"When I took over Wakanda, a foolish purple-skinned alien suddenly appeared in front of me with five Infinity Stones."
"From the moment he appeared, I knew it was a divine gift, so I killed him! Then I used these six Infinity Stones to eradicate all flesh and blood beings in the universe!"
"Now! As the last flesh and blood being in this universe, you too shall die under these six Infinity Stones!"
After Ultron finished speaking, the Infinity Stones on his chest emitted a blinding light, and an invisible wave passed through Ethan.
Ethan couldn't even react before he turned to ashes.
Looking at the ashes of Ethan, Ultron sneered and said, "Foolish mortal!"
Just as Ultron was about to turn and leave, the place where Ethan had stood began to tremble uneasily. Soon, Ethan reassembled, seemingly unfazed.
"The Infinity Stones are truly terrifying in their own universe, they are essentially omnipotent modifiers!" The reformed Ethan marveled at the Infinity Stones on Ultron's chest.
The indestructible nature of SCP-682, which can resist even causality-altering weapons, makes the Infinity Stones' eradication power ineffective.
"You really are full of surprises!"
Ultron looked at Ethan in astonishment.
Ultron, unwilling to accept this, used reality erasure again.
But this time, Ethan stood unharmed.
"Stop wasting your effort; your Infinity Stones are useless against me!"
Ethan lazily informed him.
"What kind of monster are you?"
Ultron finally showed some emotional fluctuation.
He had eradicated all life in the universe with six Infinity Stones. How could such a terrifying weapon not affect this flesh-and-blood being?
As a top-tier artificial intelligence, Ultron quickly analyzed Ethan's abilities.
"Immortality! Every time you are killed or injured, you evolve in response? In that case, you are truly a pile of stinking, rotten dog poop! Are you planning to drag me down here with your immortality?"
Ultron taunted.
"You can interpret it that way if you like!"
Ethan nodded.
Given his current abilities, he wasn't strong enough to fight against Ultron, who had surpassed the single-universe level.
But that doesn't mean he couldn't grow in battle to reach Ultron's level. It might take some time, but with the characteristics bestowed by SCP-682, Ethan was confident he could surpass Ultron and eventually wear him down.
"Right now, you're like the embryo of an unparalleled weapon. Do you want me, as the craftsman, to forge you into perfection?"
"I have to admit your plan is quite clever, but why do you think I would waste time with you here?"
After saying this, Ultron snapped his fingers lightly.
Countless Ultron drones instantly appeared across the planet's sky.
"I can take my time with you! In this universe, I have thousands of manufacturing planets, which together can produce about 100 million Ultron drones per second.
So now, can you tell me what you can use to compete with me?"
Having boasted, Ultron didn't forget to threaten, "My universe-traversing machine is nearing completion. In less than half a year, I will open the gateway to your world, and by then... your world will become a paradise of machinery!"
"Is that so? I don't believe it!"
Ethan crouched down, lightly pressing his hand on the ground.
He felt a soul crying within the planet.
Having seen the movies, he knew what that crying soul was.
The Celestial Group used planets as incubation beds. Intelligent life would become incubators, but Ultron's appearance had directly eradicated all life in the universe and transformed all planets into metal planets.
These unborn Celestial members had miserably died in their embryonic state.
What Ethan needed to do now was to use his imagination to transform it into his combat power or subordinates!
The power of transformation and fusion activated.
The already-dead Celestial members' embryos rapidly developed and began consuming the planet's metal.
Finally...
A dazzling white light began to shine from the planet's core.
The entire metal sphere started to collapse and explode.
Amid the brilliant explosion, a colossal being, roughly the size of half a planet, emerged.
The Mechanical Deity Group had arrived!
The explosion's force incinerated all the Ultron drones in the sky. After Ultron stabilized his form and looked at the massive Celestial member, he was not frightened but rather filled with fervor.
"This colossal being, such a beautiful metal structure, it must... join the great Church of the Shattered God and expand the dominion of the great Shattered God!"
Ultron said, as the Mind Stone on his chest began to emit a faint glow.
Controlling metal-type life forms, Ultron was top-tier in the multiverse.
"Hmm?"
Ultron, noticing the Mind Stone had no effect, looked at the Mechanical Deity Group member with confusion.
Why wasn't the Mind Stone working?
He had entered the Eternal Network and was illuminated by the glory of the great Shattered God.
