17 Cosmic Cube

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Flowers bloomed, each representing a branch. While Zane and Lorna were displaying their affection, Skynet, somewhere unknown, had already prepared a body for itself, resembling the liquid metal Terminator T-1000 from "Terminator."

No one knew how Skynet created this body. When Zane received the message, he was completely bewildered. In the end, he could only marvel at the brilliance of Dr. Zola. The combination of extraordinary intelligence, unique learning abilities of intelligent life, and the explosive creativity exceeded Zane's imagination.

Not long after, Skynet had arrived at the secret base where the cosmic cube was being researched. It transformed into a small-sized drill, directly drilling into the ground. Ten minutes later, accompanied by faint metal friction sounds, Skynet's drill-shaped body slowly came to a stop.

Facing the metal outer wall, nearly capable of withstanding a nuclear bomb, if Skynet had expressions, it would undoubtedly be disdainful. Skynet immediately simulated a large mouth and started gnawing at the alloy wall. Yes, Skynet's created body possessed the ability to devour metal and assimilate it.

As time passed, Skynet's volume increased, and its drilling speed became faster. In the end, the three-meter-thick alloy wall, capable of resisting missile bombardment, was breached by Skynet in just one minute, and Skynet's volume had tripled.

Of course, Skynet's blatant invasion had triggered the base's alarm. Numerous armed guards rushed from all directions to Skynet's location, but it was futile.

With a thought, Skynet's body, originally as tall as a person, instantly collapsed, dividing into countless particles the size of rice grains. These particles dispersed along the cracks in the wall and ventilation ducts.

Although Skynet could confirm that the cosmic cube was in this base, the specific location required careful searching. Skynet divided itself into countless individuals, implementing a carpet-style search. SHIELD, through hidden cameras in the base, also detected Skynet's intentions. Although they didn't know what Skynet was, they promptly dispatched multiple agents to guard the cosmic cube, ready to move it if necessary.

Phil Coulson, known as Marvel's good guy, happened to be on duty at this secret base. At this moment, the perpetual good guy smile on his face had been replaced by anxiety. Realizing the urgency, he quickly pulled out a secret communicator and dialed the direct line to Nick Fury, the current director of SHIELD.

"Director, the cosmic cube is under threat."

On the other end of the communicator, the unexpressive Nick Fury seemed stable, showing no signs of worry or panic. However, his clenched fist betrayed him.

"Who is the enemy?"

"I don't know, but I suspect it's an alien."

"..."

Internally, Nick Fury was cursing, wondering when an alien suddenly appeared. The world was becoming more and more chaotic, couldn't things be a bit easier for him?

"Can you hold on?"

"Given the enemy's form, firearms might be ineffective. I request reinforcements."

"Alright, you hold on first. Reinforcements will arrive in half an hour. If things get tough, Coulson, you take the cosmic cube and move out. Don't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"Yes, Director."

After putting down the communicator, Coulson's tense nerves relaxed a bit. Then, he quickly placed the cosmic cube in a specially made box. This box could isolate all signals from the cosmic cube. Following that, Coulson took out another identical box and handed it to another agent. The two of them swiftly left the base in different directions, perfectly performing a true and false Sun Wukong.

However, the supercomputer Skynet, with its enormous calculating power, had long simulated various scenarios before the attack and came up with countless countermeasures. Coulson's plan was one of them.

Without much talk, while Skynet was still searching rapidly, Coulson and the other agent had already left the base from two different directions. However, they didn't notice that the ground at the entrance of the base suddenly rippled like a water surface as they left.

Yes, it was Skynet. At the moment of intrusion, Skynet had deployed its avatars at various exits of this secret base. Each path that must be taken had an additional 0.01-millimeter-thick layer of metal. Even those familiar with the base wouldn't notice any abnormalities.

Sensing that the cosmic cube had already left, the Skynet avatars, still in the process of searching, converged towards the directions Coulson and the agent had left. Of course, surveillance by Skynet avatars at each exit was not removed. What if Coulson and the others were just trying to lure it away?

Skynet to fulfill its master's orders, it had already thoroughly studied Sun Tzu's Art of War and mastered various strategic deployments. Unless Thor suddenly fell from the sky and took the cosmic cube away, Skynet was determined to seize it. 

Meanwhile, on Nick Fury's end, he had already contacted the two top agents currently available, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The two of them were working on the latest development of a jet-powered small combat aircraft and were rushing to the secret base to support Coulson.

However, it seemed like time was running out because Skynet had caught up.

Skynet's avatars directly entangled Coulson and the other agent's feet. At first, the two could struggle to protect the boxes in their hands, but with the passage of time, more and more avatars arrived. Despite using all their strength, the two were helpless. The two boxes were taken away by Skynet.

Before leaving, Skynet thoughtfully let Coulson see the Hydra symbol that had just appeared on its body, accompanied by the gunfire of agents. After confirming that the cosmic cube was indeed in one of the boxes, Skynet decisively disappeared into the night with the boxes.

"Boss, we've got the cosmic cube."

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