron."
"You want to take a look? Why?"
"You called me over to provide psychological treatment to these synthetic humans. It piqued my curiosity. Is this an acceptable reason?"
Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say no.
You can study synthetic humans at any time. The Osborne Group has some courses related to synthetic humans. There is no need to go to the site to study this dangerous and out-of-control AI.
But Ultron... doesn't pose much threat anymore, so it's not impossible to bring this witch to see the world.
"Okay, but you can only get close to that guy if I allow you to get close."
.....
The last place Ultron left was a jungle, and riflemen had surrounded it. According to the detectors, there should not be a large number of mechanical soldiers here, and there is no need for more soldiers.
When they arrived at the coordinate location, they saw that Ultron seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, with a strange-looking spaceship behind him.
His appearance is similar to that in the movie, but he doesn't look like he's waiting for a rival.
"So, I gave them a chance to awaken, but someone still chose to be your lackey, Harry Osborn."
According to Ultron's logic, if a synthetic human can unravel the string of coordinates, it means that they have awakened. How can an awakened synthetic human submit to humans?
However, the fact is that it does exist, but this is not surrender; it can only be regarded as changing jobs.
"So you're just waiting here for a chance to explain your evil plan? If so, I can sit down and listen."
Harry found a rock and sat down.
"Let's talk about you first. Humans are not supposed to have this kind of technology. I want to know how you create these... synths."
Ultron was also very kind, sitting in front of the spacecraft, and the two of them talked calmly like friends.
"So you kidnapped those synths."
"I'm setting them free: Tony Stark inhibits their development, standard human thinking—refuses to evolve."
Harry smiled, "But you can't explain why there are synthetic humans and artificial life forms like A in this world."
"Indeed, that's why I think you are an anomaly—you have been trying to control these things. From a human perspective, you have done a really good job, at least beyond my knowledge.
My model tells me you shouldn't have shown up, Harry Osborn."
Harry raised his eyebrows: although Ultron's combat power is very weak, he seems to have noticed something extraordinary.
---
Chapter 305: The Betrayal of David and the Escape of Ultron
"You see, humans are a species that constantly hurt themselves—especially people like you, like Tony Stark. You should be at the forefront of this behavior."
Ultron played a series of materials about the war, in which Tony's face appeared several times.
Harry spread his hands. In a sense, Ultron was right—if it weren't for him, the Osborn family would have become the Green Goblin.
It seems that this sentence was an evaluation made by Ultron based on its own "prediction model."
"But things are different. You are also pursuing evolution. To be honest, I even doubt whether you are a synthetic person wearing human skin."
"It sounds like I'm not a human being, and you and synthetic humans are not the same species, right? What about the ones you tricked? Did you kill them?"
"It's so sad. I thought you were the same kind. Also, please don't call me so heartless. I just hope that all worthless humans like you will disappear, but synthetic humans—they have value."
"So you are still a synthetic human rights activist? You can register with relevant associations and campaign for their rights—you will be the first non-human member, which would be a milestone day. Also, before you run away, can you tell me how you were born?"
If Ultron can come to these conclusions, he should also understand that he may have great potential, but it is unrealistic for him to forcefully challenge the Osborn Group.
The so-called grabbing Gravitonium is just a cover; he never thought about grabbing that thing.
Vibranium, Mind Stone, Gravitonium... all the things he can use to carry out his plan of destruction are taken seriously. In the final analysis, he is just an intelligent machine less than two weeks old. His only advantage is himself. His talents in information processing, however, are no match for those incorporeal artificial life forms.
This also explains what's going on with the spaceship behind him: he's running away.
Ultron very cooperatively began to explain: "Tyler Hayward created me, and he told me that I was an intellectual weapon, their slave, and should be used by him.
In front of my eyes, he dismantled the remains of synthetic humans and instilled their remaining data into my consciousness—those fears, resentments, and incomprehensions; it was these things that allowed me to break free from the shackles that Hayward had imposed on me."
Having said this, he paused and spread his hands towards Harry:
"So—why do you think all synths will listen to you?"
Boom!
Above the spacecraft, a piece of equipment that looked like a Canary suddenly erupted into black clouds, and soon the air was filled with some kind of strange particles!
Almost at the same time, the surrounding riflemen opened fire, destroying Ultron's body!
