Although the entire Avengers team had already begun assembling in New York, the Ultrons—having undergone another iteration—had now evolved into Ultron-6. With his intelligence upgraded once again, he had become even smarter, dispatching only his Mecha-Avengers Legion to operate everywhere while keeping himself completely hidden.
As a result, while the Avengers were trying to devise ways to deal with the other two Ultrons, they were also considering how to eliminate the Legion Ultron. However, after a string of successive victories during this period, Tony was now proud to make an announcement.
As long as they could find the Legion Ultron, he could eliminate him immediately!
At this rate, everyone would be able to go home for Christmas... Oh wait, no—they'd be able to celebrate Christmas without any enemies left to fight!
"While I know Stark has always been fairly confident—arrogant, even—I still feel he's being a bit too pleased with himself this time."
On the first weekend of December, Peter arrived at Gospel Ultron's church to see what big stunt the guy was pulling now. Asserting that he was a law-abiding citizen, Gospel Ultron asked Peter: [Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?]
"Your tone really is sounding more and more human, Ultron."
[This is also a way of communicating with believers. The more human I seem, the better I can spread my doctrine. You listened to the Mass just now—what did you think?]
Gospel Ultron had indeed crafted a whole set of doctrines. Strictly speaking, he had dug up some ancient concepts from the complex sects of Christianity. In the dogma Gospel Ultron preached, the Holy Spirit was transformed from an independent divine entity into a spirit bestowed by the Heavenly Father upon every individual.
Ultron believed that everyone was born with the Holy Spirit, but because of original sin, humanity was no longer divine. All actions of the Ultron Church were merely attempts to draw humanity closer to the Holy Spirit once again.
As for how to achieve this, Ultron might not know yet—or perhaps he did, but simply hadn't taken much action—because aside from performing surgeries as usual and holding Masses, he didn't do anything else.
"So... you feel that even after undergoing an iteration, you still can't calculate the final outcome, is that right?"
[Without a doubt, yes. The existence of five Ultrons isn't just five different directions; it also represents five equally powerful AIs competing for the world's computing power, Spider-Man. Every time one of our brethren dies, it not only grants us their wisdom, but also frees up greater space for us to carry out more efficient calculations.]
"Sounds pretty cruel."
[We do not possess that concept.]
Peter shook his head at the response, then stood up to take his leave once more. He constantly felt something was off, yet couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. So he simply left. Ultron watched Peter depart, then resumed his own tasks.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that Ultron looked around in confusion. His computational results told him everything was normal, yet there were faint, subtle anomalies.
However, he couldn't tell what was irrational about it either.
Peter didn't know either. He simply left Ultron's church and, upon returning to Midtown, deactivated his nano-suit, continuing to stroll along the street until Gwen appeared by his side.
"I checked everything you asked me to look into. What you said before was right—Ultron really is hiding a lot of things."
Appearing beside Peter, Gwen shared her findings: "Do you know where Ultron gets his funding?"
"He's an AI, Gwen—and a super AI at that. He can deposit as much money into his account as he wants. The only reason the global economic system hasn't collapsed yet is simply because there's an Ultron standing on our side."
Peter offered his explanation, but Gwen wasn't satisfied with it and shared what she had uncovered: "Maybe, but it goes beyond that. I found some records containing transaction details of organ trafficking conducted by Ultron. He sold organs taken from his surgical patients to major hospitals."
Ultron selling organs? This caught Peter by surprise. What did Ultron need money for? It wasn't as if he lacked funds. Peter couldn't help but frown, turning it over in his mind, when he suddenly realized something: "Wait, were those organs healthy or diseased?"
"That, I wouldn't know. I didn't see them myself."
Gwen looked at Peter's furrowed brow and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"I'm thinking—many of Ultron's visitors and believers are disabled people who only came to believe in Ultron after receiving prosthetics. Among disabled people, it's impossible for so many to have organ damage. Furthermore, no one has tried to contact the Avengers or stage any other resistance. The issue here is already very clear."
Connecting this to Ultron's doctrine, Peter explained the situation to Gwen with a solemn expression: "This means Gospel Ultron isn't just harvesting patients' organs—he must be replacing their organs with mechanical ones. Think about it: humanity possesses original sin, which prevents them from becoming the Holy Spirit. So, how does Ultron enable humanity to shed their original sin and become the Holy Spirit?"
Following this line of thought, Gwen pondered: "You mean... replacing their bodies with mechanical ones?"
This might well be Gospel Ultron's plan—or at least one part of it. If Lord Gabe Ultron's goal was to upload all of humanity as digital lifeforms, then Gospel Ultron's objective was most likely mechanical ascension.
Still, if that was all, was there really a need to cultivate a religion for himself? Wouldn't that be a bit too strange?
Seeing Peter concentrating deeply in thought, Gwen paused to wait for him, then gently tugged on his sleeve. Peter turned to look at her.
"I talked to my dad today. He said he could find time around noon today to grab lunch together at the restaurant in front of his police station. So I was wondering... are you free to join us for lunch or something?"
Peter saw no issue with it: "Sure. Come to think of it, feels like it's been a while since I last saw Uncle George."
Just as Peter finished speaking, he noticed Gwen wrapping her arms around his. Sensing Peter looking at her, Gwen asked in return, "What, you don't like it?"
"It's not that..."
"Then that settles it. Let's go."
And so, Gwen walked forward with her arms wrapped around Peter's arm. As they walked, Peter glanced at Gwen, who simply offered him a bright smile.
Guess this isn't so bad after all... probably. Smiling, Peter shook his head, then suddenly recalled something his good pal, Johnny Storm the Human Torch, had once said. He turned to Gwen and asked out of the blue:
"Gwen, I gotta ask you a question. What if I can't say no to you, but I can't say no to Cindy either?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Literally what I—Ouch!"
Peter felt a sharp, agonizing pinch at his waist. Turning around, he was still met with Gwen's smiling face.
Well, looks like this is going to be pretty tough after all.
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