Chapter 216

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Of course. 

Who created the Infinity Stone Crusher is not important. 

What matters is that the Infinity Stone Crusher was used by the Avengers of the multiverse to counteract Infinite Ultron. 

So, the battle in which Gamora uses the Infinity Stone Crusher was the one previously mentioned in the journal, where the Watcher assembled a multiverse Avengers to fight against Infinite Ultron? 

So, Infinite Ultron really is, as everyone speculated before, an Ultron who collected all the Infinity Stones! It's confirmed! 

Before, everyone could only guess whether the "infinite" in "Infinite Ultron" referred to the "infinite" in "Infinity Stones" to deduce the identity of Infinite Ultron. That was it. 

But with the latest spoilers from the journal, this guess has been confirmed. 

No wonder. No wonder Infinite Ultron has the monstrous strength to slaughter across multiverses—ultimately because of the Infinity Stones! Now, everything makes sense.

However, one thing is notable: if Ultron assembled all the Infinity Stones and reached a multiverse level, what about Thanos? Is it the same for him? 

All along, the journal only mentioned that Thanos used the Infinity Stones to erase half of the population of the universe. Everyone was shocked, but when you think about it, that might not be the upper limit of Thanos' strength! 

Thanos didn't slaughter across the multiverses like Infinite Ultron simply because his ideology was different from Infinite Ultron's. 

But this doesn't mean he is less powerful than the latter. So, could Thanos possibly be more powerful than everyone imagines, reaching a multiverse level?

Thinking of this, Tony feels a weight in his heart. 

He gains new respect for Thanos. 

So, is that why the Avengers couldn't defeat Thanos and had to wait until he destroyed the Infinity Stones to have a chance to defeat him? 

"Why is it like this?"

After organizing his thoughts a bit, Iron Man turned his attention back to the journal, feeling somewhat surprised. 

The Infinity Stone Crusher could only destroy the Infinity Stones from this universe? Why is that? 

Could it be that the Infinity Stones from different parallel universes are different? 

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain this situation. 

And if so, the Infinity Stones that the future Avengers traveled to collect—aren't they from the same batch? Then, can they work together? 

Hulk has already snapped his fingers, successfully bringing back half of the lives erased by Thanos! Undoubtedly, it worked. 

And during the final battle, Thanos and the Avengers were still fighting over the Infinity Stones—which Infinity Stones were they then? 

Considering that Thanos's goal is to collect the Infinity Stones to erase half the life in the universe, since he "followed" the Avengers to the future, it indicates that the Avengers had successfully collected the stones. 

The obvious reason for Thanos following them is to fight for the stones. 

In other words, the Infinity Stones fought over during the final battle weren't the ones Thanos initially assembled, but those assembled by the Avengers! 

This point leaves little doubt. 

Yet, Tony still doesn't understand why the Infinity Stone Crusher is only effective against the Infinity Stones of this universe. 

He has never seen the Infinity Stone Crusher, can't research it firsthand, and naturally cannot draw a conclusive answer. 

But it's clear that the Avengers of the multiverse actually made many preparations to combat Infinite Ultron. Not only the Infinity Stone Crusher. 

Additionally, there was Zola's super program! 

The journal had already spoiled it—it was Zola who ultimately defeated Infinite Ultron. 

Zola defeated Ultron's program, thus causing Infinite Ultron's total failure. 

"Wait a minute!" 

As Iron Man reached this point in his thoughts, he realized another key question. 

If Zola defeated Ultron's program, does it mean that Zola took over Infinite Ultron's body? 

And Zola is a malevolent Hydra entity! 

In other words, the outcome of this great war was merely changing Infinite Ultron's programming from one evil program to another? 

So, can this result really be considered a victory? 

Isn't this essentially Hydra controlling all the power of Infinite Ultron, wielding the Infinity Stones? 

This doesn't seem like a good thing at all. 

It seems the war between the Avengers of the multiverse and Infinite Ultron is not over yet. 

"Luckily, Captain Carter and Black Widow, both strong enough, coordinated together, and successfully injected Zola's program into Infinite Ultron." 

"They internally dismantled Infinite Ultron." 

"Then, Doctor Strange corrupted lent a powerful assist by creating a mini-dimension." 

"They sealed 'Hydra Ultron' and Killmonger, along with all the Infinity Stones, inside it." 

"This finally ended the crisis of the multiverse." 

"Of course, it's only temporary." 

"Because there's still a possibility that Hydra Ultron could break out of the mini-dimension!" 

"One can imagine, when that happens, it'll be a huge problem." 

Captain Carter? Black Widow? Are these two also members of the multiverse Avengers? This is somewhat beyond Tony's expectations. 

In Iron Man's view, since the Watcher assembled the Avengers from the multiverse, he would definitely select top fighters from their respective universes. 

Like corrupted Doctor Strange, party Thor, and Gamora who wields the Infinity Stone Crusher. 

After all, they are facing a super villain capable of slaughtering across multiverses! 

Yet, Captain Carter and Black Widow are also included? 

Captain Carter is understandable, previously mentioned in the journal as a female version of Captain America. She definitely has some extraordinary powers. 

But Black Widow is just a normal person, right? Not to underestimate them, but in facing a being like Infinite Ultron, their caliber really seems insufficient, right? 

