Clint had already activated the weapon system.
A heavy machine gun extended from beneath the Quinjet.
"Negative, Barton!" Natasha stopped him immediately. "If you destroy the truck, the stone will explode. It could wipe out the entire city."
Clint instantly remembered what Helen Cho had said earlier.
And she was lying right behind him in the aircraft.
"We need to draw Ultron away."
---
The Avengers flying above immediately moved toward the truck carrying Ultron.
Karl, the fastest among them, landed directly on the roof of the vehicle.
Inside the truck, Ultron glanced upward.
"Damn it. They're here."
He raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast.
The beam blasted through the roof and struck Karl.
Karl's cloak easily absorbed the energy, but the force still knocked him back into the air.
A moment later—
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning crashed down.
Thor slammed Mjolnir into the truck's roof.
The vehicle jolted violently, swerving across the highway.
The robot driver struggled to stabilize the truck, barely preventing it from tumbling off the elevated bridge.
Inside the cargo hold, Ultron thrust out his hand.
A powerful magnetic force erupted, blasting a hole through the roof and sending Thor flying away.
Karl drew Judgment and fired a shot toward the Regeneration Cradle.
Caught off guard, Ultron grabbed a robot and used it as a shield.
The robot's head exploded instantly.
Ultron then flew out of the truck and landed on the roof, facing Karl.
---
"Do you know what's inside that cradle?" Ultron said.
"Do you understand what it represents?"
Karl didn't answer.
Ultron continued speaking on his own.
"Inside it lies the power to truly change everything."
"What's in there terrifies you."
"Because you can no longer control humanity's destiny."
Karl rolled his eyes.
Tony really did create an artificial idiot, he thought.
Every rogue AI seemed to start the same way—
destroy humanity.
Whether in his previous life or this one, Karl had never supported the extreme development of artificial intelligence.
Once AI became too intelligent, it inevitably became uncontrollable.
All those so-called safety protocols and restrictions would eventually be exploited.
And once that happened, it would become a disaster for humanity.
Humans were fragile.
Even after thousands of years of evolution, most people couldn't defeat a tiger or bear without tools or weapons.
Against machines?
Humanity would stand no chance.
Eventually, humans would either be enslaved or eradicated.
So in Karl's view, AI only needed to be useful, not super intelligent.
Otherwise, people might one day realize something terrifying—
They weren't controlling AI.
AI was controlling them.
---
BANG!
Karl fired.
A blue energy bullet shot toward Ultron.
Ultron retaliated with a repulsor blast.
The two clashed in midair, exchanging attacks back and forth.
Karl's goal was simple—
stall Ultron, giving the others time to seize the cradle.
---
Back on the Quinjet, Clint opened the cargo hatch.
"Ready, ladies?" he asked.
He lowered the aircraft to skim just above the elevated highway.
No one answered.
All four women moved into position near the door.
Natasha was already seated on Steve's motorcycle.
Of course, it was no longer the old World War II model—it had been upgraded to a modern electric drive, powered by a Stark arc reactor.
The other three didn't need vehicles.
Wanda could fly.
Skye could hover briefly using the recoil of her vibration waves.
And Gwen—
As Spider-Woman, an elevated highway was practically her natural playground.
"Go!"
Natasha twisted the throttle and jumped from the Quinjet.
Gwen, Wanda, and Skye followed immediately.
"Natasha, I've uploaded the location to your bike," Clint said while pulling the control stick to send the Quinjet climbing again.
---
Gwen swung rapidly between the bridges.
Her armor contained a built-in tracking system, and a flashing red marker showed the truck's location directly ahead.
Her suit was the only one equipped with a full mask, allowing for integrated navigation.
Wanda and Skye instead wore nano-vibranium glasses with similar tracking capability.
The four of them rushed toward the target.
But suddenly—
Natasha came under attack.
Dozens of robots descended toward them.
BOOM!
The robot attacking Natasha exploded midair.
A red-and-gold armored figure replaced it in the sky.
"Need a hand, ladies?" Tony's playful voice came over the comms.
Natasha rolled her eyes.
A moment later—
Thunder roared.
Bolts of lightning tore through the sky, blasting several robots apart.
Thor streaked past them like a storm.
"Someone woke up in a bad mood," Tony muttered while watching Thor vanish ahead.
Then he addressed the others.
"Leave the robots to us."
"You focus on Ultron—my rebellious little son."
"Don't worry about hurting my feelings as the proud father."
Tony suddenly pivoted midair.
He and Wanda formed an aerial blockade, while Skye hovered beside them using vibration waves.
---
Meanwhile, Gwen swung up from beneath the bridge.
She snagged a flying robot with webbing and rode it like a skateboard through the air.
"Natasha," Tony said, "go help them grab the cradle."
Natasha nodded and accelerated toward the truck.
---
Wanda formed a hand seal.
Scarlet chaos energy surged from her body.
Then—
The energy split apart.
Dozens of Wanda clones appeared in the sky.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell which one was the real Wanda.
"Whoa," Tony said, staring around at the duplicates. "What exactly did they teach you at that… Kama-something place?"
Wanda flicked her wrist.
Every clone copied the motion.
Scarlet energy strands shot out like whips, binding dozens of robots.
Beside her, Skye gathered power.
Then she thrust both hands forward.
A massive vibration wave erupted.
The restrained robots exploded one after another in the sky like fireworks.
---
Gwen, meanwhile, rode one robot straight into another.
The moment they collided, she leapt upward.
Her web shot out again, snagging another robot nearby.
With a tug, she landed on its back.
The robot tried to fire its repulsor—
But Gwen instantly webbed its arm.
Now riding the machine, she aimed its own weapon and started blasting other robots.
---
Watching the three girls fight so fiercely, Tony refused to fall behind.
His shoulder armor opened, releasing a swarm of floating drone cannons.
Compared with the robots and even Wanda's team, Tony had far superior mobility.
He weaved through the battlefield like a fighter jet, striking targets across the sky.
The battle above the city had become a full-scale aerial war.
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