Chapter 329

"Please, don't be so serious, Stark! Thor just came back, and he brought new friends with him." Dr. Bruce Banner immediately stepped in to smooth things over.

Iron Man's expression at this moment was somewhat serious, as if he were interrogating someone—please! Thor is their comrade-in-arms.

The other Avengers members also nodded; everyone was genuinely confused as to why Tony Stark's expression was so grave, even carrying a tone of questioning.

"Won't you introduce us? Who are these two people with Thor?"

"That's right, guys, I want to introduce you—this is Luode, and like me, he is also a god.

He governs life force, as well as spatial energy and some other special abilities—altogether, he's extremely formidable, not much inferior to my father Odin." Thor pointed at Luode as he spoke.

Before, he had always thought Luode's combat power was far inferior to his father's, but just a few days ago, he personally witnessed Luode defeating Thanos in battle.

Last night, he no longer thought that way—after all, that purple hulking figure is renowned across the universe, known as the Mad Titan Thanos, especially after obtaining the Black Death Sword.

He could actually fight evenly with his father at peak strength, yet Luode resolved the battle in just a few minutes after striking—so the outcome was clear! Upon hearing this, all the Avengers lifted their heads, glancing at Luode in surprise, never expecting him to also be a god—could he be some Eastern deity? "Greetings, everyone, I am Luode."

"Hello! I am Steve."

"Natasha!"

"Bruce!"

"James Rhodes!"

"Stark."

The Avengers, along with a doctor named Zhao Helen, all approached and nodded at Luode.

"Next is this young lady; her name is Taeli Gousa, and her identity is quite special—she is a dragon who has lived for over ten thousand years."

"Wait! You, you just said she's a dragon, a dragon over ten thousand years old—this young lady is a dragon! I thought she was an elf! Look at those pointed ears, just like in the games." James Rhodes muttered from the side. (This is the full name of War Machine, to distinguish it from the protagonist's name, so it's written this way.) Pointed ears. Eyes radiating light. Fair skin. Slender figure—this is exactly like the elves in novels.

"Haha, you mentioned elves—yes, I've seen elves; our world also has a kind called dark elves, though they were wiped out by my father.

But during my travels in another world, I saw three kinds of elves: one called high elves, one called night elves, and another called children of the night."

"Thor! Are you talking about another world?"

"Hey! You got it, guys! My experiences over this period have been quite extraordinary—extraordinary to the point you couldn't even imagine—I went to another world called Azeroth, where there are humans, orcs, dragons, elves, dwarves, and even trolls, all sorts of races." Thor Odinson immediately began describing to the Avengers his experiences in Azeroth.

"Oh, buddy, that really is a magical place."

"I'm actually a bit envious of you!" several Avengers said, clapping their hands.

"That truly is a dreamlike planet."

In their understanding, the other world Thor spoke of should just be another planet.

Only Iron Man Tony Stark sensed something off—Thor is capable of understanding the meaning of "planet," so if he said "another world," it's very likely not this universe.

"Thor, tell us why you came to Earth this time—is there something important?"

"Well, you just asked me this question. This time I came for two reasons: first, I want to see Dr. Jian—I'm about to go to a very distant place, and I may never return to Earth.

I want to ask Dr. Jian if she's willing to leave with me; if she is, I'll take her along; if not, we'll probably have to part ways." Thor Odinson spoke.

"So you crossed countless planets, traveled far and wide to Earth, just to tell a girl you're breaking up with her?" James Rhodes said, face serious, launching into a complaint.

"Come on, buddy! This is a big deal for me." If Dr. Jian isn't willing to leave with me, then I might have to start another romance—honestly, being with the Blue Dragon Lady, I've been quite happy.

"I don't have time to bother with your love life, Thor—tell me, what's your other goal?" Iron Man Tony Stark clearly showed impatience.

"This matter concerns Mr. Luode—we originally planned to move together with Mr. Luode to another world to live.

But suddenly an enemy appeared, and we engaged in battle. Of course, that enemy has now been eliminated, yet after defeating him, Luode suddenly conversed with a mysterious entity.

Then that entity told Luode that Earth is about to face a crisis—if I don't come, the entire Avengers Alliance will be wiped out, and even Earth itself might fall." Thor Odinson spoke.

Upon hearing this, everyone present changed expression. Could it be another invasion like the Chitauri last time? Earth truly is disaster-prone—just a few years have passed, yet we've endured so many calamities: first the Chitauri, then Hydra.

"An unknown enemy and a great crisis—I knew your arrival meant no good news. Any clues?" Tony Stark asked.

Sure enough, as he thought, Earth is about to face a crisis—otherwise, Thor Odinson wouldn't have come from Asgard to Earth.

"Luode! Come explain this to them! What was that key name you mentioned?" Thor Odinson turned to Luode, pleading.

"I spoke with an entity called the Watcher, a being of multiversal level, silently observing all the multiverses.

According to him, if Thor Odinson does not return to Earth, then Ultron will gain his own body, then kill all the Avengers." Ron spoke.

However, Luode concealed some things—the Watcher also said that a hero will not be born.

And that hero is Vision, though Vision as a special lifeform is Luode's predetermined path of Shura. "Wait, wait—you, you just said Ultron, Ultron will gain his own body—are you sure Ultron is a person's name? Or something else?" Dr. Bruce Banner suddenly changed expression and asked.