Yet, Tony didn't expect that they could play such a crucial role in this level of battle. 

Injecting Zola's program into Infinite Ultron! 

Then the same question arises: how to deal with the ensuing "Hydra Ultron"? 

"Create dimensions!" 

After getting the answer from the journal, Tony couldn't help but marvel silently. 

Deserving of a doctor who destroyed the entire universe, corrupt indeed! 

Can even such an exaggerated thing as creating a dimension be done? Absolutely powerful! 

However, using the mini-dimension to seal Hydra Ultron is one thing, but sealing Killmonger is another?

Wait a minute, Killmonger? That name sounds very familiar! 

After only a short reflection, Tony recalled that the journal had indeed mentioned this name before.

It was mentioned only once. Apparently, in one universe, when Tony was in Afghanistan, he was saved by someone called "Gold Leopard," so he never became Iron Man. Besides that, there's not much information available. However, the fact that Gold Leopard could confront the forces that even overwhelmed the military during Tony's kidnapping in Afghanistan says a lot about his capabilities.

Furthermore, the nickname "Gold Leopard" fascinatingly parallels another superhero mentioned in the journal, "Black Panther." Could it be that Gold Leopard, like Black Panther, has a "Gold Leopard suit" that brings superpowers?

It's unclear why this individual was sealed by the corrupted Doctor, and due to a lack of information, Iron Man can't draw a precise conclusion anytime soon. As for Hydra's Ultron possibly escaping in the future, Tony expressed his inability to help. After all, it isn't something occurring within his own universe, is it? Unless the Watcher approaches him, Iron Man feels helpless in contributing.

Deep down, he prays that the mini-dimension is reliable enough to permanently seal away Hydra's Ultron. From this perspective, the existence of TVA seems quite necessary. If it weren't for Female Loki killing the remnant Kang and causing the Sacred Timeline to collapse, these branching timelines wouldn't have appeared, right? 

At the very first moment Ultron seized Vision's body, he would have been reset by the TVA! Infinite Ultron wouldn't even appear! Everything would follow the Sacred Timeline. Of course, not only Infinite Ultron's timeline but other divergent timelines, including Dark Doctor Strange, Captain Carter, Party Thor, and T'Challa Star-Lord, wouldn't exist either!

"So, that's how these parallel universes were born!" Iron Man is a bit startled by this revelation, yet quickly realizes that the journal had indeed mentioned the collapse of the Sacred Timeline quite early. But since this event is far beyond what Iron Man can handle personally, Tony didn't ponder over it. He's more concerned about what consequences could ensue if TVA collapses since, as stated in the journal, its founder, Kang the Remnant's main goal was to prevent his evil variants.

Even if these evil variants don't stir trouble, Kang's death has significantly impacted the multiverse, resulting in numerous branching timelines, or rather, numerous parallel universes! So this is what it means to guard the Sacred Timeline, letting every event unfold according to the "sacred script" without any branching universes appearing?

Once Kang the Remnant was killed, the Sacred Timeline was left unprotected, and these branch universes began to grow rapidly. This much is clear and easy to grasp. However, Tony puzzles over why these branch universes matter. Why does TVA need to prevent their occurrence? As long as these branches don't contain a Kang, shouldn't that be fine? They can't possibly prevent every branch universe from having a Kang, nor is every Kang within these branches evil!

Iron Man feels there must be more motives behind the establishment of TVA than just the prevention of Kang's variants as mentioned in the journal. However, sitting in his mansion, he can't come up with definite answers.

"Reset!" This particular word soon captivates Tony's attention. From its literal meaning, it's straightforward. This is how TVA protects the Sacred Timeline, by resetting everything that diverges from it back to a state aligning with the Sacred Timeline. So, this is how the Sacred Timeline is preserved!

As Iron Man delves deeper into TVA's operational mechanisms, it's clear that in TVA's "sacred script," Ultron's attempt to steal Vision's body was destined to fail. Thus, when Ultron succeeds, TVA steps in to "reset."

But how is it done? Although Tony doesn't know TVA's exact methods, for those who can travel through time at will, changing events is too easy. Simply travel back, execute a minor operation, and Ultron's act of seizing Vision fails, ensuring everything aligns with the "Sacred Timeline."

"But wait!" Iron Man frowns slightly, noticing a contradiction. From various spoilers in the journal, the "Sacred Timeline" is just a label and doesn't possess any particular significance. It's simply the timeline approved by TVA officials, not fundamentally different from the new branches.

Then TVA's resetting should create new branches as well, right? But according to the journal, TVA's reset doesn't face this issue! Whether TVA resets excess timelines, they don't generate new branches!

So how does TVA manage this? What exactly does this "reset" entail? Maybe it's not as he thought?

After pondering for a while, Iron Man decides not to obsess and instead refocuses on the journal's spoilers. Factually speaking, TVA did everyone a favor regarding Ultron's attempt to seize Vision's body. Nevertheless, as always, Tony holds no affection for TVA. Even if Kang the Remnant founded it to counter other Kangs or for whatever reasons, Tony can't accept an entity playing God, controlling others' lives at will. 

Today, TVA might reset someone for seizing Vision's body like Ultron did. Tomorrow, for equally baseless reasons, they might reset anyone whose life deviates from the "Sacred Script." Tony cannot accept this under any circumstances.