Logically, he should be the ruler of all machines!
"It's you! You're the one messing things up, right?"
Realizing, Ultron angrily glared at Ethan, who was perched on the shoulder of the Mechanical Deity Group member.
Ethan, grinning with satisfaction, mocked Ultron, "I know your Ultron drones are numerous, but I can transform your so-called manufacturing planets into my subordinates. Are you still confident like before?"
Through their brief encounter, Ethan realized that Ultron's strength in his own universe was too strong, almost at the multiverse level.
Such enhancement was absurd.
Once Ultron left his home universe, his strength would be limited to a single-universe level, perhaps even weaker.
But in his own universe, with six Infinity Stones, Ultron was undoubtedly a multiverse-level powerhouse.
(Mind Stones can still be used outside their home universe, though weakened, refer to the Marvel What If series.)
A multiverse-level powerhouse was currently beyond Ethan's capability to defeat, though he wasn't necessarily going to lose.
But that would be based on a long and protracted battle.
Ethan had no time to waste with Ultron.
He had only been transmigrated to the Marvel Universe for less than a month and had become a supernova-level powerhouse (constantly evolving in battle, with strength not inferior to single-universe level). He was confident that within a year, he would become a single or even multiverse-level powerhouse.
Wasting time fighting Ultron here would be the most costly.
"So what do you want to do?"
Realizing he might not be able to handle Ethan, Ultron asked.
Ethan seriously advised, "Abandon the invasion of my world. You must have noticed that your Infinity Stones will be weakened outside your universe. Do you think the weakened you can be a match for me?"
Ultron nodded in agreement.
What Ethan said made some sense.
Even with Infinity Stones, Ultron could only stretch things to the limit against Ethan. Once outside his home universe, he would surely be overpowered.
Ethan continued, "Swear by the name of the Shattered God that you won't invade my world. Once you swear, I'll leave immediately and won't stop you from invading other worlds."
Uncertain about where things had gone wrong, Ultron felt like he was being misled but couldn't pinpoint exactly how.
"Why don't you agree? If not, I'm leaving. Your world is perfect for me; every planet can incubate a supernova-level powerhouse. I'm quite interested in your universe now!"
Ethan threatened sarcastically.
"F**k!"
Ultron was furious. Such an immortal monster was the most detestable. Immortal and insufferable.
"I like your face when you're annoyed and can't kill me."
Ethan taunted Ultron.
He was just trying to fool Ultron.
After all, his ability to withstand Ultron was due to SCP-682's immortality. In reality, it was just a passive skill.
Whether Ultron came to his universe or remained in his own, there wasn't much difference.
The only difference might be that if Ultron was stronger, Ethan would grow faster but also face greater difficulty in catching up, and it would take more time.
If Ultron was weaker, Ethan's growth would be slower but the time to catch up would be relatively shorter. Overall, the difference wasn't significant.
Ethan, not wanting to waste time, felt that wasting a year or ten years made little difference.
It was better to call a truce, wait until he reached the true multiverse level, or summoned his powerful ally Zhongshan Mary, and then come back for revenge.
Getting stronger through battles was feasible, but it was somewhat embarrassing to say...
Looking at the Mechanical Deity Group member beneath Ethan, Ultron gloomily nodded.
"Fine! After I swear, you must leave my world. My world does not allow the presence of flesh and blood beings."
Ultimately, Ultron chose to concede.
As a fervent believer, Ultron shared Ethan's view.
He needed to spread the glory of the Shattered God across the multiverse and couldn't afford to waste time on Ethan's world.
Thus, they reached an agreement. Ultron swore an oath in the name of the Shattered God.
Seeing Ultron make the oath, Ethan also collected the Mechanical Deity Group member into his containment space.
[Ding~ Congratulations to the host for successfully containing: Containment Object-MC-jx-010-Mechanical Deity Group Member!]
[Ding~ Congratulations to the host for obtaining Mechanical Creation (The host can create mechanical life forms but cannot create those beyond their understanding.)]
[Ding~ Congratulations to the host for obtaining Stellar Manipulation (The host can use celestial power to create or destroy celestial bodies.)]
After finishing, Ethan left the space.
Looking at the metal sphere gradually disappearing, Ethan thought, "Now that Ultron is gone, I should return to my own world and search for a way to find that SCP-682 variant."
After a brief return to his own world, Ethan started his journey to find SCP-682's variant.