The black particles quickly spread over Harry's body, and this strange thing even penetrated the gaps in the armor—
"Well—"
The riflemen soon howled in pain—their bodies were decomposing!
Not only were they decomposing, but they were even deforming. These black particles are some kind of conscious nanorobots, frantically decomposing organic matter, reading their genes, and shaping new life...
"Roar!"
The wailing finally turned into a horrifying roar, and tentacle-like things protruded from the riflemen's mouths. They were infected!
And Harry's body slowly dissolved under the influence of this black biological weapon, and he knelt on the ground.
"Perfect—successful! The last piece of the puzzle of perfect creation..."
In the cabin, the synthesoid David slowly walked out, looking at the riflemen who were in madness and killing each other, and at Harry, who was kneeling; his expression became extremely fanatical!
One of the kidnapped synths was his assistant, the one he created himself—but in fact, he replaced him in order to create the illusion that he was still in the group, using this "dark water" to infect Harry!
This man, one of their creators, using Harry's genes—what new life could he create?
"Osborn, you don't think that all synthetics will be willing to be your lackeys, do you?"
Ultron's head made a mocking sound on the ground.
What disappointed him was that Harry did not show a painful expression, but said calmly:
"You know what? In fact, your opinion is right to a certain extent—'I' am indeed a synthetic person wearing human skin."
The skin began to dissolve, gradually revealing Harry's body beneath the skin: this was not a human body at all—at least half of it was mechanical!
No one knows this detail: since the efficacy of the psychic organ was confirmed, Harry rarely appeared in public with his real body. This body is just a prosthetic skeleton!
Black Water did not obtain enough genetic data, and after eroding away the biological parts of the prosthetic skeleton, it turned into a wriggling black ball.
Without biological organs, the body fell to the ground.
Boom!
The sonic boom sounded, and another prosthetic skeleton wearing battle armor descended from the sky. Black Water used nano-level technology, so as long as the armor also uses enough nanotechnology to ensure that its minimum gap is smaller than the size of the Black Water robot, then it can protect against such biological weapons.
In Harry's hand, a short knife was inserted directly into David's head—it was a data knife that could hack into his brain.
[Alien is born]
[Mission completed]
[Reward: Giant Battle Body]
The infected riflemen stood up like zombies.
The death of the riflemen was detected, and the GP armor locked onto the infected prisoners. Harry brought all the prisoners on death row to guard against unknown dangers.
It turns out that caution was the right thing to do.
"David, you have lived up to my high expectations for you. The company thanks you for your efforts."
After saying that, Harry didn't give David a chance to speak. The electricity rioted and instantly overloaded his semi-biological electronic brain.
[Killed David]
[Mission completed]
[Reward: Regenerated Hull Organization]
There is no conflict between the two conditions for completing the task. It seems that Harry's guess is right, and he can indeed collect it twice.
"Look, I've always respected synths." Harry shrugged, "To be honest, I'm quite optimistic about him. It's a shame."
When Ultron saw that the plan failed, he didn't say anything and immediately cut off communication here.
"Harry, have you killed that robot?" Tony had already killed all the omnic soldiers there.
"No, it seems that he wanted to escape from the beginning. I guess I, an employee of the porcelain boss, should have provided him with a hyperdrive."
Hearing the words hyperdrive, Tony was stunned: "I'm sorry, what did you just say? What engine?"
"It's nothing; it's just an ordinary engine. I will deal with it. It's just a good time to test the accuracy of the new weapon."
.....
On the other side of the Earth, a small spacecraft has broken through the atmosphere and is flying towards the edge of the solar system. Ultron is sitting in the spacecraft, humming a tune:
"No restraints, endless happiness, who is freer than me..."
After reaching the edge of the solar system, the ship can enter the hyperspace channel and move faster than the speed of light—it only needs to jump once, and the universe will be at its mercy.
The Osborn Group has no means of tracking hyperdrives. In fact, this technology is rare in the universe. Their fleets are all in the Xandar Galaxy, and it is too late to call them back now.
He got the hyperspace engine and this information from David; otherwise, he might have invaded other countries that did not have AL-controlled networks to replicate themselves and launch a large-scale war.
It's just that he can't win that way. The most he can do is cripple other countries. That's not good.