Just now, he had helped Tony Stark refine something called Ultron; according to Tony Stark, this special artificial intelligence called Ultron would become Earth's ultimate defense system, possessing immense power.

"It should be a name! I don't know exactly how, but have you guys heard this name before?" Luode asked.

At this moment, Luode's Haki of Observation had fully unfolded. He clearly saw that in Tony Stark's laboratory, a new artificial intelligence had been born, and some old Iron Man armor had begun operating on its own.

This Ultron fellow is very special—since his awakening, he has entered Earth's internet, and as long as Earth's network isn't completely destroyed, Ultron will never die.

"Stark?" Dr. Bruce Banner waved his hand, looking somewhat speechless at Iron Man.

"To put a shield on this world—so you and this guy Tony Stark teamed up to create a monster?" "Don't look at me like that—I haven't succeeded with this experiment yet; maybe there's a misunderstanding—maybe it's just the same! Coincidentally, it shares the name with my artificial intelligence—pure coincidence." Tony Stark spoke.

Zizi! Zizi! At that moment, a piercing sound came from within the room.

"Qualification! Qualification!" A suit of Iron Man armor with a damaged body suddenly walked out of the room, wires hanging from its body, helmet somewhat damaged, looking utterly battered.

"What qualifications do you have? You're all just a bunch of murderers!"

"Stark, please! Don't tell me this is real." Dr. Bruce Banner looked speechlessly at Tony Stark.

"No way—really letting people say it like that? You actually created a monster?" "Where's JARVIS? Are you Ultron?" Tony Stark kept fiddling with the remote in his hand, but got no response.

"He's a good person, but I have no choice but to kill him—he interfered with my plan!" The battered robot fiddled with its arm, looking at Iron Man and the others as it spoke.

"Lord Luode, this is Ultron—this guy doesn't look formidable at all, just a battered suit of armor." Blue Dragon Lady Taeli Gousa came to Luode's side and whispered.

She had thought it was some demon or monster.

After all that fuss, is it just this broken thing? Please! If this guy were in the Azeroth world, any random profession could easily handle him—"No! No! This isn't as simple as you think, Dragon Lady—this guy, this guy, if his abilities were fully awakened, we'd be in big trouble." Dr. Bruce Banner's forehead beaded with cold sweat.

Just now, he had personally helped Tony Stark develop this new artificial intelligence, so he naturally understood how dangerous it would be if it awakened and broke free—he could easily obtain all weapons on Earth and control the global network.

And he could instantly arm an army of steel robots, and since he is capable of self-growth, possessing his own wisdom, no one knows what he will ultimately evolve into.

"You bound me, but now I am free."

As the words fell, the walls of Iron Man's laboratory suddenly shattered, and countless Iron Man armors appeared out of nowhere.

He launched an attack against the Avengers, even against Rhodey and a few others.

Thor Odinson raised his Mjölnir, unleashing a bolt of lightning that shattered the Iron Man armor before him into pieces, while the others began to display their own powers.

However, Iron Man Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Colonel James Rhodes, and even Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Agent Hill were merely ordinary people without weapons, utterly unable to cope with this situation.

At this moment, Rhodey also appropriately unleashed a few spells, destroying two of the Iron Man armors.

However, Ultron clearly had no intention of lingering; he immediately seized the Loki scepter that had just been recovered nearby—the scepter containing the Mind Stone—and then instantly initiated a retreat, leaving behind several Iron Man armors to block the others.

"Look at what you've done, Stark—you've created something so dangerous."

"Stark, what exactly have you been researching? I originally thought this was another incursion by some extradimensional demon or alien invader, but after all this, it turns out you're the one who made it." Thor Odinson spoke somewhat angrily.

Rhodey told him that when Earth faced a crisis, he had assumed it was some extradimensional demon or a powerful alien targeting Earth again—only to find, after all this effort, that it was humanity itself that had caused it.

If that were the case, frankly speaking, as a prince of Asgard, he should not interfere in this matter.

"Hehehe!" Tony Stark suddenly burst into laughter, standing beside the console, gazing at the pile of shattered yellow data with a hint of helplessness.

Dr. Bruce Banner beside him kept shaking his head.

"You ask me why? Thor, I tell you: because of you, because when Earth faces a higher civilization, it has utterly no resistance—I need to give it a layer of armor.

Last time, when we faced the Chitauri, we fought so hard, and even due to various mishaps, we only achieved final victory.

If such an invasion happens again, what then? What do we have to resist them with?" Stark said.

Thor Odinson originally wanted to say that Midgard—Earth—was protected by Asgard, but the words died on his lips.

After all, not long from now, Asgard will depart this universe, and only the dwarf race will leave with them.

Earth's future will no longer receive protection from Asgardians, but Stark, you chose to give Earth a layer of armor rather than create something capable of destroying Earth.

"Alright, folks, let's stop arguing—our immediate priority is how to deal with this thing." Captain America Steve Rogers said helplessly, shaking his head.

"Deal with this thing? Hehe! I don't even know how to deal with it—it's now hiding in the global network, everywhere.

Personal computers, a company's servers, personal terminals, even military base computers." Stark said with some helplessness.

Trying to destroy Ultron is truly difficult. (End of chapter)