As soon as the new Sentinel Robots appeared, they were taken down at light speed.
The other Sentinel Robots didn't fare much better; they were subjected to a wild carpet bombing by the Ultron Robot Army, which instantly wiped out more than half of them.
Seeing that the situation was decided, the Ultron Robots simply entered power-saving mode, retracted their gun barrels, and charged at the Sentinel Robots for melee combat. Relying on their overwhelming numbers, they ganged up on the Sentinels several to one. Finally, it was the Sentinel Robots' turn to taste what it felt like to be mobbed.
After the new Sentinel Robots finished feeding themselves to the enemy, those human soldiers completely lost their will to fight. While the Sentinel Robots were still struggling to resist on the front lines, the soldiers in the rear threw down their firearms and raised their hands in surrender in unison.
Sentinel Robots: "???"
Your subjects wish to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?
The outcome held no surprises; the remaining Sentinel Robots were quickly cleared out by the Ultron Robot Army, and this Sentinel Robot production factory successfully fell into Darian's hands.
Darian didn't make a move against those surrendered human soldiers; after all, population was an important resource, and keeping them would always have its uses.
He casually beckoned an Ultron Robot over and instructed, "From now on, act freely. If you see a Sentinel Robot, eliminate it directly. As for humans, deal with those who resist as you see fit, but leave those who surrender alone."
The robots controlled by Ultron immediately took their orders. Leaving behind a small portion of Ultron Robots to garrison the factory, the main force took to the skies and vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
In the following days, the Ultron Robot Army began to act in batches, launching strikes everywhere.
They specifically picked resource points where human defenses were weak, and one stronghold after another fell into their hands.
The plundered resources were continuously sent back to the Ultron Robot production factory.
The assembly lines ran at full speed 24 hours a day, producing even more Ultron Robots, which were then immediately thrown into battle to continue seizing resources and expanding the army...
With the snowball rolling like this, the scale of the Ultron Robots grew larger and larger, while the number of Sentinel Robots dwindled. The defensive lines collapsed step by step, unable to hold back the tide at all.
The human high command was as anxious as ants on a hot pan, racking their brains every day to find a way to stop the Ultron Robot Army.
Containment, ambushes, sneak attacks... various tactics were deployed in turn.
But their little schemes were no different from children playing house in front of the super AI, Ultron.
Every time the humans had just deployed their combat plans, Ultron had already predicted all their movements and set a trap in response.
After several attempts, not only had they failed to damage the Ultron army in the slightest, but they had also suffered heavy losses, causing morale to plummet.
What gave the human high command an even bigger headache was that the news had somehow leaked out.
Now the human populace knew what had been happening recently, and protests began to break out everywhere.
One segment of the public felt the threat of the Mutants and demanded the Military quickly eliminate all of them.
Another group pointed their fingers directly at the human high command, cursing them for looking for trouble by initiating the suppression of Mutants and driving them to a dead end, which invited this retaliation. They called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for peace with the Mutants.
There was also a group of people who, having witnessed the terror of the Ultron Robots, feared that humans would repeat the Mutants' fate. If the Ultron Robots ever developed a Non-X-Gene Identification System, it would be the humans' turn for a battle royale.
Consequently, they demanded that the human high command surrender to the Mutants, rather than dragging all of humanity down with them.
Surprisingly, the number of people advocating for surrender to save their lives was quite large.
Darian had already received many reports of humans proactively seeking to defect.
Among them were no shortage of human elites from all walks of life, and even several core researchers who had developed the Sentinel Robots—the set of LED lights on the new Sentinel Robots was their handiwork.
As developers of the Sentinel Robots, they knew all too well how much more advanced Ultron's technology was. Even if humans researched for another few decades, they wouldn't bridge the gap; human defeat was only a matter of time.
Coupled with the fact that the human high command pressured them daily for results and dumped all the stress onto the R&D department, they had long since reached their limit and decisively chose to jump ship.
Before leaving, they even dealt a heavy blow to the high command by falsely claiming they had developed a new Sentinel Robot, which was actually just a useless piece of eye candy. This served as their token of loyalty to the Mutants.
For these talents, Darian was naturally happy to take them in.
With Charles and Professor X around anyway, there was no need to worry about any hidden plots or schemes from them.
When this news reached the human high command, they convened an emergency meeting for what felt like the umpteenth time.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was oppressive, and everyone's expression was unsightly to the extreme.
A white-haired old man sat in the head seat, his eyes gloomily scanning everyone present as he spoke slowly.