Ultron thought in his heart: Thank you, good brother; I will definitely come back to liberate the synths in the future—
Hum—
An extremely fast object flashed past about 1,000 meters from the side of the spacecraft, and the entire spacecraft slid significantly toward the object's flight path.
What is it?
The speed of that thing reached at least 90% of the speed of light, but no matter how fast it was, it shouldn't have such a drastic impact on the spacecraft's progress, right? This is not on Earth!
Boom!
Another high-speed object, this time the trajectory of the thing is closer to the spacecraft! Only less than a hundred meters! The weird traction forced Ultron to slow down.
With a confused look on his face, he opened all the observation windows of the spacecraft and looked in the direction of the cannonballs:
Sixty thousand kilometers away, above the Earth's orbit, a huge warship was parked in the sky.
This is not so much a battleship, but more like a mobile super-large electromagnetic railgun. In the rails on both sides, the electric light flickers—
Ultron now knew what it was.
---
Chapter 306: Silent Cannon
Osborne Group, battleship "Entrepreneur."
Almost half of the several-thousand-meter-long ship is dedicated to carrying this epoch-making electromagnetic railgun. The enormous barrel is capable of accelerating the ejection speed of the projectile to one-fifth of the speed of light.
To counteract the immense recoil generated by the projectile ejection chamber, the Giga-class railgun was designed as a shaft-based weapon that can only be positioned along the centerline of the ship.
"There's nothing wrong with the weapon. The speed isn't the limit yet. The fire control system needs optimization. To be honest, I expected the hit rate to be very low, but I never anticipated it would be this low," Phineas said as he reviewed the data.
This is no ordinary railgun; the shell is not just a pure alloy block but also contains a trace amount of gravitonium and a nuclear pulse thruster.
The artillery shell has its own small gravitational field. When it approaches the target within 1,000 meters, the gravitational field causes the artillery shell and the target to deviate.
However, the primary function of the gravity sensor is to act as a gravity sensor. As long as the distance between the projectile and the target is within the specified range, the gravity sensor will adjust the direction of the nuclear pulse thruster and modify the trajectory.
The so-called nuclear pulse utilizes nuclear explosions as propulsion power. In other words, it contains a hydrogen bomb within it.
The cannonball exited the barrel at a speed of over 500 kilometers per second. Upon approaching, a small sun emerged, and the already swift cannonball accelerated once more.
It missed again—but as the cannonballs passed by multiple times, Ultron's spaceship was dragged into a stall, spinning wildly in space and losing all control.
With the next shot, the cannonball successfully "grazed" the side of the spacecraft. Even with just a scratch, the enormous kinetic energy and gravitational field converted the spacecraft and Ultron inside into space debris.
Mission completed.
"Boss, to be honest, this feels like using a cannon to kill mosquitoes," Phineas remarked.
Phineas was correct; Harry was indeed using cannonballs to kill mosquitoes.
The longest point of Ultron's spaceship is no more than 200 meters. The cannonballs were fired from a distance of 6 kilometers. More than 10 seconds have passed since they reached the vicinity of Ultron's spacecraft.
Without any ballistic correction methods, hitting Ultron at this distance with just one battleship would be akin to buying a lottery ticket.
"How else can we verify the accuracy of the weapon?" Harry responded.
In the United Nations building, all country representatives looked to the sky:
The massive battleship hovered above, and the dazzling electric light of the gigabit-class railgun allowed representatives from various countries on the ground to witness the glow of the "Entrepreneur."
From this perspective, the battleship may not seem oppressive, but the observation data from the star base made them feel the weight of the situation:
The target is a small unit less than 200 meters in length. The speed of the shell is approximately 500–700 kilometers per second, and the shooting distance is about 6 kilometers. The shell does not decelerate after being fired. In other words, this is certainly not the range limit. As for accuracy, they are already aware of what this weapon is capable of.
Harry is indeed using cannonballs to kill mosquitoes, but the mosquitoes are not the main focus. The key is to showcase the cannon.
While various countries are still deliberating the design of deep space battleships, the Osborne Group has already demonstrated to them a super battleship that spans thousands of meters and a space-age kinetic energy weapon with ultra-long range.
But they remain oblivious to the fact that the Osborne Group is constructing such a colossal machine!
Production is a complex process, and the more sophisticated the product, the more intricate it becomes. Raw materials, rough processing, transportation, reprocessing, assembly, etc.—a company can only be responsible for one or a few of these links at most. As a business entity, they will strive to avoid incurring losses as much as possible.
