147

Chapter 147: Ultron's Conspiracy

"I don't want us to be forever reactive. We need to be preventers , not just Avengers."

Stark summarized his vision and then spent a few minutes describing his plan to use a massive steel army of robots to counter the alien invaders' crowd tactics.

"But you still messed up," Carol said bluntly.

"Yes, I messed up," Tony admitted helplessly. "Science is like that. No one can guarantee success. There's always a chance of making mistakes. I'm sorry for the consequences this time, but I don't regret it."

He pointed to Christine Palmer nearby. "Just like Dr. Palmer, who took the risk for me. Can you say there's no risk involved? But she still went through with the surgery, and it was successful."

Christine shrugged. "That's true. However, before surgery, doctors typically discuss risks with the family, but you didn't consult us."

"Well, that's my fault," Stark conceded, shaking his head. "I didn't want to spend time arguing. If you knew my plan, would you have agreed?"

"Yes!" Natalia spoke up when the room fell silent.

Facing the skeptical looks, she continued, "Actually, if you had shared the Ultron plan earlier, Thor would probably have agreed."

"He told me a long time ago that Earth was being targeted."

"Doubtful," Steve interjected.

"The Avengers are indeed crucial in fighting the enemy's high-end threats, but we can't waste our hero's energy on mere minions."

"Creating a superhuman is incredibly difficult. We can't afford to engage in a war of attrition with endless enemies. Long before the Avengers were established, I asked Thor for his opinion of you. Do you know how he evaluates you?"

Stark perked up. Although he had various grievances with Thor, he was still interested in hearing what Thor thought of him.

"In terms of human justice, Stark is always trustworthy. His greatest value is not in using his Iron Man identity to defeat enemies, but in providing resources like his father did, offering additional combat power for our use."

Stark couldn't help but smile wryly. "I didn't expect the person who knows me best would be someone I dislike the most."

Natalia quickly added a dose of reality. "You're not wrong in the general direction. Your mistake was not trusting us, assuming we would oppose every problem you created."

"Don't forget, Thor has indeed encountered Thanos. He understands the threat better than you do."

"If we had been informed sooner, maybe we could have found Ultron's weaknesses together. Asgard's technology far surpasses that of Earth."

Stark shrugged, feeling chastised and somewhat defeated, but acknowledging the truth in Natalia's words.

Seeing his discomfort, Nick Fury stepped in to mediate.

"Alright, the most important thing now is to address the Ultron issue. If you want to criticize, hold off for now."

Stark's face darkened. What did "hold off" mean? Wait until the problem was resolved before reforming and then criticizing?

"Old man, you're really something!" Stark thought.

Banner expressed his concern. "Ultron has already fled and taken the Mind Stone with him. As an artificial intelligence, we can't track him once he's in the network."

"Unless we have top-tier hackers."

Nick Fury glanced at Peggy Carter, who had been quiet on the sofa.

Peggy shook her head and said softly, "Skye probably can't help right now. She recently found her biological parents and is dealing with other issues."

Wanda spoke up, "Maybe I can find him."

Seeing the attention shift to her, she continued, "Ultron must have a plan for the Mind Stone. My abilities are connected to it, so I can vaguely sense its direction."

"Good," Jane Foster said, nodding. "One more thing. I noticed that Ultron had a chance to harm Helen Cho earlier but chose not to, which is unusual. He must have some specific use for her."

"What plan? She's not a combatant."

Helen Cho muttered, "I see now—regenerative cradle technology! Ultron wants to use me to create a new body for himself."

"But you're not going to serve him," Stark said firmly.

"But he has the Mind Stone!" Natalia reminded. "For now, stay at Trudheim Manor. It's absolutely safe."

Meanwhile, in the underground HYDRA base in Sokovia, a robot contemplated, "I need a real body to complete my mission. This body must be made of the finest materials!"

The first thing that came to mind was Mjölnir in Jane Foster's possession, but it wasn't made of Earth materials.

Soon, Captain America's invincible shield appeared in his thoughts.