"Gentlemen, I don't need to elaborate on the current situation. Large numbers of people already want to defect to the Mutants. As far as I know, there are people in this very room who have privately contacted them."
As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the meeting room instantly froze, and everyone's nerves tightened.
A middle-aged man with a sinister face sneered and looked askance at the person opposite him.
"I've heard some rumors that Hudson seems to have been secretly in contact with the Mutants."
"What do you mean by that!"
Hudson slammed the table, pointing at the other man and shouting excitedly, "I'm warning you not to talk nonsense! Careful, or I'll sue you for slander! I'll sue you for slander!"
"Why are you so excited? Do you have a guilty conscience?"
"Bullshit! I, Hudson, am irreconcilable with the Mutants! I think you're the traitor!"
"Actually, I've heard that Dennis has also been planning to defect to the Mutants lately. He was on the phone with his wife yesterday discussing moving their assets and fleeing."
"Stop talking nonsense! If you're so capable, show some evidence!"
"When the two of you were on the phone, I was right next to your wife. The phone was on speaker, and I heard everything clearly."
"Impossible! My wife clearly told me she was out for a run!"
The meeting room suddenly erupted into a chaotic argument. Everyone was suspicious of one another, and a few almost came to blows in public. The situation spiraled out of control.
They argued like this for over three hours.
Forget a plan to deal with the Ultron Robots and Mutants; they hadn't even agreed on a unified public statement.
In the end, the white-haired old man was so angry he smashed his cup on the spot, announced the meeting was adjourned with a dark face, and the emergency meeting came to a hasty end.
After the sinister man left the meeting room, he returned to a secluded safe house.
After confirming he wasn't being monitored, he immediately dialed an encrypted signal. The moment the call connected, the sinister look on his face vanished, replaced by a fawning smile, and his back instinctively hunched over.
"Um, I have successfully thrown their internal ranks into chaos as you instructed."
Darian's voice came from the other side: "Well done. Keep watching them, and report any movements at any time. I will remember your contribution."
The smile on the sinister man's face grew even wider as he nodded repeatedly, even though no one could see him over the phone.
"Please rest assured, I will report any developments to you immediately and await your orders at any time!"
He paused, as if feeling that these words weren't enough to show his loyalty, and added another sentence.
"Long live the Mutants!"
The Ultron Robot Army was unstoppable.
Before long, they had taken multiple important human strongholds and even occupied several cities, directly shrinking the human-controlled area by one-third.
Previously, the shadows of Sentinel Robots were everywhere in the streets and alleys. Now, as far as the eye could see, there were only Ultron Robots.
This was all the work of the Ultron Robots. As soon as they spotted a Sentinel Robot showing its head, they would destroy it without mercy, just as the Sentinel Robots had done to the Mutants years ago.
Regarding humans, their rules were also very clear.
Those who dared to resist were shot on the spot, while those who surrendered voluntarily had to accept Ultron's enslavement.
All slaves had to work a full 8 hours a day, with only two and a half days off per week. The lunch break was only two and a half hours, and they had to pay for several welfare insurances every month, which were deducted directly from their wages.
If they were hospitalized or took a loan to buy a house, these insurances would only cover most of the costs, leaving them to bear the rest. In addition, there were several other extremely harsh conditions.
Upon hearing these rules, a large number of humans surrendered on the spot, stating they had long wanted to be traitors and were willing to become guides for the Ultron Robots.
In cities not yet occupied by the Ultron Robots, the citizens were green with envy upon hearing the news, wondering why the Ultron Robots hadn't come to their cities yet, and hoping with all their hearts for the robots' arrival.
Ever since that group of human elites took power, the lives of the lower class had gone from bad to worse, living in misery with people crossing the 'execution line' every day. Rather than being reduced to Gundam fuel, they would rather be enslaved by Ultron.
As long as they could live a stable and good life, they didn't care if those above them were humans, Mutants, or not even human at all.
For a time, the human high command was caught in a predicament of internal and external troubles.
Outside, the Ultron Robot Army was pressing in step by step, and the territory in their hands was shrinking more severely every day.
Inside, there were 'guides' everywhere hoping for the Ultron Robots to arrive quickly, and some were even waiting for a chance to capture the high command as a token of loyalty to the Mutants.
It was important to know that Sentinel Robots would only deal with Mutants and would not casually harm humans. If it was an internal human conflict, the Sentinel Robots would not intervene.
As a result, the human high command now had to guard not only against the Mutants and Ultron Robots but also against their own people.