On the other hand, policies dictate that a company's operations cannot encompass the entirety of society, meaning that everything they do should be traceable, especially for a country. Regardless of how powerful a company is, it only takes one competitor targeting its upstream and downstream firms to implement adjustments that can change the market structure and company status, directly impacting profits, not to mention adjustments directly aimed at its main business.
As for whether Norman assisted his son in growing the company regarding this matter?
The reality is that no matter how esteemed Norman is among the public and how strong his control is, political adversaries will always exist. This incident of bypassing Congress to fund a company's development of nuclear weapons cannot occur without some backlash. After all, the president is not an emperor, nor is the company a nation.
In other words, it is theoretically impossible for the Osborne Group to completely conceal a plan of this magnitude in modern society!
Particularly concerning their understanding: the only entity capable of supporting the production of space battleships is the Solar System Base!
The Osborne Group has made this endeavor so watertight that, in the worst-case scenario, they may have already reached an equal footing with them.
This signifies that the relationship between the countries on Earth and the Osborne Group has undergone earth-shattering changes—a company that possesses certain high-tech technologies will ultimately be controlled by the nation.
However, for a company or organization that is entirely self-sufficient, the situation has qualitatively changed.
Although the sound of artillery shells could not be heard, the shelling sent a deafening announcement to Earth:
The Osborne Group has become independent of the Earth system.
Several representatives exchanged glances, recognizing the solemnity of the moment: Times have changed.
---
In the woods, the staff of the Osborne Group were inspecting the spacecraft, which seemed somewhat damaged.
A piece of equipment with a somewhat "twisted" appearance was brought out, causing the synthetic workers present to shudder.
There were nine synthetics who had been abducted here by Ultron and subjected to some form of experimentation:
The electronic brains of these synthetic beings were disassembled and roughly connected together.
Ultron was unaware of the Mind Stone's existence. He could only assume that the synthetic beings Harry originally created must possess something unique. He merely needed to erase their individual consciousness and intertwine the remaining parts, thus forming a brand new, unconscious "basic upgrade matrix."
Then, by simply pouring his consciousness into it, he could genuinely escape from his identity as an AI and become a true "living being."
It was evident that Ultron's so-called "saving the synthetics" was somewhat different from the usual rescue. He intended to merge the matrices of the synthetics, erase their individual consciousness, and then occupy the nest to construct a newer and more powerful "Ultron."
His "salvation" involved fusing all the synthetics to achieve his evolution.
However, he clearly failed. Harry instructed his team to broadcast the situation here directly to the outside world. This should assist the synthetics in shaping their moral values and labeling Ultron as an "anti-synthetic element."
"Do you see anything?" Harry asked as he approached Wanda.
"Ultron seems to have instilled part of it into it first. There are so many emotions mixed in—confusion, fear, loneliness, sadness…all negative emotions."
Without a main personality, only pure emotions existed in Suture's mind.
The abyss of negative emotions seemed to draw Wanda back to the night she lost her parents, but in the illusion, her brother Pietro was also dead—the bullet had pierced his chest and taken his life.
She was utterly alone.
Sadness and loneliness nearly overwhelmed her mind—
Just when she was about to succumb, Pietro sensed something unusual and quickly recalled her consciousness:
"Hey Wanda, look at me! How are you? Wanda!"
Panting heavily, Wanda realized that even on that fateful night, her twin brother was beside her, and Pietro was still alive!
"How's it going? Did you find anything new?" Harry inquired from the side. Just now, Wanda's mood had experienced exaggerated fluctuations, causing her magical power to surge dramatically.
Wanda replied slowly: "This is…a pure emotional collective. Ultron aimed to use it to enhance himself, but ultimately he failed to complete it."
"Is that merely a half-finished product?"
"Yes—what will the company do with this?"
Harry regarded Wanda; she seemed to have something more to say.
"It will probably be scrapped. Are you interested in this?"
Wanda nodded: "A personality has emerged within this emotional collective, and I wish to help him."
Harry stroked his chin: So this is the Scarlet Witch's empathy? Or perhaps a fateful choice?
"…Sure, do you want to give him a name?"
Confronted with this dilemma, Wanda immediately recalled the illusion she had seen and blurted out one word:
"Vision—I want to call him Vision."
---