"Yes, cousin," Shuri replied through the communicator. "My brother wants you to be responsible for retrieving the stolen vibranium. Someone will arrive shortly to take control of that ship."
Back in her laboratory, Shuri was remotely piloting the aircraft back toward Wakanda while simultaneously dispatching personnel to secure the cruise ship.
Although Wakanda possessed advanced aircraft, they also maintained ordinary ships to maintain their disguise in the outside world.
"Got it," Erik replied with a sigh. "T'Challa really knows how to boss people around. Tell him that once this mission is over, I'm going to pin him to the ground and pound him into the dirt."
Even so, Erik had no choice but to accept the assignment.
---
Inside the Quinjet, the team was heading back.
Since Ultron had escaped again, they would need to locate his position once more.
But this time, there was one additional passenger on the return flight.
"I'll be operating with you from here on," Erik said, looking around at the Avengers. "The stolen vibranium belongs to Wakanda. I'm getting it back."
"T'Challa? The king of Wakanda?" Bruce asked curiously. "Isn't Wakanda supposed to be a poor agricultural country? And where did you get that incredible armor?"
Erik ignored the question.
For now, Wakanda's true situation still had to remain secret.
According to T'Challa, the world wasn't ready yet.
Karl stepped in to smooth things over.
"Let me introduce him properly," Karl said. "This is Prince Erik of Wakanda. You can just call him Erik."
The room fell silent for a moment.
The others were clearly surprised.
Karl wasn't exaggerating—Erik truly was a Wakandan prince. His father had once held that title, and since T'Challa was now king, Erik naturally inherited the rank as well.
Of course, Erik himself never cared much about titles.
Among those present, only Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Thor didn't know the truth about Wakanda.
The others—including Natasha—were already aware of the country's real technological power, so no one tried to explain further.
---
On their way back to Avengers Tower, they received a transmission from Coulson, ordering them to report immediately to the Avengers Base.
Inside the brand-new conference room, the team gathered around the table.
The door opened.
A familiar one-eyed man walked in.
Nick Fury.
When he saw Erik, he paused briefly—but quickly returned to his usual calm expression.
Clearly, Fury had already recognized him and understood his identity.
"I've contacted computer terminals and database networks worldwide through the World Security Council," Fury said.
"They're searching for Ultron's location right now."
"Until we find him, all of you will remain here at the base."
He pressed a button on the remote.
A holographic projection appeared.
---
The video showed something shocking.
It displayed Karl and the others rampaging through cities and attacking civilians.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
Even Erik looked stunned.
In the footage, he himself appeared to be destroying buildings.
"You're looking at fabricated footage created by Ultron," Fury explained.
"It's already spreading across the internet worldwide."
"For now, you'll have to stay here and keep a low profile."
There was little else Fury could do except suppress the video's spread as quickly as possible while tracking Ultron.
No one spoke.
They all understood what Ultron was doing.
---
"Ultron kicked you out of the game to buy himself time," Fury continued.
"We've received information that he's trying to build something."
He gestured toward the hologram again.
Ultron had created countless fake network nodes to mislead them.
"To find him," Fury said, "we need to figure out what his next move is."
---
"Ultron wants to become better," Steve said suddenly.
"Better than all of us."
"He keeps building bodies," Tony added, his eyes narrowing.
Then realization struck him.
"A human body…"
"He wants to become human. He doesn't want people knowing I created him."
Bruce shook his head.
"I don't think he actually wants a human body," Bruce said.
"Biologically speaking, the human form is inefficient and outdated."
He looked around the room.
"Ultron once said humans don't need protection."
"They need evolution."
Bruce paused.
"Yes. Evolution."
"He wants to evolve into something more perfect than humanity."
---
"Evolution?" Clint asked.
"How exactly does he plan to do that?"
Bruce shook his head.
Even he couldn't imagine how Ultron intended to achieve such an evolution.
---
At that moment, Karl—who had been silent the entire time—finally spoke.
"Has anyone contacted Dr. Helen Cho yet?"
The room turned toward him.
Karl vaguely remembered something from the events of his previous life.
Ultron had gone to Helen Cho.
Exactly where it happened, he couldn't recall—but he knew it involved her invention.
Tony suddenly cursed.
"The Regeneration Cradle… damn it!"
Helen Cho's Regeneration Cradle could print living tissue using nanotechnology.
Like an advanced 3D bio-printer.
If it could create human tissue…
Then it could also create an entirely new body.
---
"Coulson," Fury ordered immediately, "contact Dr. Helen Cho."
Then he turned back to the Avengers.
"I need you to move now."
"Find Dr. Cho and bring both her and the Regeneration Cradle back here."
"You must reach them before Ultron does."
"The Quinjet is already on the runway."
"You can leave immediately."
With that, Fury left the room and hurried toward the command center.
---
Meanwhile, in South Korea, inside a coastal research laboratory.
"We just received a transmission from Avengers Base," Helen Cho said urgently as she rushed into the lab.
"We need to evacuate immediately."
"Everyone to the aircraft."
She instructed her assistant to begin the evacuation while she hurried toward the Regeneration Cradle.
As she entered the chamber—
She froze.
Standing silently in the corner was Ultron.
His crimson eyes glowed eerily in the darkness.
---
"If you scream," Ultron said calmly, stepping out of the shadows, "everyone here will die."
Two robots stood behind him.
Helen forced herself to remain calm.
Her mind raced as she searched for a way to delay him, buying time for the others to escape.
"The night at Avengers Tower," Ultron said slowly, "I had the chance to kill you, Dr. Helen Cho."
"But I didn't."
He looked down at the machine beside him.
"The Regeneration Cradle."
The device resembled a futuristic medical pod.
Ultron gently ran his hand along its metallic frame.
"This… is the next version of me."
Helen immediately responded.
"The Regeneration Cradle can only print tissue. It can't create a living being."
Ultron turned to face her.
"It can," he said softly.
"Because you can."
"You're only missing the right material."
"You're a very capable human, Dr. Helen Cho."
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