Ultimately, that group of human high command couldn't withstand the pressure and sent word through an Ultron Robot that they wanted to sit down and negotiate with the Mutants.
Darian agreed without much thought.
However, he didn't plan to show up personally, but instead delegated the matter entirely to Erik and Magneto.
Originally it was just Erik, since he was the Brotherhood's dedicated diplomat; it was natural for him to step up at a time like this, and it would be good practice.
But Magneto, hearing that Erik was going to negotiate with the human high command, took the initiative to go along, fearing that Erik was young and hot-headed and might make some unwise decisions.
The negotiation site was also set—right in a city that the Ultron Robots had just taken over.
The human negotiation team wanted to set the location in a neutral zone, but Darian refused flatly, leaving no room for discussion.
Either come over to talk, or wait for the Ultron Robot Army to fight their way into human territory and then talk slowly.
The human high command had no choice but to swallow their pride. They cobbled together a negotiation team overnight, led by a high-ranking human official, and arrived at the negotiation site.
At one end of the long negotiation table, Erik and Magneto sat side by side.
They were surrounded by a dozen Ultron Robots, whose cold mechanical eyes watched the negotiation team.
These officials, who were usually high and mighty, were now shrinking their necks, their heads almost buried in their chests. Not only did they not dare to make eye contact with the people opposite them, they didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Leaving aside these Ultron Robots that had easily crushed the Sentinel Robots, the old man sitting opposite them was the famous Mutant, Magneto. Many famous landmarks that had vanished were his handiwork.
The leader of the human negotiation team braced himself and pushed a pre-drafted negotiation proposal across the table.
"We have come with full sincerity this time. We are willing to formally recognize the legal citizenship rights of all Mutants and designate specialized autonomous states for Mutants to live in. Henceforth, humans and Mutants shall not infringe upon each other and shall coexist peacefully."
"And our only condition is that the Ultron Army immediately cease fire and stop seizing our property."
Their idea was that as long as they could preserve the existing government structure, their power, and the Military, making some concessions was nothing. Once they caught their breath, they would have plenty of ways to make a comeback.
"This is your sincerity?"
Magneto sneered and mocked, "When you created the Sentinel Robots and massacred Mutants on a large scale, not even sparing children who hadn't awakened their abilities, why didn't you mention non-infringement?"
"When you threw Mutants into concentration camps and experimented on living people, why didn't you mention legal rights?"
"Now that you've been beaten until it hurts and you're afraid, you suddenly remember to talk about peace?"
The human official's face turned red and white from the rebuff. He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word in rebuttal for a long time.
Erik spoke plainly, "Don't give us those useless empty words. We are not sitting here today to haggle with you, but to give you an ultimatum. There is only one prerequisite for a ceasefire, and that is unconditional surrender!"
He raised his hand and pushed a document across the negotiation table.
The terms on it were listed clearly, with three core requirements that struck right at the negotiation team's lifeblood.
First, humans must immediately destroy all existing Sentinel Robots and permanently stop the research, development, and production of any genetic weapons, Military equipment, and related derivatives targeting Mutants. Any violation would be treated as a major crime.
Second, hand over all core personnel who led actions related to Mutants.
Third, recognize the right of Mutants to establish an independent nation. Once the Mutant nation is officially established, the current human government must immediately and publicly recognize its legal sovereignty.
As soon as the document finished being circulated, the negotiation team, which had been too scared to speak earlier, instantly exploded.
These people forgot their fear of Magneto's pressure and started shouting on the spot. The meeting room fell into chaos.
The human official's face turned bright red as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "These conditions are too much! We can never agree to this!"
Never mind the other terms; he could never agree to the second one alone.
Having climbed to his position, he was basically a planner involved in the extermination of Mutants. This was undoubtedly asking him to hand himself over.
"That's right! We will not surrender unconditionally!"
"We will never recognize a Mutant nation!"
"Sentinel Robots are the core of national defense; they can never be destroyed! You're trying to disarm us!"
The officials followed suit one after another.
But no matter how loudly they shouted, there wasn't a ripple of emotion on the faces of Magneto and Erik opposite them.
Erik said coldly, "You are in no position to negotiate terms with us. Either agree, or we continue fighting."
Magneto nodded in agreement, "Exactly. As long as we kill all of you humans, we can still fulfill the above conditions. So, do you choose to disagree, or to disagree?"
His tone carried a hint of anticipation; he clearly hoped the humans would continue the fight so he would have an excuse to wipe them all out.
Erik: "..."
Wait, this isn't quite what we agreed on. How are you even more hot-headed than I am?